Record of Lodoss War Part I

Record of Lodoss War:

That's what we're talking about tonight ladies and gents(like anyone's reading this). This is the first unheard of/unwatched anime that I ever saw.

The intro to this story tells us about the gods fighting over control of all the land and in the end they kill eachother and split the land. The new land created as a result of this is known as Lodoss (the acursed island). You will hear this again, and again, and again. Sometimes you'll even hear about it in the episodes. It's pretty redundant for something that really is just detailing the setting of the story.

The story is REALLY about Parn, a farm boy and son of a knight with little to know idea of how to fight. However he's got lots of spunk for a farm boy. I don't know what's to like about his character except that he's the first male Bisexual(allegedly) hero in Anime. He has a distain for the dark night Ashram is what drives him, however the company of his fellow travelers is what keeps him going. He starts his adventure being banished from his town(cliche?) and forced out on his own since he lured goblins into the town. During this struggle in town he meets the other principle good guys in the story. Etoh, the whitemage... er... priest. Slayn the blackmage... sorry... Sorcerer. Ghim(ly) the dwarf(that's a clever name!). After Parn's banishment is sentenced the others mentioned join him and Ghim showcases his skills and Parns lack-there-of. Parn, though naive, is determined to overcome this by, hacking a tree? This upsets Deedlit the H
igh Elf Sorceress. However, she thinks Parn is cute so she forgives him after some hippy talk. This leaves just one more member of the party.

After running into more creatures in the woods they are arrested by Myce soldiers. In their cell they meet the rouge... er... theif "Woodchuck". This guy's probably the most interesting character of the group. So there you have it, the party is now complete. Sadly all the characters fall into their archetypes too well. However, it doesn't change the fact that each character has at least 1 scene that really sheds light on them and their purpose. Well, we'll touch on that later. For now lets get back to the story.

Etoh puts the fear of God into the Capt. of the knights(unintentionally). This sets them free from their capture and Parn has his first man-crush with him. Once again, Parns lack of skill is displayed this time in a spar with the Captain. After this, Fortress Myce is attacked by Ashram and his gang of monsters. They slay everyone but the heroes of our tale(convienent) and this is the first sign of the rivalry between Parn and Ashram.

On the way to see King Fahn They run into an evil forest that exposes all the important characters motivations. Ghim is out to find Laylia a woman he loves and he is tormented that she's dissapeared so suddenly. Also they run into the Princesses Fianna of Falis(wait... the kingdom of DICK? oh wait it's pronounced FALLis). She's underattack by the witch Karla that seems to be the lost Laylia with an evil tiara(could it be controlling her?). She displays her badass powers and proves, once again, that Parn has no skill. If you haven't caught on to this Parn's strategy is to swing wildly with all the force he can muster until whatever it is has been annihilated.

After Karla lets the Princess go(that was pointless) they gang are commended by King Fahn. The gang attend a party where they first see King Cashew... ahem... Kashue. Parn has another man-crush instantly. This time Parn falls hard for his new crush(speculation) to the point he ignores Deedlit, who clearly has a crush on him, while she shows of her new dress. This pisses her off. During the following dance Karla lets loose a giant psycho killer to kill King Kashue. Sigh, once again Parn patheticly attempts to subdue the giant, miserably. However, this time he provides a good service... Distraction. Kashue defeats the giant with ninja style, instantly making him the best character. What's not to like about a Ninja King with a kickass Goatee?

King Kashue takes Parn under his wing as an apprentice. Karla shows up and reveals that she's a chaotic neutral. She will do anything for the sake of Lodoss. King Jester shows up and reveals that Emperor Beld of Marmo has set his evil gaze on Valis and all of lodoss as well. We then see that Beld has an evil black sword that has magic purple stuff comming off of it, likewise King Fahn has a Holy sword that also has cool magic stuff comming off of it. Both Swords glow(like sting from LotR) when near each other.

At this point they jump story back to after the Prologue ended in the beginning. In that scene the gang seeks out Wart, a wizard that should know more about Karla and how to defeat her. A brief scene at a base camp with Ashram and Beld discussing their next move also is seen here. At this time we are introduced to the Dark Elves and more specifically Pirotess the female dark elf that has Tig ol Bitties and shows lots of side-cleavage. She is extremely loyal and devoted to Ashram and theres a hint of a relationship between them. After returning to Valis, Pahn is commended by being offered a role as a Holy knight of Valis.

Ghim decides he's going to find Karla/Laylia and save her. However Slayn puts him to sleep with some magic so that they can fight the giant battle first and join Ghim on his quest later. Alot of story delay happens here with discussions of what parn will do. Finally Kashue and his men confront the beasts on the front line and thus the battle begins. The battle consists of alot of sword slashes/spear stabbings/arrow piercings taking place on a black screen followed by reused footage of ppl being killed again and again. Parn meets up with Ashram and they face off, sort of. Ashram exposes the Parn as a weak swordsman but Parn lands an lucky/opportunistic shot on Ashram thanks to the distraction by Deedlit and Pirotess's fight. This makes Ashram pull out his pimp hand as he puts Pirotess in her place. The Two Rival Kings now fight with their magic swords. When Belg gets in a good blow Parn tries to get involved but he's interupted by Wort. He informs Parn that this battle is meaningless cause of Karla and that she's the real enemy and he must defeat her. Beld Lands a killing blow on Fahn, but before he can claim victory Karla spears him and thus restoring Chaos to the land. Ashram claims the Evil magic sword and is now the new ruler of Marmo. Parn is disturbed by the massacre of the battle and FINALLY decides that Karla is the real enemy.

Intermission...