released 20 jul 04 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* RECORD OF THE LODOSS WAR is an anime swords-and-sorcery series in thirteen episodes on a two-disc set. It concerns a band of six adventurers in the land of Lodoss, with the band on a quest to defeat the invasion of the country by dark armies under the influence of evil forces. The young, impulsive hero Parn is aided by the pretty and volatile elf Deedlit, as well as the priest-healer Etoh, the gruff dwarf Ghim, the mage Slayn, and the trickster-thief Woodchuck. They must journey through dark forests and haunted cities, battle dark knights and gray witches, and help save the day for Lodoss.
It is fairly obvious on watching the first episodes of RECORD OF THE LODOSS WAR that this is a by-the-numbers item, with mediocre production values and a completely familiar sort of script. Still, even at that it does start out entertaining enough; if the production values aren't anything special, they are generally competent, some of the musical score is very pleasant, and the characters are interesting. However, there's not enough here to really support thirteen episodes. As is unfortunately often the case with anime series, the plot meanders around from episode to episode and succeeds mostly in gradually inspiring boredom instead of interest. I would have found this worth my time if it had been a, say, 140-minute movie, which would have given plenty of time to put together a rousing epic, but the story is too thin and uninspired to support an entire series. I managed to get through the fifth episode when tedium set in and I gave it up, having more useful things to do with my time.
I think this item will go over well for hard-core fantasy fans, but anybody who's a bit more choosy will probably find it forgettable. It would be intriguing to edit it down to a movie, though. I think it would have been good fun if the pace were picked up by stripping the episodes down to their minima.
