Record of Lodoss War
Overview
Record of Lodoss War is a full length 13 episode anime series, set in a swords and sorcery fantasy type setting.
Storyline & Narrative
The Record of Lodoss War follows Parn, a young, brash wannabe knight, and his friends (a perfect Dungeons & Dragons party : 2 fighters, 1 mage, 1 cleric, 1 druid, 1 theif) on their journey to save Lodoss, the accursed continent.
Witches, Dragons, Dark Elves and more all make up this fun story. It plays as a perfect role playing adventure brought to life, without the tongue in cheekiness of the Slayer's series.
The intitial plot follows the adventurers as they fight the invading forces of Marmo, a smaller island filled with monsters, who have begun an invasion onto the mainland, lead by Beld, once a hero of an ancient war, and Ashram, leader of Beld's army.
Events become affected by Karla, a mysterious witch, manipulating everyone to her own end, ostensibly to save Lodoss, no matter the cost in life.
Lodoss has an excellent, twisting storyline, with many side quests and supporting characters. It is an engaging tale of heroism and bravery.
Characters & Dynamics
Parn is an aspiring knight, an undisplined fighter trying to follow in his father's footsteps. Parn is the LEAST interesting of the cast of Lodoss, although he is the star.
Deedlit is a high elf, an excellent fighter, and adept in the use of nature based magic. Deedlit is one of the more fun characters in Lodoss.
Etoh is a priest of Fallis, and a healer. In episode one, he has just returned from the temple, and so can be considered a novice.
Slayn and Ghim are old friends. Slayn is a mage, young but still powerful. His friend Ghim is a dwarf fighter, with a huge battle axe, and the ability to throw it for deadly effect.
Along the way, they pick up Wood Chuck, a rogue, but one who's heart can be tugged into the right place.
Throughout the series, great emphasis is made on the character's development and improving skill, and this also makes the RPG like feel more immersive, as you watch the characters progress.
Ashram is an engaging villain, considerably deeper than most of the others in Lodoss.
Animation & Visual Direction
Unfortunately, to fit 300 minutes of Lodoss onto 2 DVDs, some compression artifacts are noticeable on close scrutiny, although to be fair, they don't affect the overall quality of watching it on a normal television.
Other than that, the visual qualities and art are excellent, animation is first rate, and great use is made of lighting effect.
Voice Acting & Soundtrack
The voice acting dubbed is ok. It's not great, but the japanese voice acting is considerably better. I think one of my biggest problems was hearing Lisa Ortiz as Deedlit, since all I could think of was Lina Inverse, who's voice Lisa Ortiz also played.
In Japanese, Deedlit's voice is wildly different, and much better fitting for her character.
