Rating: 
Summary: Definately not as good as the OAV
Review: I was very pumped about buying this series, I loved the first ROLW and could hardly wait as I plopped this into the DVD drive. I was dazzled and amazed by the opening theme song and the smooth, crisp animation shown at the opening credits. Then the real show started...Orson and Shiris are seen re introduced which is acceptable because the booklet that comes with explains it. The first battle scene between Parn and the Berserker was excellent, Parn actually holds his own for awhile instead of getting smoked instantly like the previous one, the fight scene ends and you can't wait for the next action sequence, but as the episodes carry on the animation gets less and less admirable. Many of the action scenes are done in a cheap, still motion way, this leaves much for the imagination but if we wanted to use our imaginations we would read a book instead. After about the fourth episode you begin to feel swindled from the cheap animation and cheesy action sequences, (Many are just still frames with sound effects.) The plotline begins to seem written for a ten year old, everything becomes stereotypical and predictable, the dialogue becomes dirt. It bases itself on an RPG to much, at one point Slayn says, "We are just magic users we can't do anything without the proper fighter support." Then in a corny entrance sequence Parn, Kashue, and Deedlit burst through the door and say, "Did someone call for fighter support?" I didn't like many of the new characters especially Spark, we've already been through the weak knight phase in the first OAV and now have to watch it again through Spark for 20 more episodes. Our favorite characters, Parn and Deedlit, are still in the show with reduced roles. They show up at unexpected times to save Spark and friends, and gradually we stop caring about them amidst the multitude of all the other characters fighting for screen time. I felt that the animation hit its highest low point in the invasion of Kannon, we don't get much of a feel for the battle because of the still frames galore being used, again if we wanted this we would look at a picture book while listening to a recording play. The ending of the series is better than the rest of it because Spark needs to make a big decision but there really aren't any other tragedies to make us feel for the characters. At the end of each episode are Chibbi Animations that make a mockery of the anime, I began to look forward to these more than the regular series towards the end because at least there were fewer characters that we could actually follow. I only recommend buying this if you are a big fan of the first episodes, as I said before the animation in the opening credits (Possibly the most entertaining part) is great but never used in the series. I was very dissapointed at how five years later the animation got worse but I guess that's how it goes. sometimes.
Rating: 
Summary: one word...FANTASTIC
Review: If you crave epic fantansy with strong characters, drama, action, and suspense...this is the anime for you. I have never watched a more touching tale. It starts five years after the death of gimly, 10 years i believe after the war of heroes. If you have watched Record of Lodoss War DVD Collection, you will find many contiuity issues, please note that this is because the series is made to follow the game more closly it appears, not to mention, i believe, to make it better than its previous counterpart. I did not like the DVD collection which take place earlier, but this I LOVED!! It was awesome, much characterization is done to help you to fall in love with the characters and keep you intrested in the plot line, unlike before where you were striving to stay awake. Music was great along with rich color and sound. This fanatsy will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you begging for more...i gaurentee it....if you dont believe me...read some more reviews...and then buy it...you'll love it.
Rating: 
Summary: An aquired taste
Review: If your a fan of the original OVA series than you'll enjoy the TV series as well. Not as good as the OVA series but thats to be expected. The new intro definetely beats the old one in my opinion but the story isn't no where near as good as the first one. Parns new voice in the dubbed version is terrible and the animation quality isn't as good as the OVA. If your a die hard fan this is definetely worth adding to your library; if not, I suggest just renting them or borrowing them from a friend.
Rating:
Summary: Best Fantasy Anime Ever
Review: In terms of fantasy anime, you cant beat this. The music is good, the characters are well developed, the story is awesome, and once you get caught up in the story, upon series end you'll become depressed over the fact that there are no more episodes to watch. This anime also features one of the best endings in any anime/movie Ive seen in quite some time. As a bonus, the extras are also well worth the purchase, not to mention the Lodoss Island comedy skits that air after each episode will having you laughing for hours, while still providing and entertaining story of their own. All this, plus Ashram, one of the coolest characters in the history of mankind, makes this dvd set a must own for any fan of anime, Lord of the Rings fan, or anyone looking for a good and very entertaining storyline.
Rating:
Summary: Watch this in Japanese!
Review: Let me explain that I normally watch my anime the first time through in English, then later watch it subbed. This is the first anime DVD where I had to put the Japanese language on while watching it the first time through as it was PAINFUL to listen to the English Voice Non-Actors. It amazes me that they could get the same people (for the most part) who did the voices on the OAV and have it come out this bad. I have the OAV and enjoyed it in English and Japanese, this I can only watch in Japanese. You also have to remember or realize that this is the series the way it was was supposed to be. The series was serialized as Manga first, then they did the OAV, compressing the timeline... a LOT then they realeased this set. It is enjoyable, if you are into D&D or other Pen and Paper RPGs, as the whole series seems to be a giant P&P RPG. For as much as this costs, you may want to see if a friend has it or if you can rent it somewhere, as this set is simply OK and not great. Just remember to watch the Subbed version.
Rating:
Summary: Sigh...I was quite disappointed
Review: Man...this ought to be one of the most misleading anime I've ever seen. I saw the first episode. I got blown away by the opening, for the song "Kiseki no Umi" (Sea of miracle) is one of my favorite if not the favorite song ever. Accompanying this song is gorgeous and smooth animation. The animation of the anime itself is the clear, more discrete color kind of drawing that you get from regular tv series. Parn and Deedlit get into a pretty good fight with the berserker, and Deedlit actually uses magic extensively. When the episode ends, you get the "side" show omake. This omake theater is about 2 min each with all characters drawn in sd (super deformed) mode. It somewhat parallels the main story line time/evenwise, but in a totally not-serious manner that is so funny. Finally comes the ending song, which is also nice. Things kinda fall from here. Later on, whenever you get any action scenes, chances are when you hear "Ahhhhhh (charrrge)," you get a still frame right after. Parn becomes a loser who still can't beat Ashuramu after like 15 years. Deedlit looses her adoring and cute innocence (let's say she matured). The story mainly focuses a new party led by Spike, a knight wannabe who really wants to protect the damsel in distress, Niece. I really like Niece as a character...her fate is so horrible, but yet she's so tough. Unlike Fuushigi Yuugi, when Niece says "I wanna fight" she means it, and is useful. There is a lot more character interaction among the party in this story, and I like that. However, another main problem is that the plot/characters tend to get quite "clicheish." The way they tied things up in the ending is drastically different. I won't spoil it, but don't expect the darker ending in the ova, becuase everyone's happy in this, even Ashuramu. As many of you may know, he takes Pirotess (who is alive, phew) and the Marmo citizens to sail to a new land, which leads to the Legend of Crystania, yet another anime. All in all, if you're able to ignore the animation (not me), I say this is a fairly decent piece. It provides quite a different aspect from the ova for you to look at the Lodoss World, so I guess that's pretty good. But the OP, the music score, and the omake adds a LOT of worth to this set.
Rating:
Summary: Sigh...I was quite disappointed
Review: Man...this ought to be one of the most misleading anime I've ever seen. I saw the first episode. I got blown away by the opening, for the song "Kiseki no Umi" (Sea of miracle) is one of my favorite if not the favorite song ever. Accompanying this song is gorgeous and smooth animation. The animation of the anime itself is the clear, more discrete color kind of drawing that you get from regular tv series. Parn and Deedlit get into a pretty good fight with the berserker, and Deedlit actually uses magic extensively. When the episode ends, you get the "side" show omake. This omake theater is about 2 min each with all characters drawn in sd (super deformed) mode. It somewhat parallels the main story line time/evenwise, but in a totally not-serious manner that is so funny. Finally comes the ending song, which is also nice. Things kinda fall from here. Later on, whenever you get any action scenes, chances are when you hear "Ahhhhhh (charrrge)," you get a still frame right after. Parn becomes a loser who still can't beat Ashuramu after like 15 years. Deedlit looses her adoring and cute innocence (let's say she matured). The story mainly focuses a new party led by Spike, a knight wannabe who really wants to protect the damsel in distress, Niece. I really like Niece as a character...her fate is so horrible, but yet she's so tough. Unlike Fuushigi Yuugi, when Niece says "I wanna fight" she means it, and is useful. There is a lot more character interaction among the party in this story, and I like that. However, another main problem is that the plot/characters tend to get quite "clicheish." The way they tied things up in the ending is drastically different. I won't spoil it, but don't expect the darker ending in the ova, becuase everyone's happy in this, even Ashuramu. As many of you may know, he takes Pirotess (who is alive, phew) and the Marmo citizens to sail to a new land, which leads to the Legend of Crystania, yet another anime. All in all, if you're able to ignore the animation (not me), I say this is a fairly decent piece. It provides quite a different aspect from the ova for you to look at the Lodoss World, so I guess that's pretty good. But the OP, the music score, and the omake adds a LOT of worth to this set.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the OVA, but fine fare for LODOSS fans.
Review: No, this isn't a sequel to the fabulous OVA series, but rather a remake of the events that occured after the death of Ghim (and the disappearance of Woodchuck). It is also more accurate to the novels that inspired this wonderful series, which is why characters (namely Orson and Shiris) are reintroduced, and why the story may seem slightly different to those used to the OVA. (The booklet included in the set provides excellent answers to such questions, as do various online sites.) The first eight episodes of this 27-part TV series focus on the fateful battle at Demon Dragon Mountain. The remaining 19 episodes introduce us to Spark, a blue-haired knight wannabe who identifies with Parn, and his ragtag team of misfits as they attempt to stop the Dark Wizard Wagnard from resurrecting Kardis the Destroyer. While it isn't quite the equivalent of the original LODOSS WAR (we all love the finale where Parn saves Deedlit from Wagnard, don't we?), this TV follow-up is still great fun for fantasy fans. Even if the animation is limited (and a step down from the artistic streak of the first LODOSS), this 27-part series has much to offer. Irresistable characters, engaging storyline, magic, romance, and a superb fantasy soundtrack scored by Kaoru Wada of NINJA SCROLL, make this an enjoyable experience. This 4-DVD set by Central Park Media has a disappointingly mediocre visual transfer -- the picture is rather jumpy, and there are moments where it almost looks like a videotape with a hole in it - that is, I saw a few static lines every now and then. It's not a terrible transfer by any means - the picture still looks pretty good in spite of its shortcomings - but I've seen far better transfers than this, particularly on the PRINCESS MONONOKE DVD. But what the video quality may lack in clarity, this DVD set certainly makes up for on every other level. The audio quality on the English language track (which I listen to a lot of the time) sounds every bit as good as the Japanese language track (which I only heard bits and pieces of), despite occasional static pops. The sound mix is very big and boomy, and a solid experience of truly experiencing the magical atmosphere of LODOSS. There are also plenty of DVD-ROM features, including the dub script and cast credits. The English dub, made in 1999-2000, has a lot of the same qualities that made the OAV dub so memorable, but is less polished than its predecessor. It was great to hear the old cast return, but it took me a while to get used to Billy Regan's take on a more mature sounding Parn. His voice came off as a bit grating for the first eight episodes (and some anti-dub fans immediately dissed the dub because of it), but by the time Spark and company take the stage, I found his voice better matched when he gets "older". Also, not everyone from the OAV dub returns. Jayce Reeves only voices Wagnard (terrifically) for one episode; he's replaced by Pete Zarustica for the whole show, who gives a gravel-voiced, but still over-the-top and malevolent performance. Anthony Cruise as Kashue, on the other hand, sounds a little too old and out of it for the first episodes, but he gets better after about five episodes or so. Oliver Gregory is probably the most effective as Orson. I found a lot of my favorites in the new cast of characters, including Crispin Freeman (Spark, Maar, Garrack -episodes 16-27-), Roxanne Beck (Little Neese), Meg Frances (who voices Pirotess in the OAV but also voices Ryna -- excellently -- as well as Karla) and especially Angora Deb (who rocks as Leaf the Half-Elf). The rest of the cast isn't terrible by any means, but a little more uneven than the OAV dub. Some voices are OK (Hobb, Aldonova, Greevus) while others are lackluster (the guards, etc.) and few were awful (Rabido and Astar). In fact the lack of aural continuity (some cast members get new voices for some unexplained reason by the time we get to some of the later episodes) is one of the problems of the dub. Others include less memorable and more awkward sounding dialogue, uneven synchronization, and finally (I apologize in advance to the fans of this) the LODOSS ISLAND segments. These offbeat, super-deformed interludes at the end of each episode will either amuse or drive you batty. Admittingly, I at first found them to be a major nuisance, but they sorta grew on me after a while. (Besides, there are some showstoppingly hilarious lines such as "I'm King Kashue, and this is my CASHEW! I'm REALLY quite a nut!") These flaws do hamper an otherwise decent English dub, ranking it a notch just below the OVA dub. If you're wondering if the Japanese language track is better than the English on CHRONICLES, well, guess what? The Japanese language track has its good points and bad points, too. While some voices are less annoying than the English language track, I found others to be less appealing than the English equivalents. Plus, I should mention that the Japanese cast is NOT THE SAME AS THE OVA. Because the series was made seven years after the original, all but one (Sho Hayami) of the cast members are replaced by new ones. Although they do a respectably good job, it may be a major annoyance for those who were used to the Japanese OVA cast. Shows that not everything in Japanese is better than English, eh? Despite its flaws, CHRONICLES OF THE HEROIC KNIGHT is still a fine series which deserves to hold its own ground. Even if there are some occasionally rough spots, there are enough good points to counter the bad.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the OVA, but fine fare for LODOSS fans.
Review: No, this isn't a sequel to the fabulous OVA series, but rather a remake of the events that occured after the death of Ghim (and the disappearance of Woodchuck). It is also more accurate to the novels that inspired this wonderful series, which is why characters (namely Orson and Shiris) are reintroduced, and why the story may seem slightly different to those used to the OVA. (The booklet included in the set provides excellent answers to such questions, as do various online sites.) The first eight episodes of this 27-part TV series focus on the fateful battle at Demon Dragon Mountain. The remaining 19 episodes introduce us to Spark, a blue-haired knight wannabe who identifies with Parn, and his ragtag team of misfits as they attempt to stop the Dark Wizard Wagnard from resurrecting Kardis the Destroyer. While it isn't quite the equivalent of the original LODOSS WAR (we all love the finale where Parn saves Deedlit from Wagnard, don't we?), this TV follow-up is still great fun for fantasy fans. Even if the animation is limited (and a step down from the artistic streak of the first LODOSS), this 27-part series has much to offer. Irresistable characters, engaging storyline, magic, romance, and a superb fantasy soundtrack scored by Kaoru Wada of NINJA SCROLL, make this an enjoyable experience. This 4-DVD set by Central Park Media has a disappointingly mediocre visual transfer -- the picture is rather jumpy, and there are moments where it almost looks like a videotape with a hole in it - that is, I saw a few static lines every now and then. It's not a terrible transfer by any means - the picture still looks pretty good in spite of its shortcomings - but I've seen far better transfers than this, particularly on the PRINCESS MONONOKE DVD. But what the video quality may lack in clarity, this DVD set certainly makes up for on every other level. The audio quality on the English language track (which I listen to a lot of the time) sounds every bit as good as the Japanese language track (which I only heard bits and pieces of), despite occasional static pops. The sound mix is very big and boomy, and a solid experience of truly experiencing the magical atmosphere of LODOSS. There are also plenty of DVD-ROM features, including the dub script and cast credits. The English dub, made in 1999-2000, has a lot of the same qualities that made the OAV dub so memorable, but is less polished than its predecessor. It was great to hear the old cast return, but it took me a while to get used to Billy Regan's take on a more mature sounding Parn. His voice came off as a bit grating for the first eight episodes (and some anti-dub fans immediately dissed the dub because of it), but by the time Spark and company take the stage, I found his voice better matched when he gets "older". Also, not everyone from the OAV dub returns. Jayce Reeves only voices Wagnard (terrifically) for one episode; he's replaced by Pete Zarustica for the whole show, who gives a gravel-voiced, but still over-the-top and malevolent performance. Anthony Cruise as Kashue, on the other hand, sounds a little too old and out of it for the first episodes, but he gets better after about five episodes or so. Oliver Gregory is probably the most effective as Orson. I found a lot of my favorites in the new cast of characters, including Crispin Freeman (Spark, Maar, Garrack -episodes 16-27-), Roxanne Beck (Little Neese), Meg Frances (who voices Pirotess in the OAV but also voices Ryna -- excellently -- as well as Karla) and especially Angora Deb (who rocks as Leaf the Half-Elf). The rest of the cast isn't terrible by any means, but a little more uneven than the OAV dub. Some voices are OK (Hobb, Aldonova, Greevus) while others are lackluster (the guards, etc.) and few were awful (Rabido and Astar). In fact the lack of aural continuity (some cast members get new voices for some unexplained reason by the time we get to some of the later episodes) is one of the problems of the dub. Others include less memorable and more awkward sounding dialogue, uneven synchronization, and finally (I apologize in advance to the fans of this) those hideous LODOSS ISLAND segments. I'm sorry, but after the first episode of these offbeat, super-deformed interludes, I could not stand to stomach another, and the acting on these segments is HORRIBLE. These flaws do hamper an otherwise enjoyable English dub, ranking it a notch just below the OVA dub. If you're wondering if the Japanese language track is better than the English on CHRONICLES, well, guess what? The Japanese language track has its good points and bad points, too. While some voices are less annoying than the English language track, I found others to be less appealing than the English equivalents. Plus, I should mention that the Japanese cast is NOT THE SAME AS THE OVA. Because the series was made seven years after the original, all but one (Sho Hayami) of the cast members are replaced by new ones. Although they do a respectably good job, it may be a major annoyance for those who were used to the Japanese OVA cast. Shows that not everything in Japanese is better than English, eh? Despite its flaws, CHRONICLES OF THE HEROIC KNIGHT is still a fine series which deserves to hold its own ground. While it does have its flaws, there are enough good points to counter the bad.
Rating:
Summary: Ok but not as good as the first series
Review: Ok, this review is directed at fans who have seen the first lodoss war series. This new series has many audio visual improvements(less repeating music, better animation) but frankly the story doesn't make any sense. The second series story changes some things that happened in the first series and completely ignores some other stuff. There is even a point where they show a flashback to the first series but changed on of the people involved in the scene. Also, the last 20 episodes are exactly like the 1st series just with new characters....I found myself saying," I've seen this before" very often. For people who didn't see the 1st series...you will probably love this but for anyone who was expecting to see a continuation of the 1st series, this series is more of a rewriting of the first series.
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