World Destruction: Sekai Bokumetsu no Rokunin

The biggest problem with adapting a game is that all too often the reason for doing it has come from the marketing department rather than any desire to truly retell the game's story. Because of this, no effort is made to improve on the source material, and the whole thing becomes nothing more than a glorified advertisement for a game that probably isn't selling as well as the producers had hoped.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that the original storyline is normally standard RPG fare, the kind of generic sword and sorcery tale that seems all too common in the games market and ... normally involves saving the world from "the ultimate evil" - which usually involves running around in circles while you try to pick a fight, levelling up, exploring the "world", levelling up, going into the homes of total strangers and stealing their possessions and money, more levelling up, etc, etc, etc. It's pretty obvious that the people who dream up the various plots and story lines for these games aren't really pushing the boundaries of imagination.

Unfortunately, the same is generally true for their anime adaptations, and World Destruction is just another example of a generic RPG spawning a generic fantasy anime. The only difference is that this time the anime was released before the game.

The story is set in a world where humans are ostensibly slaves serving the various races of beast men known as Ferals, and follows the adventures of Kyrie Illunis, who somehow winds up travelling with the notorious human Morte Ahserah, the leader of the "World Destruction Committee", a group whose sole purpose is to destroy the world.

Doesn't sound too generic does it? Well, aside from the obvious comparison to Planet of the Apes, the idea of humans rebelling against their non-human masters isn't a new one. The problem though, is that World Destruction tries to be unique by throwing in the idea that the only way to save the world is to destroy it. Unfortunately this doesn't really work as, aside from the obvious "World Salvation Committee" getting the way (seriously, who thought up these names), the plot itself relies on generic methods and devices to move the story forward.

The simple fact is that while the pacing and flow may not be that bad, the reliance on storyline stereotype is pretty obvious from the outset. That's not to say that the story is bad though, but aside from the whole "destroy the world" aspect, most of the plot has been done before (in one form or another), and done better.

Now given that this is a show by Production I.G. one could fairly expect some decent animation and visuals, and for the most part the series delivers. The only problem is that because this is a game adaptation/advertisement, the design of, well, pretty much everything, was already done beforehand. Because of this, there is very little scope for any advancement in the visuals as the last thing Sega wanted was for the anime to look better than the game it was supposed to sell.

That said, the animation is pretty good throughout the series, and there are some nice visual effects used in various scenes. The character design leaves a lot to be desired though, in particular because Sega made no effort to step away from the altar of genericism when making the game.

World Destruction has a pretty solid cast, but like so many other game adaptations, this does not automatically equate to great acting. Once again the issue lies with the plot itself, in particular the fact that the game is constructed in a particular manner, and thus the character interactions are already defined in a certain way. The anime manages to flesh out various points, however there is nowhere near enough depth in the story to bring out the best in the seiyuu.

The acting isn't bad, but it's not great either.

As far as the music goes, it's pretty standard fare throughout the series. The thematic music is decent, however the overall effect on the atmosphere of a given scene can sometimes be disjointed. This is also reflected in both the OP, "Zero" by AAA, and the ED, "Kaze no Kioku: To the End of the World" by Aimmy. The former is a strange blend of dance music that doesn't really suit the style of the show, while the latter is a "bittersweet" ballad.

To be perfectly frank, the music is just a little bit overdone, and a bit too ostentatious for my liking.

It should be pretty obvious by now that World Destruction is pretty generic in its approach to fantasy, and this is reflected in the characters as well. The two leads are decent enough, however the show, like the game, doesn't really develop the characters as much as one would like. Granted there are efforts made to allow some growth, but in the end the generic characterization and the number of episodes precludes any substantial development.

Now, one would think after all of those points that I didn't enjoy World Destruction, however I found the show to be watchable, and at times enjoyable. The problem is that there is a very disjointed feel to the series, and the generic nature of the show doesn't really help as it only makes the flaws more obvious.

The main issue though, is that this show is nothing more than one of many adaptations that are nothing more than an attempt to make more money, and because of this there is no effort to make the anime more enjoyable for the viewer. While there are some interesting ideas used in the series, essentially this is nothing more than another good versus evil story, and not the best one out there by any measure.

Still, if all you're after is no-brain entertainment, then you could do worse.

THE REAL PREMISE:
In a world where oceans are made of sand, and beastmen have rule over humans, a woman seeks to unlock the secrets of the "destruct code" in order to destroy the world. Her motivation: her brother was killed by beastmen. She involves 2 others who engage in some antics until episode 9, when they finally start to unravel the truth behind the "destruct code."

THE GOOD:
- The standard action/adventure plot has a nice twist at the end.
- The characters are likeable, though not immediately so (it took me 8 episodes to warm up to them).

THE BAD:
- The character designs for beastmen ... are a bit silly. Humans with animal ears? Really? A man with a crocodile's head named Dr. Crocodile? Really?
- Episodes 1 - 8 don't further the plot very much.

CONCLUSION:
Most of the anime is your standard adventure story. There's a twist at the end, but even then, it won't be anything you've never seen before. Also, episodes 1-8 don't advance the plot very much; so, I suggest watching the first episode, and asking yourself, "Do I like these characters enough to stick around until episode 9?" Once you get that far, the anime actually gets really good.

In the distant future, with the concept of recorded time itself having become irrelevant, the world as we know it has changed. The land is a vast desert, society has been pushed to the brink of existence, and mankind is no longer the dominant species. As the result of a great war, the world has been taken over by beastmen, a race of humanoid creatures that range from beings who look like normal humans with random animal features, to full-bodied anthropomorphic bipedal animals of varying heights. As wacky as that idea may sound, the oppression of the human race is anything but, ... as humanity has been designated a race of second class citizens, with some settlements killing us on sight, others enslaving us or simply refusing to acknowledging us, and the areas where we can exist as equals being few and far between. On top of all this, the world’s oceans have somehow vanished with time, replaced with a literal sea of sand, where aquatic creatures have adapted to swimming through the earth itself, and terrestrial life forms having to ride boats across the vast sandscape.

The wars between mankind and the beastmen have left countless casualties in their wake, but none have had as much impact as the death of the idealistic Revi, a young man with a vision to create a world of harmony and prosperity. Upon his death, however, his older sister Morte manages to come into possession of a legendary device called The Destruct Code, a device with the power to end the world. Mourning her loss and wishing to end the unfair world that took Revi’s life, this one girl will set out on a quest to find out how to use the Destruct Code to make her own desire a reality. On the way, she’ll team up with a nomadic human cook named Kyrie and a strong willed Dwarf Bear beastman named Taupy, with the three of them unwittingly adopting the moniker of The World Destruction Committee, officially labeling them as enemies of the people, highly wanted criminals among beastmen and humanity alike. With their epic quest unfolding, and the mysteries of The Destruct Code unraveling, who the fuck are we supposed to be rooting for here?

Visually speaking, this show isn’t anything special to write home about. It’s not terrible looking, but it’s also not great looking. The only thing noteworthy about it’s animation is that it was produced by Production IG, whom I used to have a really high pinion of before I started taking a closer look at their resume. They’ve put out a ton of great looking titles throughout the years making up a cozy majority of their output, but there are a few clunky looking titles peppered throughout the list. From what I can tell, it looks like they don’t allocate high budgets to any project that they don’t think people are going to pursue for their visuals... Titles like Cromartie high school, which is mostly renowned for it’s comedy, and Chevalier D’eon, which would mostly be popular for it’s writing and sophisticated Elizabethan tone. They must have thought the same about Sands of Destruction, with their assumption being that since it’s based on a video game, it’s market would only extend to fans of said game.

I’ll give them this, from what I’ve seen, none of their anime titles have looked bad over-all, even if there have been some bad looking moments in them. Sands of Destruction definitely looks cheap, though, and it doesn’t take a lot of viewing to pick up on this. At worst, there are a couple of moments in the first few episodes where they ran into frameless action or just had really long scenes involving still character images talking to each other, but thankfully moments like this aren’t the norm. I’d honestly say the worst thing about the visuals is the setting, as in accordance to the premise, a huge chunk of the series run time is spent with the cast riding their boats out on the sand sea(which I never got used to), which granted the animators an opportunity to feature long, static talking and interaction segments against an easy to manage background, which was no doubt a huge budget saver, but for the audience, the novelty of seeing that sand sea in the first place was the only thing visually interesting about these scenes.

Different areas that our cast visit and their interiors have a much more interesting look to them, which is kind of a give-away when you consider that they’re traveling from area to area, like the cast of One Piece. The different settlements across their home land are highly diverse and offer a lot of diverse set pieces, so that even if the characters are just talking to each other without doing much moving, you can still enjoy the surprisingly detailed artwork that serves as their backdrop. There’s a massive library in one episode, and while the plethora of books don’t look incredibly diverse, the shadows and cobwebs still give the area a sense of identity as an old, worn down family business. Right in the first episode, we’re introduced to Taupy as he drinks in a bar, and what a bar! The background in that scene is beautifully lit, offering a surreal glow around those standing in front of it. Also, I mentioned that the sandy backgrounds didn’t offer much to be desired, but the creatures inhabiting the sands, when you get to see them, are pretty cool.

The character designs were taken straight from the game, as I understand it, and they seem competent enough. Most of the main cast is designed to type, with certain elements of their aesthetic informing their personality, like how Kyrie’s ruffled hair is just wild enough to maybe be a main character, but at the same time just subdued enough to be written as a sidekick, with his blonde hair and friendly, innocent eyes painting his good nature that the very act of altering them slightly could set up a more sinister change. Morte, the heroine, is red-haired and busty, with an outfit that carefully straddles the line between conservative and fetishy, and of course, one of their enemies has long white hair. More interesting are their friend Taupy, a dwarf bear, who looks like he was created by a pirate enthusiast at Build a Bear Workshop, and then you have Lia, whose design fits her as the most interesting and entertaining person in the show, as she’s just overdesigned enough to suit how funny she is. What I actually found disappointing was the race of beastmen, who you’d think would be the epicenter of imagination and possibilities, but they’re just anthropomorphic animals and people with animal parts. Princess Tutu did more with animal/human hybrids than this show does.

The music in Sands of Destruction is way cooler than it has any business being, and far more fun to listen to on it’s own than as a part of the series. Yoshihiro Ike is a seasoned veteran in the field of anime music, and I honestly don’t think this series deserves his talent, but since they were able to land him, I’m glad they put him to such good use. honestly, it kind of depresses me that with the show being as obscure as it is, nobody’s likely to hear it a solid decade later. Even outside of instrumentation and tune, the sound quality alone is beyond impressive. Most of you reading this probably won’t ever watch Sands of Destruction, but at the very least, look up the track Yoru no Houmonsha, for a taste of just how rich and complex this music is. Having said that, the opening leaves something to be desired, as it’s visuals are a bit clunky and jarringly inconsistent, and the tune... Particularly the sting at the beginning... Create a promise of edginess and grit that the series fails laughably to follow up on.

The English dub is a Funimation effort, and since it came out around the turn of the decade, it makes sense that they went with two of their safest options for the lead roles. Everybody loves Luci Christian and Todd Haberkorn, especially when they’re doing their normal shtick, right? They’re recognizable voices, usually strong performers, and they’re both really popular, so it made sense to put them here. And yeah, they do solid jobs, so I can’t really take anything away from them there, even if their casting doesn’t feel inspired at all. Luci has a lock on playing strong female characters, especially ones who have red hair... Has anyone else noticed that? She’s able to dial up the necessary drama and tragedy, and even the occasional comedy, whenever she needs to. I’ve never really understood what people see(Or hear, I guess) in Todd Haberkorn’s nasally voice, but when he raises his pitch, he can play likeable little-brother type characters really well. And like I said before, he’s a solid actor in general.

Leaving the human characters for a moment, there are two actors who had to play tough, hardened warriors in the form of small Teddy bears, and the fact that they were able to do this without cracking up or breaking character is a testament to their professionalism and dedication to their craft. Christopher Sabat may have only appeared in one episode, but lending his growling, deathly serious tough-guy routine to the tiny Yappy instantly elevates him to the top of the pack, at least for this show. Robert McCullom, who I don’t think I’ve ever talked about before, takes a slightly lighter approach to the main character Taupy, also a tiny bear, but where his old friend has turned from the path of justice, Taupy still carries a touch of innocence inside of him, which his actor is great at bringing out. My favorite performer in this dub is probably Trina Nishimura, who plays Lia, a descendant of Dragon beastmen, and since her character is an overzealous and easily angered loose canon, she has way too much fun with her. Beyond these names, the cast is saturated with well known Funimation names, and it’s an okay dub in general.

It’s not overtly obvious throughout the series that it’s based on a video game, but once you do hear that piece of it’s background, it does explain a lot. I’ve never played Sands of Destruction for the Nintendo DS, but from what I’ve heard, it’s the kind of final Fantasy inspired game that starts off promising, but eventually loses it’s focus and crumbles under it’s own weight. to be fair, that does seem like something the anime went through, but only at the very end, and to it’s credit, it only happens very briefly. More to the point, it’s video game origin does explain a lot about it’s story structure and pace, as it’s a show about a small party of misfits from different walks of life who travel all over the map to accomplish a vaguely stated goal relating to the end of the world. There are times when it does feel like a video game speedrun, except with all the grinding, random encounters and puzzle-solving cut out to tell just the story on it’s own merits, and while it’s not impossible to tell a good story like that, there’s a good reason why not many franchises ever try it.

For one thing, the most important element of any game is the actual gameplay, which is where the majority of the focus during production should go. Gameplay isn’t just a string of endless fights and challenges, it endears you to characters. It gets you invested in them. It drives the story, as the character’s struggles become more personal to you. Free exploration is a fantastic way of developing lore and dumping exposition, things that are difficult to do in scripted media. With the element of gameplay removed, media based on games has been almost universally bad to a laughable degree, even in regard to some anime adaptations, and when a game has as little actual depth as Sands of Destruction, that lack of gameplay is a compensation to make. Thus, this series is puddle deep even at the best of times, being incredibly shallow in both it’s story and it’s characters, with no real themes or ideas to play around with, nothing really engaging going on at any given time, and it’s few flashes of emotional resonance being exactly that... Nothing but the briefest of flashes.

All of this could have been a huge issue, making it a dull, boring slog the likes of Ragnarok the Animation, if it was to make the mistake of taking itself seriously, but thank God, Sands of Destruction was able to dodge that bullet. I’m not going to say this series doesn’t try, or doesn’t put in any effort, but it’s extremely light-hearted, which is a life-saver in terms of watchability. It embraces it’s weirdness, explores the ramifications and implications of it’s universe in ways that are straight forward while at the same time delightfully tongue-in-cheek, and it plays the ‘sea of sand, how bizarre is that’ card at every opportunity. Very early on, I thought about how darkly funny it would be to see one of these sand ships get stuck under...sand, with the crew having to face the threat of drowning in sand, and while I was just being a dick at the time, you better believe they actually go that route in one episode. No character is ever allowed to point out how ridiculous these kind of occurrences are, but the audience is highly encouraged to try and wrap their heads around it, and I respect that kind of approach to weirdness.

But the biggest asset that Sands of Destruction has is it’s cast of characters, and the dynamic between them. To be clear, none of them are any deeper than your common golfing divot, but our heroes, our stock characters and even a few of the villains are still all fun and interesting to some degree. As I alluded in my plot synopsis, the main cast is on a quest to destroy the world, which almost instantly makes their enemies likeable, as they’re on our side, trying to save the world. Even our heroes, in spite of this, are still effective because of their motives. Morte has a reason to want to end the world, and while it doesn’t make much logical sense, it makes perfect sense from an emotional perspective, and of course she grows to be conflicted as she nears her goal. Her friends stick with her because... Well, they’re her friends. They’ve been lumped in with her as criminals through circumstance, and they really have nowhere else to go, so they support her, they stick with her, and they just kinda hope she’ll change her mind.

And I think it’s this sense of camaraderie that keeps me coming back to the series. Despite the apocalyptic premise, I like seeing this collection of friends on their journey, all of them genuinely caring about and supporting each other, even though one of them wants to inadvertently kill all three of them. And while the tone of the series may be entirely laid back, there are still several touching scenes and moments, from the conclusion of the cherry blossoms episode to Morte’s temporary connection to the beastmen working in his family’s bookstore, it has the ability to pull heartstrings, at least on a small scale. It does sort of foul this up towards the end, with a series of huge reveals taking the story in kind of an unnecessarily dark direction, but like I said before, it’s brief, and it ultimately builds towards a fairly decent conclusion that only flirts with pretentious misanthropy, instead of going all the way with it like Morte’s character kind of suggested it might. It’s a lighter, looser kind of adventure, and I suggest checking it out at least once.

Sands of Destruction is available from Funimation as part of it’s SAVE collection, which makes it really easy to find and really cheap. I’m afraid I can’t say the same for the game it’s based on, as even a used cartridge, on it’s own, can run you around thirty dollars. The manga, by ASCII Media works, is not available stateside.

I wish I could say that this anime’s obscurity is unjustified, or that it’s some forgotten gem that must be seen and appreciated for it’s brilliance, but I can’t. It doesn’t honestly have that much to offer outside of some weird spectacle and an all-around pleasant and inoffensive experience. I definitely like it, but I could also definitely live the rest of my life without ever seeing it again, sad though that may sound. At the very least, it’s surprisingly good by the standards of video game adaptations... I mean, it’s a much more enjoyable experience than something like Xenosaga the animation... So it’s kind of a miracle in how it stacks up to other titles of it’s ilk, but as an island, it’s a pretty forgettable show. If you’re looking for a cheap, light-hearted and easily digestable action show, you could do a lot worse. I give Sands of Destruction a 6/10.

In 2008, Sega published a "good, but not great" game called Sands of Destruction. Just as had happened with Sonic the Hedgehog, Panzer Dragoon and Shining Hearts, they felt that what it needed to promote the game was --- an anime adaptation.

This anime, entitled "World Destruction: The Six People That Will Destroy the World", is set on a planet where the seas are made of sand and humanity is inferior to the Beastmen. How either species keep hydrated is never touched upon.

STORY (3/10) --- Now, an average boy named Kyrie Illunis is forced to go on a journey with the enigmatic Morte Urshela after she ... inadvertently exposes his identity as a human. A journey to where? There is no answer to this question. Morte wants to destroy the world using an orb she calls the Destruct Code. Apparently, this involves a large amount of hiking. Along the way, a Beastman bear named Toppy joins them.

The group, known as the World Destruction Committee, are being chased by the World Salvation Committee, made up of a half-human Naja and Lia, who is descended from dragons. They are not so much a threat as a plot device to keep the WDC moving. That is, until Lia is provoked.

The story is rather disjointed for the majority of the series, with each episode featuring the World Destruction Committee getting stuck in some situation. Kidnap is usually the reason given, but it is as if the characters are simply wandering around waiting for these things to happen. Naja and Lia are always just behind, obtaining information they could have no way of knowing and generally just trailing along in the WDC's footsteps. Fortunately, the last few episodes of the series break away from this tired formula to present a climax that was almost good.

CHARACTERS (5/10) --- Overall, Kyrie is mostly useless for the vast majority of the show, serving only to interact with his more interesting companions. Morte and Toppy may just be able to redeem the series. Morte is an interesting character with an unconventional mission and is the focal point of the few emotional scenes, and Toppy is certainly likeable and provides some comic relief without diminishing his character.

On the other team, we have Naja and Lia. Naja is a calm intellectual, while Lia is a hot-headed centuries-old woman with a tendency to attack first and ask questions later. While they do not seem to be an actual threat to the WDC, Lia and Naja's scenes contrast well with that of the trio.

Aside from the main five (who's the sixth who will destroy the world, I hear you ask?), there is an average size cast. We have a smuggler, Morte's deceased brother, and an antagonistic alligator. All of these fail to interest, although Morte's brother does prove himself to be important in terms of plot, and as the driving force for Morte.

In terms of character development, there is certainly some emotional journey that occurs alongside the mindless mountain-trekking and countless kidnappings. Morte's past and coming to terms with it is an important aspect that plays a large role in the climax. The three main characters, who are thrown together and forced to work as a team, truly grow close to one another. Lia gets her five minutes of awesome towards the end, but Naja is much the same person throughout the series, making no notable change.

ART (6/10) --- The art is not particularly worthy of its own section. The characters vary very little from their game counterparts, and scenery is decent. One quarrel I have is with the design of the Beastmen. Their designs are uninspired and uncreative. Everything else is perfectly... average.

MUSIC (6/10) --- The music is not distracting nor inappropriate (a la Mars of Destruction). In fact, at the end, you'll be wondering if there was any music. The opening credits feature "ZERØ" by pop band AAA. While it is good in partnership with the opening, it does seem out of place with the actual content of the series.

DUB (10/10) --- The English dub has no faults that I can find. Strangely, Toppy's use of the word "kuma" at the end of just about every sentence does not get irritating.

HEAD SCRATCHERS --- If the world is at stake, why is it that only a dragon and a half-breed are sent? How is the world kept hydrated? If there are rivers, where do they all flow to? How do sand whales survive and move in sand? Why did it take so long for Kyrie to ask the question the audience was dying to have asked --- why does Morte want to destroy the world?

IN CONCLUSION
--------------------
World Destruction is little more than something thrown together to promote a game published by Sega, a shadow of its former glory. No new themes are presented and the story is largely routine for an average fantasy series. The first seven or eight episodes do not drive the plot forward at all, simply providing another twenty-odd minutes for the WDC to run around and get captured. When the climax comes, it's a case of too little, too late.

But despite everything that's been said, there are things far worse than World Destruction. I wouldn't recommend it for those looking for storyline, but its vibrant main cast and weekly misadventures make over four hours of mindless entertainment.

Kuma.

Spoiler free review.
Intro:

I have not played the game this is based on. I picked the series up only cause I am a lover of the action/adventure/RPG anime.

The anime is based on the Nintendo DS RPG game by SEGA, released in Japan July, 2008.

The world is split between beastman and humans, with beastman being the stronger ones and humans being afraid of them. The 2 races obviously don't get along well.

The story follows a young boy named Kyrie who wants to become a hero but by an accident gets recruited to join the "World Destruction Committee"by a girl named Morte. Joined by a small bear type ... beastman the 3 of them travel the world.

Story:

Well the story is quite simple. It is easy to understand and follow. The show does not try to be too deep and switches between comedy and serious moments. The initial part of the show is more comedy based while near the end "shit gets serious". Well the show is shonen so it never gets "really serious".

It is one of those "race equality" propaganda.

5/10 average story.

Animation:

The animation was not bad, but it wan't good either.

6/10

Sound

I don't remember a single OST except the opening (which I liked), so...
6/10

Characters

Well the characters are mostly generic ones. You have the whimpy male MC, the badass girl and another badass companion who is serious most of the time and has a continuous joke about him.

Well that's basically all.
5/10 average.

Enjoyment

Well as I said at the start I am a lover of the genre so I did enjoy it. It was nothing special but a quite nice ride. Even if it was generic and something I saw already tons of times it was still a nice ride.

7/10

Overall

Well the show is nothing special. If you are not a lover of the genre as I am you should not bother with it, but if you are check it out. It is not a "favorite material" but it can be a nice watch in boring days.

Final Score: 6/10 (fine)