El-Hazard Role-Playing Game and Resource Book

Rating:
Summary: "Meh...."
Review: It must be fun to write a tabletop RPG book. It must also be fun to watch Anime all day and then write about it later. Now, we get both in the form of a deeply crafted RPG world derived from a relatively shallow (see below) source material. The key demographic is already split down the middle.
As you can guess by the cover illustration, this book only covers the first OAV series of El-Hazard. El-Hazard OAV-2, The Alternative World, The Wanderers, and even the Manga are absent from all aspects of this book save for the chapter three title page, which features LD art from Wanderers. Speaking of LD, the beautiful chapter break illustrations are somewhat offset by the book's use of screen-shots lifted from the original Pioneer Laserdisc. As beautiful as LDs are/were, the simple fact of the matter is that 420 lines of resolution does not translate to print as well as it translates to screen. So, those looking for an Art-Book will come up a little short.
The book is published by Guardians of Order, who have done a rather thorough job of translating a 7 episode anime series into an RPG book complete with episode summaries, character bios, and a general insight into the El-Hazard Universe delivered with a thoughtfulness bordering on the academic. Why only bordering? In addition to A/V resources, Guardians of Order also mention using an "atlas" packaged with the LD as well as several magazine articles. Unfortunately, unlike good academics offering a comprehensive guide to the Magnificent World of El-Hazard, they give no citations for the articles. What could have been a great academic resource falls flat on its face. Of course, maybe I am just misinterpreting what they mean by "resource book" (as in, not the same as a "fan guide"). Besides, since it only covers OAV-1, it would probably have been a very short bibliography and chances are those articles were not of great scope themselves. So I guess fans will just have to settle for doing their own research and drawing their own conclusions from the source material.
RPG fans, on the other hand, will undoubtedly appreciate the depth the game has to offer, as well as the sheer looseness of play. Although the game leaves out characters and situations from other series, the writers insist that new characters may be fabricated on the spot and borrowed characters can be seamlessly integrated into the game (there is even a suggestion for a Tenchi Muyo/El-Hazard cross-over). The rule system is fairly straightforward and there are plenty of setting/situation suggestions for GMs.
Final Word: Four out of Five for style, Two out of Five for substance, and One out of Five for scope. Rounding down for academic nitpicking, average is Two out of Five.

COMPLETIST APPEAL ONLY.

PS--like I said, the audience for this book is more than likely split down the middle. I, personally, am on the side that loves El-Hazard, but is not too crazy about tabletop RPGs. So, if the opposite is true for you (or even if you like both), you may add one or two stars to the final score.