Final Fantasy - Unlimited (Phase 6)

Rating:
Summary: Cheesy, Fun, And Entertaining...
Review: Final Fantasy Unlimited has great qualities one may look for in an animated series. First of all, the story is pretty decent and captivating. It starts off a little slow, but once things pick up, it really is hard to be pulled from.
The story is basically about two children looking for their parents who have mysteriously disappeared in the world of Wonderland. The two find their way into Wonderland, beginning their adventure of mystery and exotic lands.
There is a combination of animations. One animation type looks hand drawn and simplistic. The artwork is not very detailed, but still done nice. The second type of animation is 3D computer generated. It sounds like the two and two wouldn't work together, but they blend well nicely.
It's a great series to watch for a Final Fantasy fan because it has qualities from the games.
1.) There are summons such as Phoenix.
2.) Fanfare Victory music is played: just like the games. (maybe cheesy, but it's there)
3.) There are chocobos. (chocobo music is even played)
4.) In all Final Fantasy games, there's a man named Cid. In FF: Unlimited, there is also a man named Cid.

For a start, FF: Unlimited (Phase 1) is well done. The first episode may be a little slow, but it's great when it picks up. The lead characters have great personalities. However, I find the little girl a little obnoxious at times. The chocobo is cute, as it likes to yank on the little girl's hair and yell out, "KWEH!" from time to time. The enemies in this series are a little corny, but all in all not bad.

I give Phase 1 a 4 stars because of the slow start. I also didn't like feeling like FF: Unlimited was a rip from Alice in Wonderland. I wish they would've named the world something a little more creative, but that's just me being picky.

Rating:
Summary: A Highly Under Rated Anime
Review: I've seen this series already and what I must say about it is although Final Fantasy: Unlimited has some flaws, the strong points by far make up for them. The soundtrack to this series is masterfully done, the character designs range from Simple to bizarre but always have character, and the plot is full of mysteries that really keep you pretty well engrossed.

I don't know why a previous reviewer said the focus was on saving the world, because for the most part the focus is on finding the Twins Parents and uncovering the little mysteries about the world in which this anime takes place. The only glaring flaw is that the battle scenes could be better, they tend to resemble the magical girl fight scenes, many people will not mind that but I do and for that reason I cannot give it a perfect score.

Still, it's a fantastic anime that's very much worth the time and money.

Rating:
Summary: Could've done better
Review: In episode 22 they could've made a little more sense otherwise this one is excellent! This one is a must-have although there's some sad parts.

Rating:
Summary: Best Final Fantasy Animation so far
Review: Rather than review all the phases, I figure it's best to do the first since you'll be starting off with this one anyway :)

The 'Final Fantasy' direct game series (meaning 1-11) has always been the basis and the best. The spin-off games have always been recieved with mixed opinions, since they can be quite different.

However, the Final Fantasy Animation have always been recieved very poorly. The first anime called "Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals" was in 4 parts and took place after the FF5 video game...the translation of names was inconsistance w/ the later released US video game, needless to say it was pretty bad. We all remeber Sony's attempt to show off the PS2 CG movie...which was terrible.

However, FFU is actually the 3rd and best atempt for an animated FF series. As the games it is a completely new story, but with classic FF elements (Chocobos, Summon Spells, Charcters leave & join the party) so in this aspect it is pretty good.

The English dubbing is also pretty good, though Yu's voice actor always sounds like he reading his lines and they should have used someone else in my opinion (that's quite annoying!).

The story will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys the games, I would base the character types (like Fungus and other weird one) on a FF6 & 9 level = NOT for everyone as some are silly, I do not believe Amano created them, but that's the overall flavor.

This is somewhat like Xenogears animation (mix of CG & Cartoon) but overall not quite that much...but again you get the idea. 90% is animated with only a few scenes and small fractions with some CG special effects like Kaze's Demon Gun (AKA Magun in US).

Overall don't expect this to be based directly on a FF game. I reccomend it for die-hard Squaresoft/FF fans.

The Japanese version would fir nicely in the "Teen" rating, but sadly the US version is slightly toned down and thus younger children would enjoy it :(

Rating:
Summary: Different but good
Review: The animation is odd... the hand-drawn is good, the computer animation is mostly good, but together it's not so good. So be prepared.

It's also not entirely for kids... the Magun is so blatantly phallic it's funny.

But you have all the things that make Final Fantasy: chocobos, summoning, a huge plot, and Cid. The four episodes on disc 1 make you wanting more, just to learn what you don't know yet.