Somali and the Forest Spirit: Given the title, you might be forgiven for thinking one of the main characters is a forest spirit. In fact, the person in question is a golem–a stone “robot” magically animated. Must be something lost in translation here.
The golem also reminds me of Dr. Doom from the Fantastic Four comics.
Everything else about this episode more than makes up for the confusion, however. We are treated to rich, vibrant settings; peaceful music; and a touching interplay between the golem and its adopted human child.
The setting is a post-Apocalyptic one, at least for humans; the non-humans are flourishing just fine. Some of the older creatures still remember the end of the war with the humans, and believe they have all been stamped out. Somali, our young human protagonist, is therefore in danger as he(?) and the golem journey in search of human survivors. There’s a definite note of tension that I did not expect running beneath the surface of every scene.
And yet so far the show has largely been touching moments between golem and child. They obviously don’t always understand each other, but they do love each other. That relationship between parent and child looks to be the main theme.
The world-building occurs gently, yet conveys enough of the context to quickly help us figure out the stakes. I don’t yet know where the story will take us, but I’m looking forward to the ride!
Somali and the Forest Spirit can be enjoyed on Crunchyroll.
Very cute first episode. And oh my goodness yes, the golem is Dr. Doom!