Return to Vaults: Record of Lodoss War OVA Review
ロードス島戦記
Lodoss-tō Senki
When I first watched it Record of Lodoss War OVA and reviewing it as of late 2005, the series is interesting enough but not entirely compelling. Now, I think I know why.
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Story summary
A wannabe hero tries to save a girl from goblins. His village was not happy about this because they were afraid the goblins would attack them. Nearby, a dwarf named Ghim is searching for Leylia, the daughter of High Priestess Neese. He visits his old mage friend, Slayn. Meanwhile, Parn dons the armor and sword for his deceased father. Along with his priest friend Etoh, the two go out to stop an elf attack, with the aid of a female High Elf.
After the battle, the village chief decides to send Parn to investigate why the goblins are on the attack. Etoh, Ghim and Slayn join him. The female High Elf, Deedlit, saved Parn from an ambush and joined the group. However, they were captured by Alanian soldiers for being spies for Marmo, as Marmo had invaded the continent. After clearing everything, the castle they were in was attacked by Marmo forces, with the assistance of Karla the Gray Witch.
Thief Woodchuck joins Parn's Party. After recovering King Fahn's daughter, they go on a quest to meet the sage Wort, surviving an attack from a dragon in the process. War broke out between Marmo and the rest of Lodoss, resulting in the deaths of King Fahn and King Beld due to Karla's influence. General Ashram of Beld takes command of Marmo's forces. King Kashue took command of Fahn's forces.
After defeating Karla, she possessed Woodchuck and escaped. The dark magician Wagnard leaves the Ashram to revive the evil goddess Kardis. So he kidnaps Deedlit as a sacrifice, forcing Parn and her allies to try to rescue her and stop the ritual.
A re-imagining, not an adaptation
Everyone told me that Record of Lodoss War OVA partly the norm for the source novel, with the authors making up their own ending. At the time, I thought this was why things weren't okay for me at all. However, now I know the story of the novel Record of Lodoss War Firstly (The Gray Witch), I see the problem more clearly. This OVA is not an adaptation with a fabricated ending. It is a reinterpretation of the novel The Gray Witchuses characters and situations from the aforementioned novel but tells the story differently. Added to this are elements from subsequent novels published at the time.
What do I mean? Well, to start, in the novel, Parn's group meets Deedlit in the city of Alan (Allan). In the OVA, she is there to warn them about the goblin attack, after which she is attached to the group. They never came to see Alan in the OVA. As I understand it, Parn's group does not fight a dragon in Moria in the novel. They confronted Karla twice. In the OVA only, the important encounter is reduced to a small flashback. The other one didn't make any sense because Karla just rolled over.
So in addition to changing the characters and events of The Gray Witch into a different and weaker version of the original story, Madhouse did the same with the remaining source material. It was true that at that time, novel Record of the Lodoss War still being written. As such, Madhouse just brought in five colored dragons with no explanation. Suddenly, Wagnard talked about Kardis. Deedlit became the sacrifice instead of Koneese.
So, compared to what little I know about the source material, this OVA tells a very poor version of those events.
There is no Character Development
Another thing I don't like about it Record of Lodoss War OVA is the lack of character development. Parn is given a cliché “following in my father's footsteps” dystopia. However, there is no solution to this problem.
In the novel (what I've scanned and what I've read in the manga adaptation seems very faithful), Parn is a capable warrior with a hot head. He just tends to jump before he looks. However, he proved himself by outwitting Karla, defeating her dragon tooth warrior and Marmo's guards, then returning the kidnapped princess to her father. Thus, the king knew that he could count on Parn's group to meet Wort.
In the OVA, Parn earns nothing. Everyone thought Parn would be great. He did nothing to rescue the princess as Karla just rolled over and walked away. So, finding nothing, he was assigned to meet with Wort. What?
It wasn't until the end of the series that Parn noticed Deedlit, who did almost everything to get his attention. So when Deedlit is kidnapped, only then does Parn truly feel like a real character with the right motivations. Even then, while Deedlit was being slowly killed, Parn still acted unwisely. I hate that.
Speaking of Deelit, we don't know why she left her homeland or why she cares about Parn. Ghim wants to find Neese's daughter but we don't know why. How did he know the magician Slayn? What about Etoh? Why would they follow a fool like Parn? It doesn't make any sense.
Deedlit & Pirotess
While Parn can be an annoying character, Deedlit is the light of Record of Lodoss OVA war. I like the charm of her character. Luckily, the art team made her super cute. She is a bit of a flirt but is very devoted and loyal to Parn. Deedlit is truly the best elf.
From that perspective, I can understand why Madhouse chose to use her as a sacrifice to revive Kardis. And since as an audience we want to smack Parn for ignoring such an adorable elf, her potential sacrifice actually makes a bit of sense.
It's a shame Madhouse didn't do more with the romantic prospect between Deedlit and Parn. It's true that I don't think that's going anywhere in the world The Gray Witch. But if you're going to make such radical changes to the source material, why not go further?
Ironically, the second most interesting characters in this series are the Dark Elf Pirates. Again, she is not shown much as a character. However, she has a deep devotion towards the human Ashram, even though he seems cold towards her. So why does she love him so much?
Madhouse invented Pirotess for the OVA, presumably to counter Deedlit. As I understand it, MIZUNO Ryo-sensei liked this character so much, he included her in the official novel and gave her a backstory. I wish I could read it one day.
Other issues
Sadly I have many other problems with Record of Lodoss War OVA. Right out of the gate is episode 1. For some inexplicable reason, Madhouse made up a story that (as far as I know) takes place between episodes 5 and 6 of the series. Why? For me, episode 1 was “Wow! This is a Tolkienesque story with an OG party Dungeons and Dragons.” But otherwise, there's no clue as to what's going on, who, or why.
Next is the slow pace of the series. There were so many times throughout the movie that I thought, “Can we keep going?” It was so sad. In the last few episodes, Deedlit is about to die, but Parn keeps stopping because someone in the group wants to protect him.
As I mentioned, I didn't like how the Parn x Deedlit romance turned out. However, that wasn't the only romance that got stirred up. In the original story, Priest Etoh and Princess Fianna become a romantic couple after a mission to rescue her. However, the OVA cuts this mission down to almost nothing. So there's no romance between the two, other than maybe a background scene showing them near each other.
Furthermore, the Slayn-Leylia romance is not explained. I already talked about the poor character development. One would think that after Leylia got rid of Karla, we could get her to talk about it, even by saying, “I don't want to talk about it.” But we don't. However, surprisingly, it seems like Slayn and Leylia are a thing. Why? I don't know, except it's like that in the novel. Great!
Art, Animation and Music
For the most part, I don't think the artistry of Record of Lodoss War OVA that bad. It holds up quite well to this day. The character design also works quite well. As for the music, it does its job well enough. In my opinion, it's nothing special.
However, despite being considered Original Video Animation, the series' animation remains largely sub-par. Usually, OVAs receive a higher budget per episode. Indeed, the first episode seems to be the best episode of the anime yet. Unfortunately, the following episodes fell off quite a bit. It's really noticeable during dragon battles. They are not animated at all.
Indeed, many scenes in this OVA series are just pan-and-scan shots. Even when I saw this movie years ago, I still found the lack of animation really striking. I guess Madhouse spent all of its budget on the first episode. That one looks the best.
So what's the attraction?
With all the complaints I've made about Record of Lodoss War OVA you might be wondering what the appeal of the series is. It doesn't really sound worth watching.
The point is, as an OVA, one can see the diamond in the rough. Obviously, Deedlit helps a lot, but there's a fascinating lore behind it. It's hinted at and touched upon, but never delved into. However, what we are given will often create a desire to know more. Indeed, I plan to revisit the novel The Gray Witch someday (the only one licensed in the West). I really want to know more about this world.
If there were someone better, this OVA series could be amazing. However, even with the kernels we were given, I found that many people quite enjoyed this viewing experience, more so when they didn't know the source material. And because Record of Lodoss War is a beloved brand in Japan so I think Record of Lodoss War OVA At least worth a look.
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