Continuing my theme of older series I picked up Moribito mainly on the basis of its complete status 26 episodes and its promise of a kickbutt female lead. I wasnt disappointed. Balsa spear wielder and bodyguard is a wandering warrior who has vowed to atone for eight deaths in her past by saving an equivalent number of lives. On her journey she saves Prince Chagum and is tasked with becoming his bodyguard. His own father the emperor has ordered his assassination. The two begin a perilous journey to ensure the survival of the prince while they uncover Chagums mysterious connection to a legendary water spirit with the power to destroy the kingdom. I dont usually have a lot of high hopes for older series and I was happily surprised at virtually every point as this turned out not just to be a good action show but full of characters with depth. The main character Balsaspear wielder and bodyguardends up taking care of sheltered Prince Chagum whom the royals believe harbors a spirit that will cause the destruction of their country and thus must be killed for the greater good. Other characters are good too but a highlight is grumpy Madame Torogai one of those crochety old wmen who can do anything and also carries her pet rabbit on her head. Much of the series is a mental game where Balsa and co. try to stay one step ahead of the palace guards tasked with finding and killing them while also working on that whole waterspirit possession thing but theres plenty of action. Verdict Is there an English dub? Yes and its great Most characters sound pretty natural no highandsqueaky voices here. Chagum has a more mature voice than I would expect for a young boy but it actually works well conveying his more formal speech patterns from being raised in a palace. How are the visuals? Nice and theres a nice variety of skin tones among the characters. TBH I am kinda in love with Balsas elegant design and those lips and Madame Torogais crotchetyoldlady look. The show does a good job differentiating between ethnic groups in the designs and doesnt imply one is better than the others. Is it worth watching? Absolutely. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed thisits not just a straight heros journey with the characters pursued by a bad guy and all the characters are given depth. Its stated early on that although the palace is officially trying to kill Chagum its because they fear not doing so will bring drought and disaster to the land and no one enjoys the task. Youve got a strongphysically and emotionallyfemale character who is also caring and thoughtful. You have a male potential love interest who respects her wishes and doesnt force himself the same guy is shown as gentle and the apprentice to a woman shaman but isnt shown as weak. Theres a lot of respect between characters. Moribito takes what could have been a basic heros journey filled with fighting and cliches and instead produced something with depth. Also also also can I just mention that Balsa is 30? It was so refreshing to watch a fun cartoon that didnt focus on a teenage protagonist.