Well, what can i say? This is one anime series that all those who are serious anime aficionados have gotta see. It's little known, but word has been getting around so that's encouraging.

A brief summary: the series is basically about a boy called Shu living in Japan, who meets a mysterious blue-eyed, blue-haired girl with a teardrop water pendant called Lala-Ru. Subsequently, she is captured by weird dragon mechas and while trying to rescue her, Shu is sucked in along with her and transported to an alternate universe. From there on, they try to escape from a fortress in this water-barren world and its commander Hamdo. Along the way they meet another girl Sala, a prisoner like them, and Nabuca, a child soldier.

Sounds pretty run-of-the-mill, i know, and the 'alternate universe' idea has been hacked at many times eg. Curious Play, El Hazard etc etc. But what really sets this fantasy series apart is the storytelling. It's a serious anime, no humour, unless its meant to be a little wry, and even then its rare. The characters are amazingly fleshed-out, each have their own motives and angst, even the bad characters are 3-dimensional, like how it should be. The characters inhabit a cruel and unjust world. I have to say right now this is the reason why the series is such a hit with me. Often movies and animations always have a certain catharsis at the end, usually it is the meting out of justice to the bad guys etc. Here, although there is some kind of justice served at the end, more often or not there is no retribution, especially for one character in the series. Violence is random, and its horrific and heartbreaking the way the creators show it. Some characters are plain unlucky. Just like how the real world works. And thankfully, the creators chose to adopt a very poetic way of telling all this (which does not compromise on pacing and tempo, unlike Boys Be). War and the terrible consequences of conflict are highlighted through the eyes of children and this alternate universe. Plot twists are sufficient, and although some can be guessed, they still can take u by surprise.

Technical aspects: the animation is clean and the characters look quite cute (well they're children...). As for the adults well they look not bad too. There really isn't a lot of spectacular animation sequences here, but the point of watching it is for the story anyway. Music is quite heartbreaking and very well-suited for the bits they are accompanying. The voice actors are quite well-suited for their roles as well, and if im not wrong the woman who did the voice of Kenshin in Rurouni Kenshin did the voice for Nabuca here (im not sure!!). 

All in all, this is one series thats not unlike Grave of the Fireflies, albeit different in terms of setting. It is a very true anime and will make you cry...i know i did, especially for episode 6 and the last episode. Watch it and you'll know why.

*big quivering eyes* Ko- ko - korewa....
Score  7-7