Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight
Production
AIC, TV Tokyo
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
1998
Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight
By Eric
21st May 04  Boy, that's a long title, isn't it? In theory, Chronicles of the Heroic Knight (hereafter referred to as CotHK) is superior to it's predecessor, Record of Lodoss War. It has cleaner visuals, it's longer, the sound is better, and there is a wider cast of characters. So why am I scoring it lower than the first series? Well, that's pretty complicated... CotHK has a lot going for it--in theory--but in actuality some of these blessings are actually curses in disguise. The visuals are cleaner, but they're also blander. It's longer...too long. Also, the new characters can get eaten by a dragon for all I care. The first ten or so episodes of the series centers on Parn and co., five years after the death of their comrade, Ghim. These new episodes are a joy to watch. In the third episode, however, there is a brief cameo by a boy named Spark... Fast forward to the middle of the series, when suddenly Spark has grown up and become the main character in the series, when we know nothing about him! Parn and Deedlit and all your favorites are pushed back and become secondary, unimportant characters who just provide backup support to Spark and his allies. This begins the terrible, dull drag that the series becomes. Though it picks up near the end, the middle of the series is painful to watch, and almost makes the finale not worth it. On another note, I am sick and tired of the "black screen sword slash" effect. It's not cool and should never be used by anyone. If you want to see this series, start off just watching the first ten episodes. They alone form a complete saga worth viewing. Not only that, but after each episode there's an absolutely adorable chibi puppet-theater that spoofs the very episode that just played. It's very clever. After that...don't say I didn't warn you. 7/10
-- Eric 21st May 04
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