Search - Legend of Crystania: The Chaos Ring on DVD

Confusing at points but EXCELLENT animation and characters!!

N. S. Lawson | PA, USA | 04/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Legend of Crystania: The Chaos Ring is a story in the Record of Lodoss War universe, with one of the two protagonists being Cheru (aka Pirotess), the loyal servant (maybe even lover) of Lord Ashram, one of the main villains in the original Record of Lodoss War series. While at first confusing, with the characters living in a world where Ashram and Beld (the main villains in the original Record of Lodoss War) are revered as heroes, the plot eventually smooths out (near the end of the second episode). Cheru's motives are not at first clear and Barbas (the evil god king) at some points looks identical to Ashram (a good guy). Lastly, the fact that all of the characters are in Crystania does not become clear till later on, which also adds to the confusion.

Besides the confusion at times (which is probably the fault of the English translation from Japanese)the voice actors are great and the animation is AMAZING!! The characters are also unique and very well-drawn. The combat scenes are beautiful, with very detailed and realisitc movements.

Originally expecting it to be a movie, I found after I purchased it that it was actually divided into three episodes, which was fine with me--the opening tune is pretty catchy, with the sequence sporting a beautiful combat sequence between Cheru and a dragon.

Overall, this is a great buy though I give it a 4 out of 5 because of the confusion factor. I did not, however, watch the Legend of Crystania movie, which I think precedes this series--this could be the reason I was confused. I will be watching the movie in the near future and may end up switching my rating to 5 out of 5."