The good:
Voice Acting, especially Ichimichi, Mao (Kazumi Schlierenzauber)
Sound was alright, the Character design and animation was ok.
The bad:
A sudden drop in quality plotwise. Starting with a good dose of suspense and mystery, a solid system and motivation. Then it felt like a sand castle, that suddenly is being targeted by the neighbors kid. Random destruction of all the elements that might have made this series special.
The ugly (plot holes):
I couldn't believe that the series went south until I hit the last episodes.
I mean I did have the manga up to around EP 6 and they kept close to it in the anime, but the
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Apr 20, 2013
Dragon Age: Blood Mage no Seisen
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
First of all, if you want to watch the movie, because you are a fan of the games or books - just move on and forget this movie title.
The creator of the game series has created a rich world with much lore, politics, struggles between races, religion and morals considering if magic is a curse or a blessing for the society. It specially focused on the origin of the characters, like a mage will start the game on a different place and will play a different role then for example a knight or a thief. Without spoilers to the movie I can explain, why this storyline ... completely ignores all game lore and game mechanics: At least the two countries I know of, are controlled by different powers - usually by the political ruler (in both cases a Kingdom) and the Chantry (church). The Church sees the magic as a threat because it may attract evil in form of demons, and in both countries the chantry constantly seeks children or adults who show signs of magic aptitude. If you show such signs, you will be brought to the circle of magi. That means, they are confined to a safe location which is closely watched and "guarded for safety" by the church through military means and their special units - the Templar. You are not allowed to leave the premises of the Circle unless permission is granted by the chantry. If you use Magic without permission, you are classified as apostate (not desired dangerous mage) and be hunted down by Templar and the regular army, any sign of using blood magic will result in a kill on sight warant - without exeption. The ability to use magic is really rare, usually you can fit all the mages in a single tower of not more then 10 Levels. The game mechanics show, that an expeirienced mage can get rid of a melee fighter before he can close in, but since there are usually much more armored troups then mages, they will be killed eventually, because they can't use magic unlimited times and they need time to cast the spells. Templars also recieve special training to resist mind control and low level spells, but they are not imune to all battle magics. Templar usually despise magic users and see it as their duty to get rid of any dangerous magician - if in doubt, kill it. In the movie they don't even comply with that absolute order, that all involved in blood magic are to be killed on the spot. They seem to be imune to most spells, even their armor is not even dented when they get hit. Mages, especially bloodmages seem to seldom cast spells, they prefer melee combat. Also there are much more "uncontrolled" mages in the field, then in the whole circle of magi. Since bloodmagic is considered evil even by the standards of the circle, the numbers don't add up at all. There is no explanation, why transfiguration and bloodmagic is connected - in the game lore they are seperate arts. There are rumors about a traitor in the mist of the Templars, but their motives are hard to believe especially because of what they have been taught and how they have been trained. There is also an event were a solid army apears out of nowhere and they are not noticed be a whole country. Whithout spoiler lets just say, the composition is unbelieveable and the lorebreaking mind control of things that don't even have a mind of their own and are at least lorewise not being effected by bloodmagic. And on a sidenote, why waste a whole army on that one task, and not recall it for another use, where you really could need some backup? I could go on about 2 pages on where and when the movie breaks the game mechanics and game lore, but I will return to the movie itself now because it would spoil the story. The Animation varies, sometimes it's decent and well made, and then there are random slashes and unusal patterns. I can hardly believe, that a knight with plate armor can survive such leaps of faith/jumps, and how easy it seem to tame, hold and kill the very enormous dragons, who could crush a stone wall with their muscles and who can spit fire. There is a time, where a character switches his main weapon from his mainhand for no reason at all. I like some of the blood animations, but have also to agree, that the blood comes off to easily - like the heroes never seem to get their hands dirty or their hair never seem to be out of style. Corpses vanish, Characterdesigns are ok, but for such a bloody adventure, it seems unreal, that the characters are so pale. The degree of violence is also unbalanced. Much too violent for a rating under 16+, but they display the violence only against the bad guys, while the good ones are usually graced with just a hint of violence and then a cut or fade out so that the viewer can fill out the rest by imagination. Story It's the second oldest story in the books. Good vs. Bad, a knight in shining armor seeking truth and willing to destroy evil. Problem is just the main lead is not a Knight, but a Templar and as already explained, the Templars are out of characterr. The story has a twist or two, but don't expect much more then the usual straight arrow. Without the violence I would say, best suited for the age of 12-14. Beyond that, the plot is a little to easy to follow, to easy to expect and so only a few surprises are left over. You do not need to have played the game to understand the plot, but everytime you see a design of an armor, weapon or creature, it sure teases your memory about it. There is not much characterdevelopment, but you also may see that as fitting for these two characters, especially if you consider the faith of a Templar vs. the Mage. It is somewhat unusual that a mage is that forthcoming with a Templar right from the start, but after a certain point in the story it becomes much more believeable. Music The Soundeffects and Music were on a acceptable level. Not much can be said about it, beside I had never had the need to reach for the volume control. The Voice Actors did seem to know their stuff. Overall Not for the fans of the game series, maybe enjoyable for the younger generation between 12-14 if they can stand violence. A pity that they did not even had time to play the origin of the mage or the knight class of DA:O, or they never would have thrown away such potential ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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