Are you tired of reading wall after wall of pretentious text?
Do you just want to know if you should watch the darn show?
Me too.
TLDR
A heartwarming and emotionally powerful story about a father and daughter that doesn’t turn incestuous. The premise of “bring a child from point A to point B” is nothing new, but literally everything else is so damn good it doesn’t matter. I am convinced that this is a plot by the Japanese government to fix their declining birthrate. Watch this show.
PLOT - Good
The story is about a robotic golem trying to return an abandoned human girl he names Somali to her home. However, in this world, humans have been hunted almost to extinction. This presents two problems. One, it is hard to find a human settlement. Two, Somali is thought of as a delicacy by most of the creatures they meet.
This is a mini-arc based/episodic show where the two main characters travel to different places that are loosely connected by the objective of “return the child”. Along the way, we also learn more about humans and why they almost went extinct. But the plot isn’t really relevant. Their journey is mainly used as an excuse to explore the father-daughter relationship between Somali and the golem, the relationships they make with those they meet along the way, and the different perspectives the different races/creatures have.
CHARACTERS - 11/10
This is gonna be a big section because the characters are a huge part of the show.
Usually, young children in anime are either really annoying or used as an overly cute plot device with no actual personality traits. Somali is neither of these things. She is one of the best depictions of a child I have seen. Somali is a perfect mix of curious, energetic, affectionate, innocent, cheeky, and wholesome. You can tell that she is sincere in everything she does and that she loves her oto-san (the golem) with her whole heart. Any time this adorable little goober does anything, it leaves me with the feeling of “damn, I kinda want to be a parent someday” and a stupid grin on my face. That feeling is only magnified by how endearing she manages to be in spite of the fact that she probably dies if a gust of wind blows her hood off and exposes that she's human.
Her dangerous situation also reveals a sadder, more realistic side to Somali. She has her own doubts and fears that I’m not going to get into because it would ruin some of the more emotional moments. Just know that she’s not on screen to be cheerful and adorable all the time. Below is a screenshot from the OP. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but that one slightly sad yet geuninely happy smile manages to convey more about her than my paragraphs of text ever could.
The golem, being a golem, is pretty emotionless. But throughout the show we see him slowly develop the ability to feel. He gets attached to and protective of Somali, who he starts to see not as a mission objective, but as his daughter. In the later episodes, whenever Somali gets distracted and runs off somewhere, he calls her name with just the slightest hint of anxiety, and that slight hint has the same emotional weight as someone crying and screaming at the top of their lungs. The golem is actually a really good dad too. He lets Somali have her fun but makes her eat her vegetables. He regularly puts himself at risk protecting her from bad guys despite not being her actual dad, and stresses out when she gets sick. You know what the best part of him is though? He’s a huge tsundere. Whenever someone accuses him of growing attached to Somali, he responds with “golems do not feel emotion”. He doesn’t say “baka” though.
The side characters are amazing. It has been a long time since I cared so much about side characters. They’re all unique. They’re all relevant to the story. They serve a thematic purpose. I actually care about what happens to them. I can’t say much without going into spoilers, but just know that the overwhelming majority of them are great.
ART AND ANIMATION - Great
Are you tired of seeing this exact generic medieval fantasy town? (no spoilers)
Spoiler, click to view
I am, and so is Somali and the Forest Spirit. Locations are stunning and all of them are different. There’s desert towns in volcanoes, forests that look like something out of James Cameron’s Avatar, vast underground caverns, and more, each with their own flair. The world is filled to the brim with varied landscapes, tons of different creatures, and vibrant colours. It really feels like these characters are on a journey across an entire planet and that there’s way more to be explored than what is shown in the show. This town was the most generic and bland one I could find, and it’s probably better than 80% of fantasy towns.
I like the designs of Somali and the golem, but the creatures just look alright. The vast majority of them fall into the category of humans with animal heads and I would have preferred more creative designs. But there’s enough variety in the animal heads that I didn’t really mind too much. (also note the vibrant colours and unique looking town by the way)
The animation is average at best, but there’s barely any action in this show so it’s not a huge deal. Sometimes, they do that thing where instead of animating a fight they just slightly vibrate a still image. All in all, animation and action scenes are not this show’s strong suit, and are bad for a show from 2020.
MUSIC AND SOUND - Above Average
Something else that disappointed me was the music. The OP, ED, and OST got the job done and weren’t bad by any means, but we all have that weeb music playlist and I just can’t see myself putting any of the songs on there. I’m usually a sucker for stuff sung by the voice actors and actresses but even that wasn’t enough to make the ED shine.
Thankfully, the voice acting makes it so that I don’t have to give this section a rating of average. Whoever they cast to play Somali did a great job at portraying her energetic and charming personality while also nailing the super emotional moments. The actor for the golem was somehow able to convey emotion using a robotic voice, and I swear he slowly becomes more human sounding over the course of the show.
WHO SHOULD WATCH THIS
Give this a shot if you're looking for a heartwarming and emotional story, or for something that might make you cry.
If you’re into shows that are heavily character based and don’t mind not having an epic storyline, then check this out too.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Usagi Drop is (probably) the most well known anime about a father-daughter relationship, and for good reason. It takes place in the real world and leans more towards iyashikei/slice of life than adventure/drama, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less emotionally impactful. Avoid the manga.Made In Abyss is about a deeply emotional journey in a super unique and hostile setting. It includes an unbreakable bond forming between a girl and a robot, but doesn’t deal with father-daughter relationships. It dips its toes into Lovecraftian horror and is darker in tone than Somali and the Forest Spirit.CONCLUSION
Filled with endearing protagonists, great bonds, side characters worth caring about, a vibrant world, and a soundtrack that mostly just exists, Somali and the Forest Spirit has the ability to make me grin like a fool and cry in the fetal position in the same episode. As of the time of writing, it is the 439th most popular TV anime on Anilist. It is beaten in popularity by the smartphone isekai and I am angry about that. I have no clue why more people aren’t checking this out. I don’t want this anime to be a hidden gem. I want the whole world to know about this show. I want it to get the recognition it deserves.