is a Japanese

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

manga series by Yako Gureishi. It was serialized online from April 2015 to October 2019 via

Tokuma Shoten is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company’s product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, ...

's online manga magazine '' Web Comic Zenyon''. It was collected in six ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes. An

anime is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

television series adaptation by

Satelight is a Japanese animation studio. Aside from several stand-alone projects, the studio is well known for producing the '' Aquarion'' and ''Symphogear'' franchises, as well as later installments of the ''Macross'' franchise. The company's Represen ...

and Hornets ran from January 9 to March 26, 2020. Crunchyroll co-produced the series. After a long hiatus, the manga officially ended on December 22, 2020 due to the author Yako Gureishi's health problems.

Plot

The world is ruled by spirits, goblins, and all manner of strange creatures. Human beings are persecuted, to the very point of extinction. One day, a golem and a lone human girl meet. This is a record of the pair, one a member of a ruined race, the other a watchman of the forest. It tells of their travels together and of the bond between father and daughter, but the golem can only live for another year or so, he must find other humans in order to get her with her own race before he dies.

Characters

; : :A young human girl who is found by Golem in his forest. She has endless curiosity, which usually gets her in trouble. She wears a hood on her head with minotaur horns to hide her human features since humans are a delicacy in the monster world. ; : :An ancient automaton protector of the forest who stumbles upon Somali while patrolling the woods. He exhibits no emotions, but instinctively protects Somali from any potential threat. He acts like Somali's father and she calls him "Dad". ; : : A dwarf oni and an herbalist. He uses herbs to create medicine and lives in a cabin in the woods. He took care of Somali when she injured her knee while playing. ; : : Shizuno's assistant who lives with Shizuno in the forest cabin. He is also an oni and the caretaker of Shizuno's abode. ; : : A young woolly shurigara boy. He is reluctant to work at his father's diner when his mother gets injured. He befriends Somali, though is wary of her love of cuddling furry animals. ; : : A woolly shurigara and Kikila's father. He owns a slightly rundown diner in Anthole City and hires Golem as a waiter when his wife Giina injures her back while working. ; : : The guardian of Anthole City's sacred cavern and Kikila's teacher. He saves both Somali and Kikila from a beast when they go delving into the underground area without permission. ; : : A harpy and Haitora's travel companion. She loves Haitora and is willing to do anything to cure his condition, going so far as to kill another human to do it. ; : : A human disguised as a falcohol and Uzoi's travel companion. Ailing with a medical condition that's painfully turning him into a harpy after he and his family's ate Uzoi's mother,, he attempts to stop Uzoi from hurting others for his benefit. ; : : A witch who works at the Witches' Crest Library and Praline's younger sister. She aids Golem and Somali as they research the whereabouts and knowledge of humans. ; : : A witch at the Witches' Crest Library and Hazel's older sister, she lives in an underground bunker beneath the library and occasionally steals books to read for herself. ; : : The multi-armed lizard-like innkeeper of the inn used by the group in Bygone City. While she is initially helpful and sweet, when she finds out Somali is human, she betrays the group and gossips about it to others.

Media

Manga

Anime

television series adaptation was announced on March 22, 2019. The series was originally scheduled to premiere in October 2019, but the premiere date was pushed back to January 2020. The series was co-animated by

and Hornets, with Kenji Yasuda directing the series and

Ikuko Itoh is a Japanese animator, character designer, illustrator and animation director best known for her work on '' Sailor Moon'' and as the creator of ''Princess Tutu''. Career Ikuko Itoh graduated at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College, and started workin ...

designing the characters. Mariko Mochizuki handled the series composition, while Ryo Yoshimata composed the series' music. It aired from January 9 to March 26, 2020 on

AbemaTV Abema (, stylized as ABEMA) is a Japanese live TV streaming website owned by the entertainment company, AbemaTV, Inc. that provides over-the-top media services to customers in Japan. The website primarily acts as an online television network, ...

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

, and BS-NTV and ran for 12 episodes. Naotarō Moriyama performed the series' opening theme song "Arigatō wa Kocchi no Kotoba," while

Inori Minase is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Axl One. In March 2016, she won the Best Lead Actress Award in the 10th Seiyu Awards for her leading roles as Jun Naruse in the box office hit ''The Anthem of the Heart'' and as Yuki Take ...

performed the series' ending theme song "Kokoro Somali." Crunchyroll debuted the first episode on January 2, 2020, a week before its Japan airing. On May 18, 2021, it was announced that

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 ...

picked up the home video rights.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Satelight 2020 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga Fantasy anime and manga Japanese webcomics Satelight Seinen manga Sentai Filmworks Tokuma Shoten manga Webcomics in print