Ragnarok: Complete Box Set [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I saw this series box set around the time I had bought Those Who Hunt Elves Set and decided for the price and the interesting storyline I thought it had to go ahead and get, and I have somewhat regretted that choice. The series isn't bad for people who like RPG games style shows or anime like Rune Soldier(An Excellent Anime) but the story plots for the reasons of why the characters are doing what their doing has been played over so many times it's a little monotonous. The series two primary characters Roan(A young wannabe swordsman who was giving the task of protecting his childhood friend by her brother) and Yufa(Roan's childhood friend who's brother was supposedly killed tries to make her living as a priestess and help her common man) after a few misunderstandings become adventurers on the road and along the way meet other wayward adventurers on their quests. The series will also have the love triangle and the usual unresolved romantic feelings between Roan and Yufa. The series big flaw for me was that like some other animes you just don't empathize with the characters to well, I mean there are some sad scenes in the anime and some of the background story-plots of some of the characters but it just doesn't really get you to care so much as for the characters as it does watching the scenes. The pro for me though was that this series will give a decent closure at the end without having to many unanswered questions, and the animation is decent as well pretty much what we see with anime series past these ten years or so. The audio is also pretty good for both the Japanese and English cast voices but the extras are pretty much nonexistent just the trailer for the Full Metal Alchemist series and a couple of trailers on the fourth dvd. The box set is pretty much what Funimation as been doing for the last few sets which is two slim dvd cases that hold two dvds in each and than put into a thin paper sleeve, but for what the price is going for with this set I can somewhat understand that. So if you like magical battles and sword fighting series or like Rpg like animes like Rune Soldier give this one a go but try not to have to high of an expectation of this series....

This series could have been so much better. The characters lack depth. The story is not hard to follow but it feels as though it is a bunch of fillers that are loosely tied together. You find yourself wondering how did the last episode help move the story along. It is quite easy to lose interest in this story. The music and animation are good but the story could be much better. I would not recommend it to any of my friends.

This anime was a good way to kill some time but I don't quite know it is worth $30. I managed to find this show for around $15 through amazon and feel that it was money well spent. As a person who played the game years ago it brought back a lot of fond memories and made me want to play again. Granted its not the best representation of the game.
A few problems I found with the show were that things were a little over done and a little frustrating at times. As an avid gamer I found myself yelling at the tv at times (something that I almost never do). I've done enough party gaming that I would have killed my healer if she acted like the shows. While people were injured she would just stand there in shock instead of healing them. There were also many times where the party would hang back while one person was getting their butt kicked instead of aiding them. Very frustrating from a gamers perspective. I would also find myself yelling "just kill the guy" (referring to the big bad guy you see often.) I understand from a writer's point of view that if you kill the main bad guy then the show is over but this just gave me horrible flashbacks to power rangers. The main characters had ample opportunity to kill the guy and they always seemed to pass it up. They would have saved themselves a lot of trouble and lives if they had just gotten it over with. So it was a little frustrating.
Another big issue that I seemed to see a bit to often is that things would end on a cliffhanger and it seemed that when you came back they had changed certain details so that they weren't quite as bad as when they had left you. This was a little cheesy.
The animation itself was good but could have been better, though it did fit the feel of the feel show. There would often be what I think was supposed to be fan service moments that was so light that it just seemed silly, but that too matched the feel of the show. In fact the entire feel of the show was a very light hearted adventure where the characters are supposed to mature but just kind of reach a standstill. Most of the characters seemed to go off on their own at some point or other on a maturing mission and would come back more skilled but still had the same immature issues that they seemed to be trying to overcome. But I stray.
Overall yes this anime is worth a watch and worth having in your library but I would not pay more than $15 for it. It is a good show to have on in the background while you do something else because it doesn't require too much thought and if you put too much thought into it you will become frustrated. I guess that's all. Enjoy.