The Essentials

Name: Legend of Himiko, Himiko-den
Genre:: Adventure, Fantasy
Episodes: 12
Released: January 7, 1999 – April 31, 1999
Based On: Himiko-Den Playstation game
Director: Ayumi Tomobuki
Produced By: Amuse Video
US Distribution By: U.S. Manga Corps

Major Japanese Cast

Himiko Himejima: Tsubasa Otomiya
Mashiko Kutani: Tomokazu Seki
Imari: Yuko Mizutani
Seika: Yumi Takada
Iga: Kouji Ishii
Shikara: Toshiyuki Morikawa
Fujina: Atsuko Tanaka
Shino: Akiko Hiramatsu
Koran: Kyoko Hikami
Tadami: Etsuko Kozakura
King: Kôzô Shioya
Heihachiro: Norio Wakamoto
Chosa: Yasunori Matsumoto
Tenmoku: Gara Takashima
KiraRica Fukami
Korai: Nobuyuki Hiyama
Kiyomizu: Chiyako Shibahara
Enki: Jin Horikawa
Kyou: Omi Minami

Major English Cast

Himiko Himejima: Veronica Taylor
Mashiko Kutani: James Wolfe
Imari: Vibe Jones
Seika: Jessica Calvello
Iga: Tristan Goddard
Shikara: Jack Taylor
Fujina: Sharon Becker
Shino: Angora Deb
Koran: Lisa Ortiz
Tadami: Tara Jayne
King: Matthew Harrington
Heihachiro: David Zema
Chosa: Dan Green
Tenmoku: Ami Shukla
Kira Dana Halsted
Korai: Patrick Harper
Enki: Billy Regan
Kyou: Michelle Medlin

Scores

Animation: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 6/10 (x 4 = 24 pts)
Coherency/Story Arc:10/10 (x 2 = 20 pts)
English Dubs: 7/10 (x 1 = 7 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 151/200 (75.5%)

Review

Legend of Himiko is about a pair of “regular” high school students, Himiko and Kutani. Himiko had been found at a site containing ancient ruins by Kutani when he was little. While exploring where Kutani had found Himiko after Himiko was told about her past, the two are transported back in time to ancient Japan. The two find themselves in the nation of Yamatai, which had been conquered by the nation of Kune several years beforehand.
There, they find six girls who are supposed to be candidates to become the first human queen of Yamatai. The queen was supposed to have been selected by a magical fire called the Bokka, but the selection and ceremony were interrupted by the invasion by Kune. The son of the King of Kune, Shikara, is governor-general of Yamatai, as is secretly using the old temple of the Bokka – which has since turned into the Fountain of Darkness – to create an army of the undead which he eventually plans to use to take over Kune itself and eventually the world.

Himiko eventually learns her true past and her connection to the Bokka as she, Kutani, and the queen candidates fight to retake Yamatai’s independence.

I’ll just state this right away: I liked this anime a lot more than the score I’m giving it indicates I did. The primary reason why the anime gets the score it does is because the anime isn’t really that great in a technical sense. The animation is average, if that, and the music ranged from good to really bad, depending on the song.

Having said that, I think this is a very interesting and unique story. In a way, it’s a shame this series was only 12 episodes since we didn’t get filled in on as much of the back story as I would have liked. If this had been a properly funded full season, I think it would have had the potential of being a pretty good fantasy anime.

The anime is a little jumpy just by it’s nature. If you have six queen candidates going around in four different groups, plus the main bad guys, plus whenever either Himiko or Kutani get seperated from the group, well, you’re gonna jump around. I don’t think it damaged the flow of the story all that much myself, however.

Overall I would say, if you don’t mind the average animation and at times bad music and are into adventure/fantasy anime, give this one a try.

First Watched: August 2006
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes