Moribito series
The Moribito series is a Japanese fantasy novel series written by Nahoko Uehashi. The first novel in the series, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, has been adapted into numerous media, including a radio drama, manga series, an anime adaption, and a live-action series.
As of 2018, the series is composed of 10 parts, published in 13 volumes. The series has been translated into several languages. In English, Scholastic released the first two novels in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
Setting
Moribito is set in a fantasy analog of historical Asia. The setting includes several nations, such as Kanbal, a rugged, Himalayan-like kingdom, and New Yogo, a fertile kingdom that combines elements of feudal Japan and Southwest China. The supernatural plays very prominently into the world of the series, with the physical world being referred to as Sagu and a parallel spirit world being referred to as Nayug.Characters
Protagonists
; Balsa; Chagum
; Tanda
; Torogai
Kingdom of New Yogo
Royal family
; The Mikado; The First Queen
; The Second Queen
; Sagum
Star readers
; Shuga; Gakai
; Hibi Tonan
The Hunters
; Mon; Jin
; Zen
; Yun
; Hyoku*
; Rai*
; Taga*
; Sune
Kōsenkyō Downtown
; Tōya; Saya
; The Blue Hand
; The Swordsmith*
Kingdom of Kanbal
Royal family
; RadalleTen Clans
Musa Clan
; Jiguro Musa; Kassa
; Gina
; Yuguro Musa
; Kaguro Musa
Herder people
; TotoPublication history
The novel series was published in hardback by Kaiseisha as children's literature, though the series has garnered many adult fans. Shinchosha began its publication in of the series in bunko size in March 2007. The Moribito and Tabibito strands of the series split after the first book, Guardian of the Spirit, and merge again in the chronologically final book, Ten to Chi no Moribito.The series also includes Balsa's Table, a non-fiction volume that includes cooking recipes with photos of the cuisines described in the series; and Complete Guide to Guardian of the Spirit, an extensive guidebook with background information on the setting and characters and a new short story, by Nahoko Uehashi, about Balsa and Tanda's relationship.
As of 2010, the series sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan and won "a series of literary awards in Japan".
Translations
China
and respectively distribute the novels in Taiwan and mainland China.U.S. release
The English translation of the first book, published by Arthur A. Levine Books, appeared in the summer of 2008; the second book's translation appeared in April 2009.Both books won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award from the American Library Association, the first volume in 2009, and the second, in 2010.
Due to unsatisfactory sales, publishing of the series in the U.S. has since been indefinitely suspended by Scholastic.
| Title | Publication date | ISBN | Notes |
| Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit | June 2008 April 2009 | | |
| Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness | May 2009 |
Other
Some volumes of the series have also been translated to Italian, Korean, Vietnamese, Macedonian, Portuguese and Spanish.Media
Moribito has since been adapted into numerous media, including radio, manga and anime adaptations.Radio drama
adapted Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness into radio drama series, which aired in NHK-FM Broadcast's program . The first series and second series aired from August 7, 2006, to August 18 of the same year and from April 16, 2007, to April 27 of the same year respectively.Anime
The series has been adapted into a 26 episode anime television series, produced by Production I.G and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, which premiered in Japan on NHK from April 7, 2007. The anime was based entirely on the first novel, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, and greatly expands the midsection of the novel.At the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2007 in March, Geneon announced that they have acquired the license to the anime and Scholastic announced they have US distribution rights to the novels. After Geneon discontinued its distribution division, the rights transferred to Media Blasters. The series premiered in the United States at 1:30 a.m. on August 24, 2008, on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim 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 Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the United States at 1:30 a.m. Sundays, but was moved to 2:30 a.m. Eastern time, swapping it with Fullmetal Alchemist in November.
Manga
A manga adaptation of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Kamui Fujiwara was published in Square Enix's magazine ' from the April 2007 issue to the August 2008 issue. Its spin-off titled ジン ～アニメ精霊の守り人外伝～ was published in the same company's another magazine ' from the 9th 2008 issue to the 17th 2008 issue.A manga adaptation of Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness by Yū was published in ' shōjo magazine from August 12, 2014.
TV drama
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit is a 2016 Japanese television drama series produced by Japan's NHK network, consisting of 22 episodes covering three of the novels in the Moribito series.Four episodes adapting the material in the first novel, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, were broadcast in 2016, and another nine adapted from the multi-volume novel Kami no Moribito aired in 2017. The remaining nine began in November 2017 and continue into 2018. It appears this third and final season will adapt Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness, which takes place in Balsa's home country of Kambal.
The series is licensed for Northern America by Digital Media Rights and available to watch in the region on AsianCrush and Hoopla.
Analysis
The series has been called "one of the high points of the genre of fantasy writing for YA and children in Japan". Its themes are relevant to contemporary global society, which also resulted in the series success abroad. Those themes include traditional YA themes such as family and friendship, but also more realistic ones such as romantic love, work, sex, gender, and war. Other themes discussed by scholars include "loyalty to promises made, protection of a child in danger, the commitment to restore balance in the world", as well as "society and borders, respect for living creatures, destiny, politics and power, and the influence of religion".As Balsa, a female, is the spear wielder, and her romantic partner, Tanda, is a shaman, Yasuko Doi has noted this represents a reversal of "the typical sword hero and mage hero roles common in mid-twentieth-century western fantasy". Traditional gender roles are also challenged by themes such as Tanda's fondness of cooking and prince Chagum's story of "giving birth" to an otherworldly "egg". Similar observation has been made by Helen Kilpatrick who noted that Balsa's character and her relationships with others "casts light on the state of some of Japan's changing attitudes on gender, workforce and family roles".
Helen Kilpatrick and Orie Muta also analyzed the series as a study and critique of "ideologies of a homogenous Japan" and "challenging Nihonjinron", showing "the importance of diversity and collaboration" between different ethnic groups and nation states. Many characters, including Balsa herself, are effectively outsiders or ethnic minorities, and this relates to another serious and controversial theme of the novel - that of colonialism; in particular, Japanese relations with the Ainu people. The theme of deconstructing myths and legends and rediscovering real history, or witnessing how behind-the-scene power plays create false, propaganda-related narratives results in the series questioning "hegemonic power constructions". In the Japanese context, this can be seen as an "unconventional critique of many Japanese ideologies and national institutions", challenging the audience to consider their "dominant understandings of, for instance, Japan's emperor system". They attribute this partially to the author's background as an anthropologist.
The series has been described as popular, receiving an anime, a live action adaptation and numerous translations. The popularity of the Moribito series has resulted in a significant number of fan fiction works inspired by it. While initially marketed for younger audiences, the series has been described as popular among adults as well.