*Special note: Yes this was originally supposed to go up
on Friday to coincide with the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake. BUT I realized I had something a bit
more…appropriate sitting on my shelf for that occasion. So you’re gonna see that review as the
official “Part 2” of the Final Fantasy Friday Retrospective. Still, I didn’t want this review to go to
waste. So you’re getting Legend of the
Crystals a couple of days early. Enjoy
everyone 😊*
200 years have passed since The Valiant Ones saved Planet
R from the darkness known as Exdeath.
Peace has flourished throughout the centuries. But now a new evil threatens that peace. The corrupt Wizard, Ra Devil has returned
from the dark reaches of space to claim the power of Planet R’s four elemental
crystals. The descendants of The Valiant
Ones, including a Priestess in training and a loud mouthed swordsman, must
unite to push back Ra Devil’s forces before he becomes Deathgyunos, an evil God
that cannot be stopped.
Released in 1994, Legend of the Crystals bears the honor
of being the first Final Fantasy Anime. It’s also a direct sequel to Final Fantasy V,
originally released in 1992. Granted
Final Fantasy wasn’t the massive JRPG juggernaut it is today. Still, this should have been a pretty big
event level Anime to see. And it’s an
OVA and that usually means blending the best of TV and Movie productions
together. We did get Macross Plus in the
same year mind you. Annnnnd Macross
Plus…this Anime is not, quite the opposite actually.
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals plays less like an
actual Final Fantasy title and more like a half assed run of the mill
scifi/fantasy Anime that stands out in the worst possible ways. First example: the beginning. Final Fantasy VI had that beautiful opening
theme while Terra was walking through the snow in a mecha. Final Fantasy VIII had Squall fighting
Seipher to the most bad ass piece of operatic music. And Final Fantasy XIII, for all it’s faults
and more, opened with a visually stunning shootout on a train. Legend of the Crystals…opens with two to
three characters walking or riding a motorcycle through the most bland of
environments. At one point they were
even riding across nothing but a smooth field of green that was supposed to be
grass with a plain blue background all around them…that’s something you’d see
in a Windows 95 desktop or screensaver, not a high level Anime OVA. The animation doesn’t get much better than
that and visually it feels less Anime and more like a very, very tame Ralph
Bashki flick (I was getting Wizards vibes all over the place). Back in an era when we were getting not only
the aforementioned Macross Plus but also the original Record of Lodoss War, for
an OVA to look this garbage is inexcusable.
Ok, so the animation isn’t the best. But what about a classic Final Fantasy tale
and memorable characters to guide it in the right direction…NOPE!!! Both are
fails, as big fails as the animation itself.
The story is so barebones and unoriginal it hurts. Lot’s of Final Fantasy games have recurring
themes, characters and creatures to tie them together through a franchise
despite their very distinct and different stories. But those games also had larger than life
quests, casts and villains that made you pay attention and focus when the huge
scope threatened to overtake your sense.
Legend of the Crystals has none of that epic awesomeness. The story is basic: save the world from a bad
guy who wants to conquer it. Ra Devil is
as cardboard cut out a foe as you can get.
All he does is scream how he’ll be all powerful while sending his
discount Cybermen to do his dirty work.
Sephiroth, Kefka and Queen Edea this guys most certainly is not. Worse yet are the “heroes”. I say worse because we spend more time with
them in this OVA but lack all sense of memorability or proper character
development. Occasionally, Pretz is a
competent fighter and Valgus a decent leader.
But 90% of the time they and their other two companions, Rouge and
Linally, are bumbling their way to victory through, as Professor McGonogall
would term it, “Sheer dumb luck”. It
doesn’t help that Linally is the subject of the worst aspect of Legend of the
Crystals…the Crystal of the Wing stores itself in her butt…im not even kidding. Moments after one character reveals a rather
dark and tragic backstory, Linally blasts a beam from her butt (bending over
mind you) to open an important chamber in a temple. Is this supposed to be a Final Fantasy we
take seriously when it’s nothing but more idiots and panty shots than proper
drama and good action?
What’s kind of sad is that the legacy of Final Fantasy
Anime isn’t that stellar. The Spirits
Within, Advent Children and Kingsglaive all look gorgeous but lack proper story
and gravitas, no matter how epic they might look. Seeing how bad Legend of the Crystals is, I
can see that the problem with that trend didn’t start with The Spirits
Within. Legend of the Crystals is bad,
really bad. Dumb characters, a basic
villain, beyond sub par animation, and nothing feels nearly epic enough to
merit giving this the “Final Fantasy” title in general. I now see why this Anime is often forgotten
or flat out dismissed if ever brought up in Final Fantasy circles. Legend of the Crystals isn’t Final
Fantasy…it’s just fantasy…and that’s not what Final Fantasy has ever been. It’s more than that, almost a sub genre of
itself. An Anime debut should’ve been
more respectful of that.
0/10
Thankfully there were much better days ahead for the
Final Fantasy franchise. We’ll return to
the history of Final Fantasy proper in 2 weeks as we enter the era that truly
brought Final Fantasy into the mainstream eye: The Playstation Era. But this coming Friday, the retrospective
continues with a more fitting tribute to the release of Final Fantasy VII
Remake…Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.
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