For example:
1)- There's the interactive elements which simply have to be removed or done in a way that doesn't feel forced (if you've seen many video game or visual novel adaptations, you know what I'm talking about). Say, people randomly stumbling across the main character and talking one by one, or it being too easy to tell the important characters from the irrelevant ones.
2)- The world-building that is so intriguing and interesting may come off as boring and irritating in anime form, because since you're watching people infodump information rather than reading it at your own pace, it comes off as slow and dragging the show down.
3)- The show may end up butchering all sorts of extra content, like side quests which may have added layers to certain characters, added to the feeling of adventure, fleshing out the setting or even simply being a fun scene where we see the characters messing around.
With all this in mind, this adaptation of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky manages to walk out not only as one of the very worst adaptations I've ever seen, but also as among the worst anime I've ever seen.
The story is atrociously handled, with absolutely no set up towards any of the events in the story or any context as to why things are happening. You see, this technically isn't an adaptation of the first Legend of Heroes game, but rather its direct sequel which continues off the first game. Because of this, nothing makes sense if you haven't played the first game, and as such, it completely fails as a stand alone before it even starts.
Secondly, the games' world is among the most well-written and complicated worlds I've ever seen in a fantasy work period. This adaptation fails miserably at providing us with a feeling for how the setting works, no reason about the majority of the conflicts happening and doesn't bother doing much of anything to make viewers acquainted.
Last but not least, the games at their core are incredibly character-driven, with character motivations clearly built up and foreshadowed with a great deal of care and subtlety. None of that exists here, everything is in your face and over the top, and above all, the audience is disconnected from everything that is happening since there's no real reason to care.
The animation is generally extremely fluid and nice to look at, with backgrounds looking pleasant and interesting. What isn't pleasant to look at, however, is the artwork. The games generally have an incredibly old-school feeling to them, and one major influence for the game's setting is the Miyazaki movie Castle in the Sky, which the character designs and backgrounds for both the original release as well as the Evolution remakes clearly reflect. This is thrown out the window, as none of the characters are clearly identifiable for most of the show, and especially the long distance shots look atrocious. The close-ups look pleasant, but the OVAs have a habit of rarely ever focusing on facial features, which ruins the almost non-existent immersion the viewer may have even further.
The soundtrack is a treat for the ears, and I can confidently say that it is easily the best thing out of this entire mess. Many tracks which are already great in the games are remixed, and a special mention needs to go to the absolutely phenomenal remix of Silver Will. Seriously, here you go. You're welcome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxTM6NaqWMM
What you will regret, however? The voice acting. It's atrociously handled, the characters voice actors are constantly yelling for no real reason, everything is over the top and lacks any degree of passion or care and honestly feels incredibly ill-fitting (which is strange, considering that the same voice actors voice the characters in the Evolution version and they sound perfectly fine there). I blame whoever directed this travesty, it's clear they just wanted to cash in on some cheap money and didn't care about anything else.
The worst thing about everything here are the characters, however. They feel like running cliches saying cliche things, and not a single piece of dialogue sounds like something humans would actually say. Why is this a problem? Because the game has among the most human characters I've ever seen in a work of fiction, almost every line they said to each other sounds natural and consistent, their traits came off as the results of their experiences and upbringing rather than being there simply because they have to be, and you know what? They grow up over the course of the games, practically each and every single one of them.
You know, I can rant on about other things. I can rant on about how it doesn't follow the game properly, how it ruins the power levels (which are given an incredible amount of detail in the games), how literally half the story arcs within the games aren't there, how they ruined the beginning and the ending of the game, about how characters who should have died didn't, how they cut out entire characters out of the OVAs and so on.
But you know what? Don't watch this. Play the games; they're immersive, rewarding, fun, interesting and above all, don't insult your intelligence the way this sack of crap does.
I can confidently say that this is easily the very worst adaptation I've ever seen, and I recommend you avoid it. There are almost no redeeming qualities within this abomination, and as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't exist.
Still, maybe one day we'll get a proper adaptation of these games. I cling to that hope and certainly believe that with the right presentation and effort, they can be amazing.
