Makyou Gaiden Le Deus

This 1987 OVA is about some survivors on a post-apocalyptic world trying to find some jewels or something, and there's aliens maybe, and giant mechs...because it's the '80s. Honestly, I don't really know what it's about, I saw it raw, and kinda thought it was more fantasy until the mechs came into play. This is one of the great many old school anime I've never heard of that I tend to find while doing some digging, and this I discovered within the last month or so. It's got a typical art and animation style one would expect of '80s anime, so looks good enough, even ... if it was somewhat dull initially (again, I saw it in the original language with no subtitles, so I missed a lot story wise I'm sure). Once the mecha action starts though, it's highly entertaining and looks great, so that's clearly where a lot of the money went. Not the best the '80s OVA boom has to offer, but fun enough if you're looking for some way under the radar old school anime.

Le Deus is basically about the main character, Riot, trying to find a source of unlimited power called Rido before the villain Kaiser can. Along the way, Riot and his companions clash with Kaiser's troops in both mecha and hand to hand combat.

I wouldn't really classify this anime as a mecha-heavy one. There are certainly a few mecha moments along the way but most of the story takes place with Riot and his companions traveling in their amphibious vehicle. The main mech battle in this OVA however was the highlight of the show.

Plot is not one of the OVA's main attraction points. ... The characters don't have much of a backstory, although in such a short story it might've been hard to try and round out the characters fully. Aside from that, the main plot is rather cliched and straightforward. You get a small glimpse of why Riot is after the Rido, but that soon gets eclipsed by other, seemingly more pressing concerns as the show goes on.

The art is pretty mediocre as well. The animation in the first few minutes seemed choppy and basic and it doesn't really get much better as the story progresses. The character designs are very generic 80s-esque. The one positive I will mention is that I thought the mecha designs were rather well done and it was a shame that they didn't play a more prominent role in the OVA.

The most enjoyment I got out of Makyou Gaiden Le Deus was during the climactic final battle scene. The mecha battle was done relatively well and piqued my interest for a few minutes. If you're considering watching this OVA for the action scenes, I would probably either skip it entirely, or skip towards the end. (Riot's main weapon when he isn't in the Mech is his arm bandage which he uses somewhat like a whip -- not very exciting!!)

In summary, this OVA has generic characters that don't give the viewer a reason to root for, generic animation and art, and a story that is nothing more than a premise to have the good guys and bad guys duke it out.

Although not as bad as something like Panzer Dragoon, there would be numerous OVAs from this general time period I would recommend over this one.

Is is "Le Deus"? Or is it "Ladius"?

The answer is: Doesn't matter what you call it. Either way, it's pretty bad.

It's like they had a checklist of every cliche of a 1980's anime, and just went down the list. Post apocalyptic world with a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy elements? Check. Giant robots? Check. Viewer-insert hero character that pilots the robot? Check. Cute, loyal sidekick girls that follow viewer-insert hero around? Double-check.

Although, if you jumble a whole bunch of cliches together, ... that does not necessarily make it a bad show. Instead, what makes it bad is the *way* they do it. A pretty ho-hum storyline, rambling and unoriginal. Substandard quality artwork and animation. I mean, given the over-abundance of the same basic fantasy/sci-fi anime that flooded the market during this time, there's plenty other to choose from, instead.