is a Japanese novel that was first published in July 1996. It is the first in the 12-volume series of Japanese

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

s by

Nahoko Uehashi (born July 15, 1962 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese writer, primarily of fantasy books, for which she has won many awards. Uehashi is also Professor of Ethnology at Kawamura Gakuen Women's University, having completed a PhD focusing on the Yamat ...

. It was the recipient of the Batchelder Award An ALA Notable Children's Book in 2009. It has since been adapted into numerous media, including radio,

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

, and taiga drama adaptations. Scholastic released the first novel in English in June 2008.

Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment corporation that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American ...

has confirmed that they acquired the rights to the anime. The anime series adaptation premiered on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

in the U.S. at 1:30 a.m. ET on August 24, 2008, but was dropped from the schedule without warning or explanation on January 15, 2009, after two runs of the first ten episodes. The program returned to Adult Swim during the summer 2009 line-up with an airing of the entire series.

Synopsis

Balsa, spear wielder and bodyguard, is a wandering warrior who has vowed to atone for eight deaths in her past by saving an equivalent number of lives. On her journey, she saves Prince Chagum and is tasked with becoming his bodyguard. His own father, the Mikado, has ordered his assassination. The two begin a perilous journey to ensure the survival of the prince. Balsa's complicated past begins to come to light and they uncover Chagum's mysterious connection to a legendary water spirit with the power to destroy the kingdom.

Media

Novel

The novel was first published in

hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occas ...

by Kaiseisha as

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, but it had many adult fans.

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: ''Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), ...

republished it in ''

bunkobon In Japan, are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and space saving. The great majority of ''bunkobon'' are A6 (105×148mm or 4.1"×5.8") in size. They are sometimes illustrated and like other Japanese paperbacks usually ...

'' format in March 2007. ; ''Seirei no Moribito'' (''Guardian of the Spirit'') (, 1996-07) (Bunko , 2007-03) : Adapted into the anime series. Balsa is hired to protect a prince with a mysterious spirit living inside him. : Published in English by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic in the summer of 2008; translated by Cathy Hirano.

Radio drama

The series has been adapted into a

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

series, written by Satoshi Maruo. It aired in ' on

NHK FM Broadcast is the official music and news FM radio station of the NHK (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation). See also * NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japa ...

from August 7, 2006, to August 18, 2006.

Anime

The series has been adapted into an

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

, produced by

Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...

and directed by

Kenji Kamiyama is a Japanese anime director. Career Kamiyama has worked regularly with the anime studio and production enterprise Production I.G, such as his work on ''Jin-Roh'', ''Patlabor'', '' Blood: The Last Vampire'', and for whom he has directed the '' ...

, which premiered in Japan on

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

from April 7, 2007. The anime runs 26 episodes and is based entirely on the first novel in the Guardian series, and greatly expands the midsection of the novel. At the

Tokyo International Anime Fair The Tokyo International Anime Fair also known as was one of the largest anime trade fairs in the world, held annually in Tokyo, Japan. The first event was held in 2002 as "Tokyo International Anime Fair 21". The event was held at Tokyo Big Sigh ...

2007 in March,

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distributi ...

announced that they had acquired the license to the anime and Scholastic announced they had US distribution rights to the novels. After Geneon discontinued its US distribution division, the rights transferred to

. The series premiered in the United States at 1:30 a.m. ET on August 24, 2008, on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

block, but was dropped from the schedule without warning or explanation on January 15, 2009, after two runs of the first ten episodes. On June 13, 2009, the series was back on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

block in the United States at 1:30 a.m. ET on Sundays, but was later moved to 2:30 a.m. ET, swapping it with ''

Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology magazine ''Gangan Comics#Monthly Shōnen Gangan, Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' between July 20 ...

'' in November.

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

re-released the entire series on DVD and Blu-ray on August 26, 2014. It also aired on their digital broadcasting channel,

Neon Alley Neon Alley was an American digital anime service run by Viz Media. The service began as a 24-hour linear web channel dedicated to showing English dubbed anime series in uncut and uncensored formats. It later evolved into a Hulu-based streaming ...

January 17, 2014, until the channel's closure on May 6, 2016. In August 2020,

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

announced that they acquired the series for home video and digital release. The series feature two theme songs. The opening title is " Shine" by

L'Arc-en-Ciel L'Arc-en-Ciel ( French: 'The Rainbow', stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel), also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ...

, while

Sachi Tainaka is a Japanese singer who is best known for her vocals in the opening songs of the anime version of ''Fate/stay night''. She has a 3½-octave vocal range. Although her name was written in katakana, her birth name is written in kanji are t ...

performs " Itoshii Hito e" for the ending title.

Taiga fantasy drama

The series has been adapted into a live-action taiga fantasy drama series by

, shot in

4K resolution 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K Ultra-high-definitio ...

. It stars

Haruka Ayase is a Japanese actress, model and singer who started her career as a gravure idol in 2000. She has since become a leading actress in television and film. Life and career Early life and education Haruka Ayase was born as Aya Tademaru on March ...

as Balsa. Season one was shown in four episodes in March and April 2016. Season two was shown over nine episodes from January to March 2017. The third and final season was shown from November 2017 to January 2018, also over nine episodes.

References

External links

Official site
of the novels
Official site
of the anime
Production I.G site

* * * {{Authority control 1996 children's books 1996 Japanese novels Anime and manga based on novels Anime Works Fictional bodyguards Gangan Comics manga Geneon USA Japanese children's novels Japanese fantasy novels Martial arts anime and manga NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan NHK original programming Novels by Nahoko Uehashi Production I.G Samurai in anime and manga Sentai Filmworks Shinchosha books Shōnen manga Sword and sorcery anime and manga Taiga drama Viz Media anime Works about atonement