The Twelve Kingdoms Forum

I'm aware of how acclaimed this series has become and now with the releases of the two premium sets I have recently been pondering whether they would be worth buying, in spite of the series being unfinished. I've heard that the main protagonist's story is conluded by the final episode so does the series feel complete in someway? And one final question; does it appear likely that they will continue this series in the near future?
Thanks for your time.

Totally worth buying. I rarely ever buy anime but when I do it's because it's that good. I actually just 2 days ago bought the 2 premium sets from deepdiscountdvd.com for $60 each. Money well spent my friend.

I bought the DVDs as they were coming out. I've now saved up the money to buy the boxed sets. >-< For me, totally and completely worth it.

Hella yeah-although I might not get the premium as I too collected the series as it came out and I haven't the funds to splurge -especially with X-mas 'round the corner.

Heh, well thanks for the quick feedback guy/gals. I suppose I'll be leaving in a couple of hours to order the first premium box then (and hopefully the first volume of Gankutsuou).

Cryton_Valance wrote:I'm aware of how acclaimed this series has become and now with the releases of the two premium sets I have recently been pondering whether they would be worth buying,

Yes. I certainly think so. It's an excellent series. (Of course you know you're asking a biased audience here. )

Cryton_Valance wrote:in spite of the series being unfinished. I've heard that the main protagonist's story is conluded by the final episode so does the series feel complete in someway?

In the original novels, there are a whole collection of different but interrelated stories about the Twelve Kingdoms, and several of them are included in the anime. The anime finishes all of the stories that it starts, so yes, it does feel complete, at least for the most part. The reason it's refered to as being incomplete is that there is another story that they had originally wanted to include in the anime, but the novels for that story were to be published in two parts and only the first of those novels was ever finished, so they stopped the anime before going into that story.

The anime does include an arc called "Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth" about a young kirin, Taiki, and his search for a new ruler for the kingdom of Tai. This story itself is complete, but it's the most closely related to the incomplete story which is not included in the anime. That story is set several years later, but because when the "Sea of the Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth" arc was being animated, they were still planning on including that story as well, a few hints or teasers about it were included. So the anime tells us that several years after the events we're shown, Taiki and his new emperor are both missing, and that at least Taiki ended up back in our own world, in Japan. But the story of what led up to that, how it happened, and how Taiki and his emperor were finally recovered and brought back to Tai - that story is not included in the anime because only the first half of it was completed in the novels.

Cryton_Valance wrote:And one final question; does it appear likely that they will continue this series in the near future?

In the near future - no, they won't. The book they had wanted to base the next arc on hasn't been written yet. Someday - well, we're all hoping so. In order for that to happen, first the author, Fuyumi Ono, would need to complete the sequel to her novel "Tasogare no Kishi, Akatsuki no Sora". I don't know how likely that is. It was written several years ago and she's gone on to other series since then. There is a large Japanese fan-base for Juuni Kokki asking her to continue with it, but her newer works also have a large fan-base. It's really going to come down to what she herself has the most ideas for and is the most interested in writing, and we don't know when or if her interests will return to this series. If she does come back to it and complete that sequel, then the animation company would have to consider whether they want to go back to continue an old anime from several years ago rather than start a new one. We're all hoping they will, but it's not something that's going to happen soon.

Thanks for that indepth reply Niwashi2. It cleared up a whole lot of questions I'd been asking myself. And about me asking a biased audience Niwashi2 and thesmokingman, sometimes I need a biased opinion to get me to purchase an entire series (especially when I'm not too big on cash at the moment) The main issue I had was the reasons behind why the series felt incomplete but that's been cleared thanks to your helpful responses (I'm glad to hear it finishes the stories it begins, for the most part). One thing I'd like to ask though is whether the director was aware before completing episode 45 that he wouldn't include the final story arc (and thus create an adequate ending), or if the last episode just ends on a low note, without a conclusive finale (i.e. the final episode just ends as any other episode would).

One thing you can do to convince yourself if you like the story is to read the fan-translation of the first novel that the anime starts on. Obviously, there are some significant changes from the novel to the anime (and the anime is not nearly as bloody and gory as the novel portrays), but the main themes are still there, and it would be up to you if you want to see this story (and more) animated.

Unfortunately, you would lose the "surprise" factor if you read the novel first, and you may be disappointed in the "not as good as the novel" feel some people have, though I actually think, given the amount of episodes, the anime is about as good as you will get... But reading the novel may give you an idea of how the first arc goes. You still have 3 more arcs to see after that one.

As for the directors and producers that decided to continue the story despite the novels not being finished yet, I cannot claim to know what they were thinking. My gut feeling is that they were trying to animate as much of the existing novels as possible before they had to stop due to lack of source material. But as Niwashi2 said, all of the arcs that the anime starts are pretty much complete in themselves, but you do end with a feeling of "there could be more!". That is probably the real reason the series feels incomplete to people.

ADD: Just so you know, you do not have to read the novels to understand the anime. The anime series is very understandable on its own.

ADD2: And my nature make me not able to just tell someone to drop $120 on something that they may not enjoy. As much as I love this series (enough to buy it twice, the original DVDs and the Box Sets, and import four different soundtracks ), I cannot ask someone else to simply put down that amount of money on a not sure thing.

Thanks alot for that zitch!