Somali and the Forest Spirit is a series that I had some minor expectations for having heard somethings over the last year or so from friends. But I try not to be swayed by the court of public opinion (although everything I heard was very positive), so I went into this not viewing a frame.

The series at its heart follows “Golem” a creature who has a design that looks less natural and more mechanical. One day he finds a young girl with a collar upon her neck. This is “Somali”. In the world of this anime, humans lost a long ago war, that put them into hiding from all other creatures, who now hate them. However, it is Golem’s job in this forest to take equilibrium, and as such he takes it upon himself to protest Somali from the other creatures of the forest and keep her under his wing.

When watching the series it feels like you are experiencing a true journey. It is wonderfully animated and atmospheric, which assist in the telling of this tale of natural harmony and friendship. There are some action moments strewn about, not obviously not many, those that do certainly are effective as they seem to punctuate the piece and not are just added as an additional checkbox on a list.

Sentai presents the series in a splendid 1:78:1 transfer. Everything looks as it should for a series of this modern pedigree. Audio is handled with Japanese and English audio 2.0 and both sound fine. RECOMMENDED!