Ok. I was ABSOLUTELY certain this was going to follow the route of Record of the Lodoss War, which expelled countless scenes of dialogue and mythology that nobody would give a damn about outside of the ROLW universe. Seeing El Hazard's possible outcome, I avoided it for a while.
On a bored day I struck it up...and indeed, I am happy to say that this keeps interest very well compared to ROLW...and therefore it's good. ^_^
Moved into another world...
Makoto, escaping a very unpleasant sitation from his class president, ends up in the realm of El Hazard. A mysterious terra deep in another dimension of space, Makoto, Fujisawa-sensai, and Nanami seek desperately for a way back home; but Nanami's brother, Jinnai, has other plans with his arrival.
The best thing about this story probably comes out of the fact that El Hazard can be completely guessed as soon as it's seen - but it is somewhat different each time you learn a new fact about it. I really like the gods and demons principles involved, as well as the tribes and the continents...this is much less complicated than ROLW, and therefore easier to understand.
Beware of the plot movement. It's like traveling over a hilly countryside, speeding up and slowing down with each crisis that enters the story. This jostles the mind of the watcher well, too, making them predict the end or watch in surprise at the sudden changes. And all seven episodes have great comedy. It is just about at the point of ecchi at times, but there is plenty of clean comedy as well.
Makoto for some odd reason is a stud...
Weak and unadmirable, he isn't my role model. But somehow someway, Makoto becomes a role model, anyways. I learned to love him, as I already liked Fujisawa, Miz, and Ifurita quite a bit. The romantic tale in this story is very subliminal and actually doesn't really make sense until the very end...but it is good.
The seiyuu are superb and do their job quite well. I think the best performer was for Nanami, with a very active voice and good expression of emotion. Another great one is Shayla-Shayla's actress, but everyone else seems to do good instead.
Ok music. Much strength in the background music, but nothing in particular I came to love about this show. It's music is meant to give the mood, but that's about all. Some gentle tones, or heavy orchestrations...the opening isn't all that interesting but it's solid and appreciable, as is the ending.
Just a great adventure.
That's really the power of this anime: the adventure. Lush vivid landscapes, beautiful colors and mixtures, interesting creatures, and much sci-fi despite the primitive looking culture. The animation runs EXTREMELY smooth in the action sequences, and the mouth s and dialogue look very much similar to many other animes I've seen. Though the style looks a little archaic, I can forgive it with appreciation for the animator's willpower to make smooth frames and luminescence galore.
I will say that I recommend this to someone looking for adventure and mythology - but it's only worth watching once. Newbies can like it, so it might be worth a shot. A great break from the long run adventures that don't really take you anywhere.
Explanation by ran88dom99 on Tuesday, 16.11.2010 05:11