Gensou Jotan Ellcia

Schizo tech is not a stranger to fantasy anime of the 90s, Windaria conjures iconic imagery of crossbowmen fending off assaults from trapezoid Stug-esque assault cannons; and its enthralling. In contrast, Ellcia's unashamedly gratuitous schizo tech sticks out in the most jarring way. This might have something to with the similarly jarring tone, which alternates like prog rock time signatures between slapstick deformation, bog standard high stakes epic fantasy to defeat a great evil and child friendly adventure tale moments.

The problem with this is that immersion immediately goes bust; and the whole thing isn't quite stupid or parodical enough to laugh off like many ... other forgotten 90s fantasy ovas.
Without immersion, Ellcia can't be anything more than utterly mediocre. Only its art direction and some surprisingly well directed and energetic swordfights are its saving grace

Though by art direction, I don't mean art in the sense of things such as Angel's egg, Rintaro's substance riddled visual trips or Nausicca's pastoral beauty. By art, I mean that the battleships in this anime look Gurren Lagann esque and have Lego Bionicles for a face. They then go on to absolutely nuke a diesel punk city with glowy orb things. I'm admittedly part of that tiny niche who would watch stuff like this. You can now join this niche too with just a few hours of time and a tolerance for very very forgotten old ovas.

This is one of those ova´s back in the 90´s wich u see an commercial about on another anime VHS, and wether u like it or not, U WANTED IT. And honestly i was a bit suprised when i had my first view about it years ago ,i had no idea it was soo funny ( the trailer only showed the bloody action scenes and scary monsters). And as a kid i got WAY more than i bargained for (saw it in 1996) especially with the violence and dark twists in the overall storyline, that around that time fantasy action genre's like this one popped ... up out of animestudio's like there was no freakin tomorrow! aside that i really had a big laugh seeing the 1st episode, maybe the animationstyle is not the best made, with some bad habits from 1980's animation but u can look past that, Charachters overall have an funny or serious look on them, about the minor and greater heroe's ofc there are a bunch of kids that make u laugh throughout the show the way i sadly miss these days. background, model and shipdesigns i had no problems with cus it was handdrawn that give's a almost oldskool flow to feel i are in the story, but differs for fans that are known with this. I really would like to see an pick-up of the story to make new mangabooks out of it, and later an 30 part serie's or so.

*SOILERS AHEAD*

The Legend of Ellcia is a pretty obscure little 90s OVA, embodying many of the classic characteristics that cause people to fall in love with that era- unique creative vision, hand-drawn animation, and a warm, colorful palate. However, beyond these characteristics, it does fall short in a few key areas. Beginning with the story, the viewer is presented with some bizarre yet decidedly engaging worldbuilding, taking the classic evil empire setup and spicing things up with a weird quasi-steampunk world, full to bursting with religious symbolism and strange prophetic mystery. These aspects it nails, and pair well with certain ... visual elements I'll discuss later. However, the story itself, underneath all the innovative trappings, remains a fairly standard formula with a somewhat predictable arc. It also loses the thread towards the end, and fails spectacularly when it comes to the ending, making some moral decisions and narrative choices that do not make any real sense at all. I usually try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but in order to fully convey my dissatisfaction with the story, I have to speak plainly here. Why didn't they destroy Megaronia? Why did they save King Nabosu and Crystel, when one carried out the brutal subjugation of the Eijan people, and the other carried out wanton war crimes against them. Together, they are easily responsible for the deaths of millions. Surely, off all people, they deserve just punishment. If not Crystel, then at least King Nabosu! Also, what's with them returning to piracy at the end? Why do that? Since the one who was supposed to be the king of Eija is dead, shouldn't Eira, as the chosen one and sister of the king, inherit the throne as queen? They basically said as much that she was meant for the role, but it doesn't appear like she takes it. All in all, it's a very weak and unsatisfying ending for a show that is otherwise pretty good.

The art is far and away the strongest aspect of The Legend of Ellcia, embodying that weird quasi-steampunk aesthetic really well, playing up the unusual, fantastical look of a world that is rooted in both technology and mysticism, making it easily one of the more unique art styles I've seen. The animation itself can be a little choppy at times, faltering in qualities like fluidity and consistency, but the illustration and use of color throughout are very strong, each scene full of intriguing visual style and immense detail, all while absolutely dripping with vivid colors. The blues of the ocean are vast and alluring, the rich reds of blood are striking and impactful, and the whole palate, from the sickly green of the industrial core of Megaronia, to the mysterious aquatic hues that make up the appearance of the Selkie clan, it truly brings the art to life.

The sound is more of a mixed bag, with a really strong soundtrack and sounds of life, but some pretty poor voice work. beginning with the good, the music is orchestral and engaging throughout, and the sounds of life are rich and multifaceted, giving the combat much of its weight and the world much of its tactile dimensionality. The voice work, however, both in the English dub and in the Japanese, leaves something to be desired. I ended up watching the dub because the subs were paced way too fast to properly comprehend, but the same things are generally true of both versions. There are some really strong performances, notably from King Nabosu, Eira, Crystel, and Phelkis, but the bad performances are more than just bad- they're genuinely annoying. The anime seems to suffer from the delusion that loud equals funny, so comic relief characters like Ganak and Nupure are basically always screaming or crying or whimpering or complaining in their stupid accents whenever they're onscreen, and it really detracts from a lot of the anime, being the last straw that ends up costing it a higher score. As an additional note, the ancient evil spirit is genuinely unintelligible, and I often had to go back a couple of times to catch what exactly he was saying under the bizarre, gurgly filter they put the actor's voice through.

The characters are, unfortunately, the weakest aspect of this anime. While there are some strong showings, like from Maeyard and Crystel and Phelkis, the vast majority are either useless, annoying, or only situationally useful. These include Ganak, Nupure, Flack, and many others. There are just too many people in the story, and they drag it down, especially given the fact that they are taking up space and detracting from the anime's strengths. Of this cast, however, I found Phelkis and Eira to be the most compelling, because the two of them feel the most three-dimensional and well-explored. Phelkis, with his dedication to realpolitik contrasting with his tragic love triangle between him, Sarah, and Crystel, proves himself to be an interesting an multilayered presence in the show. Eira, despite being little more than your run-of-the-mill 'chosen one' archetype, is still a strong execution of that archetype, bringing her own distinct flare to the role. Other runner-ups include Maeyard and Crystel, with a distant honorable mention going to the prophet Guku when he's possessed by the ancient evil spirit. Overall, The Legend of Ellcia is good at its very core, but is sorely lacking in some key areas, which ends up holding it back in the end. I still enjoyed it and its bizarre fantastical world, but whether or not the unique setting is enough for you to forgive its various shortfalls is up to you to decide.