Record of Lodoss War: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''I will defend the peace of Lodoss... with my life!''}}

 

 

What is "it"? It is ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'', a sprawling epic which incorporates nearly every Tolkien-esque fantasy cliche in the book, but does so with style. The lovely art and character designs by Yutaka Izubuchi and Nobuteru Yuki make the OVA series a visual feast, in spite of its rather limited animation. The swelling orchestral score by Mitsuo Hagita makes it an aural feast as well.

As far as plot goes, it's standard RPG fare: [[Kid Hero]] Parn and his cleric buddy Etoh find themselves [[Walking the Earth]], investigating evil after Parn [[You Can't Go Home Again|gets himself thrown out of his hometown]]. Joining up with them are the wizard with the [[Awesome McCoolname|cool name]], Slayn Starseeker, and his friend, the dwarf Ghim, who are on a quest to locate a missing [[White Mage]] named Laylia. They are soon joined by Deedlit, a wispy Elf who is [[Friend to All Living Things]] (and who falls for Parn like a cliff-diver in concrete shoes). At some point in the adventure, our heroes come upon the last member of their main party, the grungy, trouble-prone thief Woodchuck, whom they must rescue from prison (and who from there goes on to repeatedly demonstrate just ''why'' he was thrown ''into'' prison in the first place.) Our heroes must fight battles large and small -- with insane but beautiful witches, mountain-sized dragons, creepy dark elves, [[Badass]] Black Knights, evil armies, and the godlike forces which threaten to tear their world apart. When one of their number is eventually captured to power the [[Big Bad]]'s [[The End of the World as We Know It|End of The World as We Know It Machine]], our heroes must snap into action to save their friend. Ultimately, Parn discovers that, to make everything right again, he must somehow restore the [[Balance Between Good and Evil]], but just how does one do that, while the villains are hacking away at them and the world around them is crumbling into a pile of artfully drawn boulders? You'll have to watch to find out.

 

 

See also ''[[Rune Soldier Louie]]'', which is set in the same world as ''Lodoss'', on the northern continent of Alecrast (but which is otherwise unconnected to the series).

* [[Badass Bookworm]]: Slayn's apprentice Cecil seems to turn into one after the [[Time Skip]], no doubt thanks to Slayn's comment that he might have missed his true calling as a warrior.

* [[Badass Cape]]: Ashram, Kashue, Parn, and Deedlit to name the big ones.

* [[The Berserker]]: Orson. Literally. Holy SHIT, you don't want Orson to ever get pissed at you.

** [[Berserk Button]]: That being said, '''DON'T''' hurt women in his presence.

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Leylia, a priestess of the Marfa, the goddess of creation, is a kind-hearted hates seeing people suffer more than anything. But don't over step that boundary, because she WILL send your soul to the other side if necessary.

** Most of the good wizards fall under this as well. And Orson.

* [[Bigger Bad]]: Kardis, [[God of Evil|Goddess of Destruction.]]

* [[Black Knight]]: Ashram. He is aptly named "[[Red Baron|the Black Knight]]".

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Ghim doesn't seem particularly fond of high elves, as he makes quite a few less than subtle comments toward Deedlit.

** Deedlit herself isn't entirely innocent either. In the very first episode of the OVA she makes a derogatory comment about dwarves.

* [[Five-Man Band]]

** In the OAV:

*** [[The Chick]]: Etoh

*** [[Sixth Ranger]]: Woodchuck

** In the second half of the TV series:

*** [[The Hero]]: Spark

* [[Hot-Blooded]]: Parn and Spark.

* [[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place]]: The Forest of No Return. [[Sarcasm Mode|That sounds welcoming.]]

* [[I Will Definitely Protect You]]: Spark to Neese.

* [[Ideal Hero]]: Parn.

* [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]: The Dark Elf in the TV series [[Omake|omakes.]]

* [[Inherent in the System]]: During the war of the gods, Kardis lay a curse on the continent of Alecrest as she was dying. Then, in an effort to counter that curse, Marfa performed a miracle and split the continent in two, one half being saved and the other half being cursed. And of course, the heroes are landed on the cursed half. Great.

* [[La Résistance]]: The Free Army who oppose the Marmo.

* [[Lady of War]]: Deedlit, but Shiris is a straighter example after she becomes queen of the dragon riders.

* [[This Cannot Be!]]: {{spoiler|Uttered by Wagnard when Spark stabbed him.}}

* [[Time Skip]]: After episode eight of the TV series and the end of the first story arc, there is a ten year time skip in which the second major story arc begins and we are introduced to new protagonists [[Chekhov's Gunman|Spark and Little Neese]], and ascended antagonist Wagnard.

** That can be explained as Ashram being in a bad form after trashing Wagnard gave him.

** Both Deedlit and Shiris take quite the levels in the TV series. Specially Deedlit, who {{spoiler|manages to kill a ''dragon'' with a little bit of help.}}

[[Category:Anime]]

[[Category:Light Novels]]

[[Category:Roleplay]]