Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

No, I didn't see the whole thing, and I wouldn't want to watch the whole thing anyway. Just happened to catch the last 40 minutes or so after the Unified: Praise DVD, starting from when the mare fell down the river after being shot.

First thing first, that art is so very terrible, if it wasn't about horses, I would had just turned off the TV and left the room. I see myself as a pretty tolerant person when it comes to animation art style (which would explain how I got through Saiyuuki and some of the old anime titles... well, I admit the seiyuu was the only saving point in the case of Saiyuuki for me), but drawing animals this badly is simply not forgivable! Yes, despite my leniency toward poor people art, I have a rather high standard for animals. And that, my friend, is worse than the dogs in the Ginga anime (which says a lot, as the bad art almost stopped me from watching it if it wasn't for the fact that Ginga is one of my all-time favourite manga series).

Art aside, however, it's not half bad. I actually shed tears twice; when the horses in the transportation cart carried some hay over after getting rejected twice, and when the man said goodbye and set the mare free. The second occasion especially reminded me of White Fang, where I also cried when the main character forced White Fang to leave and go back to the wild. But if the cast had been human, I would not have had the same reaction. Yabari, animals still hold a special place in my heart, na?