After much hesitation, I finally sat down and watched the first episode of Guin Saga
I say hesitation because I heard the original novels the anime is based on has been running since the seventies for hundreds of volumes, and I hate starting things that have no end. Either the anime runs on for a long time with no resolution or the writers make up their own, usually-unsatisfying anime-only ending and calls it a day.
Still I had the episode sitting on my computer for a while and eventually I ran out of things to watch, so I gave it a go. It’s not half bad at all. It seems to be moving very quickly, which is always a plus for long-running series. The animation is clean and crisp, and while the characters look a bit squat and chubby, they move very fluidly. The action scenes were over the top, but this is a series about a man with a leopard head and a princess with psychic powers, so I don’t think anyone’s looking for realism here.
The story hasn’t broken new territory yet: royal twins, kingdom sacked, parents dead, all alone, rescued by mysterious man, chased by the bad guys…or are they, etc. etc. It’s only one episode so it could go any way. Indeed the ending sequence featured some other characters we haven’t met yet, so I’m looking forward to finding out more soon. Until then!