Panzer Dragoon

I think people are being too harsh on this anime. Is it good? Not really. Is it worth your time? Probably not. But it's not some horrible piece of trash.

It's based on a video game that I haven't played and only vaguely heard about from Segata Sanshiro commercials, so maybe it would have helped me enjoy this more.

The main issue with Panzer Dragoon is that it feels like I decided to watch the final episode of an anime without watching the rest, but it's the only episode out there. There's no context, no lore, no character introduction, no development or progression.

I think it had potential, ... like maybe it would have been a decent 6/10 anime but it's like I said, it feels like watching the final episode. If they only had to make one episode, why did they decide to make this? What prompted them to do so? It's just my theory but I think it's the ending of the game and they decided to turn it into an anime for fun. At least that would make sense.

Also the dragon feet make me uncomfortable, it's just one claw. It's probably painful to stand on that.

This is not as bad as people make it out to be.

I am not familiar with this saga of videogames. I was barely a baby when the Sega Saturn was around and I am doing crazy things right now like watching the worst anime shows this site has to offer and honestly I don't get the fuss about this one being horrendous. This doesn't go to the low levels something like Hanoka or Vampire Holmes have so I guess I will defend it to a certain degree basing this review towards the original Japanese Version which nobody has picked up to sub, but I believe ... is very straight forward even in a Raw State.

Story = 5

The story is very simple, it is the typical save the damsel in distress this time the name is Alita, where this guy named Keil must rescue her from a evil black dragon that finds her and he combines itself with her to make him more powerful, because Alita has like psychic powers and she is blind for some reason and with the help of this blue dragon that calls himself Blau and finds Keil, then he decides help him in this problematic situation. Meanwhile there is this empire that wants to destroy a black tower that is the root of evil and it shows where this black dragon comes from, so with the power of the black tower and the psychic girl, this black dragon will be powerful and rule this world........... I guess.

Ok the story is very silly and has a lot of ass pulls and sudden things that happen in the plot without explanation. Like why This Black Dragon wants to destroy the world, why the empire wants to destroy the tower, why Blau wanted to make a bond with Keil, why Alita has Psychic Powers, Why some survivors get possessed,etc. This may show that this animation is very stupid to do and that contains no explanations but again is it really that horrible? The shows is serious but it doesn't go in a way of insulting the people watching it, it just about this hero that saves the day in this action animation and that's it, no matter what it takes to him to do. It is just that which Keil achieves in the end, but I don't think spoilers for something like this will affect you.

Art = 6

It is fair, it is your typical 90s anime character design which honestly I am big sucker, but with all fairness is ok at its best, Done by Production IG, You could see that they work on a budget for this one and did the best they could, because I got to admit they did Ghost in a Shell a year prior so they actually could do good stuff back in the day. In this production you have a lot of obscure tones in characters and backgrounds.The dragons designs are very good, honestly they look amazing and creative for the time and really well made with the artistic choice they had. The hand drawn backgrounds are also okayish, the only horrible part is the CG backgrounds and attacks, it may be 1996 but they really are horrible even for the time. Not even the Sega Saturn has that 3D quality. The animation is hit or miss in some spots but it doesn't go to be very lazy like other shows tend to do.

Sound = 3

There is only like one or two music score in this whole thing that are very dramatic with some medieval tones. It is really forgetable. The voice actors in Japanese do a good job. They do fine with the script they are given and that's it. No openings and endings on this one unfortunately.

Character = 5

They are stereotypes but again they do the job. Keil is your typical hero worried about his girl, the only boring part from him is that he says Alita way too much in this show, but what can you expect he has to be dramatic and cares about her, although the only backstory they give is that they are from a little town and hope for their best with Alita.

Alita is ok, she is just your typical girl that needs to be saved. Although something explaining her powers like why she can sense the black dragon and other creatures would have been fine even if it was described in the most cheesiest and redundant way.

Finally the dragons, they are your typical one is good and one is bad and that's it.

Enjoyment = 6

I did quite enjoy this one to a degree. The action is good, except when there is 3D animation involved and also even one liners explaining some of the issues this animation has would have been ok, but I believe that since this is just a promotion for the game it isn't bad, not like many other anime shows based on games that do that even in a worst way and extending them or compressing them in a lot of cases.

Overall = 6

Once again I don't see what makes this short animation incredibly "atrocious" and a disgrace to the whole anime medium in general. If it is because of the english dub then honestly what a stupid reason to criticize the show, it is like saying that One Piece is bad because of the horrible 4kids dub, so no just because of a bad localization doesn't make it bad in the first place because the creators don't decide poor localizations in some cases and it wasn't the way their media wanted to be conveyed. Maybe if it is because the fans of the game find it horrible and not a good adaptation of the source material it would be understandable, but I with no prior knowledge of this videogame series I don't find it insulting, if you want something like that Blazblue Alter Memory is a good example, that even without videogame knowledge on the first place it can suck a lot with bad plot and lazy deus ex machinas. Honestly if you want a bad show based on a Sega Videogame and even animated by Production IG go watch a show called Shining Hearts Shiawase No Pan. Now that one is just a boring piece of crap if you want something horrible to watch and get stressed about it. This one is just an mediocre promotion if you don't find anything to watch but it is not as insulting and dramatic as many people make it out to be and besides it is only 25 minutes long and 1 episode. Other crap gets 50 episodes long and they are dreadful to watch. So yeah this not as bad as this site makes it out to be.

Well this is everything from my part. Take care in whatever you do and see ya next time.

Story: As a game promo in the 90s, story is simple: save "ALITAAAA!!!!" with lots of name shouting. With 1 ep, it's concise & flows without many boring shots. There are many elements (probably from game world) that seem like plotholes. Dragon gives a vision, sudden multiple powerups, GATTAI!!?, huge misunderstandings since one can't speak, afterwards sudden telepathy ability now they can speak... Relationships are confusing: dragons don't like Empire ships, mc tries to save Empire survivors, Empire general gets "possesed"!? (he was sane before in the ship), mc thanks dragon, dragon more random power...

Art/Sound: animation above average for 90s, thanks to production IG. Combat ... has no lazy/reused motions. Dragons move naturally. Weird how many backgrounds are awful lowpoly CG. Good character designs (no huge bug eye), handsome males.
Sound: OP & ED 80s synthpop are good. English dub quite silly. JP va sounds ok (but no subs). ED 2nd song (only on English track) adagio vocal hymn was quite good (maybe Italian).

Overall: It's a short packed full of surprises. And considering the short time, the "romance" is better than many 1 cours.