-
NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Lodoss War - any good?
- Thread starter Zander
- Start date
charlesatan
Explorer
OAV (interchangeable with OVA) stands for Original Animation Video, which is basically a video-only release (much like Disney's Aladdin 2).
The Lodoss War OAV is the first series, which was made back in the late 80's. It's basically the first incarnation of Lodoss as an anime.
In the late 90's, a remake of the OAV was made, which is what the TV series is. The first half is basically a modified version of the OAV (because the story was based on an actual campaign, but unfortunately, when the original OAV was being made, the game hadn't been finished yet so the writers had to make a different ending, but the TV series rectifies that), while the second half expounds on what happened later on and introduces a new cast.
Is it any good? If I were to be critical about it, no, it's average. If you're a D&D fan, it's great. It's certainly better than the Dungeons & Dragons movie, or 80's cartoon. It was based on a D&D campaign the writer ran back in the 80's (so it's not D&D 3.0 but rather AD&D) and has the various core elements like dragons, humans, elves, dwarves, and dark elves. If you ask me, if D&D needs a TV series or something like it, this is probably it.
The Lodoss War OAV is the first series, which was made back in the late 80's. It's basically the first incarnation of Lodoss as an anime.
In the late 90's, a remake of the OAV was made, which is what the TV series is. The first half is basically a modified version of the OAV (because the story was based on an actual campaign, but unfortunately, when the original OAV was being made, the game hadn't been finished yet so the writers had to make a different ending, but the TV series rectifies that), while the second half expounds on what happened later on and introduces a new cast.
Is it any good? If I were to be critical about it, no, it's average. If you're a D&D fan, it's great. It's certainly better than the Dungeons & Dragons movie, or 80's cartoon. It was based on a D&D campaign the writer ran back in the 80's (so it's not D&D 3.0 but rather AD&D) and has the various core elements like dragons, humans, elves, dwarves, and dark elves. If you ask me, if D&D needs a TV series or something like it, this is probably it.
Its no LotR, but its a decient series. The jump from the OVA to the TV series can be a little odd unless you know the histrory of the series though.
The OVA is very much like some guys making a cartoon based on their D&D game, which isnt realy a bad thing. The TV series breaks from that somewhat, and is all the better for it.
The OVA is very much like some guys making a cartoon based on their D&D game, which isnt realy a bad thing. The TV series breaks from that somewhat, and is all the better for it.
JoeGKushner
Adventurer
It's certainly a "classic" of the genre and medium. One of the earlier anime series that a lot of D&D players latched onto as being "cool" with berserker, dragons, rune swords, elves, dark elves, and other goods.
Kilmore
First Post
If you think a chronicle of a D&D campaign makes for good watching, then sure, it is a fine series. The show doesn't break many "rules" of D&D style fantasy, but once it sets out to operate within those limits, it does it well enough. One thing that might take some getting used to is the looong ears of the elves. Seems the anime's character designer just got done doing Gundams, and the ears were inspired by the antennae on the sides of their heads (according to Lodoss creator Ryu Mizuno).
Sir Brennen
Legend
My digital cable provider has a feature called 'On Demand', which is free for the most part, and is like a video library - you can start/stop/fast forward, ect. any of the several programs included. There is a section called 'Anime Selects', which right now is beginning Lodoss War and I've watched the first two episodes recently. I thought it seemed to use a lot more D&D'ish tropes than other anime, and now I know why. 
It definitely seems like a continuation of an existing story (they keep referring to another 'campaign' called the War of Heroes.)
One thing I really like is that the dragons in the world have a reason for the treasures that they are hoarding. I may work something similar into my own campaign.
I'm not an expert or anything, but I'd say Lodoss is at least a little above par for 'old school' anime, in terms of animation, voice-acting and plot. In general, though, I prefer more recent anime series, such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Samuri Champloo or Witch Hunter Robin (This kinda stuff I can also find 'On Demand', but it's generally on the Anime Network or Cartoon Network "channels".)
It definitely seems like a continuation of an existing story (they keep referring to another 'campaign' called the War of Heroes.)One thing I really like is that the dragons in the world have a reason for the treasures that they are hoarding. I may work something similar into my own campaign.
I'm not an expert or anything, but I'd say Lodoss is at least a little above par for 'old school' anime, in terms of animation, voice-acting and plot. In general, though, I prefer more recent anime series, such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Samuri Champloo or Witch Hunter Robin (This kinda stuff I can also find 'On Demand', but it's generally on the Anime Network or Cartoon Network "channels".)
Filby
First Post
Sir Brennen said:My digital cable provider has a feature called 'On Demand', which is free for the most part, and is like a video library - you can start/stop/fast forward, ect. any of the several programs included. There is a section called 'Anime Selects', which right now is beginning Lodoss War and I've watched the first two episodes recently. I thought it seemed to use a lot more D&D'ish tropes than other anime, and now I know why.
That's how I'd been following the series, too. Up until a few weeks ago they'd gotten up to episode 20-something, but then, all of a sudden, they went straight back to the first two episodes, which really annoyed me since I'd spent around three months following the storyline.
Basically, story behind the confusing chronology of the two series goes something like this: Because of big budget constraints, the OVA couldn't cover the entire trilogy of novels that it was based on, so while the "campaign" about the War of Heroes and the Grey Witch's ambition was fully covered in the first eight episodes, the next two, revolving around the quest for the dragon Shooting Star and the wizard Wagnard's treachery, were squeezed into two and three episodes, respectively. The TV series, Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, remedied this by saying that the last two story arcs didn't happen and doing them over again, this time closer to the original novels.
Something I really enjoy about the TV series is "Welcome to Lodoss Island!", the 2-odd-minute short animated in "super-deformed mode" at the end of every episode, parodying the main story. I think that's something you either love or hate.
One thing I should note, though, is the quality of the animation, which is occasionally rather slipshod. The animation on the OVA pays a marvelous amount of attention to detail, but apparently their budget was such that the quality of movement (ie, the actual animation) gets pretty bad at times, so what you get is a lot of really pretty-looking cardboard cut-outs moving around on screen at times. Furthermore, stock footage, especially during battle scenes, is used extensively. The TV series, on the other hand, has much smoother animation, but the level of detail is seriously lacking -- although for key episodes such as the beginning and end of story arcs, they seem to have amped up the quality of detail a good bit.
I'd highly recommend Lodoss for a D&D fan.
Last edited:
ThirdWizard
First Post
I liked it. The others have covered most of the facts behind it. I've watched the series two or three times, and the OAV a few times too. It's worth noting that in Japan, video releases don't have the sort of stigma that they have here. OAV releases are often better than series, with very good animation, writing, and acting, sometimes on par with theatrical releases.
If you like Lodoss War, I highly reccomend the Slayers series. Especially Slayers: Next. I loved Slayers: Next.
Pa-pa-parn!
If you like Lodoss War, I highly reccomend the Slayers series. Especially Slayers: Next. I loved Slayers: Next.
Filby said:
Pa-pa-parn!
Zander
Explorer
Thanks to everyone who has replied. You're all stars. 
I've ordered the set based on your recommendations.
Two more questions:
1. Which should I watch first, the TV series or the OVA?
2. I've heard there's a prologue several episodes into the TV series, i.e. out of chronological order. Should I watch this first or should I watch the episodes in the order in which they are presented?
I've ordered the set based on your recommendations.Two more questions:
1. Which should I watch first, the TV series or the OVA?
2. I've heard there's a prologue several episodes into the TV series, i.e. out of chronological order. Should I watch this first or should I watch the episodes in the order in which they are presented?
Similar Threads
