The gist of the plot is that a wizard is trying to resurrect an evil goddess to rule and/or destroy the island of Lodoss, and a traditional party led by a hero has to stop him. They are aided by a neighboring kingdom and a couple of rogue characters. On the villain’s side, there is some infighting, as a couple of characters don’t get along with the wizard. There’s also an “observer” whose alliance is left unclear, and seems to switch between the two sides. So, in essence, it’s a traditional good-versus-evil setup, which isn’t a bad thing, but the the narrative gets repetitive. It’s basically: fight the villain because they’re evil. Defeat them. Fight the next villain who is also bad just because. Rinse and repeat until you’re holding a half-naked elf woman in your arms.
The plot sounds simple, but the story jumps around a lot, particularly in the first half of the series, so it can be difficult to follow. For instance, the first episode starts in medias res style, with events that chronologically happen around the middle of the series. Then from episode 2, it jumps back to the beginning, and there are also some flashbacks here and there that aren’t transitioned into well. In addition, the series mentions various kingdoms around the island, and we see characters traveling to and from these kingdoms, but we never get a sense of where these kingdoms are in relation to each other, or the distance between them. It would have been helpful if they had shown a map once in a while.
The story does have a conclusive ending, but many key questions are left unanswered, especially regarding the fates of some of the main characters. One character, in particular, seems to have been forgotten by everyone else. A group of multicolored dragons is featured prominently in the opening sequence, and we start seeing some of them in the latter half of the series. However, one of them simply shows up and strikes a pose in the last episode, and doesn’t do anything after that. The significance of the dragons and their relation with the other inhabitants of the island are not explained well, if at all. We also never really learn much about the other races/species living on the island, or what lies outside of the island.
As “Lodoss” was based off of a series of novels that were in turn based off of “Dungeons and Dragons” roleplaying sessions, the characters are about as archetypal as you can get. They don’t have any personalities beyond stereotypes, and we don’t get too much background information on them. Character motivations, particularly for the villains, are simplistic, contradictory or simply left unclear. There is a hint of development for two of the antagonists, but it’s too little, too late. It’s suggested at the end that the main protagonist has changed somewhat (as stated by the narrator), but we don’t actually see him change.
As for technical aspects of this series, some of the artwork is good, particularly with regard to the character designs for Deedlit and the other female characters. The male characters, on the other hand, look rather plain to me. The backgrounds are also dull. The dragons have interesting designs, but due to the lack of animation, their fights are underwhelming. Regarding the animation, most of the time it’s not that fluid. Action scenes tend to rely on still shots and slideshow-type shots which use minimal animation. Occasionally, the characters appear to be off-model. About the only time the animation is actually good is during closeups of Deedlit’s face.
As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of jumping around the timeline, and the scenes aren’t transitioned into very well, so the direction is not that great. The voice acting is decent, but due to the cliched dialogue, none of the actors really have a chance to shine here.
The best thing about “Lodoss” is the music. I love the airy, ethereal feeling of the opening and ending themes; they really add to the atmosphere of the series. The insert song in the last episode, and all of the instrumental background music, are good as well.
Regarding potentially objectionable content, this series is full of fighting (it’s called “Record of Lodoss *War*,” after all), and a couple of the many scenes in which people get killed or seriously injured are rather grotesque. There’s a slight bit of nudity in the last episode, and some implied nudity in the ending sequence. Also, it should be noted that most episodes of this series, especially around the beginning and end, have frequent flashing light effects, so caution is necessary while viewing this if you’re photosensitive.
Overall, “Record of Lodoss War” is an important show that is watchable, but due to the confusing way the story is set up, as well as the lack of interesting characters, it’s not a particularly satisfying watch. The music and atmosphere of the series is nice, though, so if you don’t mind the lack of character development and having a bevy of key questions left unanswered at the end, you may enjoy watching this.
