Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm writing this review for the first episode, even though it's about the whole 1st series. That's because this IS a series, and not individual movies. There are 4 episodes to the first series, and Amazon does not give their order so here it is: Guardian of the Spirit; The Hunter and the Hunted; Fight to the Death; Trail of Blood. (Note- these are the titles on the Amazon pages; the actual episodes each have their own different titles in the show.) As I've written elsewhere, I own the anime. Is this an exact copy? No. It can't be. However, the changes they make are insignificant, and mainly to simplify the plot a little, and to keep the budget below the GDP of a small European nation- those changes do nothing to diminish the story. Haruke Ayase was born for this part. it fits her like her skin, and she embraces the character of Balsa. She takes on the physicality without any compensation for her being a woman. She wields that spear like it's part of her. None of actors hurt their roles, and Reiko Takashima as Torogai chews the scenery to sawdust, as her character is supposed to. It's not perfect- it suffers from lack of budget, but they make the best of it, and if you want to watch the single best live-action version of a manga, this is it. The only thing that could make it better is bring on the 9 episodes of season 2, and the 9 episodes of season 3. That would be awesome! ..Joe