Customer Reviews

Ruin Explorers: Quest for the Ultimate Power!

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own a lot of anime and have seen even more. Ruin Explorers impressed me with its well drawn art and a story with a few twists to keep you guessing. After I watched the first tape I was glad I had gotten the second tape at the same time. If I hadn't I would have bit me nails until well... you get the picture. My point is this anime is good and that don't buy just one. One is not enough! You will NEED the second tape after watching the first. As a minor note if you have the dubbed version of a Slayers movie the dubbed version of Ruin Explorers is fun to watch since they use some of the same voices. This is one anime not to be passed up.

Ruin Explores is a very short, 2 hour long, 4-part series that contains everything necessary for a great story. All of the characters are basic, but well developed for the story-line. Nothing is missing, no questions unanswered.

The story goes as this, six companions are in search of the Great-Power, all for their own reasons. Selfish, greedy, personal or for a kingdom. All of the reasons are described in some way or another. I don't want to give anything away. Then comes the "bad-guy", with reasons of his own. A big fight and then the end.

This anime is the reason why animes are fun. It contains a great story that could never really be done with real people, or atleast as fun, well developed characters, Fast-paced as far as anime is concerned, good animation, very good English-Dub for us non-Japanese speaking people, and good sound.

Not a lot of extras, but this doesn't really matter to me.

The only complaint is the ending, it feels as if this series could go on, the further adventures of the Ruin Explorers.

Buy-it Rent-it Watch-it!!

O.K., here's the story: it's set in a fantasy world where adventurers go exploring ruins searching for treasure and any magical items they can find. If this sounds like any D&D game you played, don't let that throw you off. This has enough action and comedy to satisfy most. I mean, it's not DRAGON HALF, but then few shows are.

Our protagonist is Ihrie, a tomboyish sword fighter who due to a curse inflicted on her years ago is unable to use magic, at least not without a price. (You find out exactly what the curse is in episode 2. Let's just say it's simular to Ranma Soutome's.) To make up for this short coming, she brings with her Fam, a ditzy wiggen (half human, half cat creature) who draws her power from the spirits but often blunders in all things, including magic preforming. They are on a quest for the fabeled Ultimate Power, which could supposedly grant the lucky finder whatever s/he desiers. Ihrie and Fam soon run into another team of ruin explorers-Ragna, another sorceress who has a secret phobia of mice, and her arrogant swordsman partner, who start off as rivals but eventually form an uneasy alliance with our heroines. They are joined by a slimey merchant/con artist, and Lyle, a former prince whose kingdom was wiped out by an evil wizard and who has embarked on a quest for revenge.

The only thing that knocks this down by one star is the ending. Read no further if you hate spoilers. Well, lets just say that I thought Ihrie was supposed to be the main hero, but in the final battle she ultimately didn't seem to really do anything useful, despite her efforts. Also, I wasn't really clear exactly on whether she ever got her curse removed or not.

Anyway, this one is highly recommended.

...Though short, this series was far from lacking a good storyline or character development. In fact, this series houses two of my all-time favorite anime characters: Fam and Lyle. And though this will never be my favorite anime series, it will certainly always rank pretty high on my charts. This was a joy to watch, and I've seen this series many times over. It had an endearing, bittersweet story, plenty of action, romance, and even a few comical moments. And the animation isn't anything to be sneezed at, either! And for you bishonen lovers out there, check out Lyle! With a well though-out and drawn-out plot, with interesting characters and cool animation to boot....

This is one great show! It's not a movie (I thought it was). It's a short OAV -- it has 4 episodes. The quality of the artwork is awesome. I really like the dubbing. It's really good. The fighting scenes are cool, and the magic spells are amazing to look at. Since the length of "Ruin Explorers" isn't that long, the story don't have much depth. But that doesn't matter, it's a great show to watch. You won't get bored watching this. It's pretty funny at times too!

Isn't it amazing how an anime can be so similar to the Slayers series, yet still be so completely different hurts? With such crazy antics and super deformed modes from Dragonhalf, this anime can prove to be an hour ((or more)) of sheer delight or extreme boredom ((to those of us with lives and no sense of humour)). Ruin Explorers is a cheerful combination of The Slayers, Dragonhalf, and somewhat like the Record of LoDoss War. Anyone who likes decent halfwitted anime comedies about a tom-boy sorceres who turns into a cute little mouse will absolutely adore this anime. Cheers!

If youre looking for a laugh, if youre looking to cry, if youre juss looking for some highly framed animation, then this mini series is for you. It has a deep plot and while at that, the humor isnt left out. This is the type of anime youd watch over and over. The one thing this DVD is missing, is more characters. More is better, specially in anime. But that's not biggie. This quality movie replaces the flaw. It has a more than average "extras" section compared to most otehr anime DVD's. A must have for anyone trying to add to their anime library.

Ruin Explorers, a.k.a. Fam & Ihrie, is the story of two adventurers pillaging the ruins of an ancient civilization for the "Ultimate Power". Though this could easily be bad from the start, the slapstick humor and goofy characters are surprisingly entertaining. The 4 episode series only begins to falter when the heroines and their rivals get caught up in someone else's quest for the Ultimate Power. Unlike Nadia where there is plenty of time to explore the Nautilus' goal and how the main characters fit into it, the shift of focus is too quick and just doesn't come off right. The music, performed by the Versailles Chamber Orchestra, is above average. The English dub is quality stuff; Jessica Calvello's Fam is superb. The Japanese track is equally as enjoyable and both audio tracks are Dolby Digital 2 channel. The menus are pleasant to look at and browse. A small cell gallery is included as an extra. The strength of the duo of Fam and Ihrie really outshines this 4 episode OAV series, and would be great material for a TV show. I give this disk 4 stars for the strength of the first few episodes and the quality DVD. For a fantasy fan there is a lot to like about Fam and Ihrie, others may find the story not quite enough.

The characters are very humorous, and action oriented. The animation flows smoothly, and the story is vey involved. I have this and want to get the second. Check it out!

I don't know how this compaires to Slayers (as I have yet to watch the 8 DVDs I ordered)...but it's a decent, funny, action-filled comedy D&D type anime... I got to watch this in original Japanese...and it's really good...and I even liked the ending...it didn't leave me hanging, it was "complete" enough for me...take a chance on the DVD version...it's well worth it...