Somali to Mori no Kamisama

Title:Somali to Mori no Kamisama
Somali and the Forest Spirit
ソマリと森の神様
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Satelight
In a world ruled by spirits and monsters, humans are persecuted and driven to the brink of extinction. In a certain forest, a golem – the guardian of the forest – and a little girl meet. Their journey as surrogate father and daughter to each other begins.
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


TV anime that premiered on January 2, 2020.
Animated by Satelight.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 9 8 8 7 9 9 Ggultra2764 [series:3784#1552]
Somali and the Forest Spirit focuses on a golem attempting to find surviving humans who will care for a young girl named Somali in his protection before protection before his remaining life span runs out. The world that the series is set in is full of supernatural beings like demons, goblins, and witches that is explored throughout Somali and the golem's journey, with humans believed to be nearly extinct. There are plot-relevant reasons for why humans are rare to come across that the series does dabble into in later episodes and features a good moral dabbling into prejudice at that point. Outside of world exploration, the series also does a great job exploring Somali and the golem's relationship as the former assumes the golem is her father and the latter learns and adapts to being surrogate parent for the young girl. The bond between the two is convincingly endearing, though also carries a bittersweet feel as the golem's life span continues decreasing as his journey with Somali presses on. The only shortcoming I do have with the series is the lack of a conclusive ending as Somali and the golem's journey still continues and it's unclear how much longer the golem has to live. Still, Somali and the Forest Spirit made for an engaging 12-episode run this season thanks to both its focus on Somali and the golem's bond, as well as offering a powerful moral focused on prejudice within the anime's second half. Would definitely recommend checking it out at least once.

Last updated Thursday, March 26 2020. Created Thursday, March 26 2020.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:3784#628]
(One episode watched):

Despite all the fanciful plants and animals, and all the colorful animation, this show didn't 'click' with me. Perhaps that's because the girl, Somali, is an immature child who is sometimes more annoying than endearing. I never got the feeling that I knew her and liked her enough to care much about what became of her. Golem, on the other hand, is intentionally left without much of a personality. Perhaps another problem is that we aren't told much of anything about where they are going or what they hope to achieve. Why is Golem willing to abandon his role of protector of the forest? Is Somali the last human? We aren't told much, and that left me kind of bored. And a rabbit with small antlers isn't exactly an original creation. I was impatient for episode one to end and was relieved when it finally did.

Last updated Sunday, January 26 2020. Created Sunday, January 26 2020.

Other Sites
NameURL
Official Japanese Series Web Site http://somali-anime.com/

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