Category: OVA Impressions

My main reason for wanting to check this out is because the Kinema Citrus team is behind it. They already showed that with .Hack//Quantum they can put down a good rpg adaptation. This is a genre that is exceptionally challenging to do, because 1) you cannot animate grinding, leveling, or talking to everyone in the continent to get a feel for the setting, and 2) a lot of RPG adaptations are OVAs that need to find a way to condense their huge stories into a much shorter timeframe. And despite all that, there have been quite a few shows that actually pulled this off. Eiyuu Densetsu though… not so much.

And don’t get me wrong, this OVA was well produced. The characters were well acted, the animation was very good, the action was well directed. In terms of production, it all lived up to Kinema Citrus’s standards. It’s just that the content in this episode had one major flaw: it assumed that its viewers were familiar with the source material…

… so yeah. If you played Eiyuu Densetsu: go ahead and watch it. This OVA is entirely dedicated to pleasing you. If you haven’t though, it’s a whole different story. This movie ultimately boils down to an abridged version of the TV-series, but it doesn’t bother to introduce anything. It refuses to explain anything. Who are these characters? Why are they on this journey? Why is all this important to them? The explanations that are there all assume that you know these things. On top of that, this OVA has a really bad Deus ex Machina near its climax, and it doesn’t even attempt to make full use of its time by wasting three whole minutes on a hot spring.

To tell epic stories like this in a limited time frame, you need to use your time cleverly. The best way is to put in a lot of small details that flesh out the characters as you go along. but Tales of Symphonia’s method of rewriting the story to make the pacing flow better in anime format works as well. This one wastes too much time on fanservice and random pointless scenes that would have worked on a 26-episode series, but not a short OVA. Even though this is 40 minutes, that’s still short.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,25/10

This is me, clearing a bit of backlog in terms of OVAs. I’m not going to make a single post for all of them, but I do want to say a few things about them. Hence, a compilation post.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn – 04

This episode illustrates the worries that I had when I started watching this OVA perfectly. Talk about a solid direction! Talk about great action. Some of the characters were really good here, like that female lead, the various captains. This really was epic…. if only it wasn’t for the excessive whining from the male lead. Dear god, I thought he’d never shut up. This episode just kept showing him angst over and over. He ignores orders just like every other bloody Gundam lead, and in the middle of a war he gets too scared and keeps whining towards everyone to stop fighting. Good lord, this really feels like watching Zeta Gundam all over again.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,75/10

Appleseed XIII

Okay, with this Appleseed XIII is much more character-centric than the movies have ever been. this was a bit of a weird episode where the tensions in the relationship between Deunan and Briarios stood central. And seriously Deunan, get some controls on your hormones! Nevertheless, the subject matter of this episode was very inspired. I especially liked the role of Deunan’s father in this episode, and how she both considers his upbringing of her a blessing and annoyance. It’s probably because of this that she’s also trying to get away from Briarios. They are really turning into interesting characters, although the facial animation still needs some MAJOR work here…
OVA Episode Rating: 8/10

Kung Fu Cooking Girls

I jus realized that I forgot a bunch of OVAs throughout the year. This one is a Chinese production, but it’s a really good example of interesting animation. It’s only eight minutes long, the animation is a bit messy, but very detailed and especially the fight choreography is really well done. Apart from the animation though, there’s not much more that makes it worth watching. There is in particular this very annoying guy who keeps looking for food who distracts the flow a little too much and the pointless fanservice is also pretty pointless here.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,5/10

The Epic of Zektbach

This is an attempt to tell an epic ancient warfare story… in just under 30 minutes. Okay, I give the creators credit for actually trying this, but the results are just completely bizarre. In the first ten minutes a massive war that is spread across the entire country is being one… by just one woman who happens to have a really powerful sword. This could have been something if 1) it had more time (seriously, the things it tries to cram in here lack serious development) and 2) better actors. Aside from the main character, none of the characters stand out and are just complete archetypes, and even the main character is forgettable. I appreciate the experiment though: now we know that you can’t tuff an epic storyline in half an hour.
OVA Episode Rating: 6/10

Koi Sento

This is a romantic adventure of about 20 minutes long, fully animated in Cell Shaded CG. Its content is really romantic fluff, but the execution is really fun and enjoyable. It’s got good acting and characterization and the characters are all pretty colourful and enjoyable to watch, and it’s got some great ideas to fill its airtime with. In particular the deer was hysterical. I love that animal. I believe that this aired right next to Norageki, which is pretty similar in terms of production (although completely different in terms of story content). Norageki is much better in the end, but as a way to randomly burn 20 minutes, this is quite an enjoyable way.
OVA Episode Rating: 8/10

Okay. So while I decided to stop giving each OVA release a separate post due to time restraints, I really want to make an exception for this one. THIS is what they need to make more of: a short but sweet and interesting story contained within just 25 minutes that takes optimal use of its time. This format is perfect for those who just want to tell short stories or try out interesting projects.

Norageki was an excellent mystery story that knew exactly how to build itself up. It starts with an introduction that can only be understood if you watch the entire thing, only to continue on with the main characters all trying to figure out what’s going on. There obviously was too little time to develop the characters, but they work for what they’re supposed to be: they all have their mysteries that get answered throughout the course of the episode, and this episode did a good job of using their curiosity to get me to relate to them. The twist ending wrapped everything up neatly and was actually quite interesting.

As for the animation, the creators chose an interesting blend of 2D and 3D graphics, but most of it was 3D. Overall it did a pretty good job of not looking as out of place or ugly as I suspected. On top of that, the creators did make use of this: the characters move around a lot in this OVA. That’s the advantage that 3D animation has: it’s easier to use non-verbal communication. Yet, I still prefer 2D over it: when done right, it can make its characters much more vibrant than 3D animation can. My best guess as for why that is is because 3D is still too constrained around its models.
OVA Episode Rating: 8.25/10

Next up in the line of movies and OVAs with bizarre premises: in Roujin Z the city gets terrorized by… a hospital bed. For more details on exactly how and why, just watch this OVA, because it has quite some excellent action scenes, plus an interesting look at the problems of elderly care. Oh, and the director of Akira wrote the script of this one.

Above all, Roujin Z is meant to be a fun ride, with its bizarre premise that is both exciting and genuine at the same time. It’s the kind of action movie where things just keep spiralling out of control, and it makes good use of this. You also have to love how this movie specifically celebrates the old people: they get more than enough opportunities to shine in this movie, and most importantly of all: it’s very creative. Really, I applaud the creators for going with such a strange premise for a movie.

The action is also wonderfully animated when it wants to. This may just look like a random OVA, but quite a lot of budget went into it. The result is smooth animation, and a lot of creativity. with especially the climax an action-packed thrill ride. As usual with these kinds of movies, the characters aren’t the biggest focus, so they do lack in terms of depth, but make up for it in terms of charms.
OVA Episode Rating: 8,25/10

With both Votoms Finder and Case;Irvine, the creators got the strange idea that the usual Votoms mecha designs were too bland, so they decided to give them a stylish upgrade. That’s like, missing the entire point of Votoms here!

In any case, Votoms Finder is much better than Case;Irvine. It’s neither overly angsty or a Gundam wannabe, and even though it introduces concepts that would have been really weird in the Votoms Franchise, it also succeeds in expanding its franchise a bit. Its biggest sin is that apart from that, I don’t really have naything to praise it for.

The action was nice, but never really stood out. The story… well, there was a story. It was a story that fitted well within 40 minutes, but apart from that it’s just a damsel in distress story with just one single twist in the middle. The characters… they’re not annoying or anything and I guess that they’re likable enough, but they’re all pretty one-dimensional. Why would you want to watch this? Uh, I really have no idea.

After this post, I’m really going to stop blogging these OVAs, just for the heck of it. They just take away too much of my time and I want to stop writing about things that just don’t interest me. Talking about bad and mediocre stuff can be fun once in a while, but right now I’ve done just too much of that. Rants are fun once in a while but if you do them too often you’re just going to sound really whiny or obnoxious.

From now on, the only OVAs that I’ll create a separate post about are the ones that either:
– Are really good (read: episode rating of 8,5 or above)
– Are really underrated (nobody talks about them and they deserve more recognition).
– Are something that I really want to say something about (episodes that perhaps aren’t the best, but somehow did something to get me really fired up).
Regarding the others, I’m planning to just compile a list of general impressions for my monthly summaries. Writing posts about every single OVA that comes out that consist out of four or more paragraphs… those are just too much. This also includes things like Gundam Unicorn unless it does something really good, or .Hack//Quantum when it fails to really stand out. Blogging all of these OVAs at the same time, alongside all of the TV-series that come out is just too much of a chore.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,25/10