Dragon Half is like a well disciplined soldier; it knows exactly what its objective is, and it heads straight for it with intentions on accomplishing the mission. From go, the anime is non stop comedy and never, ever, lets up. The interesting part about the anime is that it doesn't have to rely on sex oriented jokes or an overabundance of fan service to get a good laugh out of the viewer. Although they are used in very low supply, it never had a forced feel to me.
The laughs are provided within the dialogue, character's actions, and the sheer insanity on the screen. Most of these hilarious moments appear out of nowhere and they work most of the time. Those out there whom are big fans of characters shifting into the deformed disproportionate versions of themselves will love this one because it seems to revel in it.
Character development is rather low, but this is the most memorable group of characters I can remember from such a short series. The solid voice acting for both languages do them justice and only helps to provide more laughs. The anime is virtually plotless, with things happening at random only to provide more comedy; but a solid plot clearly wasn't the aim here anyway.
Another aspect of the series that I really enjoyed was the abandoning of certain anime cliches. The series isn't the least bit predictable which adds to the fun factor a great deal. The animation is decent at best; I really didn't notice anything noteworthy. The goofy character designs are top notch for this type of wacky anime, and the soundtrack fits well by meshing perfectly with the silliness. This also applies to the ending theme, which is just as wacky and makes very little sense. The voice acting or should I say overacting, hits the mark every time. Both the sub and dub shined brightly for me and it was pretty much flawless.
Dragon Half to me is a pretty good OVA, but one thing I don't agree with the fans on is the short length. Despite the mindless fun of the series, I think two episodes was enough. This type of insanity for me began to overstay its welcome and a couple of jokes began to grow stale: such as the super deformed bodies. When it comes down to anime comedy for me; one or two seasons can actually damage the show due to many re-used jokes, because eventually they begin to lose their appeal. The anime series Slayers, definitely comes to mind with its repetitive gags that carried through to the very end of the series, and once they reached into the movie features, nearly the entire franchise lost all of its steam and eventually Slayers became a shadow of its former self. Dragon Half could have very easily fallen victim to the same fate.
I only recommend this title to the most diehard, comedy driven anime fans. If you enjoy the comedic elements I mentioned. Then this is for you. If you're new to anime, then I recommend avoiding this and going straight into Slayers because even though I have issues with it; the series(not the movies) still provides a great story, better characters, and a rock solid plot.
Highs: Excellent voice acting, comedy that works...
Lows: ... but can overstay welcome for some
