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: Record_of_Lodoss_War
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mpdogz
Posts: 11
Score: 23
Rank: 47 | Just to let you know, this is a review on the Record of Lodoss War OVA.
The plot is pretty hard to explain and follow (good sign ^^). A long time ago in the Age of Gods, there was a battle between two goddesses, Marfa, a goddess of creation and Kardis, the goddess of destruction. At the end of the battle, Kardis perished but her dark powers still remained. Afraid of what utter chaos could come out of the dark magic, Marfa used her remaining strength to seperate the land they were battling on from the continent and the island is now known as, "Lodoss- the Accursed Island".
Well, it seemed peaceful in Lodoss for a while, until the grey witch, Karla, possessed the body of a princess, and the two kings of Lodoss, King Fahn and Emperor Beld (one that had light powers and one that had dark powers who USED to be friends) begin to fight. Enter the six heroes, who have come for Lodoss to be at peace.
The six of them ran into eachother, rather than just met. Parn, the main male of the group, is a stubborn young boy (much like many leading males in animes) who is a bit frustrated with the villagers as they get mad at him every time he does something like fight off goblins because they think he caused the incidents (or something like that; I've only watched the OVA once) and always taunt him about his dead father, who dishonored the king. He has an adorable (you wouldn't guess how cute he is! ^^) friend named Etoh, who is a cleric, and seems to see Parn as a sort of brother to him. Parn leaves because he feels he's not welcome at the village and because he feels he needs to go off and help the world so he won't make the same mistake his father did.
The other heroes are Ghim, a grumpy yet kind-hearted dwarf who has come to find Leylia, a princess who had taken care of him when he was hurt and then disappeared days later. Along with him is his friend, Slayn, who is a wizard-in-training, and they run into Parn and Etoh on their journey and soon meet the high-elf (sounds like Lord of the Rings, eh?) Deedlit, who's playful and seems to have a crush on Parn. They later meet the mischievious thief, Woodchuck, who befriends Parn, after Parn saves his life.
They meet other allies including a desert king, and a beserker and his mercenary friend, and Wort, the powerful wizard.
The other characters (that aren't heroes by the way) are Ashram, Emperor Beld's henchmen, who seems cold, yet has a heart, and Pirotess, the mysterious dark elf, who seems to have a crush on Ashram, and a creepy sorceror (when I mean creepy, I mean CREEEEEEEEEPY!)
While I made the plot sound simple, it actually isn't very typical once you actually watch it. And NO, it is DEFINETLY not a copy of Lord of the Rings! I've read the books, and the only thing that is like Record of Lodoss War (in LOTR) is the fantasy mixed with the medieval theme. It isn't really as "good vs. evil" as LOTR is. I think it's more of a Dungeons and Dragons-theme. I even noticed some "Legend of Zelda" (you know, the game) similarites too. For example, Deedlit looks almost exactly like Princess Zelda (and even has the same tomboyish personality) and Emperor Beld looks exactly like the villain, Ganondorf.
You really can care about the characters, even the not-so-friendly ones. Mainly, because each character is developed and seems to change a bit. Take Parn for example. At first he may seem a bit reckless and cocky with his sword (hey, we would be too if we started using a sword for our first time) but soon began to, well, "bond" with his sword. Each character has his/her own good and bad side. In fact I was ready to cry at one episode where two characters perish (well, one lives, the other dies) in such a tragic yet romantic way. I would say who, but that would lead to too many spoilers.
While some people think the artwork needs improvement, I think it's simply gorgeous. The forest scenery is beautiful with lush colors. It makes ME want to go live in Lodoss! The character design is also very cool as well, my favorites are definetly Deedlit, Etoh, and Ashram's character designs. You can't tell me they don't look cool. ^^
The dub has plenty of room for improvement (no, I'm not an anti-dub person. I love the dubs for Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and Tenchi Muyo!). Deedlit's seiyuu (Japanese voice actor) made Deedlit's voice cute and mysterious. Deedlit's English voice actor (who is the voice of Te'a from Yu-Gi-Oh) however, makes Deedlit sound like a valleygirl, and that definetly does not suit Deedlit's character who is strong and independent. Not to mention you could tell she was TRYING to sound mysterious and cool. Parn has a great seiyuu (I love his battle cries!) and his English voice is okay, but there was a small bit of emotion lacking and his battle cries weren't too enthusiastic. Ghim's english voice sounded way too focused on being grumpy to have some room for his heavy heart. Etoh's english voice would have been PERFECT for him if his voice actor had an english accent for him (we're in the middle ages people!) It was nice to see that at least Slayn had a faint english accent for his english voice, yet once again, not enough emotion. I was actually impressed with Woodchuck's english V/A. For some reason, that gangster-like voice fit him well. But the main reason I prefer the sub over the dub is not only because it had more emotion, but the Japanese voices seemed to make their characters sound a bit english (with the accents, I mean) themselves!
The action is awesome to watch. If you loved all those cool swordfights and battles in movies like "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Carribean", then you'll enjoy seeing how it looks in Japanese anime ^^ (a warning to those of you who are sqeamish (sp?) around blood--the battles can get bloody, especially at the last episode; heck a character begans coughing up blood at that episode! Yes, this is definetly a 12 and up rated anime)
There isn't a whole lot of romance for all of you romance fans. Pirotess and Ashram seem to have a small romance together but not an entirely huge one. But Deedlit really seems to have a crush on Parn (she always seems to hang around him) and it seems Parn does too, as he always gets worried over Deedlit (especially at the last episode). And comedy fans--sorry, no luck. Only a couple of very small and brief jokes, but nothing worth cracking up about.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention something else-- the music. Well, I love the music for this show, it fits well. The only thing I can't stand is the annoying (but brief) "Doom-Doom!" music that always plays when someone's under attack. I absolutely love the ending credits song. It's so beautiful and sad. I could listen to it all day. ^^
Overall, this is something fantasy-lovers (otaku or non-otaku) should look into. It doesn't really have much of the Japanese culture in it but that's only because when do you see people eating with chopsticks in the middle ages? Record of Lodoss War may start slow at the first two episodes, but then it begins to pick up, and you'll really love it. I know I did. ^^ 10/10
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