lucas87 - 2013-08-25 03:12:52

This is a fun little OVA, adapting the first Wizardry game, "The Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord". As the game's plot is very, very basic, the OVA is changes it's focus from the plot of the game more on the relationships between the members of the adventuring party. Indeed, the plot of the show focus on a girl who is looking for her brother, who was part of a different adventuring party, which was lost in the dungeon's depths.

Unfortunately, the game misses a lot of potential with this premise, as the characters are very two-dimensional. With Record of Lodoss War, an anime based on a tabletop RPG campaign, there was a sense of character depth that could have been lost, due to the fact that the show's creators were role-players beyond just being gamers, and so there was a sense of the personalities between the various characters.

However, here, the characters have very little motivation beyond the basic plot. There's no explanation for why they became adventurers, and what they're getting out of this, or for that matter why they're still delving into the dungeon, instead of taking the treasures they'd captured and retiring somewhere.

Still, it's a fun dumb anime. I wouldn't call it memorable enough for it to really merit being licensed, but it is fun enough to be worth watching if you're a fan of fantasy anime, and are looking for a quick evenings entertainment.