Juuni Kokuki is a fantasy anime distinguished by a great story and unforgettable characters. It's based on a series of novels that apparently aren't available outside of Japan. 45 episodes long, it's a collection of stories that share most of the main characters and the setting; unfortunately, it was cut because of budget problems and it's absolutely evident that at least 4-5 stories, maybe more, are missing. However those that have been animated are complete and very well done.

Animation

Juuni Kokuki's animation isn't technically excellent, but it manages to express all the beauty of the fantasy world where most of the story takes places. Even if the few scenes set in the real world feel kind of uninteresting, the powerful beauty of the nature and the architecture — inspired by ancient China — of the Twelve Kingdoms is gripping. The vividness of every single setting — the wilderness, rich cities, a beautiful palace, a town torn apart by war — make all the colors, all the moods of that medieval world jump right out of the screen. Many static scenes are so beautiful they'll probably leave a mark in the memory of any viewer.

A few 3D scenes have been used, but their quality is quite low and they're usually perceived as ugly. Fortunately, they are simply too rare to have any bearing on the overall animation quality.

Character design is good; an anime with a numerous and very varied cast needs to express the personality of the characters graphically as well as using good dubbers and good dialog. Juuni Kokuki succeeds in setting each character apart from the others, even large crowds usually have a lot of variety. The clothing, also inspired by the ancient Chinese culture, is very creative and by varying quite a lot between different countries it makes everything feel just a little more realistic.

Action scenes aren't always at the same level of other anime of the time, but in this particular anime action is hardly the focus. On the other hand, gripping action scenes do exist and they are many, although due to the length of the anime they are far from each other.

Sound

Juuni Kokuki's OST is simply excellent and very suited to work as a soundtrack; unfortunately, the producers didn't tap all the potential it has: often the switch from a track to another is too evident, some tracks are overused and the variations of the beautiful OP — which is the theme of the Twelve Kingdoms and perfectly represents them musically — are almost always used when the viewer is focusing on the dialog rather than while the camera sweeps over the landscape. More carefulness would have been cheap and would have made a big difference.

The sound effects are, at their best, barely adequate. Usually they're very low quality. Certain anachronisms, like associating a "swissshh!" to jumps, aren't acceptable in a 2003 anime.

The dubbers are all very good and convincing; the dubber of one character in particular, Rakushun, wins the prize here.

Story

From the first story, which leads us from the real world to the Twelve Kingdoms, to the last one Juuni Kokuki is always interesting and gripping, with numerous dramatic turns of events that keep the viewer's interest high and great attention to important themes like the value of life, morality and one's right place in the world - the kind of themes one usually doesn't find in fantasy anime.

Juuni Kokuki's story has a lot to offer to both the fans of the fantasy genre and fans of anime, but it's a great choice for occasional viewers as well. It's a high-speed run through a detailed and well fleshed-out parallel world; a consistent part of the Twelve Kingdoms is revealed in all its beauty and even if a big part of it is missing it doesn't really matter; what we have here can only be judged excellent by any reasonable standard.

Characters

Most of Juuni Kokuki's characters, not just the main ones, reveal a careful and intelligent study of their personality. Like in any other anime, not all of them undergo a significant evolution, but for the first time I can say that most of them do, indeed, evolve in interesting ways. Whoever considers character development important will find Juuni Kokuki an excellent anime. The viewer will hardly be able to predict the changes in someone's personality, even what's just behind the corner stays out of sight until the last moment.

in Juuni Kokuki we can recognize the kind of character construction typical of good books. Everyone's very much alive and some of them will probably be felt as distant friends by the time the anime ends.

Personal judgement

Juuni Kokuki is certainly one of my favourite anime. The experience has been wonderful.

Overall

This anime is a must-see. While belonging to a niche genre — that I don't even like, to be honest — it manages to be fit for any viewer; even if its animation and sound are only slightly above average, all the rest makes it a work of art.