5/5 HOW THE WORLD TRULY WORKS
  by Sesho (Pasadena, TX USA)
After being left for dead by Sugimoto at the end of Volume 1, Youko is nursed to health by Rakushun, a human sized talking mouse who just happens to be a Hanjyuu, which, similar to the characters in Wolf's Rain, can change into human form when they want. But Rakushun doesn't like to wear clothes so he stays mousey most of the time. He tells Youko about the land of En, a land ruled by a king who is also from Japan, who welcomes all people and half-beasts, not like the murderous King Kou who sees all Kaikyaku as harbingers of ill fortune. Rakushan offers to guide her to En, but Youko has a hard time trusting anyone after all the betrayals she has suffered. Besides that, in moments of trance, there is a being that appears to her, trying to ferment her distrust of people, even urging her on to suicide. Meanwhile King Kou still seeks to destroy Youko and enlists the aid of Sugimoto to that end, even altering her face to conceal her identity.

Volume 2 was a 100% improvement over the first. I was worrying that I would have to listen to Youko's mushy and overly emotional harangues for the whole series. In Volume 2 she really steps up to the plate and asserts her will over her fate. She is able to accept that you have to treat others with kindness and trust even when they do not. The world of this anime is deftly imagined and just reveals layer after layer of depth. The characters become more intriguing each episode. The only complaint I have of it is that the evil spirits sent to kill Youka look less than frightening. Great show!

5/5 Best of the fantasy-themed animes
  by W. Scott Heitman (Gainesville, Fl United States)
I've seen a good deal of anime (read: way much more than I responsibly should have). It ranges from train-wreck-bad to truly inspiring. This anime falls so close to the latter category that I've already placed it in my top 5 series after seeing only the first 2 DVDs. Very few animes can captivate a viewer to the degree where they don't even stop to look at the time, where they don't really expect the story/episode to stop. Every time I finished an episode, it always surprised me- I was so caught up in the story. The series is based on a number of well-crafted books which create a well thought out Tolkien-esque world. While developing this world, the series also finds time to develop its very interesting cast of characters. The music is also quite fantastic. The animation wins no superlatives, but it accomplishes its task quite well. The fight scenes, especially, are well animated. The one thing I worry about is the incompletion of the series. At 45 episodes, the story of the 12 Kingdoms is incomplete. I have been told that the 45 episodes effectively finishes the story of the main character- so some closure is reached. But 23 more episodes were apparently planned to reach an ultimate fate of the 12 Kingdoms- sadly, these will probably never be made. Still, this series is absolutely fantastic thus far and not to be missed!

5/5 Awesome!!
  by I. Busfield (Allegan, MI USA)
To all those who agree with me....I think this anime is very cool. I'm a very emotional person, and I always get wrapped up in the movie. It just happens to be different this time, I fell in love with it! My friend, yes, I bow down and praise her for having the first volume, and I got bored and we watched the first volume and we loved it! We weren't really trying to find anything wrong with it, like some other people. It doesn't matter if it has romance or not, as long as it has hints of mystery, lotsa action, and...well...as long as it's SPIFFEH ok?!? Yeah, the begining has some really corny Bedknobs and Broomsticks thing going but otherwise, the theme song is at the END of the episode. (Sorry if I'm upseting everyone, but this is how I feel.) I love it, and well, everyone has their tastes. Keiki ROCKS!

5/5 A Great Fantasy Anime
  by Akira (USA)
In volume two of the Twelve Kingdoms series, Youko Nakajima joins up with the half-beast Rakushunn. Rakushunn tells Youko of the Kingdom of En, a country to the north where she won't be persecuted. While on their journey Youko will have to get through the minions of the King of Kou and also fight her own inner demons. The character development and plot of the story are very well thought out, and make for a enjoyable viewing experience. If you liked the first volume then you certainly won't be disappointed with this one.

2/5 Poor Epic Series
  by (OH United States)
Before you read this review, I'd like you to know that I have seen the ENTIRE series of Twelve Kingdoms. I am reviewing this anime as a whole.

Twelve Kingdoms is an epic anime that revolves around a girl Youko who was transported to another world along with her 2 friends. Youko is told by a white blond who tells her that she is born to be a king who is to rebuild her country and save the people from poverty. The world of Twelve Kingdoms is designed this way--Every Kingdom has a king who is immortal as long as he is fair and good to his people and country. The king is chosen by a magical beast, the beast thus will obey every order of the king and assist him to glory. However, if the king has turned corrupted, the magical beast will fall ill and eventually die as the king will die not long after. ok..no more spoiling.

Anyway. If anybody tells you this is like Fushigi Yugi, don't fall for it, because Twelve Kingdoms is completely different from FY for it does not have a romance, or even a romance hint at all. Its plot is very loosely constructed. Half of the story is consisted of past memory, on top of which, the character are poorly designed and not very well developed. Its incomplete ending leaves me in confusion, many questions unmasked. For ex. some interesting characters actually appears in the middle of the story, without any explanation, the anime just cease to talk about what happen to them. In addition to that, there is no theme song, just a piece of dull music with retarded, let me repeat, retarded pictures. The ending is also very unrealistic in terms of emotions, the main character Youko decides to stay in the kingdom for the people and her country and thus abandoning all her friends and family in the other world. It could be that I am a emotional person, I feel like her decision is beyond imagination, also, throughout the story, Youko never even mentions her family after maybe the 12th episodes.

Again, if you are a Shoujo fan, like me, this anime is definitely not for you. If you are a EVA fan, this anime will seem cheap for you because its organization and plot is no comparison to EVA.