Aug 26, 2019
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.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
