Star Ocean EX

As a big fan of JRPGs, Star Ocean: the Second Story (PS1) was one of my personal favorites back in my younger days, and still remains, as of today, a game I very much like. So, when I found out, in 2005 or 2006, that an anime adaptation had been made, I was excited to watch it. So, yeah, here's a confession: my judgment will probably be biased by sheer nostalgia, as I feel towards those characters, this world and this story, an affection that probably goes deeper than it should – if I were to watch it for the first time today.

Still, I ... will try to be fair.

When the original game had us choose between two slightly different points of views, of the two main protagonists, Rena or Claude, the anime clearly opts for the latter. As a young ensign of the space Federation fleet, assigned to the Calnus spaceship, whose admiral is none other than his dad, Claude C. Kenny, while exploring a devastated planet, finds himself shot off by a mysterious device to the faraway world of Expel. There, he'll meet Rena Lanford, a local girl, and save her from a dire monster with a single bursting shot of his laser-gun. But such technology exceeds what's known on those underdeveloped lands; and the prodigious laser-beam will quickly be seen as the "sword of light" of a hero whose coming was foretold by the church...

I find such premise to be rather interesting, although it’s not really original. A lost boy tries to make his way through an unknown world, with the help of a young girl he met; it’s basically that. The main purpose of such narrative doesn’t lie into complex connections between religious beliefs and advanced technology – for example. It’s an adventure; a pretty standard one, where a bunch of characters unite to fight evil monsters and save the world from its demise, with sword techniques, constant traveling, slight romance and comic relief – really, basic stuff. Still, it’s not so bad; pace feels overall pretty decent, some characters are funny, like Ashton and his barrel fetish, and the story remains faithful to the original…

Well, at least, for the most part. Despite all the affection I still get for this anime series, the six/seven last episodes still are a slight source of disappointment. Not because it drifts apart from the initial game story, but because the pace slows down quite a bit, because characters are really just too many, but most of all, because it ends on a cliffhanger, which is even more frustrating that no sequel was ever produced – all 26 episodes of this show only cover the events taking place during the first segment of the game, its first disk out of two. There’s still a way to get next part by playing the original game, sure, but still… that’s a bummer.

In this regard, it would be hard recommending this to people who’d want to engage in a full, finished story. But if you enjoyed the original product, or if you like anime adaptations of videogames, or even the adventure genre in its whole, you may have a fairly good time watching Star Ocean EX, as I still think it’s good enough of its own to deserve some attention.

Also, it’s old, but, you know, nostalgia…

Star Ocean EX will likely make a lot of Star Ocean fans mad. And since fans of the games (especially The Second Story, specifically) will probably be the main audience, choices made by the creators of the anime will drastically reduce the enjoyment of this series.

What exactly are these choices? First of all, the anime follows only the story of Claude, rather than Rena. Though most people do choose to play Claude's scenario in the game itself, people who preferred Rena's perspective are alienated - besides, changing the media from video game to anime could have allowed them to show BOTH aspects of the story, ... giving people who have already played the game an extra reason to watch the series.

Even more seriously, though, is the decision to portray only part of the story; the anime only covers pretty much only the first disc of the game. This leaves loads of unanswered questions and loose ends, and with virtually no hope of a second season (since the game is over a decade old), the cliffhanger ending is truly frustrating. This fact becomes especially annoying since the story doesn't really get good until the second disc. The makers of the anime did add in lots to the story, which sounds like a good idea since, in the game, the first disc really only amounted to somewhat tedious traveling; however, the new scenarios in the anime are equally as pointless and not all that interesting. The worst part comes near the end of the anime, where the story from the game is completely thrown out the window and replaced by a new (and, in my opinion, lesser) version of events.

Another problem is that the anime arbitrarily chooses a main party of Claude, Rena, Celine, and Ashton, leaving the other characters in the dust. With the exception of Noel and Chisato (who aren't even mentioned), all the other characters don't have too much airtime and barely fight with the group. With a game with so many characters and so many group combinations, it seems silly to choose a particular four-person group and go with that for the whole anime, rather than featuring the entire cast. There are, however, new characters added for the anime, but they are all generic and uninteresting, adding nothing to the enjoyment of the series. Luckily, Ashton is one of the main characters chosen for the anime, and he is portrayed hilariously - in fact, Ashton is basically the only reason I stayed with this anime to the end.

This is an example of how an adaption could go very wrong. If you are a fan of the game, there is no reason to watch the anime. especially if you are a fan of Rena
Story
The anime follows the game story faithfully and throughfully, without skipping any part of the story. as result by the time this anime ended the story hasn't finished yet. Unfortunately there is no second season leaving viewers disgruntled and upset.

Art
The background is plain and empty. What happened to rena? in the ... game she looked charming and smart 17 years ols but this in anime she became a 14 years old moe. Celine also looked very different, in this anime . well not just the girl, ashton used to look cool in the game but in the anime.. Perhaps it's because budget constraint

Character
Rena is supposed to be a happy go lucky charming girl and full of life, but in this anime she is fragile, weak and clueless. The anime follows claude's side of the story, so the producer might thought that it would appeal to its shounen vievers if he changed the rena character just a little bit to fit the classic story about a heroic hero and a helpless girl.. but it's not a reason to completely Destroyed Rena's character.

I am a fan of Rena and played the game because of her that's why in my opinion this anime sucks