Ranked #6138

Generation of Chaos

“Humans cannot change as rapidly as a caterpillar goes into its cocoon, and then comes out as a butterfly. You don’t notice snow melting into water; you don’t know it until it has already happened. Humans are like that; you won’t notice your growth until you are already grown.”

These poetic sentences come from Generation of Chaos: Prologue, a show brought to us by the great Idea Factory which created Mars of Destruction and Tenkuu Danzato Skelter Heaven. Like other Idea Factory works, it is supposedly based on a strategy role-playing game the studio made. This anime is created before Mars of Destruction and it is good to know that Idea Factory sucked before as well.

As this OVA is meant to introduce viewers to the Generation of Chaos world, I begin to take notes of the setting and characters. I gather that the work is similar to the Monster Rancher series, though this may be too good for a comparison. There are three segments to the show: Chiffon is a monster master whose voice cannot reach to his monsters because he is too old. Thus, he embarks into an epic coming-of-age story. Another segment is about a runaway demon who knits silk to feed her sister. The last segment, after the ending credits, is about the history of the game’s setting, character profiles, and an advertisement for the game; I am amazed by the usage of filters in this segment. If these sounds like a fantastic stories worthy of praise from Miyazaki, this is because they are.

The art consists of character designs that look ripped from the video game placed onto backgrounds and floors coming from Nintendo 64 games, speed lines, and unimaginable delights. Some of the character’s emotions are plain humorous; it is amazing that Idea Factory approved this work.

The voice acting is tolerable except for the knight in the second segment; I have no comment for the knight’s seiyuu. The female narrator at the end is one of my favorites for being overdramatic for a game advertisement. However, the real kicker for sound is the repetitive usage of music. People who have watched Mars of Destruction and listened to their usage of Beethoven and Satie will know what I am talking about. The music feels loopy and surreal; there is a musical piece that is played on an organ and it feels like a five year old composed it. Never has the music feel so generic.

Poor Mizuki Nana. She is a fantastic singer and her opening and ending themes show. I pity her for her credit in this work. Whoever added her into the credits of this work should be ashamed.

It is unfair to judge this work through the criteria of an actually good show. Instead, I shall factor in more of the enjoyability factor. Did I enjoy the show for being stupid and idiotic? Yes. However, is the show more special than Mars of Destruction or other so-bad-it's-good works? No. The work feels too generic for me to like. In the end, my mouth is gaping more than laughing.

Mars of Destruction fans, so bad it’s good fans, and masochists will enjoy this work without a doubt like I did. There is potential to make good riffs on the work. However, to those who are not big fans of bad works should stay away; a work like this can make someone terribly insane. read more