I don't hate it. It's just...different.
Okay, that said, I actually kind of like it and I ADORE the game. Now before you all call me Judas and hang me up a tree, hear me out.
Most of us have played the US/European release, right? Most of us are used to the localization. So can we accurately compare it to the original Japanese release of the game? How do we really know that they've changed Lloyd's personality, let alone his I.Q.? Now I agree whole heartedly that Lloyd isn't a rocket scientist, but isn't it possible that when the game was localized they made him a little smarter? Played up his leadership? Other things to make him more appealing to the target release audience? (Should I bring up localization butcherings, such as Sailor Moon?) Things get changed. They're never translated word for word. Crispin Freeman, bless his voice-acting hide, has often said that he will never duplicate a Japanese performance he dubs for. Therefore he puts his own signature on a character. He may draw inspiration from the original performance (like with Utena or Hellsing) but ultimately tries to do his own thing. Make it his own. Create something new. Just the nature of the beast, people.
Another gripe is that he gets tired just from using the Tiger Blade once. Okay...I can see that as possible. He's only human. The context of the game is just that, a game. I view the anime as much more true to life. In the fourth episode, Lloyd sends that Demon Blade with everything he's got - of course it's going to wipe him out. It's not like he's got this little energy meter that still says "full energy." As to the creative liberties taken with the sequencing of the plot, all I can say is that I've actually beaten Balacruf Mausoleum before Thoda Gyser before. It happens. Yes there is something of a natural flow, but that doesn't always mean that you follow it exactly. It's fun to mess with the order.
Finally, I agree whole heartedly that the game could have made a great anime series. HOWEVER, they chose to make it an OVA and as such, it's probably not going to be more than eight episodes. The very nature of an OVA is that they're short. Gundam Wing Endless Waltz OVA was only 3 episodes. Bastard!! only made it to six (of eight or nine, I can't remember). Fushigi Yugi was ridiculously long at 13. I'm optimisitic that there are four more episodes to come. The "end" of the Sylvarant story and the "beginning" of the Tethe'alla story was clearly stated at the end of the four episode. I haven't heard anything officially, but it'd be nice if they would do four episodes on Tethe'alla. Seriously condensed, but still, it's better than nothing. Who knows, they could put the finale into a movie format (oooo, movie...)
Yes, I'm disappointed that they didn't make it a full series and didn't follow the game exactly, but then where's the fun in that? We've played the game, we know what's going to happen. Do we seriously need to sit through 100+ episodes of something that we already know? Frankly, I think that the OVA is just fine as is. It's different. It's refreshing. It's interesting to see a different take on it.
Life is like a toaster - you gotta be pushed down before you can pop up.
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16 years ago
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majora203
15 years ago
Having played both versions of the game, I will say that Lloyd (while again, not being the brightest star in the sky) was clever enough in both versions of the game to make the anime rendering rather off-base in terms of his character. As opposed to the lovably slow, kind hearted hero with enough common sense to lead a group, he's just a meathead whose Exsphere does the work for him in the anime.
I think the anime works for an audience that hasn't played the game... It's entertaining enough and very visually appealing. However, I really wouldn't recommend it to any major fans of the game.
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15 years ago
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kyrix
15 years ago
My only gripe about the show was that they sped up a lot of things, showing them in a montage. But ya know what? The games story was so massive even the game itself couldn't contain it.
Now, what that means is, that above and beyond the story itself, there are hundreds and hundreds of inter-character skits, many of which are optional, which bombard you at a moment's notice. And the reason that they're optional is because, if they weren't, the game would be to talky for most people to handle.
Personally, I went through this with Star Ocean EX (which, despite the changes, I loved) though I can't, for the life of me, figure out why the didn't hire the voice actors from the game. Most people will roll their eyes at that, but I really don't care. At least they knew that the name Claude is pronounced "Clawed" and not "Cload".
Anyway, let's see if this thing makes it to english, and if, for once, we can get the game actors on the anime
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