Episode 1: Journeying Parent and Child
Somali and the Forest Child, co-animated by Satelight and HORNETS, begins with a golem walking through the forest that he protects and then suddenly he finds a lost female human child, chained and shackled.
The forest that the Golem protects is wondrous and beautiful. The forest consists of blues and purples that really make the fantasy aspect apparent.
Upon meeting the child she looks up at the Golem and calls him, “Dad.”
The Golem has no idea how to take care of child and realizes that the child needs to be with people of her own kind. He takes it upon himself to care for the child and get her back to where she belongs.
The child’s name is Somali, whether that was her name when Golem found her, or that was the name he gave her that is unknown at this early point.
Perhaps the story skipped a few years, or so it seemed, because Somali had grown a bit and it seemed that the two of them had been traveling for a while.
They happened upon a large city, which was fine for Golem for he needed to stock up on food and supplies for Somali. Somali could not help but be enthralled by the new things that she had been seeing, and might have gotten distracted a few times.
The city itself was full of creatures of many different races and species. From anthropomorphic animals to unique creatures of their own, this city had a wide array of fantasy creatures. The only thing that it lacked was the presence of humans.
Soon though they sat down for Somali to get a bite to eat. Golem does not need any food to sustain himself; all he needs is water, sunlight, and the air around him to sustain his needs.
The pairing of the Golem and the child soon caught the attention of the local patrons and they asked the Golem what it and the child’s story was. The Golem told the patrons that he found this child of the Minotaur race, and he was bringing her back to her people. For a second the patrons though Somali was a human, but humans have not been seen around in those parts for a long time.
The waiter or waitress, not too sure honestly, began to tell the story about the how the humans declined in their population and were hardly seen again.
Long ago, the humans and the creatures lived in different parts of the world, unknown to one another. But one human ventured to the other lands and found all of these new creatures. Soon after a relationship was formed between the humans and the creatures, but tensions soon rose up.
The humans started to look down on the creatures and began discriminating them, calling them hideous, disgusting, and all kind of other names. That did not go over well and war broke out. The creatures completely devastated the humans and almost completely wiped them out. Since then the humans have not been welcomed and were treated as prey to enslave and eat.
Somali and Golem stayed at an inn for the night. Though Golem did want to stay in the city that if found out, Somali could be in some real danger for being human.
The next day, they went out shopping just before they were going to leave the city. Again, many things caught Somali’s attention but one thing caught her attention above the rest: the parents and their children holding hands.
She wanted to hold hands with the person that she thinks of as her parent, but may see the difference in their appearance and realize that they are not truly parent and child.
Well, the attention span of child does not last long and she sees and cat pass by and follows it. The cat brings her all over town and eventually, Somali gets separated from Golem and gets lost. Golem realizing that Somlai is missing, immediately goes and finds her.
Her fear is now realized that she is in a strange and scary place,a nd all she wants is her “Dad” to save her.
Suddenly Golem appears behind her and picks her up. Her fear is gone and she is happy to be reunited with her Dad again.
They leave the city and continue their travels. Golem then tells Somali that in order for them not to get separated from one another again, they must do something that Golem observed while in the shopping district: hold hands. Somali is unsure if it is okay for them to hold hands, but Golem assures her that it is okay and necessary so they do not get separated. Somlai is quite happy to be holding the hand of the one she considers her parent.
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So far, I think this will be my favorite anime of the Winter 2020 season.
It is beautiful and heartwarming. The story may be quite simple but the story is being driven by the bod and relationship growth being two individuals that have accepted each other not because of familiar bonds but by genuine bonds of love and protecting.
There is probably going be some times where your heartstrings are pulled and it may be feelings overload, but to me that is hat makes an anime the most memorable.
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Thanks for reading.
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