Panzer Dragoon

A post modern masterpiece, which will be remembered in centuries. The genius writing, the clever use of symbolism, foreshadowing and depth, combined with lifelike characters, create one of the most unique and immersive experiences I have ever come across in my life, even rivaling classic novels and puts them to shame. It even crosses the line of some taboo topics such as racism and conspiracy theories, a marvel indeed. But it doesn't stop there, it comes with top-notch visual fidelity, even now for a 20 year old title and a soundtrack, that will make you forget Hans Zimmer, Michael McCann or Yuki Kajiura existed. A ... wonderful composition, which will make you ask the important questions in your life. I wrote this review listening to some of the tracks and I had to tear up so many times thinking about the fantastic ending this anime had.

This is truly a masterpiece and it's a shame, that only so few people know of this timeless classic. A must-play for the thinking otaku. The savior of this rotten anime industry. Play this anime, buy this anime. As a human being which calls itself a otaku, playing this title is your holy duty

I think people are being too harsh on this anime. Is it good? Not really. Is it worth your time? Probably not. But it's not some horrible piece of trash.

It's based on a video game that I haven't played and only vaguely heard about from Segata Sanshiro commercials, so maybe it would have helped me enjoy this more.

The main issue with Panzer Dragoon is that it feels like I decided to watch the final episode of an anime without watching the rest, but it's the only episode out there. There's no context, no lore, no character introduction, no development or progression.

I think it had potential, ... like maybe it would have been a decent 6/10 anime but it's like I said, it feels like watching the final episode. If they only had to make one episode, why did they decide to make this? What prompted them to do so? It's just my theory but I think it's the ending of the game and they decided to turn it into an anime for fun. At least that would make sense.

Also the dragon feet make me uncomfortable, it's just one claw. It's probably painful to stand on that.

I've got to be honest, I actually went into this anime without having played the video game it's based on. Sure, as a Sega fan I certainly knew about it and had seen pictures and some gameplay footage but I had practically no knowledge of what the game was about other than it being a rail shooter with a dragon.
Which ment that for the purpose of this review, I had to go and do a little bit of research on the game's story.

In any case, the OVA follows the basic plot of the game but with some changes such as giving the protagonist Kyle (originally ... named Keil in the game) a girlfriend who is kidnapped and forcibly fused with the main antagonist Black Dragon, making for another cliche "hero has to rescue the girl" plot which proceeds at a break neck pace leaving very little time to breathe or go into any further depth in terms of world building.
The animation is a messy hodge podge of 2D and 3D thanks to the use of mid 1990s CGI backgrounds while reusing some of the same animation cycles over and over.
And while I can't speak for the original Japanese dub, the English dub by ADV Films is just plain awful with stilted performances and some laughably bad dialogue.
Oh and the characters? There's not really a whole lot I can say about them other than they're just not interesting at all.

Panzer Dragoon the OVA is honestly not an anime I would recommend. The story is dull and cliched, the animation looks and feels cheap and the characters are just plain uninteresting.
This is another one of those animes that you're better off skipping altogether. The average anime enjoyer will likely find it an underwhelming experience while fans of the game it's based on will likely be disappointed.