Rating: 
Summary: One of the best anime you've never heard about
Review: Rune Soldier (originally titled: Louie the Rune Soldier) never seemed to get much attention--it certainly flew by under my radar, because volume 4 was out before I heard about it. This is a shame, because it is by far the best fantasy comedy released in the US. On the technical side, Rune Soldier features generally attractive character designs, fairly strong animation for a TV show, and a nice soundtrack. This disc, which is the first of six, contains 4 episodes.For its story, Rune Soldier is not an epic of originality. A creation of the same author who created Lodoss War (but I'm not sure if it's meant to be the same world), Rune Soldier focuses on a team of three female adventurers: a cleric named Melissa, a fighter named Genie and a thief named Merrill. What they need is a magician. What they don't want is Louie, a brash, undisciplined man, who prefers to fight with his fists than use his magic. Although you see the initial setup coming a mile away, it works: the god of battle Melissa worships decrees that Louie is the valiant champion she must serve. This is, of course, entirely against her wishes. Rune Soldier succeeds because of the intelligent writing. Although Louie may often act like an idiot, none of the characters are stupid--they all act reasonably given the circumstances. The show follows its own rules about how and why magic work. The characters play well off one another, with each of the girls fighting a grudging admiration about what Louie can do well and unleashing their frustration over the things at which he fails miserably. Because the creators clearly like their own characters, the humor flows naturally, instead of the forced dumb humor that plagues many shows. As far as any potentially objectionable content, there isn't much. It's rated as 15+, but that seems largely on two points: first, Genie dresses as if a chainmail bikini would be too constricting (she is, however, usually wearing a cloak); second, Louie has a bit of an imagination. The most that shows up is a rear end, and it's for a few seconds across the entire four episodes on this disc.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best anime you've never heard about
Review: Rune Soldier (originally titled: Louie the Rune Soldier) never seemed to get much attention--it certainly flew by under my radar, because volume 4 was out before I heard about it. This is a shame, because it is by far the best fantasy comedy released in the US. On the technical side, Rune Soldier features generally attractive character designs, fairly strong animation for a TV show, and a nice soundtrack. This disc, which is the first of six, contains 4 episodes. For its story, Rune Soldier is not an epic of originality. A creation of the same author who created Lodoss War (but I'm not sure if it's meant to be the same world), Rune Soldier focuses on a team of three female adventurers: a cleric named Melissa, a fighter named Genie and a thief named Merrill. What they need is a magician. What they don't want is Louie, a brash, undisciplined man, who prefers to fight with his fists than use his magic. Although you see the initial setup coming a mile away, it works: the god of battle Melissa worships decrees that Louie is the valiant champion she must serve. This is, of course, entirely against her wishes. Rune Soldier succeeds because of the intelligent writing. Although Louie may often act like an idiot, none of the characters are stupid--they all act reasonably given the circumstances. The show follows its own rules about how and why magic work. The characters play well off one another, with each of the girls fighting a grudging admiration about what Louie can do well and unleashing their frustration over the things at which he fails miserably. Because the creators clearly like their own characters, the humor flows naturally, instead of the forced dumb humor that plagues many shows. As far as any potentially objectionable content, there isn't much. It's rated as 15+, but that seems largely on two points: first, Genie dresses as if a chainmail bikini would be too constricting (she is, however, usually wearing a cloak); second, Louie has a bit of an imagination. The most that shows up is a rear end, and it's for a few seconds across the entire four episodes on this disc.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny but lacking something...
Review: Rune Soldier is a nice little comedic romp through a fantasy world. It is indeed very funny, but I can't help but hope that there will be more to it than that in future releases. Don't get me wrong, I like funny, but this has so much potential! It could pull off the same amount of funny and little bit of plot too! And if it did it'd be so much better! The animation is very nice, the character designs are also, the colors are bright, the list goes on. I was especially surprised at the depth of this fantasy world that had been created. I'd hate to see it follow the same formula for all of its episodes. The story follows three female adventures who are in need of a magician, instead they get Louie, a dumb-witted brash magician in training. The story thus far follows the same pattern. Problem-usually created by Louie- characters set off to solve adventure- problem somewhat solved, with comedy thrown throughout. I'd like to see a bit more depth and story, while still keeping up with the comedy. It reminds me of Sailor Moon's famed "villain of the week" pattern, but this anime creates a "mishap of the week" pattern for its self. Of course this is just the first disk and things could pick up! ADV also did a nice packaging job here, a clear DVD case with a reversible cover, what looks like temporary tattoos and my personal favorite, a booklet with episode summaries and a few character designs. So far it's a nice show, but nothing I'd write home about. I'm not sure if I'd add it to my anime collection either, but it's definitely worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Funny but lacking something...
Review: Rune Soldier is a nice little comedic romp through a fantasy world. It is indeed very funny, but I can't help but hope that there will be more to it than that in future releases. Don't get me wrong, I like funny, but this has so much potential! It could pull off the same amount of funny and little bit of plot too! And if it did it'd be so much better! The animation is very nice, the character designs are also, the colors are bright, the list goes on. I was especially surprised at the depth of this fantasy world that had been created. I'd hate to see it follow the same formula for all of its episodes. The story follows three female adventures who are in need of a magician, instead they get Louie, a dumb-witted brash magician in training. The story thus far follows the same pattern. Problem-usually created by Louie- characters set off to solve adventure- problem somewhat solved, with comedy thrown throughout. I'd like to see a bit more depth and story, while still keeping up with the comedy. It reminds me of Sailor Moon's famed "villain of the week" pattern, but this anime creates a "mishap of the week" pattern for its self. Of course this is just the first disk and things could pick up! ADV also did a nice packaging job here, a clear DVD case with a reversible cover, what looks like temporary tattoos and my personal favorite, a booklet with episode summaries and a few character designs. So far it's a nice show, but nothing I'd write home about. I'm not sure if I'd add it to my anime collection either, but it's definitely worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Rune soldier is really awesome
Review: Swords and sorcerers, three hotties. Weak story. Protagonist is thin. Not worth driving out of your way.
Rating:
Summary: Just OK
Review: Swords and sorcerers, three hotties. Weak story. Protagonist is thin. Not worth driving out of your way.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Great Fantasy Romp
Review: Yey finally another crazy, insane, elf-including fantasy anime! This series caught my eye the other day in the store, basically I couldn't see what the hell the title of it was from afar...Anyway on to the review! The first thing you hear when watching an anime is the opening theme song and I can definetly say it's very high up there in my favorite opening list. On to the actual series, I thought the first episode was only so/so...however, after the weak first episodes I think it really finds its niche quite nicely and delivers on yet another comedic fantasy. The characters are in my opinion quite good, although yes there are some typical anime-sterotypes it manages to both spoof and change the characters just enough to be orignal. Moving on to the art style I found it to be quite detailed and clean. Except for some of the female characters design I thought the style was quite good. Lastly, the next episode previews weren't that orignal, but still managed to entertain. The end theme was pretty bad the first time you hear it but it does gradually grow on you.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Fantasy Romp
Review: Yey finally another crazy, insane, elf-including fantasy anime! This series caught my eye the other day in the store, basically I couldn't see what the hell the title of it was from afar...Anyway on to the review! The first thing you hear when watching an anime is the opening theme song and I can definetly say it's very high up there in my favorite opening list. On to the actual series, I thought the first episode was only so/so...however, after the weak first episodes I think it really finds its niche quite nicely and delivers on yet another comedic fantasy. The characters are in my opinion quite good, although yes there are some typical anime-sterotypes it manages to both spoof and change the characters just enough to be orignal. Moving on to the art style I found it to be quite detailed and clean. Except for some of the female characters design I thought the style was quite good. Lastly, the next episode previews weren't that orignal, but still managed to entertain. The end theme was pretty bad the first time you hear it but it does gradually grow on you.
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