R. Bruce Elliott

The anime fantasy opus Origin: Spirits of the Past commences with a backstory prologue set in an ancient era, when the moon awakened the forest and unleashed a terrible, destructive beast upon the Earth. As the story proper opens, the landscape of the world has changed immeasurably. Mankind is divided into two warring factions: one that seeks a peaceful, harmonious balance with the forest, and another that wishes to dominate and control it. (All Movie Guide)

Set in an alternate feudal Japan where mechas and giant airships are a common thing for humans to see. With in this time period is a small village that gets raided by bandits during every harvest season. The villagers can't take it anymore, so they decided to send out some volunteers to the city to recruit some samurai to help defend their land. In exchange for defense, the samurai that get hired for the job will receive rice for free of charge. (imdb)

Shirahama Kenichi is an average student who has earned the nickname "Weak Legs" from always getting bullied. One day he meets a cute girl named Furinji Miu, who helps him build the courage to begin training at a mysterious dojo where she lives. Here Kenichi faces intense training from masters of many different martial arts styles as he attempts to become stronger. (animenewsnetwork)