I cannot be bothered to do a proper round-up, but I kept a few links to read after the completion, some from 2007! There is no concern about spoilers for a story as straight as Moribito's, but I wanted to form my own impressions first.
I also want to mention that Seirei no Moribito had some interesting role reversals. We had the patient, easy-going Tanda as the traditional wife character, while strong, stoic Balsa was more of the husband. Heck, we even had Chagum giving birth in a rather uncomfortable scene (fortunately, they gave him a C-section). By defying stereotypes, Seirei no Moribito gave a freshness to the relationships between the characters, and these relationships really defined the series as a whole.
The spousal role reversal is not unknown in anime. Lafiel and Jinto make the most well known example, but there were also Feena and Tatsuya, etc. Moribito only combines this trick with the period piece setting.
Overall, Kabitzin liked the anime quite a lot, for all the right reasons.
Like everyone else, I felt frustrated by waiting for the pace to pick up, yet I never grew tired of Seirei no Moribito.
I did not feel any frustration, but then I was throttled by Netflix (actually ViZ's release schedule).
Hikago is the most effusive:
An endearing show involving people from all walks of life, sewn together with superb story-telling. The greatest treat is that all the characters are written with intelligence, exuding a feeling of life and presence which can be quite refreshing. Production values are consistently exceptional throughout to boot.
Indeed.
