Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Of all the Anime series that I have viewed, Record of Lodoss War holds a special place in my heart. When I was still in High School, I was curious about what the genre had to offer, yet was discouraged from experiencing it since there were some titles that warned me about excessive violence and gratuitous sexual situations. Fortunately, Hayao Miyazaki's works such as Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke propelled me to see beyond my initial views. One day, I happened across a video called Record of Lodoss War. As a longtime fan of the popular Super NES classic Final Fantasy III (arguably the greatest RPG of all time), and fantasy in general, watching this series became a dream come true. Consequently, Record of Lodoss War became--and remains--my favorite Anime series ever.

If you happen to be fond of fantasy adventure videogames as I am (or great literature such as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings), then Record of Lodoss War is a very clever hybrid of these two great works of art. It's got everything fans could ask for--dragons, elves, dark gods, unlikely yet compelling heroes, villains you'll either hate (or love, depending on who you side with), action, suspense, romance, a small dose of humor, and an engaging feel to keep on watching by the time each episode ends.

This is a direct-to-video animation series produced back in 1990, which unfolds over thirteen half-hour episodes. Adapted from the fantasy novels of the same name by Japanese author Ryo Mizuno, Lodoss is a classic good-vs-evil story, exploring the chronicles of six adventurers: these include Parn, a young, inexperienced warrior eager to (literally) jump at any chance to clear his father's tarnished name; Deedlit, a spunky, mystical high elf who tries (with varying degrees of success) to prove her love to Parn; Etoh, a loyal, good-natured cleric; Slayn, a gentle wise mage; Ghim, a gruff and tough dwarf; and Woodchuck, a wanted criminal who nonetheless provides loyalty (and occasional chagrin) to his pals.

The story is hardly original, and the plot tends to "jumps around" from one event to the next--yet the overall show is so engrossing that this fault (in addition to a few others I'll come to in a moment) becomes irrelevant. After a prologue on the history of Lodoss (told through gorgeously painted stills and haunting music) the show starts out, strangely, in the middle of the heroes' journey. This may be somewhat off-putting, but if viewers allow themselves to get involved as our heroes cross through the Dwarf's Great Tunnel and fight an enormous dragon at the exit, they'll find themselves on a thrill ride which there may be no signs of being let off, even at their request.

Episodes 2 through 5 involve Parn and his party banding together for the first time as the forces of the foreboding dark island, Marmo, begin to cross into Lodoss under the command of the Dark Emperor Beld and his coldhearted associate, the Black Knight Ashram (who has won over a lot of fans for being the most interesting of the villains -- in spite of how cruel he is, Ashram is not altogether unlikable; one of the show's greatest assets of appeal).

The sixth episode picks up after the first episode where our heroes seek advice from the Great Sage Wort and join forces with King Fahn of Valis and King Kashue of Flaim in the War of Heroes -- a spectacular, emotionally charged sequence which plays out in Episode 7. In Episode 8, Parn and company set off to confront the Grey Witch, Karla, who has been manipulating the forces of Lodoss for her own purposes. (In particular, Ghim, the old dwarf, is determined to rescue a close friend of his, Leylia, the priestess.)

The last five episodes (which involve a struggle for the Scepter of Domination, a showdown with the terrible Demon Dragon Shooting Star, and the maniacal Dark Wizard Wagnard's attempt to resurrect Kardis, the Goddess of Destruction) build to a gripping, hang-on-to-the-edge-of-your-seat climax which ranks with this viewer as one of the best ever committed to Anime. (Some people dislike these five episodes because they're a somewhat condensed version of the events that take place in a TV series follow-up, Chronicles of the Heroic Knight -- which, incidentally, follow the original novels Ryo Mizuno wrote more closely than the OVAs do, but that's another story.)

It's the characters which make Record Of Lodoss War so much fun, and much of the best scenes belong to Parn and Deedlit; especially in a royal banquet episode where she forces Parn to dance with her (one of my favorite sequences from the show). As is typical of a elf-dwarf rivalry, Ghim and Deed bicker about each other's differences yet maintain a somewhat begrudging level of self-respect. It's Parn, however, whose plight stays with you long after the show approaches its climax. Eager to discover whether his father died in disgrace or not, he finds a father figure in Kashue. (This gets on Deedlit's nerves; she continually competes with the king for Parn's attention--a running gag that plays out unfortunately for only a couple of episodes.) In the latter episodes, we meet two new characters who don't get much screen time but are no less fully realized. Shiris, the hotheaded young mercenary who vies with Deedlit for Parn's affections is strongly depicted, as is her partner (and secret love), Orson, the moody Berserker, who becomes an angry, uncontrollable monster at the sight of Shiris in trouble.

Even the bad guys are richly developed. Ashram, as mentioned, isn't driven so much by malice as he is by what he believes is right; in fact, he becomes the most three-dimensional of the villains for that reason alone. For support, he has a Dark Elf accomplice named Pirotess (the opposite of Deedlit) who'll do anything to prove her loyalty to him... including sacrificing herself. Karla, incidentally, is no ordinary villainess. Her primary goal is to bring to Lodoss the balance she feels has been so greatly disturbed... yet her psychologically unbalanced persona leads her to cause far worse chaos with deadly consequences. She is shifty, cunning, manipulative -- an almost deadly combination. Wagnard, on the other hand, is just plain evil -- every bit the equivalent of Kefka from Final Fantasy III who cackles fiendishly as he puts his dark plans into action. When we first meet him, he appears to be a nondescript character, but when he becomes possessed by Kardis, he becomes frighteningly villainous. (Every scene he's in sends shivers down my spines.)

Its the strength of the characters and their chemistry as well as the compelling (if jumpy) plot which makes Lodoss so much fun that one can overlook its occasional shortcomings, notably the animation, which, although gorgeously drawn, uses a low cel count resulting with some stiff movements. Taking into account that this is an older show, however, this doesn't really detract all that much (although there are some later episodes where some of the same footage is reused, for cost cutting purposes).

No fantasy adventure would be complete without a stirring soundtrack, and Record of Lodoss War delivers this in style. The musical score by Mitsuo Hagita is mostly symphonic, although it is (obviously) generated by electronics. Yet the compositions were so rich and lovely that they eventually grew on me over the course of the show. Equally lovely are the opening and ending theme songs, "Adesso e Fortuna -Now & Fortune-" and "Fantasia of the Wind", both of which are excellently sung in Japanese by Sherry. As a nice bonus, these songs were even translated for the English version; the woman who sings the dubbed songs, Lisa DeSimone, sings with an equally splendid voice.

One aspect of Lodoss often criticized is the English dub, produced by New York-based Central Park Media in 1996, a time when most dubs had a low reputation. I've read all kinds of mixed opinions about this English track; some say its fake and/or mediocre while other claims its unbearable, but here's a better review from one of its several (albeit outspoken on the net at least) enthusiastic fans (that's me).

I became a fan of Lodoss primarily because of the dub, and to this day, I happen to be rather fond of it. True, it does have its share of drawbacks: some lines come across somewhat awkwardly, the synchronization doesn't always mesh, and some minor character voices come across as very cheesy sounding. Where the dub excels, though, is in the strong performances of its principals, particularly Lisa Ortiz as Deedlit. I've since heard Ortiz in various other roles like Tsubasa Shibahime in His and Her Circumstances, but Deedlit remains my favorite from her (in addition to Lina Inverse from The Slayers). She brings a lot of spunk and sassiness to the high elf, and later on, vulnerability during the climactic sequences.

Also noteworthy is John Knox as Ashram; his cold, icy voice defines the Black Knight's nature as a whole. Billy Regan's Parn is another performance that I feel doesn't get its due; he speaks in a very animated way and carries a lot of the emotions well in his voice. He is especially outstanding in the action scenes. Other notably worthy voice acting is provided by Al Muscari (who brings a subtle yet dramatic warmth to Slayn), Jacques LeCan (putting a hilariously smarmy spin on Woodchuck), Chris Yates (as Kashue and Orson), the late Simone Grant (who intones her lines with chilliness as Karla, and later, inner strength and lovely simplicity to the priestess Leylia), Greg Wolfe as the gutterally gruff Ghim, Alexander Rose (whose deep resonant narration sells the story as a whole; he also plays Wort), Karen Smith (as the headstrong Shiris), and Jayce Reeves as Wagnard (who, by the way, has a deliciously malevolent evil laugh). Ted Lewis's somewhat whiney sounding Etoh is probably the only weak link of the cast, but even I have to admit being fond of his voice.

Michael Alben's script adaptation remains slavishly faithful to the subtitled script, and sometimes this causes, as mentioned, for some clunky lines ("Is that really you? Don't go and fade away on me now!"); however, there are memorable one-liners as well (Parn: "Quick, Deed, what's [the dragon]'s weak spot?" Deedlit: "I'm not a dragon expert! How should I know?!"). As mentioned, its the chemistry between much of the cast that sold the dub for me: I especially like the interactions between Parn and Deedlit, Ghim and Deed's snappy banter, not to mention Woodchuck's occasional wisecracks.

I actually did listen to bits and pieces of the Japanese language track on the DVD set when I acquired it in 2002 (I had owned the VHS tapes); while I did find it to be of high caliber, I find that this dub holds its own position surprisingly well, even for a 1996 production. Even after hearing better dubs, Lodoss always comes at the top of my list of favorite English-dubbed Anime to listen to. (The dub for Chronicles of the Heroic Knight sadly isn't as good, although it does have its saving graces, but more on that in a later review.)

Central Park Media made a DVD release of this title a few years ago, but have since rereleased it in a more beefed up package, with some new bonus features to speak of, including the behind-the-scenes featurette we saw on the VHS tapes. There is also a promotional video (dubbed in English), which sounds, I'm sad to say, awful (heck, folks who slamdunk the Lodoss English voice acting in the OVA should hear this; even some of the lesser voices in the Lodoss dub sounded more bearable!) Some DVD-ROM features (identical to those on the CHRONICLES set), including the dub script and credits for both casts, round out the extras.

As far as I'm concerned, the visual transfer is very well done, but then I've never seen the old release so I can't compare it with that. (I was told that CPM used a new Digital Video Remastering process to clean up the visuals for this release.) The audio is competently mixed on both language tracks, which is good for people who want to watch the show in either route.

Record of Lodoss War has received its share of detractors over recent years, probably due to its cheap production values and/or inconsistent plotting. However, it is important to remember that these "shortcomings" is mainly because it's an older Anime series. While Record of Lodoss War may show its age in places, its infectious appeal and complexity rings true even after other shows of its ilk, and like most classics, it can stand against the test of time. In particular, fantasy fans should find this to be great fun.

Individual Episode Grades (on a scale of ZERO out of *****):
1. Prologue to the Legend (****1/2/*****)
2. Blazing Departure (****/*****)
3. The Black Knight (*****/*****)
4. The Grey Witch (*****/*****)
5. The Desert King (****/*****)
6. The Sword of the Dark Emperor (****/*****)
7. The War of Heroes (*****/*****)
8. Requiem for Warriors (*****/*****)
9. The Scepter of Domination (***1/2/*****)
10. The Demon Dragon of Fire Dragon Mountain (*****/*****)
11. The Wizard's Ambition (*****/*****)
12. Final Battle! Marmo, the Dark Island (*****/*****)
13. Lodoss, the Burning Continent (*****/*****)

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older