Tanken Driland

Tanken Driland the anime that thinks its a JRPG. From the ugly cute monsters to the treasure hunting to the power of friendship, it has a lot of the cliches of a JRPG, and that is not necessary a bad thing.

The story.

In the world of Driland people known as Hunters search monster infested ruins and dungeons for treasure. The protagonist princess Mikoto is influenced by a legendary hunter named Bonny and decides to become a hunter as well. After being told no she runs away and becomes hunter anyways. Mikoto's attendant Wallens joins her but to try and bring her back home. They are ... joined on their journey by Pollan a hunter who want to be a hero and Paan a wondering Knight. There are also hints of some great evil coming to the world and that Mikoto and her companions will have to fight it.

The Art.

All of the characters are animated in chibi style. That is they have big heads and small bodies. The monsters would not be out of place in Dragon Quest.

The Sound.

The voice acting is pretty good, each character sounds unique and it conveys their personalities very well. The opening theme is alright but I personally love the ending theme.

The Characters.

First we have rebellious princess Mikoto. Instead of sitting around and waiting to come of age to rule the kingdom of Elua, she is learning how to use a sword and sneaking out of the castle to learn how to be a hunter from Bonny. She is a bit naive and stubborn but she is also a genuinely caring person.

Next is Wallens, Mikoto's attendant, he has a mysterious past and changes the subject whenever someone asks him about it. He is also a powerful fighter able to take on monsters much larger than he is using only his fists.

The third character is Pollan the kid of the group. He wants to be hero like the ones in the stories he has grown up on. His weapon of choice is a rifle. Personality wise, he is pretty dumb and falls for some obvious traps but he doesn't like to see people suffer and tries to help when he can.

The fourth character Paan has not appeared yet.

Enjoyment.

Do I enjoy the show, yes. I like JRPGs, especially the Final Fantasy series and Breath of Fire games, so my opinion maybe a little bias but I like dungeon crawling for treasure and battling monsters.

Overall.

Tanken Driland is a light hearted adventure story that fallows standard JRPG formulas. If you are a fan of JRPGs or adventure stories then give this one a try.