Sep 18, 2020
I liked it. It's not a great show, but it's pretty good for what it is.
Many fans will be disappointed by how it picks up the Dragon/Arisen tale and combines it with the concept of Sin. Personally, I was surprised but not appalled by it. Especially since we know of the 7 Sins concept since the show's OP has been made public.
Dragon's Dogma, in my opinion, is not a story about exactly one tale that has been depicted in the Dragon's Dogma game, but a term for a universe setting involving key mechanics which are the Arisens, Pawns and Dragons in question: A franchise. See
...
Dragon's Dogma Progress and Dragon's Dogma Online.
I say this especially because Dragon's Dogma Online, which went with a completely different story and setting where Arisen are chosen ones by the White Dragon of Lestania to carry out its will, shows exactly that. Obviously this story and setting was changed to match the MMORPG genre, but this shows that DD is a franchise of stories instead of a single one, similar to Final Fantasy. The first FF game may have set the tone, world and terms, but it's not the defining game that has no equal, as the years clearly showed.
The short stories the sins evolve around are simple. They are easy to understand, there's a clear "good" and "evil" theme surrounding them at first. With time, these plots become a bit more difficult as everyone is prone to be corrupted by one of the sins in question. Even the characters you at first don't expect to.
The animation is not consistent but stays on an above average level. Where they had no 3D models for characters they reverted to limited hand drawn animation, which is noticeable. Especially at the final scene of the show they mix 3D and 2D character animation which is quite bad.
The character's expressions are really well made and can hold up with GBVS, even some side characters have a great expression range and have been given much detail with their movement and posing.
The big monsters break the cel-shading illusion though, but it's not nearly as bad as I initially thought it would be, but it might put off viewers.
The Japanese voice acting is good, they chose a fitting cast for the roles.
There is however a huge difference in script between JP and EN which you notice when watching JP audio with EN subtitles where it's more than often not only "they say it different in English" but "they say something completely different". Depending on your understanding of Japanese, the subtitles will definitely annoy you quite often. I cannot comment on the English dub as I haven't seen that one (yet).
Except for the OP, the music is unfortunately low-key and exchangeable with any generic soundtrack.
Regarding content there is quite a bit nudity, sexual themes and gore.
Monsters in the show are Cyclops, Griffin, Hydra, Lich and.... Goblins.
Overall, I enjoyed it. It was a bit sad that the plot replaced the purpose of the Dragon to be a test for the position of the Seneschal with this watered down one. However, as I wrote in the beginning, I see this as an independent story within the universe, so it's perfectly fine in my opinion.
I'd rate it a 7/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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