Link to Books 2-10 synopsises(?)

Updated: 2/4/09, fixed errors? added volume titles

SOURCE: wikipedia.org, http://scrumptious.animeblogger.net/2007/10/25/of-guardians-and-travellers-the-moribito-series/

Yami no Moribito (Guardian of the Dark)

Balsa returns to her homeland Kanbal in order to clear Jiguro’s name.

Yume no Moribito (Guardian of the Dream)

Balsa saves a singer named Yuguno who is in love with a wood spirit. Chagum, meanwhile, is depressed after becoming the Crown Prince. He becomes attracted to a voice he hears in his dream. One day, Chagum does not wake up from his sleep. There are others who have not awakened as well: the First Empress, Sagum’s mother, and Kaya, the daughter of Tanda’s elder brother. Tanda tries to help Kaya but gets ensnared by the enemy.

Kukou no Tabibito (Traveller of the Void)

Chagum travels to Sangal with Shuga to attend the king’s coronation. However, during the ceremony, the new king gets injured. Chagum must uncover a dark conspiracy involving the powerful Talsh kingdom.

Kami no Moribito (Guardian of the God, two volumes)
* Raihō-hen (The Visit)
* Kikan-hen (The Return)

Balsa accompanies Tanda to the autumn market at a town near the Rota border. There, they meet a brother and sister who are being sold by slave traders. Balsa saves the girl, Asra but she later wonders if the beautiful Asra is like the gods or a child of disaster.

Soro no Tabibito (Traveller of the Blue Road)

Following the events of Kukou no Tabibito, Sangal is being engulfed by forces from Talsh, which now draws nearer to the New Yogo Empire. In order to protect his country, Chagum must make a perilous journey alone.

Ten to Chi no Moribito (Guardian of Heaven and Earth, three volumes)
* Rota Ōkoku-hen (The Kingdom of Rota)
* Kanbaru Ōkoku-hen (The Kingdom of Kanbal)
* Shin Yogo Ōkoku-hen (The New Yogo Empire)

A trilogy and the final installment to the Moribito series. Balsa travels to Rota to look for Chagum who is presumed to be dead. She finds him alive and Chagum continues his dangerous quest. They go to Kanbal to persuade the king to make an alliance with Rota in order to repel the invaders from Talsh which is threatening the New Yogo Empire. Chagum finally returns to his homeland and becomes the Emperor but war has already broken out. Meanwhile, Balsa finds Tanda injured by the war.

I stopped at a bookstore today and got some info.

The book is currently available here in the States in hardcover only (but not at the shop I was in so I forgot to find out how much). The paperback will be available here in April.

Just the first book right now right? I saw on Barnes and Noble website you can pre-order the second one, coming around March I think.

Right.

Looks like all the next books are less retrospective (except for the second one), and it looks like there's going to be a great war in the end or something. I'm excited.

I haven't had time to look at that site too closely yet. So if Guardian of the Spirit is the first book, do any of them cover Balsa and the others back stories or is that something you just have to pick up along the way?

Back stories? Like a full on history lesson on the character? I'm not sure, maybe it will be like the anime where as it advances, it build up their story a bit. I don't know about the next books cause I haven't read them, It would be a low chance there'd be back stories in those other books though. I am not certain.

Here's the Wikipedia link to the Guardian series. The sub-titles for the multi-volume collections are:

• Kami no Moribito (Guardian of the God) - Raihō-hen (The Visit) & Kikan-hen (The Return)
  
• Ten to Chi no Moribito (Guardian of Heaven and Earth) - Rota Ōkoku-hen (The Kingdom of Lota), Kanbaru Ōkoku-hen (The Kingdom of Kanbal) & Shin Yogo Ōkoku-hen (The New Yogo Empire).

Also, here's a link to Amazon.com with search results. The M:GotS paperback is scheduled out on 04/15/09. The Hardcover of Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness is scheduled for 05/01/09. I'll assume M:GotD is also translated by Cathy Hirano.

Ole right I'm gonna get that book first thing that month then. Maybe off barnes and noble... I don't know.


PS: Thanks for the info on the last book, I should get a straight up translation from the official site for it though huh, for more detail, but then translating programs are hella whack...

Thanks for all the info! The rest of the series sounds really exciting. I do have to wonder how many years have passed between the last book and the first book; I mean, if Chagum is already being crowned Emporer...

Well I was sort of thinking about the time frames here.

X year: Balsa age: 29 (episode 1)

X year: Summer Solstice Festival, therefore it was around spring time around the first episode? (episode 12)

X+1(-1?) year: Chagum turns 12 in Hunter Cave. (episode 19-21)

Seems that the first took about 12-14 months.

If we apply that to all books, not including books that overlap each others time frame...

Estimated 6 years would be passed by the end of the book. That would make Chagum be around 14-17 when he becomes emperor. Maybe the other Mikado dies or something.

BOTTOM LINE IS: I GOTTA READ THIS !!!

ryuzaki11 wrote:Well I was sort of thinking about the time frames here.
BOTTOM LINE IS: I GOTTA READ THIS !!!

I think we can all agree on that I do have to say, if the timeline is something like that, I feel bad for poor Chagum. All of this stuff happening before he even hits 20!!

Yeah well...a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do I guess. Except that he's barely a man because he would be still on his teens. This time frame is not 100% accurate though. So, No one is sure.

Greetings,

Hehe. Yeah, gotta do what ya gotta do, but that was normal for this type of setting, and I'm sure, history is like that too. A lot of "Kids" came king when their father died, and at a rather young age!

Anyways, that's good about the 2nd book, and I hope they plan on doing this for all of them. I've ordered my first book, and when things get settled again new few months I'll order the 2nd one, or pre whatever comes first.

Tootles,
Ali

Yeah, I know that historically, it wasn't unheard of for young kids to be crowned, then used as a puppet while some adult pulled the strings. I just feel bad for them...

Yeah, I remember a movie about a kid becoming the Chinese emperor...does that story exist?

I'm still waiting for the second book to come out.

Ryuzaki,

I think the movie your thinking of is: "The Last Emperor."


Hahaha. I'm waitin' for all of them to be release. Doh. =D


Tootles,
Ali

Ah, The Last Emperor. I think I'll watch that movie.

Ryu,

Your welcome! Almost any movie I can help ya with (My wife has a collection for 1.5K DVD's, (And all legit mind you!) and not counting what I have.) So in essence, she is a real movie buff.


Tootles,
Ali

I have to say, that's very impressive. What an immense collection.

ANN reviews the first book.

Grin,

Thanks for the link...not a bad review at all. Except the weak points, well, of course Balsa isn't going to be totally fleshed out, her story is moved along the other novels since this one is about Chagum.

Also, I do agree with the one comment that Scholastic is perfect for the translation, and publishing for they will most likey do it all, careful how they do it, and they are well known. I also like the comment they are treating it with respect, and so far they are. I shall see when the 2nd book comes in, but if the first one is like it, then I'm not worried, and more of Balsa "Past" shall be reveled.

I digress,

Ali