I've clearly been out of anime fandom for far too long, because a lot of great series have passed by without me knowing of them. I still wouldn't know about Seirei no Moribito ("Guardian of the Sacred Spirit") if I hadn't heard about it on the TWoP forums when Cartoon Network bought the rights to air it.

Seirei no Moribito takes place in a fantasy world that resembles feudal Japan the way most western fantasy settings resemble medieval Europe. Our protagonist is a woman named Balsa, a bodyguard for hire who fights with a spear. One day she saves a kid who fell off a bridge into the river, and finds that she's bought herself a world of trouble. The kid is a prince and his own father, the Emperor, has ordered his death because the kid is possessed by a spirit. All of which means that Balsa has to take the kid on the run with a squad on royal assassins on their heels, sneaking, planning and fighting her way out of certain death.

Seirei no Moribito is a really good series. Getting the shallow out of the way first, the animation in this series is great. It's by the same production company as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and has the same high visual quality. The action is good, albeit there isn't as much of it as one might expect. The fights are so fast and furious that even I had to work to keep up, and the choreography is solid. There aren't a lot of spear-wielding protagonists out there (swords get all the love), so Balsa's fantastic skills are a chance to see a fighting style not often seen on the screen.

Seirei no Moribito has a great plot as well, full of twists and mysteries for the characters to solve. I can't say too much without giving it all away, but the thing in the kid isn't what anybody thought it was, people's motives aren't what you'd think and the whole thing is much bigger than anyone expected. The characters are interesting and have complicated pasts. You wouldn't think that members of a team of assassins hunting down an eleven-year-old could be sympathetic characters, but they are. None of them want to have to kill the prince, but they're bound by duty and honor. It's entertaining to see how the assassins' respect for Balsa grows each time she thwarts them, and there's nothing "grudging" about it. They're impressed by her deviousness at planning ways to escape them, her skill and strength in beating them up and her dedication to saving someone she doesn't even know, even if it costs her her life. Balsa, meanwhile, is tough and pragmatic but also human and emotional, mixing harshness and caring as needed and unleashing a storm of righteous fury on anyone who threatens her charge. The prince grows as he learns to survive in a world completely different from that of the palace. And the expansive supporting cast ranges from the creepy to the funny.

With beautiful visuals, good action, and a good story, this is a series that anime fans shouldn't miss.