The Twelve Kingdoms Complete Series Blu-ray

The anime is not totally faithful to the novels. Changes were made to improve the first arc. Originally, Youko was mostly alone, no interaction, not good for an anime. The changes tell the story better, if anything.

The first arc is slow, focusing on developing Youko, it gets better after the mid point. Some action, but mostly character development. The end of it is very good though.

The second arc, is told as a recollection and revolves around new characters, interesting, but unrelated to the first arc.

The third arc is excellent. Without the first arc, to understand Youko it may be confusing. There are great observations and conversations, good story, and good action. My personal favorite.

The fourth arc, is also a recollection related by King En. It was good, but a let down compared to the third arc.

The original novels seemed to focus on a different character for each book. I wish the novels were all available in English but releases stopped after volume three.

If you're looking for an easy read where the heroine gets her food handed to her on a golden platter, this isn't for you. The world building and character development is phenomenal. Before you know it, you'll be rooting for the characters and for me personally, I was touch to the point of tears. Honestly, it can feel kind of slow at the beginning, but before you know it, you're left wanting more and you realize that it wasn't really slow, but in fact was really well paced. It's a lot to take in but I guaranteed it'll give you the feels.

An anime rich in character(s) development, a complex narrative described in arcs, and a fantasy series that showcases many similarities to ancient China.

High praises for a series revealing such a vast number of memorable characters, with Rakushun (the mouse/human hybrid) standing out as one of the most fascinating characters in the series. The other beasts/creatures in the "Twelve Kingdoms" are equally interesting as well; especially, the magical Kirins that serve each ruler of a Kingdom. Best story arc features Yoko befriending Suzu and Shoukei while rebellion takes place in a town/city, it's a brilliant story of intricate ties the three women have with Rakushun. Just a must see adventure series!

Highly recommended and in 1080p/1:33:1 format.

It is rare to see such a finely crafted narrative balancing the perspective of so many different characters. Especially considering how much weight the author gives to help us understand the breadth of historical and cultural significance each character must contend with when making decisions.
The animation is great for 2002. Detailed and NHK gave this high production values almost on par with GITS season 1 in my opinion. Buy.

The show is itself awesome. One of the best anime shows I've ever seen. Top notch. Etc. Etc.

So why the three star rating? Well, as is their wont Discotek has seriously screwed up the packaging for one of their products AGAIN. You would think with a nice thick blu-ray case you would get individual flaps for each disc right? WRONG. You get them stacked on spindles like it's some kind of cheapie budget release. I hate this - I am not a member of the Society For Putting Things On Top Of Other Things. It's a pain in the butt to get discs out and it risks damaging them by having them sit on top of each other. Why does Discotek do this? I thought their DVD releases were bad enough, putting two discs to a flap but this is even worse. Come on, guys, you can't even spring for decent packaging?

Great anime! Very good storytelling. However, DISCOTEK was really cheap in their packaging. The blu-ray case it comes in has two discs stacked together on one side and three stacked on the other side. I don't understand why they didn't use a blu-ray case that has individual flaps for each disc. Considering it wouldn't have cost much if they buy them bulk. I ended up buying a 5 disc blu-ray replacement 15mm case for it cause I didn't want the discs to get damaged using the case it came in.

To add to Aarchel's thoughtful review... This is a strong story, but don't expect "leveling up" or magical weapons that solve all problems or whatever. The characters are flawed and real, the tales are full of very understandable fears and misunderstandings. But the resolution does a great job of pulling it all together and making even the hardest to view episodes worth it. My one regret is that the Taiki plot arc is not resolved.