Ronja, the Robber's Daughter (2014 TV series)

Ronja, the Robber's Daughter (Japanese: 山賊の娘ローニャ, Hepburn: Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya) is a Japanese anime about Ronja, the only child of a bandit chief, who grows up among a clan of robbers living in a castle in the woodlands of early-Medieval Scandinavia. When Ronja grows old enough she ventures into the forest, exploring and discovering its wonders and dangers like the mystical creatures that dwell there. She learns to live in the forest through her own strength, with the occasional rescue by her parents. Ronja's life begins to change, however, when she happens upon a boy her own age named Birk, who turns out to be the son of the rival clan chief.

Characters

• Ronja (ローニャ, Rōnya) Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi (Japanese), Teresa Gallagher (English)
• Mattis (マッティス, Mattisu) Voiced by: Takaaki Seki (Japanese), Rufus Hound (English)
• Lovis (ロヴィス, Rovisu) Voiced by: Yukari Nozawa (Japanese), Morwenna Banks (English)
• Birk (ビルク, Biruku) Voiced by: Reika Uyama (Japanese), Kelly Adams (English) aka Birk Borkason
• Borka (ボルカ, Boruka) Voiced by: Atsuki Tani (Japanese), Bob Golding (English)
• Undis (ウンディス, Undisu) Voiced by: Mika Doi (Japanese), Beth Chalmers (English)
• Noddle-Pete (スカッレ・ペール, Sukarre Pēru) Voiced by: Umeji Sasaki (Japanese), Adrian Edmondson (English)
• Fjosok (フョーソク, Fyōsoku) Voiced by: Shōichirō Akaboshi (Japanese), Rasmus Hardiker (English)
• Pelje (ペリェ, Perye) Voiced by: Yūsuke Tezuka (Japanese), Rasmus Hardiker (English)
• Tjorm (チョルム, Chorumu) Voiced by: Takeo Ogawa (Japanese), Rasmus Hardiker (English)
• Sturkas (ストゥルカス, Suturukasu) Voiced by: Kenji Sugimura (Japanese), Rasmus Hardiker (English)
• Knotas (クノータス, Kunōtasu) Voiced by: Takahiro Shimada (Japanese), Bob Golding (English)
• Tjegge (チェッゲ, Chegge) Voiced by: Rintarou Nishi (Japanese), Bob Golding (English)
• Lill-Klippen (リル・クリッペン, Riru Kurippen) Voiced by: Keiji Himeno (Japanese), Giles New (English)
• Jutis (ユティス, Yutisu) Voiced by: Giles New (English)
• Joen (ヨエン, Yoen) Voiced by: Giles New (English)
• Labbas (ラッバス, Rabbasu) Voiced by: Giles New (English)
• Turre (トゥッレ, Turre) Voiced by: Giles New (English)
• Harpy (鳥女, Tori-onna) Voiced by: Saori Kato (Japanese), Jules de Jongh (English)
• Rumphobs (ずんぐり小人, Zunguri kobito) Voiced by: Man Katō, Hideki Tanaka, Masako Isobe, Erina Kurita, Miyuki Satō (Japanese), Jonathan Ross, Jennifer Marriott and Naomi Freedman (English)
• Narration (ナレーション, Narēshon) Voiced by: Fukiko Endō (Japanese), Gillian Anderson (English)

Episode list

Production

The anime is a cel-shaded television series, based on the novel Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (Ronja Rövardotter) written by Astrid Lindgren. Produced by Polygon Pictures, Studio Ghibli, NHK Enterprises and Dwango, the series is directed and storyboarded by Gorō Miyazaki, with Hiroyuki Kawasaki handling series composition and writing the scripts, Katsuya Kondō designing the characters, Toshio Suzuki providing the title logo and Satoshi Takebe composing the music. Miyazaki stated that "Ronja, the Robber's Daughter is not only a story about a young girl growing into adulthood, but also a story of love, growth, and the bond between parent and child and their friends", also saying that the series can be enjoyed by everyone, from children to adults. Kazuyoshi Saito wrote, produced and performed all the instruments on "Player" for Mari Natsuki to sing as the ending theme song. It is Studio Ghibli's first television series.

UK-based distributor Serious Lunch has acquired the worldwide distribution rights, except for Japan and Scandinavia. It sought English-language broadcasters and brought the series to potential backers at the 2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Amazon began streaming the series on its Amazon Prime service on January 27, 2017. GKIDS released the series in the United States on August 20, 2019 (distributed by Shout! Factory), and additional licenses were sold in China (UYoung Media) and Taiwan (PTS). The English dub is narrated by Gillian Anderson. The BBC also produced a Scottish Gaelic dub of the series - "Ronia, Nighean a' Mhèirlich" - which was broadcast on the BBC Alba channel and available on its iPlayer service in 2022/23.

Reception

Critical reception of Ronja, the Robber's Daughter was mostly positive. The series was praised in reviews by The Guardian, Collider, The Daily Dot, Slate, iDigitalTimes, Starburst, Mir Fantastiki, among others. Meanwhile, Swedish journalist Yukiko Duke, The Onion's The A.V. Club and Polygon published negative reviews. The show was praised for its visual beauty and being faithful to the original novel, but criticized for slow pacing.

Awards

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Polygon Pictures site
• Ronja, the Robber's Daughter (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Ronja, the Robber's Daughter at IMDb