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So, watched Guin Saga...
13 years ago
General
NaNo Novel: Here Falls The Thunder
And while I won't even dream of denying the attractiveness of it's main star (Even if he wasn't in a good chunk of the episodes!), I found the story to be a bit...bizarrely paced.
For starters, it's very high-fantasy. Although there's not a lot of magic thrown about, what little is used is very...well it's definitely not subtle to be sure. However, the show seemed to flip-flop between high action and adventure, and this bizarrely convoluted political intrigue on a level to rival the ridiculous webs cast in Final Fantasy Tactic's plot (Which is notorious for being complicated as fuck). Also, any time Guin gets into a fight, he either outright ends it anti-climatically, or a random Deus Ex Machina saves him. Of course, given the show's emphasis on people's destines and fate, it might be a literal Deus Ex Machina, which would definitely be interesting.
Characterization was also a rather bizarrely-paced point. Sometimes characters would have lots of interesting development and then suddenly DIE, or characters with a few quirks would suddenly have these quirks blown up into full-on neurotic disorders or issues, ranging from obsessions over their superiors turning into psycho-stalkers, or a guy who sees so much of himself in his assassination target he almost goes mad with grief. I mean really, there's -very- few folks who are actually balanced or sound-minded, everyone either has a complex or some serious skeletons in the closet. (And that's not even getting into the girl-twin acting like she's hot for Guin all the goddamn time, I mean WOW).
Perhaps I need to have read the novels to really understand why the story seems to zig-zag all over the place, but just feels like it could use some organizational consistency. Also, a lot of plot threads are brought up and never properly resolved or worked out (like the lich-like sorceror who melted into misama in the desert who starts appearing in the boy-twin's dreams, and then is NEVER BROUGHT UP AGAIN, or Shidoh's entire scheme!).
Also, the dubbing is a -bit- off at times. Sometimes they act appropriate to the setting...and then someone randomly goes "Dumbass" or goes and acts all 20th century when it's totally out of setting.
Still, otherwise an enjoyable anime. Music is simply -amazing- too, and apparently written by the Final Fantasy composer as well!
Overall, I give Guin Saga an 8/10. Definitely worth a looksie for someone wanting something different out of your normal anime. You almost have to wonder, with all the tropes and archetypes in this work that you'd see in JRPGs, why hasn't someone made a game from Guin Saga yet.
For starters, it's very high-fantasy. Although there's not a lot of magic thrown about, what little is used is very...well it's definitely not subtle to be sure. However, the show seemed to flip-flop between high action and adventure, and this bizarrely convoluted political intrigue on a level to rival the ridiculous webs cast in Final Fantasy Tactic's plot (Which is notorious for being complicated as fuck). Also, any time Guin gets into a fight, he either outright ends it anti-climatically, or a random Deus Ex Machina saves him. Of course, given the show's emphasis on people's destines and fate, it might be a literal Deus Ex Machina, which would definitely be interesting.
Characterization was also a rather bizarrely-paced point. Sometimes characters would have lots of interesting development and then suddenly DIE, or characters with a few quirks would suddenly have these quirks blown up into full-on neurotic disorders or issues, ranging from obsessions over their superiors turning into psycho-stalkers, or a guy who sees so much of himself in his assassination target he almost goes mad with grief. I mean really, there's -very- few folks who are actually balanced or sound-minded, everyone either has a complex or some serious skeletons in the closet. (And that's not even getting into the girl-twin acting like she's hot for Guin all the goddamn time, I mean WOW).
Perhaps I need to have read the novels to really understand why the story seems to zig-zag all over the place, but just feels like it could use some organizational consistency. Also, a lot of plot threads are brought up and never properly resolved or worked out (like the lich-like sorceror who melted into misama in the desert who starts appearing in the boy-twin's dreams, and then is NEVER BROUGHT UP AGAIN, or Shidoh's entire scheme!).
Also, the dubbing is a -bit- off at times. Sometimes they act appropriate to the setting...and then someone randomly goes "Dumbass" or goes and acts all 20th century when it's totally out of setting.
Still, otherwise an enjoyable anime. Music is simply -amazing- too, and apparently written by the Final Fantasy composer as well!
Overall, I give Guin Saga an 8/10. Definitely worth a looksie for someone wanting something different out of your normal anime. You almost have to wonder, with all the tropes and archetypes in this work that you'd see in JRPGs, why hasn't someone made a game from Guin Saga yet.
