After watching the recently subbed episode 31 of Kemono no Souja Erin, I felt inspired to go listen to some of its music.

I chose the OP Single – Shizuku by Sukima Switch. On the CD there’s 4 songs: Niji no Recipe, Shizuku, A Angle, and Niji no Recipe (Backing Track). The one that I like the most and will probably have on repeat for awhile is Shizuku, which is the OP to the anime. A likely reason is that I’ve heard it countless times while watching the series and it grew on me. So whenever I hear the song, it reminds me of Erin and of the visuals from the anime.

This isn’t the version on the CD, but it’s both the same song and the new OP for the series beginning at episode 31:

Personally I like the old version better, but it’s still okay.

The image at the beginning of the post is from the inner back case cover. I don’t know what’s happening there, but it looks cool.

While I was watching recent anime, I noticed the use of timeskips in two of the series I was following. Timeskips can be effective when used correctly to push forward the plot in order to bypass uninteresting details while characters are aging or events are being developed.

The first example, Kemono no Souja Erin, makes use of this twice and does an excellent job of it.

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Started watching Kemono no Souja Erin a few days ago on a recommendation from a friend. I remember dismissing this series when it first aired in January after a quick glance at the synopsis and the animation style.

However, after finishing a few episodes I had already found the plot to be compelling with the essence of the anime reminiscent of Seirei no Moribito. Then I researched a bit and found that it was written by Uehashi Nahoko, the same author of Seirei no Moribito. Furthermore, the producers included Production I.G. with their style being evident in the anime upon closer inspection.

Thus began a short anime marathon of 26 episodes to catch up to the most recent release out of a total of 50 episodes. I was not disappointed at all once I was caught up and instead wanted to see more. At times, certain scenes and the background take on a storybook illustration quality which can throw viewers off, but I think it fits with the atmosphere of the anime.

Kemono no Souja Erin and Seirei no Moribito are both excellent series with intriguing stories about the growth of the main characters. These stories remind me of classics such as David Copperfield, where the reader is allowed to see a character’s struggles and achievements as he/she grows up.

Give it a chance if you haven’t already, you won’t regret doing so.