Search - Twelve Kingdoms - Chapter 2 - Empress on DVD

Sudden Changes

Marc Ruby? | Warren, MI USA | 11/09/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Youko finally makes a connection in the world of the Twelve Kingdoms when she befriends Rakushun, who is a hanjyuu. Hanjyuu have both a human and animal aspect (Rakushun is a combination squirrel and mouse creature), who are fairly commonplace, although frequently subject to discrimination. Rakushun has a surprisingly positive influence on Youko, who suddenly stops crying all the time and starts to get control of herself.Once Youko has rested, the two set out for the kingdom of En, where Kaikyaku (those blown into this world) and Hanjyuu are treated fairly. Youko's self control becomes increasingly important, for they have to avoid the agents of the King of Kei as well as the attention of Yuka Sugimoto whom the king has convinced to kill Youko. They fall in with a traveling acting troupe. There follow several close calls before the voyagers reach the city of Kou in En.There things come to a boil as Youko meets Shouryuu, the king of En, and comes face to face with the difficult challenges that have been set in front of her by fate. In a complicated, carefully crafted world, the young woman must choose between a great destiny or death.This set of episodes is far better than the chaos of the initial DVD. Youko has begun to develop a recognizable personality instead of simply whimpering all the time. Some of the other characters, in particular Rakushun and Shouryo, also develop in interesting fashion. So while overall production values are still mediocre, the story and acting are beginning to come alive.It appears that the intent of the director is to use the story as a teaching tool, as Youko, and probably Yuka as well, learn some important lessons in human behavior. Every once in a while the message gets a bit heavy handed, but it hasn't interfered with the telling so far, which bodes well for the future of the series.Again, I've experienced some technical difficulties playing this DVD using the DVD players on my Mac. This happens with both players, and I've never experienced it with another DVD, which makes me believe there is some incompatibility at work. I don't know if this will crop up on other players, but you may want to try it out before investing in the whole series,"

A Great Fantasy Anime

Akira | USA | 01/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In volume two of the Twelve Kingdoms series, Youko Nakajima joins up with the half-beast Rakushunn. Rakushunn tells Youko of the Kingdom of En, a country to the north where she won't be persecuted. While on their journey Youko will have to get through the minions of the King of Kou and also fight her own inner demons. The character development and plot of the story are very well thought out, and make for a enjoyable viewing experience. If you liked the first volume then you certainly won't be disappointed with this one."

HOW THE WORLD TRULY WORKS

Sesho | Pasadena, TX USA | 06/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After being left for dead by Sugimoto at the end of Volume 1, Youko is nursed to health by Rakushun, a human sized talking mouse who just happens to be a Hanjyuu, which, similar to the characters in Wolf's Rain, can change into human form when they want. But Rakushun doesn't like to wear clothes so he stays mousey most of the time. He tells Youko about the land of En, a land ruled by a king who is also from Japan, who welcomes all people and half-beasts, not like the murderous King Kou who sees all Kaikyaku as harbingers of ill fortune. Rakushan offers to guide her to En, but Youko has a hard time trusting anyone after all the betrayals she has suffered. Besides that, in moments of trance, there is a being that appears to her, trying to ferment her distrust of people, even urging her on to suicide. Meanwhile King Kou still seeks to destroy Youko and enlists the aid of Sugimoto to that end, even altering her face to conceal her identity.

Volume 2 was a 100% improvement over the first. I was worrying that I would have to listen to Youko's mushy and overly emotional harangues for the whole series. In Volume 2 she really steps up to the plate and asserts her will over her fate. She is able to accept that you have to treat others with kindness and trust even when they do not. The world of this anime is deftly imagined and just reveals layer after layer of depth. The characters become more intriguing each episode. The only complaint I have of it is that the evil spirits sent to kill Youka look less than frightening. Great show!"

Best of the fantasy-themed animes

W. Scott Heitman | Gainesville, Fl United States | 09/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've seen a good deal of anime (read: way much more than I responsibly should have). It ranges from train-wreck-bad to truly inspiring. This anime falls so close to the latter category that I've already placed it in my top 5 series after seeing only the first 2 DVDs. Very few animes can captivate a viewer to the degree where they don't even stop to look at the time, where they don't really expect the story/episode to stop. Every time I finished an episode, it always surprised me- I was so caught up in the story. The series is based on a number of well-crafted books which create a well thought out Tolkien-esque world. While developing this world, the series also finds time to develop its very interesting cast of characters. The music is also quite fantastic. The animation wins no superlatives, but it accomplishes its task quite well. The fight scenes, especially, are well animated. The one thing I worry about is the incompletion of the series. At 45 episodes, the story of the 12 Kingdoms is incomplete. I have been told that the 45 episodes effectively finishes the story of the main character- so some closure is reached. But 23 more episodes were apparently planned to reach an ultimate fate of the 12 Kingdoms- sadly, these will probably never be made. Still, this series is absolutely fantastic thus far and not to be missed!"