Being an avid anime fan I can definitely say that this show has the worst character development I have seen in literally any other series or movies that I've watched, even 0 character development would be better than what most of the main characters are like in Twelve Kingdoms.
It seems that the main characters that we see the most of will literally suddenly have a change of personality every time the wind blows, even the most minor of things causes these people to have a complete change of heart, just because someone they have never even met before tells them something, they will instantly trust them, it's as if they can't think for themselves; yes some of them have been thrust into a world they don't know but any rational thinking seems to pass them by until the very end of the show. Even my 14 year old deaf cat could make better decisions than any of these people, none of whom are younger than mid teens, some of whom are over 100!!
Not only is it painful to watch such 2D characters, but at least twice there are blocks of about 5 episodes or more in a row which are compiled of about 50% of one of the female characters crying over and over again literally at 2 minute intervals and feeling sorry for themselves, as well as multiple other episodes where this is the case, it's utterly awful to put up with as a viewer and for this reason I almost gave up on the series several times, you may not make it through the first 5 due to this fact.
The only good thing about this series is the world setting, which is well detailed, and some of the plot lines are interesting, although sadly due to the fact the author didn't really give closure on some of the best story arcs (the Taiki one is the most obvious and best one that comes to mind), you will be starting to actually get into it a bit and then suddenly we don't ever hear from the characters or plot line again for the rest of the whole show.
I was going to give this 4 stars, but after writing a review, I have realised how truly awful 75% of this show was and the fact that it needs to give us closure on some major plot points is extremely annoying (even if the original author hadn't written it, it should have been added as just leaving story lines so open is ridiculously annoying to the viewer), on top of that the outcome was very predictable, so it only really deserves a 3, don't waste your time, this is the most overrated and worst anime I have ever watched.
It seems that the main characters that we see the most of will literally suddenly have a change of personality every time the wind blows, even the most minor of things causes these people to have a complete change of heart, just because someone they have never even met before tells them something, they will instantly trust them, it's as if they can't think for themselves; yes some of them have been thrust into a world they don't know but any rational thinking seems to pass them by until the very end of the show. Even my 14 year old deaf cat could make better decisions than any of these people, none of whom are younger than mid teens, some of whom are over 100!!
Not only is it painful to watch such 2D characters, but at least twice there are blocks of about 5 episodes or more in a row which are compiled of about 50% of one of the female characters crying over and over again literally at 2 minute intervals and feeling sorry for themselves, as well as multiple other episodes where this is the case, it's utterly awful to put up with as a viewer and for this reason I almost gave up on the series several times, you may not make it through the first 5 due to this fact.
The only good thing about this series is the world setting, which is well detailed, and some of the plot lines are interesting, although sadly due to the fact the author didn't really give closure on some of the best story arcs (the Taiki one is the most obvious and best one that comes to mind), you will be starting to actually get into it a bit and then suddenly we don't ever hear from the characters or plot line again for the rest of the whole show.
I was going to give this 4 stars, but after writing a review, I have realised how truly awful 75% of this show was and the fact that it needs to give us closure on some major plot points is extremely annoying (even if the original author hadn't written it, it should have been added as just leaving story lines so open is ridiculously annoying to the viewer), on top of that the outcome was very predictable, so it only really deserves a 3, don't waste your time, this is the most overrated and worst anime I have ever watched.