THEM Anime Reviews
Home Reviews Extras Forums
[R1 DVD box art.]
AKA: Lodoss Tou Senki, ロードス島戦記 (Japanese)
Genre: Fantasy
Length: OAV, 13 episodes, 30 minutes each
Distributor: Currently licensed by FUNimation.
Content Rating: 13+ (violence)
Related Series: Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, Legend of Crystania, Rune Soldier
Also Recommended: Crest of the Stars
Notes: Based on the novels by Yasuda Hitoshi and Mizuno Ryo.
Rating:

Record of Lodoss War

Synopsis

Lodoss is known as the Cursed Continent. Thousands of years ago, the gods fought a gargantuan battle of good vs. evil. Both forces were completely destroyed, leaving Lodoss split from the rest of the world.

Now Lodoss is in a state of turmoil as kings and warlords fight to gain control over the continent. A force is rallying the monsters, too, and the balance between good and evil seems to be in danger once again.

Enter Parn, our hero, accompanied by five others: the beautiful elf Deedlit, the scoundrel Woodchuck the thief, the scholarly Slayn the mage, the kind Etoh the cleric, and the gruff Ghim the dwarf. This rag-tag party of heroes (and one heroine) must try and stop whatever forces are trying to disrupt the balance of all of Lodoss. But what are the forces trying to accomplish?


Review

Record of Lodoss War is as steeped in the traditional garments of fantasy as you could possibly get. You can easily see where European and American role-playing games have had an influence in the making of this one. The heroes, deities, villains, and monsters could easily be found in any D&D game.

Animation and art are pretty good, except for some annoying stock footage that gets recycled in battle scenes. The action is smooth and convincing. All the players on the screen fit their roles well. The soundtrack gets the job done mostly, even though it's a little rinky-dink and annoying in some areas.

The plot is a pretty good one, one that tries to go beyond the "six heroes decide together to save the world" storyline that seems to plague too many RPG's and fantasy stories nowadays. The story builds up to a very nice climax, allowing for a few surprises along to way to keep the watcher on his/her toes. The only complaint I have is that the ending seemed a bit rushed. The producers could have easily devoted at least one more volume than they did on the ending.

Characters are all wonderfully done; everyone plays their part to the hilt, interacting with one another just as I would expect them to do. The heroes are a nice balance between fully-competent and human. Especially endearing are the romantic pursuits of Deedlit towards a clueless (not to mention BLIND) Parn. Fun stuff.

I actually like the dubbing very much for this one, too. Most of the voices are matched really well, and the ones that change still fit their roles well. I actually LIKE hearing Woodchuck sound like he's from Brooklyn; it just seems to fit him better.

Overall, if you like fantasy in any way, you'll like Lodoss. It's not perfect, but who cares? It's a lot of fun.

Raphael See

Recommended Audience: No nudity or foul language, although this fantasy is about war, and people do get killed in this anime. Probably okay for all but the youngest of audiences.



Version(s) Viewed: VHS, English dub; VHS, Japanese with English subtitles
Review Status: Full (13/13)
Record of Lodoss War © 1990 Kadokawa Video
 
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved.