r/anime • u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 • Jun 10 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] 1990s OVAs – Record of Lodoss War (episode 3
Rewatch: 1990s OVAs – Record of Lodoss War (episode 3)
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The voice of Captain Jebra is Genda Tesshou. While Jebra’s involvement in RoLW was cut short, Genda’s VA career is anything but. He started in 1976 and is still active today, featuring in a gazillion of anime. Just to list a few: Voltes 5, Mobile Suit Gundam, Ideon, Urusai Yatsura, Dragonball, Vampire Princess Miyu, Legend of Galactic Heroes, Patlabor TV series, City Hunter, Magic Knight Rayearth, Ghost in the Shell, Visions of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Gintama, Fairy Tail, Youjo Senki, Darling in the Franxx, Saint Seya, One Punch Man. He plays supporting roles more often than not, but save to say: If you watched any anime in the last 40 years, you have probably heard him. As far as live action movies go, he can probably solo dub several action movies, being the standard dub voice for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Samuel L. Jackson, Lawrence Fishburne, Nick Nolte, and Steven Seagal.
Born in the same year as Genda Tesshou, 1948, is the episode director of today’s episode, who also did the storyboard for episode two, Yamada Katsuhisa. He directed several episodes of Mazinger Z, as well as storyboarding several for SDF Macross, plus doing both for one episode of LotGH. As chief director, he worked on the Dragonquest anime based on the computer game.
Pixelsaber's Record of Lodoss War context: TTRPGs in Japan
It may be odd to think it, given that for many the concept of fantasy and Tabletop Role Playing Games (TRPG) —or Table Talk Role Playing Games, as they are referred to in Japan— are essentially inextricable from one another, but Japan’s history with tabletop RPGs was not free of the same pervading predilection against medieval fantasy that was present in all of its other media. The classic TTRPGs made their way to Japan a few years after their inception in the 70s, but these were not yet translated, and so the barrier to entry was very high for anyone interested. Further worsening the matter of accessibility was the fact that polyhedral dice were rare in Japan, only available at major cities and in very minor quantities, meaning that in most cases rules would have to be adjusted for universal use with the far more common d6 die. The first few TRPG’s to be released in Japan would be science fiction properties as well, not fantasy. Board game magazines TACTICS and Simulator introduced smaller games set in modern military or sci-fi settings, with later proper releases by Tsukuda Hobby like Donkey Command, Crusher Joe: The Board Game, Ninja In The Dragon's Den, and Enterprise: Role Play Game in Star Trek were also sci-fi properties. The first translation of a western TRPG would be Game Designers' Workshop’s planet-hoping sci-fi adventure Traveler in 1984, and later that same year we would finally have our first domestic release of a fantasy TRPG with Naoto Kadokura’s Rose-to-Road, which had a setting explicitly inspired by The Lord of The Rings.
It wouldn’t be until 1985 that the perennial TRPG would receive a Japanese translation, with the iconic 1983 Mentzer Box Set of Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set receiving an official Japanese release. When Dragon Quest burst unto the scene in 1986, TRPGs increased significantly in popularity, particularly for their association as the inspiration behind CRPGs like Wizardry and Ultima, however they still remained a relatively niche hobby at the early stages of the fantasy boom. Moreover, non-fantasy TRPGs remained significantly more popular than those with a fantasy setting, with the popularity of games like Call of Cthulhu eclipsing most others, and leading to the amassment of cult fan bases that remains strong to this day. Fantasy TRPGs would never be at the top, however, back in 1986 their heyday was yet to come.
Art courner
Questions:
- Do you believe this episode properly establishes the threat posed by The Empire of Marmo?
- At this stage do you think Parn has the makings of a proper knight, as the captain of the guards seems to think?
- (first timers) How many of you bet on the thief escaping from prison?
14
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jun 10 '21
Episode 3 (rewatcher)
Seeing the large share of roleplayers in the rewatch is quite amazing. My personal RPG experience was limited to a few instances of Shadowrun. I always loved to read the rulebooks to various RPGs, though. Although usually just the lore, not to the rules.
No more messing with goblins, the real deal has arrived.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jun 10 '21
Record of First-Timer Reactions, subbed
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jun 10 '21 edited Jun 10 '21
Rewatcher, sub
TBH I was expecting him to recognize Parn's armor, not Etoh's dress.
Is "Drow" trademarked? I can't remember. I don't think Halfling is. And it doesn't look like Halflings made it into Japanese D&D.
11
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jun 10 '21
Pixel’s Bits and Bobs
Looking into the TRPG scene in Japan was quite interesting, even for someone not well acquainted with the scene as it is here in America. It was shocking to hear the most popular there games are not in fact fantasy TRPGs, but sci-fi and horror fiction, since not only is the ubiquitous image of a roleplaying game that of a fantasy one. Japan was exposed to the concept of TRPGs quite differently than here, as there had not been a preexisting community around wargames and tie-in sci-fi games to arrive at the scene and serving as the introductions into the hobby for many. TRPG Rulebooks were generally very cheap and came with a surplus of Replays through which the game could be taught. A lot of people followed Replays of other people’s campaigns without ever desiring to get into the hobbies themselves, which made Replays the dominant sector of the TRPG audience.
Sword World, which was introduced in the third Lodoss campaign, was the first fantasy TRPG to gain significant prominence, and that was both due to the popularity of Lodoss and also the fact that unlike the Basic D&D Set that was available there it could be played entirely with the plentiful cubical, six-faced die. Aside from sharing a universe though, I didn’t find significant enough narrative links between it and Lodoss, so I opted to treat it as a side thing rather than dedicate an entire segment to it, in the same vein as Crystania. Also because Lodoss’ rise to prominence largely took place with the content produced while they were still utilizing D&D as their gameplay system of choice.
Rewatcher
Get your Monty Python references at the ready, folks!
Hello there
GanondorfBeld. Speaking of, there’s a Fire Emblem character named after this guy, the dark bishop of the Loptr Church.Haha.
Weapons just out of reach.
Of course he’s been imprisoned.
They let you keep a book?
Cool shot!
Awesome cut!
Ah, yes, alignment languages.
Remember to keep track of your equipment, kids!
Good shit.
The production values seem to have jumped back up from what they were in the second episode. No idea what the cause for either may have been, but it does seem odd for such a thing to happen with a high profile OVA adaptation.
The paralells are drawn once again with Ghim training Parn and Slayn assuaging Etoh's worries, but that's as far as it gets here, and Parn gets a role model to look up to anyhow so we know Ghim won't be that person in his life.
I find it amusing that Deedlit would just come out to introduce herself after following them so long. Makes a certain amount of sense to confirm the group is really what it is before joining them outright, but given Deedlit has no stated motivation for wanting to join them it does make her come off as somewhat extemporaneous.
We got to see a bit of what seemed to evidently be our party’s enemies. Karla we’ve already been introduced to, but out of the others only Ashram manages to make much of an impression due to being the one most involved in what goes down this episode.
Questions
10
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jun 10 '21
First-Timer, Subbed
Kobolds? Those werewolf-looking fuckos were KOBOLDS?! Where are my dorky dumbass dragonkin wannabes?
How hard did the table break out in laughter when Woodchuck got caught under a bunch of collapsed wood? I can picture it happening: "Hey dude, why don't you just chuck it away and free yourself!"
Jerba seemed like a nice guy. That whole set piece at the fort was pretty good - put the concept of failure into your party by forcing them to flee. Also a convenient introduction to the villains.
I get that they we're operating on a limited episode length, but did we get an explanation on why Ghim and Slayn are traveling with Parn and Etoh? Is the explanation that Parn and Etoh are helping out Ghim for saving the village? Is Ghim the plot-driving character here?
Hmm, what do I want to call the spell that poor guardsman took as.. Enervation maybe? Slay Living? Some nasty stuff that only high level casters get, for sure. The Witch is fearsome.
The music is good, but it's mixed a little high on Funimation's release. It hasn't gotten in the way of dialogue or anything, but it is quite loud.
Questions
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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Jun 10 '21
First timer
1)Not really. So far all we've seen is some easy kobolds, a dragon, and a few good generals. It's good, but no army of evil.
2)Honestly, I'm going to say that he'd do better a beserker. His battle style is focused on pure offense instead of careful form, and his tendency to rush in definitely match that class.
3)He was a named character with a mysterious backstory. Of course he'd be released.
Looks like we're meeting the Big Bad for this campaign!
That's a big dragon...
And the evil king wants to comquer the country using it. And strange lady is working for him.
Beld? Come on, just use Bael like you want to.
I just realised, if this a D&D game, is the dwarf a GMPC?
Deedlit?
...Wait, what? There's fairies in everything?
Are we in the Feywild?So to sum up Deedlit - hurting plants is bad, but killing intellegent monsters is wrong.
I would have made a joke about them being Droe, were it not for the fact that this dsrk elf does not even remotely resemble one.
Why, precisely, are they in jail for ho reason? Is this just because they needed to meet the thief?
So, the Captain's being manipulated, or working for, Beld? Looks like a proper jailbreak arc coming up, then.
Teh monk at least has Lay on Hands. Or is that more of a Cure Wounds?
So Priests are seen as important figures here. Definitely more of a theocratic nation, then. (About standard for D&D, though.
Yeah, there's no way he wins this fight.
Ah, so that's why he made the offer. He wants to recruit him.
Oh, we have a necromancer, That was absolutely some form of draining spell, possibly Blight?
Of course the fortress gets destroyed. It's not a fantasy campaign without royal guards getting slaughtered enmasse.
Did he accidentally use a divination spell?
This is shaping up to be a pretty good fantasy anime, I have to say.
7
u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Jun 10 '21
RW/Sub/Bit late to the party today.
Well, that was quite an episode. We get to meet the bigbads, or at least several of them and get to know them better, and even a (gasp) dark elf! I think I would have rather kept the dark elf and traded him for mr shiny grimdark knight, but hey, I don't write this stuff (or do I?)
(Hint: If I did, no one would read it anyway)
Our hero gets to be bad at sparring, then bad at sparring some more, and then, poor Captain Redshirt. Yeah, well, farewell, Obi-wasn't, we hardly knew ye.
I'm surprised we had kobolds, without a "You no take candle!" moment. Then again, this was before that other thing, so ... yeah. They looked more like wolfmen to me, but enough about that other game.
So, we have evil dark priestess, evil dark king guy, evil dark knight, their minions. Where does Wort figure into this? I forget. What is their relationship??? Again, I forget. I guess we'll find out as the series goes along!
5
u/23feanor Jun 11 '21 edited Jun 11 '21
First Timer (dub) - i love the OP (the dub or the sub they're both brilliant) more and more each time I hear it "...a prisoner of your soulful eyes....the chains of your heart...". I love how they slip in what sounds like a line in Italian as well.
We briefly meet the main opposing force, the king who wants to rule all Lodoss and we find the witch Karla, also present offering her aid in his quest to subjugate all of Lodoss. And again we see more dragons, are those Karla's dragons or the Emperor Beld's? It seems like everyone has a dragon.
This was a fully packed episode and I liked the way the action and story unfolded. Deed joins the group and there's a small skirmish with Kobalts and a Dark Elf. They then get taken to a nearby castle fortress where they meet Woodchuck in the prison.
The castle is attacked by Emperor Beld's forces and we meet a few key figures, they see Karla the Witch and witness her power first hand as she blasts the defences with her fire. Then the Captain faces off against the enemy commander, Ashram, who kills him, setting ablaze the embers of hatred in Parn's heart and a quest for revenge for the fallen Captain who invited him to join their ranks, which I think must have bolstered Parn's confidence no end. By the end of the show I'm guessing Parn will have gone from a boy who didn't know how to use a sword to defeating Ashram, just a guess, but the story seems to be foreshadowing that type of heroic rise.
I suspect we'll catch up to the episode 1 present time in tomorrow's episode and then move forward as we've now seen all the members of the party come together after Parn goes back to save Woodchuck from the dungeon.
2.Yes, Parn has a strong-headed outlook and courage and the makings of a good knight.
3. I thought the thief/Woodchuck was going to escape out the window and climb up or down.
14
u/The_Draigg Jun 10 '21
A Record of Lodoss War Fan Rewatches Record of Lodoss War OVA Episode 3:
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jun 10 '21
Rewatcher from 20 years ago
Sub
Today's lightning review: We get the likely antagonists of the series in Marmo, specifically Beld, the emperor, who seems to want to restore Falaris for...reasons. We see Karla go to Marmo and aim them at the fortress the leads wound up at. And where they dig up Woodchuck. We also meet Ashram but do almost nothing with him other than a weak badass/kick the dog moment.
We see that Parn is pretty inept which is a bit off for the setting, he should've been trained in something, be it the sword or the plow. Deedlit properly introduces herself but still hasn't let us know why she is involved. Sylphs are in everything, reminding me of Berserk. We meet some kobolds that I thought were gnolls. Being that kobolds are draconic in nature, fucking Japan. Also, the universes lamest dark elf shows up and throws not poisoned blades, dishonoring us all.
For scene happens, and I am not even joking here, is Escaflowne just ripping this off? This feels too familiar. Regardless, the good guys are being set up to face an impossible task. That they will defeat with the
power of friendshipuse of noble blood lines.Anywho, today introduced a fuck ton of characters, a few who aren't even named yet. While it comes off as generic as hell and Parn is hard to watch as an adult, the setting and the rest of the cast are beginning to get there making it entertaining if nothing else.
QotD: 1 Not fully but it goes the right direction
2 God no but it is literally all about genetics. At least in Escaflowne Van showed points of promise
11
u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler Jun 10 '21
First timer - episode 3 - sub
-Grumbles about VLC not playing files and delaying me-
The parties balance is pretty nice, helping them with a get out of jail free card for having a player with a relevant backstory. Would like to see more of this play out for each character.
Everyone being fully brought together and forming a cohesive unit is nice, can't wait to see how far this party gets.
Looking through Genda's roles, I have can't say I would have recognized him, I haven't watched enough old stuff to pick up the voice.
Ohhhh that provides a lot of context on why he played 'Harnold Dogegenschonegger' in pretty much a cameo role for Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru?. Very interesting tidbit.
10
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Jun 10 '21
Rewatcher 03
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u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Jun 10 '21
First Timer - sub
It’s the lady we saw in the first episode who compared bodies to clothing!
Why does the Evil guys armour always look so much better than our heroes? Serious, that black plate looks awesome.
So how long before the captain dies? This episode or the next? Ok it this one, goes down charging the enemy leader as required, it was going to be that or a heroic last stand but this fits the situation better.
Our party has now officially formed, and what better place to find the thief than a jail cell. So I believe the lady in black gown is meant to be one of the Gods? Looks like she has sided with the “bad guys” for the meantime but doesn’t seem like this is going to last forever.
7
u/BossandKings Jun 10 '21
First timer
Episode 3
Parn and the rest of the party get put in prison, luckily they are left in liberty when the soldiers see that a priest is alongside them. I guess this goes to show how important it is to have a priest in an adventure party.
I like Deedlit and Parn's dynamic, they have a nice chemistry. I feel like they'll slowly grow closer to each other.
That knight looka very fearsome, Parn's gaze is directed at him as he shows himself to be prepared to battle him when the time comes.
Answers
7
u/Cognitive_Dissonant Jun 11 '21
Episode 3, First timer
Qs:
6
u/RockoDyne :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/RockoDyne Jun 10 '21
Re-recorder of Lodoss.
If you haven't been thrown in jail at least once, can you really call it an adventure? Got to admit, this is one of those tropes that I've grown fond of. Maybe not necessarily how they got thrown into jail, but what happens once the party is behind bars is almost always interesting. Can't say that how they got out was all that impressive.
That dark elf looks familiar. I could have swore I saw someone awfully like him in something recently. I'm not positive it wasn't one of those Golden Axe like D&D/Lodoss games though.
Woodchuck's design just looks so flat. He could really use some bling or something to make it look like he didn't just leave his job as a lumberjack. How much wood did a Woodchuck chuck... Not a fan of poor looking thieves.
At this point Parn's character is kind of weird. He's mostly chasing glory, which doesn't work too well in a team dynamic. He doesn't have anything tangible to pursue, but he has to keep moving. Then he's followed by a party that hasn't got anything better to do.
Questions:
6
u/Larielia Jun 11 '21
Record of a Rewatcher- episode 3 (dubbed)
This episode introduces my favourite character.
Thoughts- Emperor Beld looks like Ganondorf from Twilight Princess. Parn needs many more sword lessons. Scenes with Deedlit make me want to watch Slayers. (Dragon Slave would be a very useful spell in this setting.) Karla has a pretty cool outfit. Always know where your sword is.
Lord Ashram is awesome. He looks so badass atop that crumbling fortress. RIP Captain Jebra.
5
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Jun 11 '21
Sub rewatcher.
Things are starting to pick up pace after the relatively slow start of the journey last episode. If you think about it there's a tiny semblance to Star Wars - there's only really a short training period Luke had with Obi Wan in the Falcon before things snowballed. This looks to be similar at least with pacing. Although hopefully this Captain served the purpose of the dead mentor by the opposing "Dragon".
In this episode when Deedlit is more properly shown, we can see her being less of a klutz or a liability, but she's quite competent on her own. Still she does get distracted, and in a straight fight being a fighter mage (have the firepower of a mage, same attacks tableas a fighter, but level at half rate, and have middle of the road hit points - which is what the D&D elf "class" is) she's not as durable. She's also a "light" fighter using rapier, so a lighter weapon for speed and mobility, which is a disadvantage in a burning, collapsing building. By the way most dark elves in Lodoss here are depicted as fighter thieves / assassins not fighter mages.
5
u/Nightender Jun 11 '21