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Ys II
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Title Info
- seen: 1-4 of 4
- type: OAV
- grade: worthy
- genre: magic_war
- made: unknown
- Review created: Recently, but I didn't record the date.
- mod: none
Well, the name doesn't give much away, but this ended up being a pleasant suprise. The name refers to the land of Ys, and the number to the existence of a previous OAV series. It seems that a powerful magic relic brought demonic evil to a fantasy world. The 6 priests of Ys, in order to protect humanity and the relic created a floating island/fortress. This turns out to be a bad idea, because our hero, after he has been victorious against evil on earth, discovers that the floating island of Ys, and the relic, is now a fortress for evil. Without even a moment to rest he is hurled skywards to begin the final stage of his fight. And a hard fight it will be, because the demons are very powerful and the remaining humans on Ys held in a web of lies and fear.
Sounds fairly formula? Well, yeah, it's also been derived from some computer game somewhere and there are some signs of this heritage. However it doesn't change the fact that this is a really solid story. The writing is excellent, with good characters, dialog and a strong background plot. This story also contains some excellent plot twists and an excellent climax. There is a strong element of mystery and danger, extending even into the realm of horror. The characters are believable and complex, the demons are truly evil and the people caught in the middle are justifiably fearful. The world design is also solid, with good looking design both in characters, items, demons and the world itself. There is reasonable violence, and some cruelty, but it is all well integrated into the world and really gives the feeling of a dark and dangerous fantasy land. Well paced, fast moving and quite complex, this anime could easily draw you in to the story it wants to tell. Still, negative points for reducing the power with some illogical `survivals' at the very end, which dilutes the power of the individual event.
In addition the animation is also great. The appearance is somewhat dated, but the level of detail is very ambitious. Nice backgrounds, complex environments and impressive effects. The action is well done and the anime has a strong sense of atmosphere. The hero gets magic attacks during the anime and these are very impressive to watch. The character animation, given that it is fantasy, is suprisingly expressive. The conclusion tries to push a bit further than the animation can manage, but actually feels admirable rather than a problem. The music has moments of being a bit `plastic' but fits the mood and does add to the energy of this very solid anime.
And you've got little choice but to take my word for it, because none of the sites I source from has a review of this anime.
Words by Andrew Shelton, Web by Ticti, Last Compile: Wed Aug 5 12:39:27 WST 2009