Genmu Senki Leda

The first impression I had about this particular anime is it didn’t strike me as a magical girl OVA and just more of medieval/fantasy story. Since this particular OVA was released during the 1980s, I wondered if it’s going to have any of the ridiculousness and cheese that American movies had in their own media that was present at this time. Although, looking at the promotional art and some screencaps, the art is extremely gorgeous and it’s something that definitely appeals to me. The only thing, though, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I actually do.

Since this is only one OVA, I’m ... not going to do a synopsis of it, but there are elements in this review that do have quite a bit of spoilers.

Because Yohko wrote a song, it’s important to note that the music is an important factor in this anime because she uses this as a catalyst to confess her feelings for her secret crush. There are piano pieces, synth (which shows its age), and orchestra music in this anime which is strange when one considers the mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

The sci-fi is a little out of place in an anime that’s mainly about legends and fantastical beasts. It’s not melded in very well and it’s kind of weird that after learning about Leda, there’s a throwaway line about hopping their robots. Perhaps it’s to help understand how Leda managed to make Master Zell bring Yohko to Ashanti and try to discover the secrets of her stereo. Despite this, though, the random inclusion of sci-fi isn’t terribly distracting or take the audience out of the show. It’s used to help understand how the people of Ashanti live on the land without just saying, “it’s just because of magic”.

Yohko is a very good lead character – she seemed adaptable and definitely capable, though the fact that it’s only one episode hurts her character a little bit. She’s not shown to have some kind of athletic ability until she arrives in Ashanti and starts running, and lifting herself from the vines. It does show that she has an ear for music since she composed the song her self but it’s not too bad.

The other characters, Ringum, the talking dog, and Yoni, the remaining Leda shrine maiden, are very good characters as well. They can stand on their own and they really are interesting in their own rights but they never seemed to overshadow the main character herself. As for the world, it would have been nice to know if there were other villagers in this particular world to show how devastated it actually is when it seemed that Leda abandoned them.

A problem, though, with the characters, including and especially Master Zell, they act as actors playing a certain archetype instead of being actual characters. Usually, this would be a really bad thing, the archetypes, but it’s not as annoying in this OVA. It’s pretty much downplayed as something that someone with an affinity for cheesy 1980s media would enjoy.

The animation, especially for its time, is absolutely stunning! Granted, there are quite a few flubs here and there but it’s not so bad that the viewer wouldn’t be too distracted from it. Certain angles, colors, and the atmosphere of the anime itself is extremely well done and pretty effective. It certainly works with what’s going on and the colors aren’t over-saturated with a singular one. All in all, it’s gorgeous to look at!

As for the magical girl component, well, it’s there. She does get powers and there is a cute mascot. There is a sequence and she does eventually return to her more normal every day life. If there’s an appropriate way to help understand, it’s pretty much a lite version of “Conan the Barbarian” but with sci-fi & magical girl tropes added in.

Would this anime benefited more as a 12-26 episode series rather than a single OVA? It doesn’t necessarily need to have an entire series about the lore, technology, and the characters but it’d be nice if it did. But, as it stands, it’s pretty much good on its own. It’s something to watch when you need some action with little bits and pieces of romance and magical girl. It’s fun and that’s all it is.

It’s really enjoyable and I’d recommend this OVA especially to those who enjoy some lite 1980s anime cheese.

(Part of Project Magic!!)

I rarely write reviews but this movie is quite special to me, thus i feel it deserves more reviews.
Genmu Senki Leda is a strange little beast of an OVA movie. It has the feel of a serialized show but is only over an hour long. Managing to do this, have a focused story and characters that would work in such a format is no easy feat to accomplish but they did it with adequate sucess.

Story: 6
The story is fairly barebones but it ties together nicely in the end and manages to carry a few in depth metaphors for the internal struggle that Yohko, the main ... character, is experiencing throughout her adventure. The lore of the workd of Ashanti is explored and hinted to quite well for being such a short movie. The simplistic story, the metaphorical storytelling along with the "in the background" worldbuilding is quite endeering and brings a hard to find charm to the movie.

Art: 7
The art and animation is not TV-show bad but not full length movie good either. Akira this aint. But the somewhat unique artstyle, very unique and inspirational designs, the vivid and warm colors and the dynamic movement animation, angle and perspective changes make it very pleasing to the eyes and brings out certain warm fuzzy feelings while watching.

Sound: 7
The sound design fits the movie well, sound effects are bog standard but what sticks out is the experimental music along with how the effects are used. The movie varies it's soundtrack from classic piano scores, world sitar accents to 80's rock and citypop.

Character: 5

This is where the movie fails. While the designs and expressions and emotions of the characters are fun and enjoyable the characters are not fleshed out enough to be more than passable. One great flaw the movie does in this regard is that the protagonist becomes comfortable in her role as a warrior way too fast. The one thing that is actually explored is Yohkos internal love struggle and the corelation between that and the world of Ashanti. Overall very mediocre in this regard.

Enjoyment: 8
This is a highly personal topic but i find the movie extremely charming and enjoyable, the pacing is nice, the designs are downright inspiring, the soundtrack is very interesting and for what it is it's a very charming and fun 1.10 hour ride unlike many others.

Overall score: 7
this is a simple but unique and fun movie and you can tell it's first and foremost an artistic vision that someone wanted to animate and eventually bring into a series, which never happened. It's in the end a metaphorical portrayal of an internal struggle of love and the courage of being straight with your feelings and bringing up the courage to confess them told in action adventure isekai form. Definately an artistic dream rather than a cashgrab made for a wide market.

I believe this movie get's too much flak from people who can't see how the world and story relates to the characters inner conflict of emotions. It's a decent enough movie and definately worth a watch, just don't get too high hopes that this will be the next Wings of Honneamise.

Action, adventure, fan service. This very underrated OVA does a great job on delivering this combination. A charming fantasy world with awesome wizard and mecha stuff going on that manages to be depicted with clarity in it's short running time. Slap on an absolute babe with a sword and a skimpy outfit and you're set. This is the kind of OVA that people who like cute girls doing cool things will find exceptional, and even if that's not so much your thing the setting is still really fun.

It was clear that the people who made this cared very much about the quality of their work. ... Some of the audio syncing work and some segments of animation are film quality. The main character's design is in my opinion at the highest tier, and the mecha conversion sequences are detailed and fairly original. The talking dog's a little bit wacky but at least he acts as a sort of cape for a few scenes and that's kind of neat. I had a lot of fun with this OVA as someone who enjoys physically attractive and overpowered heroines as well as magic in a science fiction setting.

This was a strange bit of 80s nostalgia for me.

As another review noted, this feels like it was intended as a pilot movie for a magical girl series that was never made. The main character, animal companion, and sidekick are all introduced. The setting is established, and then they have a short adventure. Afterwards the main girl returns to Earth, but they make a point of saying that she can come back. An open ending that was never followed up on.

That said, while the characters, music, and plot are all bog standard 80s OVA anime, the art itself is very distinctive. This is a trippy ... anime to watch, with surreal landscapes, dream sequences, bizarre animals, and most anything else the artists thought might be fun to try.

It's not a great OVA, but the art design makes it stand out to an extent.

I feel like I liked this more than I should. I mean the plot is pretty bare bones and kind of dumb, but there's something weirdly charming about the package as a whole. The world is distinctive and well designed, and after watching n a whole bunch of 80s OVAs lately, it's really nice to see mechs that aren't just designed to look like they came out of Gundam or Macross. That said, what really elevates this into something decent is the direction. Yuyama kept this whole thing surprisingly atmospheric, and he gave us some pretty good action setpieces. ... Seriously, these things were good enough to make me like an anime where a girl gets bikini armor and super powers after falling into a flower for no adequately explained reason.

I don't know if I'd quite call this a hidden gem or anything, but I had a good time.

One of the most rewarding parts of finding old, forgotten gems like this is digging around in the credits, because you'll often be pleasantly surprised by the names that appear. Notable ones here include the late Hiromi Tsuru, who would go on to voice Bulma for 30 years, Shirō Sagisu, whose music for Evangelion is among the best ever composed, and Kunihiko Yuyama, who has directed almost every Pokémon film since the beginning of the franchise. There's a lot of talent behind this OVA, and I imagine it was a strong addition to the resumes of everyone involved, because they all contribute to an adventure ... that's wonderfully animated, creatively styled, and, most importantly, competently executed, a distinction that's pretty rare when it comes to some of the other dreck from this era.

The concept and story are far from the most original or compelling (magical girl, isekai, mecha, oh my!), but Leda is a breezy delight that's well worth the tight 70 minutes it takes to watch.

Genmu Senki Leda is simple good fun. The best thing about this Ova is the distinctive and unique art-style used for the ships and mechs. They are unlike anything else, and show a huge amount of creativity from the art team. The story is simple and does not impact watch-ability. The animation is dated in a nostalgic way that only adds to the enjoyment of the anime. The characters are stereotypical and one dimensional. This show is simple, and that's what makes it so good. It is easily watchable and digestible. While Genmu Senki Leda might not ... be winning any awards it is still good and fun.