Is the amount of pretty in an anime directly proportional to the amount of action therein?
In the case of Shonen Onmyouji, the answer is yes. Geneon is one of the leading anime companies in America due to its habit of picking up a good portion of anime with high production value. Shonen Onmyouji’s quality is evident just from the DVD jacket illustration of the shikigami Tenitsu on the cover. But another nifty thing about the box presentation is that it’s a clear case, and Geneon has designed an alternate cover on the inside of the jacket featuring an illustration of the shikigami Genbu. Inside the box is an insert with DVD releases for the series that also features (front and back) the same illustrations found on the jacket. The DVD menu is pretty simplistic, and features the same cover illustration of Tenitsu. Just because the menu is simple, doesn’t necessarily mean the layout is bad. It actually fits together quite nicely to the side of the illustration rather than covering it up. Aside from this, the anime itself has rather good animation quality for a TV series. The English voice cast, however, is barely adequate for the characters. Not only this, but I noticed that the original Japanese dubbing has better overall sound quality. The English dub’s background music, for example, seems faded out in comparison. But on a positive note, the Japanese dub actually employs real Buddhist chants used for the onmyouji spells.
The glass is half empty, but there is something good at the bottom.
Most Geneon single-volume DVDs include three things. Two of these things are staff/actor credits, and the general DVD credits. Honestly, does anyone even look at those? Though, they are handy for when you’re trying to job your memory on a voice actor’s name. The real meat of the extra content comes from the Geneon previews. They’re somewhat smaller in volume than trailers on Funimation discs, but the near-theatrical quality of the trailers make up for it. The previews are for Rozen Maiden, Kyo Kara Maoh part 2, and the Hellsing OVA. Again, paltry offerings, but the trailers are enjoyable to view.
A spell of binding.
Following in the grand tradition of anime titles full of beautiful supportive characters, Shonen Onmyouji is no exception to the rule that the prettier the cast your anime has, the better the action has to be to counterbalance all the rampant pretty. Stories centering around one character being surrounded by a multitude of supportive aids like the shikigami have been around a good while in anime themes, but Shonen Onmyouji does a good job at having an original story with a good deal of character growth to strengthen plot progression. It’s not an anime that just has a flavor of the week battle or everything leading to some epic tournament of strength. At its heart, it’s about Masahiro’s struggle to learn from his experiences and grow, all the while unknowingly influencing those around him. This is a great anime for just about anyone to watch because of that basic premise. It has everything—love, vengeance seeking, fast-paced battles, and comedic relief. Truly, Shonen Onmyouji is an underestimated classic in the making and it’s almost a necessity for any collection.