AKA: 覇王大系リューナイト (Haou Taikei Ryu Knight)

Genre: Action adventure with mecha

Length: OAV series, 13 episodes, 25 minutes each

Distributor: Currently unlicensed in North America

Content Rating: PG-13 (violence, blood)

Related Series: Lord of Lords Ryu Knight TV

Also Recommended:

Notes: The editor-in-chief watched the first episode of this back in 1998 and was so unimpressed that he ultimately failed to write a review. So it is that this finally drops off the backlog in 2006, eight years later.

Rating:

Lord of Lords Ryu Knight: Adeu's Legend

Synopsis

In an old world clash between light and darkness (as always), the evil Lord Uongadis is sealed away under a gigantic monument called the Earth Blade. 20 years have passed since the wars, and now the threat of evil being brought back is greater than ever as demons try to revive their lord.

Enter Adeu, the apprentice of a mysterious knight know as Giltz. After witnessing a battle between Giltz and the King, he comes into possession of a Ryu Knight, one of the machine from the old wars. Can he save the world like the heroes?

Review

Probably the biggest problem with Lord of Lords Ryu Knight is that its best episodes are cast into the very end of the series whereas the first episodes only introduce characters (one of which only appears in one episode) and just ends up bucking off the impatient watchers. The last five episodes are the best in the series, but the eight episodes before them are all rather mixed up in quality, with the first episode vaguely resembling MD Geist in artwork.

The plot of the series is a simple one, but not as simple as the whole show, since it follows cliche to a tee. Another bad part of the plot is the massive amount of times you see a deus ex machina. Every one of the beginning episodes contains at least one deus ex machina (for example, the machine is flying away with a sage and the sorceror says she can cast a flying spell ... which was never brought up before). Also, the plot really isn't filled in for a while as it, like the best episodes, is banished to the far side of the series. At the beginning, it's just fight the same two demons and the main character looks for Giltz. The "save the world" plot only comes in play in episode 9 if I recall.

Now onward to the characters. The main character (Adeu) has got to be the dumbest person I have ever had to watch. During one episode, he forces his "Knight's Code" onto a man named Sarutobi ... who happens to be a ninja. Yes, he enforces knighthood on a ninja (and even a demon) while he makes fun of others. This idiocy stops at episode 9. Sarutobi (the aforementioned ninja) is a rather reckless character who wants to take revenge on a demon for destroying his village and also happens to pick apart Adeu a lot. Princess Paffy (a rather weird name for someone, though not as weird as the prince in this anime) is a full frontal Mary Sue who uses magic and also is overapologetic. Izuki is the priest of the group and also supplies some deus ex machina of his own (healing spells, the all powerful machine that flies, and the like). Giltz happens to be a demon according to someone in the first episode (Adeu disagrees with this person, even when proof is shown), but turns out to be a power-hungry knight.

The machines I was talking about are almost like the SD Gundam Force (though MUCH less colorful). There is a Ryu Knight, a Ryu Ninja,a Ryu Priest, and a Ryu Mage (also a deus ex machina), among many others that are found. The opposite of the Ryu machine are the demon piloted Dooms (usually using black swords or scythes. Cliche, Ryu Knight, cliche) and are not as interesting since, with the exception of a female one, are a bit too terribly detailed (they lack color and are usually covered with eyes (?)). When one is injured, the pilot inside is injured in the exact same place (nope, never heard this before, not even in Neon Genesis Evangelion *cough*).

In the case of the music, it alone has more potential than all eight of the bad episodes. The opening and ending are two of the best songs I've heard (too bad the ending doesn't really fit in with the show) and what is inside the episode is also catchy. The music is probably the best part of the first episodes and, when coupled with the pacing of the last episodes, makes them truly rule over the series.

Is the artwork good? Yes, but only a few episodes, with the others, like the first episode, biting the big one. The lighting of each scene is a hard thing to anticipate since it is good, then bad, then worse, then perfect. If there is one thing I can say about the artwork, it is that it seems half of it was stolen since half of the episodes have rather atrocious artwork. The animation is no different at all.

Voicewise, this is an okay anime, but nothing really out of this world. They voices match up with the characters well, but sometimes (like with Lord Uongadis), they recycled the seiyuu but gave him or her a tone change. Not really making this a complex and tightly woven product here.

For my summary, this series would have been a two-star series had it not included the episodes after 9, but since it did, it receives a three star rating for good music, decent voices, and a rather decent last few episodes.

Had it brought out the better episodes earlier, it would get a four, but since they were kept back for a long time, I give it a three. Take one star away if you do not like mecha anime or do not like an adventure title. — Jake L Godek

Recommended Audience: The only thing major about this anime is the occasional violence and bloodspray. Other than that, it's watchable for people over the age of 6.