released 21 dec 03 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* In the swords-and-sorcery adventure THE WEATHERING CONTINENT, we meet a group of three wanderers: the mercenary Bois, an easy-going scarred warrior of few words; the mage Tieh, an elegant creature of indeterminate sex; and Lakushi, a boyish girl who has left her dying town and is trying to find her way in the outer world. That outer world is an inhospitable place, a land that was once great and prosperous but has now become an increasingly lifeless desert. The story is straightforward: the three find a city of the dead and become involved in a fight with bandits who wish to plunder it.
THE WEATHERING CONTINENT is a watchable piece, with good (if not impressive) production values, a reasonably entertaining (if not particularly memorable) script, and engaging heroes. I found it fair casual entertainment, which was all I was looking for, and an anime fan should find it at least as entertaining, though I would hesitate to recommend it to any non-anime fan unless they were simply interested in sampling a fairly representative piece of anime.
I would add that this item is only about an hour long, but that's OK since the plot really wouldn't have supported a much longer item. I wish it had included two episodes, however, since I liked the characters enough to want to see more of them. It appears that THE WEATHERING CONTINENT is a long-running comic series and it seems a pity that so little effort was made to adapt it to video.