is a Japanese

cel-shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic th ...

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

television series, based on the novel ''

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter ''Ronia, the Robber's Daughter'' ( Swedish: ''Ronja rövardotter'') is a children's fantasy book by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, first published in 1981. The book has been adapted as a prize-winning 1984 film, a Danish and a German musi ...

'' (''Ronja Rövardotter)'' written by

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

. Produced by Polygon Pictures, Studio Ghibli, NHK Enterprises and

Dwango The Dial-up Wide-Area Network Game Operation, better known by the acronym DWANGO, was an early online gaming service based in the United States. Launched in 1994, it was originally known for its compatibility with ''Doom'', for which it function ...

, the series is directed and storyboarded by

Gorō Miyazaki is a Japanese director. He is the son of animator and film director Hayao Miyazaki, who is one of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli. Described as "reluctant" to follow his father's career, Goro initially worked as a landscaper for many years befo ...

, with Hiroyuki Kawasaki handling series composition and writing the scripts,

Katsuya Kondō is a Japanese manga artist, character designer, animator and animation director. He is best known for his character design work on the Studio Ghibli films ''Kiki's Delivery Service'' and ''Ocean Waves'', as well as the PlayStation game '' Jad ...

designing the characters, Toshio Suzuki providing the title logo and

Satoshi Takebe is a Japanese musician keyboard player, arranger, and producer from Tokyo. He is the composer, keyboardist, arranger and musical producer for artists such as Yo Hitoto, Miki Imai, Tomomi Kahara, JUJU, Yuzu and Ken Hirai is a Japanese ...

composing the music. Miyazaki stated, "''Ronja, the Robber's Daughter'' is not only a story about a young girl growing into adulthood, but also a story of love, growth, and the bond between parent and child and their friends. We aim to create a story that can be enjoyed by everyone, from children to adults." Kazuyoshi Saito wrote, produced and performed all the instruments on "Player" for Mari Natsuki to sing as the ending theme song. It is Studio Ghibli's first television series. UK-based distributor Serious Lunch has acquired the worldwide distribution rights, except for Japan and Scandinavia. It sought English-language broadcasters and brought the series to potential backers at the 2015

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

began streaming the series on its

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

streaming service on January 27, 2017. GKIDS released the series in the United States on August 20, 2019 (distributed by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

), and additional licenses were sold in China (UYoung Media) and Taiwan (PTS). The English dub is narrated by Gillian Anderson.

Storyline

Ronja, the only child of a bandit chief, grows up among a clan of robbers living in a castle in the woodlands of early-Medieval Scandinavia. When Ronja grows old enough she ventures into the forest, exploring and discovering its wonders and dangers like the mystical creatures that dwell there. She learns to live in the forest through her own strength, with the occasional rescue by her parents. Ronja's life begins to change, however, when she happens upon a boy her own age named Birk, who turns out to be the son of the rival clan chief.

Characters

* * * * aka Birk Borkason * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Episode list

Reception

Critical reception of Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya was mostly positive. The series was praised in reviews by

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, Collider

The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown ...

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

, iDigitalTimes,

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, Mir Fantastiki, among others. Meanwhile, Swedish journalist Yukiko Duke, The Onion's ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' and

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

published negative reviews. The show was praised for its visual beauty and being faithful to the original novel, but criticized for slow pacing.

Awards

, - , 2015 , rowspan=2, Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter , Asian Television Awards — Best 2D Animated Programme , , - , 2016 ,

International Emmy Awards The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sci ...

— Kids: Animation , , -

References

External links

Official site

Polygon Pictures site
* * {{Media based on Astrid Lindgren works 2014 anime television series debuts 2015 Japanese television series endings Fantasy anime and manga NHK original programming Animated series based on novels Japanese children's animated fantasy television series Polygon Pictures Television shows based on children's books Japanese computer-animated television series Television series about families Theft in fiction Television shows based on works by Astrid Lindgren