Search - Ys II - Castle in the Heavens (Episodes 1-4) on DVD

A prime example of video game based anime.

William Gersztyn | Salem,Or | 06/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those that do not know, Ys:Castle in the Heavens is based off the old school gaming series of the same name. (If you stil don't what i'm talking about one of the games recently came out the PS2. Ys: Ark of Napishtim. The 6th game in the series.) This one is based off of the 2nd game in the series which is a direct continuation of the first game or the first 2 DVDs of the anime. But despite that fact that it's a continuation does not mean you can't enjoy this even if you haven't seen the first series or played any of the games.

The cool thing about this dvd is that the whole DVD menu is set like an RPG menu. Being a big fan of the series, and RPG's in general I thought this was awesome.

Another cool thing is that all of music in it is music that ripped from the games, mind you it's a lot higher quality than that from the consoles.

As I said before, this anime starts up right were the first one ended, with Adol Christin defeating Dark Fact and being brought to the land of Ys. Upon his arrival he wakes up in Lance village and meets a girl named Lilia. (DO not listen to what the dub says, here is Lilia, not Lila.) He also discovers that the people of this village are once a year forced to give a human sacrifice to the monsters for protection.

While Adol is out searching the mines of Rastini, The monsters come to Lance and choose Lilia as a sacrifice.
When Adol returns and discovers what has happend he sets out to save Lilia from being sacrificed. After having gained magic in the mines he is able to defeat the monsters.

But instead of the villagers being grateful they are angry with him because now they believe they are doomed and then lock Adol up.

That's only the first episode. A whole lot more happens from then on. Stuff which I really don't want to ruin. Just trust me when I say it only gets better.

One other important thing I must mention is that they did something in this anime that blew me away. They totally brought to life, and made me love a character that I didn't even care about in the games. And that's a LOT.

That character is KEITH. (Again don't listen to dub. It is Keith not Kees.) Keith is a man that got turned into a monster for killing a monster.
From the moment this guy appears in the 2nd episode he just tears it up. He kicks some serious butt and you can really feel for him and understand the pain he's going through. Right from his first appearance up to his last I was always hoping to see more of him.

I need to say right now, if you truly want to enjoy this do not watch the dub. It sucks. And like I mentionned above they mess up some of the names.

The last thing you should know is that this is actually kind of violent and a bit bloody. I've heard people compare it to Berserk, but it's not as bloody as that (Also awesome.) series.

So if you've played the games You'll be able to see an awesome adaptation, and if not then you'll be able enjoy this as a sweet fantasy anime.

"