In a world where the dead walk, and good and evil exist as palpable forces, a darkness is stirring. The undead march against the cities of light, to capture the sacred fire that is the source of their power. However, one hope remains. Called to the Earth by the magical flame known as the Bokka, a young girl named Himiko is thrust into the maelstrom of danger, betrayal and war.
The description of this series sure sounded rather interesting. However, this was not the case at all. I sat through four episodes hoping for the best, but as I watched, the more tiresome I became. I felt like this series was a great idea, but didn't know where to go with it and went off course. This was evident as the show moved away from an interesting storyline to one that unnecessarily dragged on with no end in sight.
The story begins as a planet is set to pick their Queen and rely on the Bokka to make the selection out of a number of candidates. As this is going on, a couple consults the fire to name their child. The child named Himiko is to be the one who guards and protects the Bokka in the future, but that future is threatened when General Shikira of Kumei comes for the Bokka to help in his King's quest for world domination. Shikira is a mean-spirited ass who actually kills several of the Guardians before taking the baby and throwing it in the fire. However, the baby lives and along with the Queen candidates and the Bokka, disappears, leaving behind the fountain of darkness. Darkness takes over the land and Shikira is the ruler.
The series flashes to Earth where Himiko is a high school girl. Himiko was discovered by Katani and brought back to the man who became her father. Katani distinctively remembers that day and when Himiko goes back to the place where she was discovered he informs her of the flash of a light that passed through him and a creature that was absorbed into the pendant she wears around her neck. As he reveals this to her, Himiko is suddenly transported back to the world she left behind, but this time, Katani joins her. If that wasn't confusing enough for you, continue reading, you will be totally lost by the end of this article.
Himiko and Katani are thrust into this world and immediately put into a fight with the evil undead. Imari, one of the candidates for Queen and an army of resistance fighters save them. Imari and the other candidates for Queen, except Fujina, considered a traitor for her association with Shikira, are banding together to overthrow the evil empire that has taken over. The candidates for Queen all have a part of the Bokka with them and Himiko and Katani have the Bokka inside them-two pieces of a puzzle that can bring salvation to their world. Throughout the story, Himiko and Katani run into so many other characters that play roles in the series. Only Imari seems interesting, but no character is ever fleshed out enough to appreciate them.
This show reminded me a lot of She-Ra. The bad guys reminded me of the Hordak troopers and there were a lot of elements that seemed to be adapted from that hit 80's cartoon. However, unlike that great show, The Legend of Himiko just had too many things going on for me to fully enjoy it. It's sad, because when seeing a clip for the fifth show, things looked to have picked up a little steam. However, too little too late. This show's plot was too complicated and overloaded. Sometimes too many loose strings can be a bad thing.
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