"CLEAN NORADS HERE!!" Ehm, sorry. The adventure genre has gradually become a lost art the last couple of years in anime, but thankfully, titles like Deltora Quest can hopefully breathe life back into it. I've never read the books or even heard of them until I began to dig up information on this show, but this is pretty good and could encourage me to give the novels a gander.
While there is nothing particularly stunning about Deltora Quest plotwise early on (it goes through the motions ala Inuyasha), it's simple formula is pretty well executed and the pacing never seems to drag. Maybe it's because
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I've been watching a lot of drawn-out shonen battles at the time I'm writing this, but seeing heroes solve puzzles and fight a variety of clever enemies with a bit of strategy and guile instead of powering up for 17 minutes and unleashing whatever beam they fire, but this was quite refreshing. Lief, Jasmine, and Barda venture through the very vast kingdom of Deltora, meeting interesting people and exploring dungeons that are straight out of PSX rpgs. The accompanying dialouge explains the nuances of the plot rather basically, but it's acceptable for introducing people who haven't read the books to the history of Deltora itself and the belt. I watched the English dub on The HUB channel, and at first it was corny when the cheesy narrator would chime in during character speech, but I didn't mind. Everything eventually reaches a climax that......well....anyone on MAL ever watch the Michael Jackson movie/video Moonwalker?
I really dig the visuals, and are debatably Deltora Quest's strongest point. Very vivid colors and beautiful hand-drawn character designs spliced with some of the better CGI I've seen utilized in anime in years for a television show makes this a very pretty title to look at. The various caverns, catacombs, forests, and towns offer little in redundancy. From the dreary, fog-laden Forest of Silence to the etherial and mysterious city of Tora, the back drop is very well done. The battles are pretty darn good, but the central trio of Lief, Barda, and Jasmine are just slightly varied melee fighters, so battles with Shadow guards can get a little repetitive. I would've liked more of a magic user or ranged fighter earlier in the show to break the monotony, but that's just a minor pet peeve of mine.
Not too much say about the English dub voice acting. I think for most people, it will be tolerated or hated. I found it acceptable, but I'd be lying if I didn't say some voices are grating. At times, Jasmine sounds like a valley girl and Lief's self-righteous heroistic nonsense comes off as whiny. Cole Howard is a good guy and I do support him as a young anime voice talent in a market where 40+ year olds like Vic Mignogna has to voice a junior high student, but outside of singing the Sorceress Theagaan song, he does little to impress. Not the worst effort in terms of dub work, but it is passable at times.
Now, while I do like the overall cast, I might go off on a rant here about the characters and I can only hope in the novels that these three display a greater degree of intelligence than their anime counterparts. I know it's standard protocol to add a bit of intrigue and a bump in the road every now and then, but at times these three can be so stupid and gullible, it borders on infuriating. Sometimes it plays into mildly crucial plot points, even adding humor at times, but some instances could've been avoided altogether. They get better over time and I became more forgiving, but the second time they got back around to Tom's Shop, I was livid with how much crying our "heroes" were mustering because they didn't get their way. That aside, most of the supporting characters that stick around a little longer, like Doom and Dain are pretty awesome, while representatives of the different tribes are not really around early on. I could do without Nerida, thankfully her presence seemed kept to a minimum. Even the villian, the evil Shadow Lord (as opposed to the jovial and happy Shadow Lord) is shrouded in mystery most of the time and maintains some menace, so I could roll with it, but man, what a reveal. Overall, I thought most of the supporting characters just weren't there enough to develop into anything outside of fighters.
IN CLOSING: With a few caveats that nagged me a bit, Deltora Quest is a pretty solid show that kept me entertained, and I wished more TV shows followed a similar pacing. A linear plot that's spliced with very solid adventure is what I look for to get my anime-viewing juices flowing. Since this recently aired here in the U.S., I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a DVD release. I would love to put this on my shelf.
STORY: 7
ART: 9
SOUND: 6
CHARACTERS: 6
ENJOYMENT: 8
OVERALL SCORE: 7 out of 10
PROS: Really cool adventure tale, detailed world, great visual effects, I want a plush Filli toy, a neat freak cult: BEST.... CULT..... EVER
CONS: Bland English dub alters the opening themes, occasionally dimwitted heroes, impressively bad final battle
Alternative Titles
Japanese: デルトラクエスト
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
65
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jan 6, 2007 to Mar 29, 2008
Premiered:
Winter 2007
Broadcast:
Unknown
Licensors:
Flatiron Film Company
Studios:
OLM
Source:
Book
Demographic:
Kids
Duration:
25 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#38662
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#4080
Members:
29,671
Favorites:
207
Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 12 / 14
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Your Feelings Categories Mar 29, 2011
"CLEAN NORADS HERE!!" Ehm, sorry. The adventure genre has gradually become a lost art the last couple of years in anime, but thankfully, titles like Deltora Quest can hopefully breathe life back into it. I've never read the books or even heard of them until I began to dig up information on this show, but this is pretty good and could encourage me to give the novels a gander.
While there is nothing particularly stunning about Deltora Quest plotwise early on (it goes through the motions ala Inuyasha), it's simple formula is pretty well executed and the pacing never seems to drag. Maybe it's because ... Apr 3, 2016
Deltora Quest is one of the few anime that despite having so many problems, so many pitfalls, and one of the most predictable stories I've seen in quite so time, that I can say I enjoyed watching every single episode of.
The 2007 adaptation of Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest series is so remarkably unremarkable, so vanilla, that its pure simplicity stood out when watching it. Now, I may be a bit biased due to having read this book series as a child, but I could not remember the slightest bit about it for the life of me when I came around to watching this. A brief synopsis ... Apr 25, 2018
I dont normally do reviews but i think ill start with this. This anime is great for beginners. As someone who loves the books, i can say without a doubt that this might be the most faithful anime adaptation ive ever seen. The amount of detail that is kept from the books is outstanding and you can really feel the love and care that went into adapting the series. A good portion of dialogue is line for line out of the books. Some story events are told in a slightly different order, but this helps the pacing as the visual medium required a different approach.
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Jan 10, 2018
This will be my first review. Deltora Quest is an anime adapted from the eight book series Deltora Quest, written by Emily Rodda. I grew up reading all of her books (multiple Deltora Quest series, Rowan of Rin, etc.). They were a fantastic read, sucking you into a mysterious world with more interesting characters. However, this adaptation fails to capture the books essence.
I will start with the plot. A mysterious, powerful being named the shadow lord breaks the peace in the land of Deltora by sneaking a servant in to break apart the magical Belt of Deltora, a belt of seven Powerful gems which ... Apr 30, 2018
Deltora Quest is pretty much what you'd expect considering the budget and the lack of meaningful community support for its production. It's an enjoyable trip of nostalgia for those of us who read the books as kids, but it would be difficult for anyone other than kids to enjoy this anime without having read the books first. It's always fun to see the characters you became familiar with being brought to life in an animated setting, regardless of the overall quality of the production.
Story: The story stays largely true to the original titles, although some non-canon elements are included. I'm not going to detail the contents ... Sep 20, 2016
5/10 overall
HERES WHY I LITERALLY AND IM NOT JOKING PREDICTED THE WHOLE ANIME UP UNTIL THE LAST 2 EPISODES(most predicatable anime I have seen) The reason I didn't give it a lower score is because there are animes that are for noobies to anime meaning people who have watched allot of other anime shouldnt be mad that they could predict it and yes I was one of those people this anime gave me a headache because its predicatable and not in a good way you can always tell when someones going to do something wrong instead of right. The art was fair because it was around the ... Mar 12, 2021
On its face, the whole concept is completely bizarre - an anime adaptation of not only western source material, but a western children's series. In a strange way, it may have made more sense in the current medieval fantasy-heavy anime landscape, but I have no clue how Deltora Quest was successfully pitched in the mid-2000s.
Despite the language and cultural barrier, the Deltora Quest anime remains surprisingly faithful to the source material, with the notable exception of the filler episodes tacked on to the end of the series (completely skippable). For this reason, the anime carries over most of the strengths and weaknesses of the ... Mar 19, 2018
Deltora Quest was the very first Anime I have watched and is got me into the anime world.
The Anime is based on first series of eight novels by Emily Rodda and was animated by OLM Inc, the creators behind Berserk. Leif is young boy living under the rule of the shadow lord's rule. When his father gives him the legendary belt of Deltora, He, a ex-knight Bard and a forest girl Jasmine set off to find the jewels and the rightful king. The mix of 3D CGI and 2D characters is well input. Each huge boss is put well to each area and the environments ... Feb 15, 2022
I won't deny that it's been a very long time since I've watched this show (since 2010 if my memory serves me right). But I remember the essence well enough to recommend it. It's a seemingly stereotypical hero's journey, set in a fairly standard fantasy world. It's an adaptation of an Australian book series written under the pen name Emily Rodda (Jennifer Rowe is her real name). I remember reading the books in school, not to chronological competition or anything but just pieces here and there. I liked them, the gem thingy on the side was cool and the stories were quite interesting.
The weird names ... Jul 23, 2022
The anime of Deltora Quest is one of the most faithful books to screen adaptations I have ever seen in my entire life. I grew up reading the Deltora Quest books and it is shocking just how much the anime not only embraces the plot points and story but also the tone and feel of it as well.
Is the show (/book series) perfect? Absolutely not. The art style, music, and sound design are a bit dated even for 2007, the characters can be relatively annoying and one-note, and the story is a bit predictable and repetitive. However, I enjoyed it as a nine-year-old and it's ... Mar 18, 2024
Deltora quest is easily the worst Anime I’ve ever watched. On its face it seems like it would be phenomenal. The straightforwardness and awky writing is so cringe. No real character development or story to follow. It seems like everything is on the fly. I had forgot the name of this anime it was so bad. The artwork drew me in because it’s the genre I like ie spell casters, warriors, brutes, wizards etc. the familiar was giving popful mail vibes. When I started watching it’s like they immediately went for it. The names of the demons are so ugh..hot and tot bruh? Come on
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Jun 20, 2020
Poa mie este una cosa propriu bona, in gustu anime b’este una marea de bonas cosasa. In primisi b’este sh’importanza de sa determinazione.
Suni pagoso però sh’importanti gusta bestiasa cun importanti sbocci filosofici. Fin este su protagonista perfettu, bi ch’andrei a lettu. My favorite anime, there is no doubt. I saw this wonderful anime as a child and a few days ago I got to see it again. I find the music wonderful and admittedly he managed to intrigue me. Of course, being for children, it is very light in texture, language and scenes. He managed to deceive me in the finale and I ... |