Utage
Also known as: Celebration, The Time Of Celebration
Series titles: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit, Guardian of the Spirit
- Studio
- Kaisei-Sha, Guardian of the Spirit Committee
- Animation studio
- Production I.G
- Distributor
- NHK
Characters
Balsa, Chagum, Tanda, Torogai, Shuga, Mon, Jin, Jiguro, Mon, Jin, Touya, Taga, Saya, Hibitonan, Yun, Sagum, Sun, Kohyoi, Zen, Gakai, Mikado, Rai, Karbo, Hyok, Nino-kisaki, Gyabusal.
Characters (English Version): Balsa, Chagum, Tanda, Torogai, Shuga, Mon, Jin, Jiguro, Mon, Jin, Touya, Taga, Saya, Hibitonan, Yun, Sagum, Sun, Kohyoi, Zen, Gakai, Mikado, Rai, Karbo, Hyok, Nino-kisaki, Gyabusal
Characters (English Version): Balsa, Chagum, Tanda, Torogai, Shuga, Mon, Jin, Jiguro, Mon, Jin, Touya, Taga, Saya, Hibitonan, Yun, Sagum, Sun, Kohyoi, Zen, Gakai, Mikado, Rai, Karbo, Hyok, Nino-kisaki, Gyabusal
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Kenji Kamiyama (Series Director)
- Series Assistant Director
- Masayuki Yoshihara
Producing
- Producer
- Hisako Matsumoto, Akio Matsuda, Tomoyasu Nishimura, Shinjuro Yokoyama
- Executive Producers
- Katsuji Morishita, Yûichi Sekido, Masakazu Shioura, Wataru Tanaka
Writing
- Writer
- Kenji Kamiyama
- Based On the Original Novel "Seirei no Moribito" By
- Nahoko Uehashi
Voices
- Voice
- Mabuki Ando Mabuki Andou (Balsa), Naito Adachi (Chagum), Koji Tsujidani Kouji Tsujitani (Tanda), Ako Mayama (Torogai), Hirofumi Nojima (Shuga), Naomi Kusumi (Mon), Masaya Matsukaze (Jin), Rintaro Nishi Rintarou Nishi (Jiguro), Mayumi Asano (Touya), Kouhei Fukuhara (Taga), Ryou Hirohashi (Saya), Takkou Ishimori (Hibitonan), Shinji Kawada (Yun), Ryouya Kobayashi (Sagum), Yuuki Masuda (Sun), Wasabi Mizuta (Kohyoi), Kenichi Mochizuki (Zen), Hiroshi Naka (Gakai), Atsushi Ono (Mikado, Rai), Ryûzaburô Ôtomo (Karbo), Takayuki Sasada (Hyok), Emi Shinohara (Nino-kisaki), Takuma Takewaka (Gyabusal)
- Vocal Talent (English Version)
- Mabuki Ando Mabuki Andou (Balsa), Naito Adachi (Chagum), Koji Tsujidani Kouji Tsujitani (Tanda), Ako Mayama (Torogai), Hirofumi Nojima (Shuga), Naomi Kusumi (Mon), Masaya Matsukaze (Jin), Rintaro Nishi Rintarou Nishi (Jiguro), Mayumi Asano (Touya), Kouhei Fukuhara (Taga), Ryou Hirohashi (Saya), Takkou Ishimori (Hibitonan), Shinji Kawada (Yun), Ryouya Kobayashi (Sagum), Yuuki Masuda (Sun), Wasabi Mizuta (Kohyoi), Kenichi Mochizuki (Zen), Hiroshi Naka (Gakai), Atsushi Ono (Mikado, Rai), Ryûzaburô Ôtomo (Karbo), Takayuki Sasada (Hyok), Emi Shinohara (Nino-kisaki), Takuma Takewaka (Gyabusal)
Music
- Music
- Kenji Kawai
Editing
- Editor
- Junichi Uematsu
Crew
- Art Director
- Yusuke Takeda
- Character Designer
- Gato Aso Gatou Asou
- Designs
- Shigeto Koyama
- Storyboards
- Naoki Arakawa
- Cinematography
- Hiroshi Tanaka
- Color Coordinator
- Yumiko Katayama
- Sound Director
- Kazuhiro Wakabayashi
- Music
- Kenji Kawai
- Opening Theme "Shine" by
- L'Arc-en-Ciel
- Ending Theme "Itoshii Hito E" ("To The Loved One") by
- Sachi Tainaka
- Special Effects
- Masahiro Murakami
- Planners
- Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Tetsuo Kamemura, Akihiro Kawamura, Shuichi Machida
- 3D Director
- Makoto Endo
- Producers (English Version)
- Eric P. Sherman, Kaeko Sakamoto, Yukio Kusumoto
- Co-Producer (English Version)
- Mami Okada
- Executive Producers (English Version)
- John Sirabella, Katsuhiko Tsurumoto
- Editor (English Version)
- Derek Lieu
- Animation Production Cooperation
- P.A. Works
Production notes
Kenji Kamiyama, acclaimed director of the "Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C." series, succeeded in incorporating modern issues such as refugees, nuclear weapons and terrorism into the sci-fi world. In his new project, "Guardian of the Spirit," he daringly rearranged the intense Asian-flavored fantasy atmosphere of the original novels written by Nahoko Uehashi, tracing a continuity line with the the reality of our world.
The Moribito (Guardian) series, a grand epic fantasy in Asian style, started in 1996, and is continuously expanding today with the Tabibito (Traveler) series. The whole corpus counts now 10 volumes, which grossed 400,000 copies sold in Japan. The Guardian series has also received many awards, including Noma Children's Books Award, Sankei Children's Book Award, Nippon Broadcasting System Award and Iwaya Sazanami Literary Award.
The TV series is based on the first two books, "Guardian of the Spirit" and "Guardian of Darkness," and Kamiyama personally worked on the screenplay.
Balsa, a female bodyguard bearing a short spear as her weapon, visits the New Yogo Empire after a long time. Here she assists to an incident, and saves a young boy. His name is Chagum, and he is no less than the second prince of the Empire. But his fate seems to be even greater than his rank: inside the boy's body, lays the egg of the Water Spirit, thus making him the Guardian of the Spirit, an event that happens only once in one hundred years.
The Second Queen, sensing that Chagum's father, the Mikado, did not welcome the situation and would try to eliminate the boy, desperately asks Balsa to become Chagum's bodyguard and take him to a safe place.
Undertaking a job that puts her life at risk and turns the whole Imperial Court her enemy, Balsa makes her escape from the palace with Chagum. But entities from a parallel dimension, called Nayugu, are also after the two fugitives. Their aim appears simple and frightening at once: they want to devour the egg within Chagum's body.
Their flight from tenacious pursuers has just begun.
The Moribito (Guardian) series, a grand epic fantasy in Asian style, started in 1996, and is continuously expanding today with the Tabibito (Traveler) series. The whole corpus counts now 10 volumes, which grossed 400,000 copies sold in Japan. The Guardian series has also received many awards, including Noma Children's Books Award, Sankei Children's Book Award, Nippon Broadcasting System Award and Iwaya Sazanami Literary Award.
The TV series is based on the first two books, "Guardian of the Spirit" and "Guardian of Darkness," and Kamiyama personally worked on the screenplay.
Balsa, a female bodyguard bearing a short spear as her weapon, visits the New Yogo Empire after a long time. Here she assists to an incident, and saves a young boy. His name is Chagum, and he is no less than the second prince of the Empire. But his fate seems to be even greater than his rank: inside the boy's body, lays the egg of the Water Spirit, thus making him the Guardian of the Spirit, an event that happens only once in one hundred years.
The Second Queen, sensing that Chagum's father, the Mikado, did not welcome the situation and would try to eliminate the boy, desperately asks Balsa to become Chagum's bodyguard and take him to a safe place.
Undertaking a job that puts her life at risk and turns the whole Imperial Court her enemy, Balsa makes her escape from the palace with Chagum. But entities from a parallel dimension, called Nayugu, are also after the two fugitives. Their aim appears simple and frightening at once: they want to devour the egg within Chagum's body.
Their flight from tenacious pursuers has just begun.
Awards
Jury Recommended Work, Animation Division, Japan Media Arts Festival, 2007