Customer Reviews

Record of Lodoss War - Chronicles of the Heroic Knight Set [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I don't get why so many people dislike this series. Its really good I think the main problem people have with it is the continuity from the OVA and the shift of focus to different characters. (Parn and Deedlit lose personality and Orson and Shiris suddenly gain some...) As for the Welcome to Lodoss Island bits at the end of the episodes they are really cool and only once did I think that they took away from the dramatic impact of a story ( It was after when you know who died...) anyways this is really a solid series and I would have to say that I really enjoyed it and for those of you who must absolutly insist on continuity I would try to stress this as an alternate timeline or universe. Anyways if you like Lodoss or Anime I would definitly purchase this item....

This is the whole shibang - the entire Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight series dubbed in English - and it rocks!The great voice acting and intriguing plot will keep you watching this series again and again...maybe even right after you just finished watching it like me. The art quality is very good and the characters all stand out well - each with their own personality attributes. The collection costs ()less also by buying the set, which is good because buying 9 or 10 cassettes can be tedious and more expensive. Parn, Deedlit, Shiris, Orson, Ashram, and others all return from the original '91 series, "The War of Heroes", and (even though Ashram and Orson have new voices) the series has kept its captivating touch with twice as many episodes as the original. After just the first 4, I already bought this nice collection which has hooked me - and should hook you on quite-possibly the best anime ever...If you don't own the whole series you're missing out on alot - it's actually worth the buy.

The second series builds on the original series and introduces young new heroes. Unlike some series where everyone never ages. The way the characters are handle remind me of the dragonlance novels. Playing the opening and closing credits everytime is overkill though...

Plot: The bad guys are trying to destroy Lodoss, and once again Parn, Deedlit and Kashue must stop them, but this time with some new help. In comes Spike, Leaf, Little Neese and others to help save Lodoss.

My thoughts: It's.... ok. Very much like a role-playing game. The opening song and opening sequence is excellent, if only the rest of the show was as good. Spike has cool hair, and I like elves. Neese looks one way at first, then all of a sudden is drawn a different way. I've seen the first 7 (of 9) tapes, but the show hasn't given me much interest to watch the other two. The dub is bad, and I like dubbed anime. The redeeming quality? The "Welcome to Lodoss Island" SD shorts between the episodes are wonderful, very funny and well done. I wish you could buy just that part.

This is by far one of the best anime series I have seen. I rank it with Revolutionary Girl Utena. The Music is wonderful and I think the story is tremendous. I don't normally fall in love with anime characters as quickly as I fell in love with these. I actually cried when you know who dies, I didn't cry at the end of escaflowne but I cried there. This is an all around great anime and I would recomend it for everyone.

Problems - It's WAY too long... this is like two series run together... Editing it into two films would have made much more sense. There are two different styles of animation here. As a movie we would also thus lose the goofy anime at the end of each episode. The characters also fail to recognise each other from the previous series... I think this is a failure of the movie makers and not the original Manga... For Lodoss fans the animation is comparable to the original series... you'll see the characters of old and a lot of new ones... there is plenty of back story and history and character development to keep fans tuned in. It also bridges the story of what happened between Record of Lodoss War and the Legend of Crystania the movie and the short series... which is good for fans of Ashram and the dark Elf... This should be condensed on to DVD as Record of Lodoss War was... it would be easier to wade through and enjoy with both English and Japanese dialog. Now if they would animate the Grey Witch Manga!

Sloppy sequel to the first movies continues the original story four years later with the young knight Parn battling the returning Ashram, the dark knight. Then it jumps 10 years and passes the torch to a new group of heroes. Some very poor dialogue and a horribly heavy-handed narrative are somewhat redeemed by good character design and truly awe-inspiring visual ideas (the opening sequence is brilliant). The "Welcome to Lodoss Island" intermissions though meant to be funny, just come off as annoying.

Inferior animation to Lodoss War- characters totally out of sync with original series - dont even recognize each other! - What a shame - Why not follow the original series? Record of Lodoss War was a winner - this series is not! I highly suggest renting before buying....

Be sure you buy "Record of Lodoss War" the six tape set first. Then decide on this one. I'd say stay away from it. Complete disregard for the original story breaks up any continuity; Deedlit is a filler character with no true importance; the new characters seem a bit shallow as compared to the old; and there is an added segment called "Welcome to Lodoss Island" that is extremely silly and goofy, which takes away from the serious story that the original series became cheered for. Chronicle of the Heroic Knight is a butchering of what Record of Lodoss War is. Stay away from this, stick to the original 6 volume series.