In the wake of the great battle, Parn’s world is forever
changed. In the blink of an eye, old
friends perish and others are drawn to the darkness within. A dark rival attains leadership of Marmo
while a once trusted wizard unveils his own endgame. And what’s worse, Deedlit, the Elf woman
Parn’s trusts with his heart and his life, may be the catalyst to starting the
apocalypse on Lodoss. One battle is over
but the real war is about to begin. Armies
gather, demons swarm and Dragons from across the world fill the skies. The Battle for Lodoss is about to reach it’s
climax.
The end of the journey.
And ends in the middle ground of bang/whimper…pop? Either way, this marks the end of my trip
down Lodoss memory lane. Plenty to love
but sadly many of my complaints from earlier episodes reared their ugly heads
at the finish line despite some very epic and well done moments.
Pan of stills continue to be a downside, especially when
we cut away from them ever so often to the smaller partied but nonetheless just
as important showdowns happening underneath Marmo. Deedlit, captured and dressed in a very sexy
sacrificial outfit hehe, is to be drained of her life force for Cardis’s
resurrection? Not if Parn has anything
to say about it. But the loss of Ghim
and Woodchuck is felt, especially with Woodchuck’s current state. Parn is left with the shows weakest/most
annoying cast of all wizards to get him into the castle and while I should be
concerned for everyones safety this late in the game…I really only hope that
Parn and Deedlit make it out. Not that
anything Parn has done has been brag worthy, but his and Deedlit’s
friendship/romance feels like the only big character payoff in this show. Slayn and Lelia? Where the hell did that pop up from? Sadly that is a downside to 13 episodes instead
of 24-26, rushed story with no character development. And Etoh?
Wait he’s still here? And Shiris
and Orson? I kind of hoped they would
have more to do but brought in so late they never gained much traction with
me. Orson with his berserker powers had
potential but Shiris literally spends most of her time pouting over the fact
that she can’t have Parn…why?
It may feel like I’m ragging quite a bit but I actually
like the very last episode of this series quite a bit. Here some of the series flaws seem to work to
an advantage. Still shots of Dragons
oddly enough seemed the most epic and useful though again not much
movement. And then there is the
three way battle between Wagnard, Parn
and Lodoss’s unsung hero Ashrum, still alive and ready to kick some ass and
does he ever. His final clash with Parn
is Highlander level awesome (cue Princes of the Universe every time you watch
it lol). It all comes down to Parn
though, can he pull off the win and save the girl? Should seem kind of obvious but even if you
feel that Parn hasn’t earned a thing this series, even Deedlit’s love, it’s a
cheer worthy moment to see him go for it, leaping right into hell to bring her
back. An excellent mix of swords,
sorcery, bravery, love and friendship made the final episode a wild ride that
sadly had to come to an end with the promise of more…thought that more would be
in a series retelling I have not seen yet.
So final verdict?
Though flawed more than I remember, I don’t mind returning to Lodoss
every once in a while to enjoy the fantasy and adventure. The scope is the standard by which all other
fantasy anime, even Slayers, has had to follow.
Has it been done better? Eh…Escaflowne the Series maybe. But there’s something truly timeless about
Record of Lodoss War, from the classic if mostly forgettable cast, to the fast
paced but slow panning epic battles, to the beautiful opening and ending themes
that are truly flawless. Even if it has
problems, it’s worth one very enjoyable watch and an item that should be in
everyone’s Anime collection.
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