Guin Saga

[shinta|hikari]

Why 56? Isn't it usually 50-52 depending on the series?

@Yuki and Kraco - I cannot agree more. I would add 11 eyes to Sacred Blacksmith among the list of shows that should not have been created in favor of Guin getting more airtime.

[Kraco]

The last sword swing:

Episode 26 Final - frong | 720p - frong

[Buffalobiian]

Finally, the long-overdue closing episode. I guess I shouldn't complain since [frong] was the only one who stuck with it to the end. Seriously how is it that Sacred Blacksmith gets 5 groups following it while only one man struggles over the finish line for Guin Saga?

Anyway....

It's funny. Even though Istovan is clearly not cut to be a worthy adversary for Guin, in every way it still had the "final showdown" feel to it. A large part of that is due to the feeling of inevitability. Since his introduction, Istovan's been outshone by Guin in every way except escaping from prison and knowing the towns. Rinda never cried for him like she did for Guin, and his attempts to make himself a king turn sour every time while Guin knocks everything down left,right and center without even trying. All that bottling up has got to burst sometime, and burst it did.

It's not as if Istovan's improved over the course of this series at all, but his (arrogant) expressions and actions seem justified in a manly, frustrated way; finding no way out for himself other than to confront the very thing that keeps overshadowing him. Pulling it off the wrong way could have turned it into just another jealous kid throwing a tantrum, but it didn't happen. I wonder if those words at the end were the rest of his prophecy that he never tells anyone.

(I had to laugh when Guin declared Istovan's ambitions as (mere) dreams)

One thing where Guin Saga's lost points is that sometimes things happen in a manner that is best described as random.

Akura in the salt pillars, why it resides within him, the ship of light that sweeps him away, assassins that take orders from a lizard,.....etc etc.

I understand that this is all meant to introduce us to an entirely new, breathtaking world that spans over 100 books, but expressing so many seemingly meaningless(at this point) head-scratches whose dots don't actually join, given the plot, it does leave us a bit hanging.

I would have added Remus's random mage-exposure/personality-change to the list too, if they never flashed that skeletal face on screen one final time.

In general, I found the plot lost its momentum halfway through when they started focusing more on the political stuff, introducing characters from all over the world and moving away from Guin's journey a bit. Guess that can't be helped neither since they wanted to expand our view of such a large world in relatively little time.

Even so, the pros greatly outweight any cons. The animation's been good when it counts. Guin is as badass as ever with his falcon punch.

The soundtrack is a pure delight to listen to, thanks to Nobuo Uematsu. Dramatic, enchanting, brilliant. ~This is my Road couldn't have been a better ending for this.

Definitely one of my top fantasy series.

[Kraco]

Pulling it off the wrong way could have turned it into just another jealous kid throwing a tantrum...

I did give me that kind of an impression. The dude has the strongest ambition to be a king among kings but that's where his ambition starts and ends. He has no actual idea what it is to be a king or how one becomes a king. He's truly trapped in his destiny. I'd say he would never have become a king even if the series had continued. He might have become some sort of a leader with luck and his son might have become a king but not Istovan himself.

I guess Guin did tell him as much, in his own way. Too bad Istovan wasn't in any state to listen to anything but his own whining. The man truly fell towards the end of the series.

[KitKat]

Just wanted to check in and say that I'm finally getting around to finishing this series. Up to episode 16 now. And I have to say that probably the most fun in this show is watching it in a group and keeping up a running commentary on all of the characters. This is a show that works well with an interactive MST3K format of viewing. So far, the most hilarious line, delivered deadpan by the court official dude, has been, "but you have made the princess of the enemy a prisoner of love." Ahahahahahahaha

...ahem.... Anyhow, I like how the pacing has really picked up. Though, I think they've introduced a few too many characters than they can handle, now that there are so many plot threads in different places. It's rather dizzying. I'm looking forward to watching another installment of this next week.

[Sidnne]

Ok, so I just finished watching the Guin Saga anime, and it really left the story hanging.

I knew it was based on books so I did some research and found that the story has been going since 1979 and is still on-going. Guin Saga holds the record for the longest continuing single-writer's work in the world. There are currently 134 volumes, and the anime only covered the first 16 volumes. Furthermore, only the first 5 volumes of Guin Saga were ever released in English.

I've searched around the internet and found nothing, so I know this is a longshot, but I'm wondering if anyone knows where I can find the remaining volumes of Guin Saga translated in English?? There is so much more to this story and I'd love to be able to read all of the volumes to see what happens after the anime leaves off.