What to Watch: Twelve Kingdoms

by Chelsea House, GGR Contributor

*Beware: spoilers ahead*

(Review based off of English dubbed version)

The Twelve Kingdoms (Juuni Kokuki), a 2002 tv series adapted from books written by Fuyumi Ono and illustrated by Akihiro Yamada, is a beautifully written story entrenched in Chinese mythology. The show focuses on a central group of characters, Youku (Midge Mayes) and Keiki (Kurt Strauss) who are the main faces of the show, and Enki (Dave Lelyveld), Rakushun (Jim Taggert), and Shouryuu (Lex Lang) as strong supporting characters. 

It all begins when Youko, a normal Japanese student (except for her vibrant red hair), is approached by a mysterious man who tells her that he has been searching for her. He then bows to her, pledges his loyalty, and begs her to accept. After she hesitantly accepts, her school is attacked by terrifying creatures which causes the man to throw her a sword that apparently only she can wield. He also possesses her with a helpful spirit, and then opens a portal in the sea. She is then launched into the world of the Twelve Kingdoms where she will face even more strange creatures, beliefs, and societal systems. She learns the man who found her is named Keiki, and he has gone missing. This launches the long and somewhat complicated journey of Youko and her friends.  

The series is about 45 episodes that span across two seasons and each episode is 25 minutes long, making it a bit of a time investment. I will also forewarn you that the series is incomplete. I did not realize this when I started it, otherwise I may have not watched it, but I also don’t regret giving it a chance. 

    *Here are some light spoilers, so don’t continue on if you want to be completely surprised.* 

So my thoughts on the series as a whole: 

Pros: 

1: Character Development: I’m going to be 100% honest. The first five episodes are painful to get through. The characters seem incredibly undeveloped. There is a lot of crying. A lot of whining. A lot of you wondering why you’re putting yourself through this… Then, right when you’re about to chalk this show up as trash, episode six rolls around, the clouds break, and there is a semblance of hope in the shape of character development. At this point you are able to see growth in almost every episode. No one is the same by the end of season 1 and that is incredibly refreshing. By the end of season 2 you’ve almost forgotten those first cringey episodes. 

2: The Storytelling: There are some really beautiful stories about the struggle over power and control. You’re never really quite sure where things are going, and if you are somewhat sure, this show still has a way of playing out really nicely. There are a lot of amazing scenes that show the type of chess piece maneuvering that only a monarch can do. Even though Youko and Keiki are the main characters, you also get to see some really nice story arches from main supporting characters which nicely breaks up the redundancy of the story. The Twelve Kingdoms tv version was adapted from the book version, and this translates well as you at times feel as if someone is reading the story to you instead of just watching it unfold. 

3: The Animation: Again, being 100% honest here, I totally pick anime series based off the artwork. I’m not going to stare at drawings that make me wince for 25 minutes, no matter /how/ good the story is. The Twelve Kingdoms is very beautifully drawn and animated. The picture frames do a wonderful job of building off of the storytelling mentality by showing you exactly what you need to see to evoke that certain emotion. It’s not over done. It’s just what it needs to be. The colors aren’t unrealistically vibrant, and yet they are still very visually stimulating and nice to view. I was pleased. 

4: The Characters / Creatures: Everything you watch in this show feels new. At least to me. I’ve never delved too deep into Chinese mythology, so it may not be to those who are more familiar. Each creature is unique and well thought out as they each play off each other. Each creature/character needs and uses another to survive and adapt. Things are born on trees… egg trees. That was definitely a new thing for me. I think what I loved most about the character/creature introductions is that I was a little off put at first by each introduction, however, at the end it was like “Umm… he’s born from a tree! Duh.” The show really does do an amazing job of sweeping you away with it.   

Cons: 

1: R.E.P.E.T.I.T.I.V.E: I know you get this a lot with anime. It’s a constant need to explain what xyz is and why it’s important. It’s one of the things I dislike the most about anime. This show takes that little nugget to the next level. If the dialogue recap isn’t enough, they also squeeze in a few annoying recap episodes. You know… Just in case.  

2: Rakushun: This guy. I wanted to like him so much. I really did. Who isn’t all about a human sized rat…. But I just couldn’t be team Rakushun. The voice actor was annoying, he was 80% of the repetitive problem, and he’s a know-it-all. Don’t get me wrong, he is well natured, and  a few characters would have missed out on massive character development if it weren’t for him, but I still just couldn’t get Snarf from Thundercats out of my head whenever he came around.  

3: The Animation: No this isn’t déjà vu. Yes I meant to put this as a pro AND a con. As beautiful as the artwork was, there were times that it got real sloppy. My head was cocked a couple of times at the misplacement of eyes and mouths. It was just slightly jolting going from “This looks so nice” to “Eyes don’t look like that.” 

Overall, as long as you’re okay with being left without conclusions, this show is worth the watch. I would also give it my approval for watching it with older kids. There is no gore, no nudity, and very little sexual content. I do suggest older children, though, due to the complexity of the story at times, and the implied gore in some scenes. I really hope that there will be a wrap up of the series sometime to answer some big questions I had, but until that day, I still feel like it was far from a waste of time.