RECORD OF LODOSS WAR

Well, I have finally finished the 13 episodes OVA of Record of Lodoss War... It's quite a good anime, but certainly not great or spectacular. I can't really say that I'm disappointed, yet it's quite evident that there's a lot that can be improved on. The characters themselves are interesting, their armor design fabulous, but the plot and historical/geographical background are incredibly muddled. There seems to be a lack of focus for the storyline, and the character development is a bit too underdeveloped.

Also, the whole thing is very stereotypical and full of cliche... Ever since I have read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, all other fantasy seems to be juz mere copycats. As for Lodoss War, it heavily resembles the classic Dungeons and Dragons RPG, and the whole anime has a role-playing feel with it. So I guess any RPG fans will be delighted by it. As for me, I was hoping for something more epic, more emotional, more fleshed-out. Tolkien's Middle Earth is unbelievably well conceived, full of its own history and different languages of different races (and Tolkien seriously creates and designs each languages, and therefore each sylables have their own meaning and each languages actually have its own grammar and stuff). The only works that came close to Tolkien's are Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (which tragically, seems kinda lost in its own over-complicated plot now), and Frank Herbert's Dune, of cuz.

It's kinda sad that I started off watching excellent anime but can hardly find great ones nowadays... Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro still remain my fav anime, while Cowboy Bebop, Grave of the Fireflies & Serial Experiment Lain come next. Still, I'm looking forward to 2 of the much-talked about anime, Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Guess I getta spend more money very soon...