Arc the Lad Vol. 2 |
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As I may have pointed out in my
review of Orphen, being based on a video game is sort of
a curse. It doesn't matter if it's anime, even American
movies based on games have had a tendency to stink up a
theater(Street Fighter, Tomb Raider), despite ticket
sales. However, with a little good writing any work can
be saved. Will Arc the Lad fare better than Orphen? Arc the lad starts squarely where the last disc left off. The bounty on Pandit, Leiza's monster companion has been lifted, and Elk and Shu are sure it's a trap. In a great example of chivalry, they use her as bait to lure out those who are after her. All of this is happening at the same time the extremely suspicious mayor is about to hold a ceremony to unveil a giant goddess statue in town. Out on the town, Elk, Leiza, and Shu meet up with the "men in black" who are after them, but are interrupted when said statue starts emitting a weird blue glow that seems to be affecting everyone. Before the statue can do much mental damage to the townspeople, a ship appears and blasts the crystal that seems to be the statue's source of power. The ship is none other than Arc's, A.K.A. the namesake of Arc the Lad. The second episode begins as Elk realizes the ship is Arc's, and decides to chase after it. Elk remembers Arc from when his town burned down as a child, and believes him to be the culprit. Three parties, the mayor who seems to be behind the statue ordeal, Elk, and Arc all eventually run into each other. Elk tries to take out Arc, which gives the mayor the chance to kidnap Leiza via gunpoint. Elk forgets his grudge for once, and he and Arc rescue Leiza from the evil mayor and the men in black. Arc leaves the scene without answering any of Elk's questions, as Shu arrives to pick Elk and Leiza up. Elk runs after Shu's ship, but with a different intention in mind. The last episode on this disc starts off with Elk in hot pursuit of Arc. Needless to say, their dinky little ship cant keep up with Arc's ship, the massive Silver Noah, and they end up taking a dive. Where do they end up? Why, Back Story Island, of course! With Shu missing after the crash, Elk gets a little time to reflect on what happened to him in the past. The plot really doesn't advance too much in this episode, but gives a little personality to the characters who previously were just dominoes that got in the way of the plot. We get to see a little bit of Elk's history, along with a touching moment between Elk and Leiza. At the end of the episode, Elk and Leiza decide to go back to their homeland, where they think Shu may be. It took me a little time to warm up to Arc the Lad. Throughout the first few episodes I didn't think there was too much going for this series, but I actually began to get into it by the last episode on this disc. The plot doesn't move along too fast, which sort of tells me that they're afraid to run out of story to tell. The pacing just seems kind of off to me. I'm not anticipating the next disc that much, but I wouldn't mind watching it as a nice diversion. So far, Arc the Lad isn't that bad, just a little below average. There's going to have to be some major changes for me to really become a fan of this title. The way the characters were portrayed bothered me a little. They seem to be developing personality very slowly, but almost a fourth of the way through the show we should be seeing some more "oomph" behind these characters. Oh, and if you're looking for "oomph," don't look at Shu. His personality fits his name as he seems to be the anime version of Al Gore. I do enjoy fantasy anime(though now less than usual), but it seems like no one can really get it right anymore. The world of Arc the Lad is rather interesting. I originally thought it was a traditional fantasy setting until I saw people riding around in cars(and nice cars at that). Arc the lad blends traditional fantasy aspects such as magic, swords, and airships, but throws in some twentieth century technology such as the previously mentioned cars and modern looking cities. A neat idea, but I always think how practical it would be to live in this world. Other than the setting, not much else stands out about the look of Arc the Lad. Too much of it seems to reek of generic fantasy designs, though I guess I would appreciate these designs more if I got a chance to play the video games. Despite the generic designs, the show has a very clean look and a very nice transfer. Even though the show is only from 1999, this is one of ADV's best and sharpest looking transfers. Strangely enough, the music of the series sounded like your typical RPG music(what a surprise!). The opening song is an instrumental, sort of unusual but it gives the series a nice epic feel. The ending song is in English, and sort of sounds like power pop. It's catchy, so it grew on me after a few viewings. The sound mix was pretty standard, not disappointing since I really don't expect too much from a TV show. The cover of this volume is very attractive, with Arc looking thoughtful and Elk running into battle. It should attract some anime fans that haven't heard of the show. The menu is very clean, but not too flashy. Sadly, there are no extras... We anime fans can never get an even break. Arc the Lad fared much better than Orphen for me, but it is far from what I look for in a fantasy series. There's a whole lot of show left, so I'm hoping it makes a turn for the better with the next batch of episodes. -Bob Mackey |
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