Ozanari Dungeon: Kaze no Tou

Ozanari Dungeon is a rather obscure 90s OVA which exhibits an admirable level of creativity and impressive production quality throughout. Beginning with the story, it strikes a fun balance by combining a classic fantasy adventure tale with a unique world that has an extremely distinct character. The worldbuilding, from the architecture, to the animal people, to the magic, to the religion and culture glimpsed within, feels completely original in ways that many stories, especially ones which are quite so short as this one, fail to. Though, the story itself, by way of being quite so predictable story-wise, runs the risk ... of losing the viewers interest during rare moments where the action dies down.

That's why the art is the strongest aspect of this anime by far. Not only does it execute a completely unique visual style in terms of the fantastic world in which the story is set, but it also is technically impressive, with smooth, fluid animation throughout, as well as a lavish use of color and striking character design. The art elevates this whole anime, right down to the little things like specific elements of visual comedy.

The sound is fine, meeting all standards of quality for the time, and featuring strong voice work.

The characters are quite fun, managing to maintain their agency within the story, feeling much more engaging than the characters in many similar OVAs of the time. Of them, my favorites are Moka and Kiriman, each for very different reasons. Moka is a fiery protagonist who fits well as a maverick adventurer in her world, with enough idiosyncrasies to make her feel distinct and lighthearted while also capable enough to survive. Kiriman, meanwhile, is a funny dog wizard, and that bit which carries throughout the show of him holding up signs with messages on them, Wile E. Coyote-style, had me rolling every time. Overall, Ozanari Dungeon is a fun 90s anime with a higher than usual production value, which makes it easy to recommend.

There is nothing quite like this show, and stumbling across it as I did through a typing mistake on a rainy summer night, the show immersed me in a way I had not ever experienced before.

The Setting of Ozanari Dungeon is not a wholly unique one, but it feels so fresh compared to others in it's genre, perhaps because it came out within the era of grand fantasy and the advent of roleplay games, from which it draws greatly. It is compelling, with a feeling of humanity in a world that is far greater than that which we see, the bumbling characters comedic and likeable ... lend the setting of the anime a sense of extra grandeur, in a way it is hard to describe. It is almost as if seeing the world through the lens of someone who does not fully understand it, and thus capturing the feeling of wonder and excitement therein.

It is undoubtably a comedic show, but you can get more from Ozanari dungeon than a couple of cheap laughs. It is indeed a shame that this did not get any more episodes.

Its a very good anime. For 3 episodes and each episode with around 18 mins worth story its very nice. The protagonist is sort of stupid and the entire story is short and enjoyable. The rest of the characters are also very comic. The story is very simple and doesn't require you to think a lot, don't be fooled by the poster image. There is no political or any thinking aspect to this. Its short, comic and enjoyable.

Filler material:

Given the time this anime was released its well made. I am not sure what else to write, unless I write more I can't submit and there ... is not really a lot more I can write about this anime. If some review moderator is reading this can you please fix it, for a very simple 3 episode anime I can't write anything much more.