A mercenary bound by silent guilt takes in a hunted prince, and for 26 episodes the show lets you watch two people become a family instead of rushing it. The animation doesn't shimmer with flash, Production I.G. uses it to ground every gesture, every exhausted breath, every moment of trust built between them in a world that wants them dead. This is a show that moves slow enough to break your heart, and rewards that patience with something most anime won't risk: a relationship that feels earned rather than performed.

A wandering spearwoman named Balsa carries the weight of the lives she has taken. Seeking redemption, she has vowed to save eight lives, and she is down to her final one. Prince Chagum holds a power that could hold off the droughts threatening his father's empire, but court officials claim he is possessed by an evil spirit and turn the emperor against him. Condemned to death, the prince is rescued by Balsa, and his mother asks her to protect him. Now hunted by the emperor's forces, the two must uncover the secret of the spirit within Chagum while Balsa fights to keep him alive in this action-driven fantasy adventure.