Back in 2012, I fawned (yes I did) over the animated series Seirei no Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. It was done by the same company that did Blood+ and the director of Ghost in the Shell SAC. The story-telling was impressive and the artwork was fantastic. In short, I was in love with what I saw and I wanted more.
And I got my wish…kinda.
In 2016, a 22 episode live action movie series was produced starring Haruka Ayase as Balsa Yonsa, the spear woman. She is an intelligent, principled bodyguard whose weapon of choice is the spear in a world of swordsman. Balsa doesn’t want to kill when she can wound because she is trying to atone for the eight lives that were lost trying to protect her when she was a child. But as she discovers saving lives is harder that taking lives. And like Paladin of Have Gun – Will Travel fame, she will kill when necessary and in this series she does that often enough.
The story is basically the same as the animated series. Balsa is hired by the Second Queen to protect her son, Prince Chagum, who the King, believing him to be possessed by a demon, wants to kill. The story centers around Balsa’s attempt to keep the young Prince alive while teaching the Prince how to be a good leader to his people.
Amazon has four movies on Prime Video. The proper viewing order is:
- Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
- Moribito: The Hunter and the Hunted
- Moribito: Fight to the Death
- Moribito: Trail of Blood
Now for the bad news – Amazon only has these four episodes and has no idea when or if they will ever see the remaining films. So why get invested in a movie series when you can’t see the finale? Because this movie series is excellently acted, well written and Haruka Ayase makes you care about Balsa and her personal struggle. In short, it’s a wonderful character study and perfect for binging during these Covid-19 times. Be warned – Trail of Blood (the last movie) ends on a cliffhanger, but it also concludes the main Guardian of the Spirit story. The cliffhanger is part of a secondary story whose ending you can figure out with a little thought.
Honestly, the people who will enjoy this live action series the most are the ones who have already seen and are familiar with the animated one. But don’t let that stop you if you haven’t seen it. You will enjoy the storytelling even if the series is not complete for American viewers. The first movie, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, is here on Amazon Prime Video. The trailer is below:
I want to watch the rest of it I haven’t watched the anime either
Sorry I took so long to reply. Somehow, I missed your comment. I enjoyed the anime series and it was my standard for the live-action series. I hope someone (Netflix/ Amazon Video) will make the anime available for viewing. Thank you for reading and again my apologies for my delay.