I've been watching a bit of an oldie relative to modern HD anime (2002 - 2003) these past few days, but it has been interesting. Juuni Kokuki (The Twelve Kingdoms) has been relatively decent. I just finished out the first 13 episodes which make up the first chapter (with a customary recap episode for 14). Although the protagonist starts out really hard to like because of how useless and whiny she is, it's also easy to relate to her desire to appease everybody, and to see how that can be detrimental to a person's overall character. Not to mention how quickly she gets tossed into a situation that is ridiculously uncomfortable for her as her circumstances in life rapidly change.
That said, the character development throughout the first arc was very well done, and I look forward to seeing the rest. The action hasn't been half bad either. It's even 45 episodes long, a bit of an odd number, but enough to hopefully not leave disappointed once it's all over. I would say the worst part has been the amount of terminology in the show. Between titles, names, and learning how the kingdoms are ruled and the world works, it can be daunting trying to remember all the new words they use, especially since some sound so similar.
I will be sure to update if it goes to crap, but considering it managed to score over an 8 on MAL, I imagine it remains pretty decent to the finish.
