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This OVA is based on the manga "Chivas 1-2-3" by Satoru Akahori and lives in the same world (or is a spin-off) of his "Bakuretsu (Sorcerer) Hunters" manga. It was produced after the "Sorcerer Hunters" manga TV anime adaptation which ran in 1996-97. As such, the same art style and elements used in the "Sorcerer Hunters" TV series were used again for this OVA. I don't really know whether this OVA was intended as a speculative demo for a new TV Series or if it was just made for fun for the manga fans. While both reasons are equally likely, it appears to probably have ... been a commercial flop. Whatever the case, the point is only the two episodes contained in this OVA "series" were produced; "Chivas 1-2-3" never made it as a full TV series. Therefore what we have here is just another one-shot "classic" OVA, one of many made like this in the 80's and 90's which were ultimately destined for bargain bins and rental shelves at all your finer retailers.

Somehow, a copy of one of these DVD's made it onto MY shelf. That's only because I explicitly sought it out. I'm a fan of the "Sorcerer Hunters" anime series and discovered that this OVA existed as a spin-off of that "universe". And I also like me some good trashy 90's OVA, so I knew I had to have this.

Indeed, this is a spin-off of "Sorcerer Hunters". It's almost like you could say "Meanwhile, elsewhere on the Spooner continent..." in the middle of "Sorcerer Hunters" and skip off into this story. While there are no references to the sorcerer hunters as an organization or characters like "Big Momma", it sports many of the same story elements. For example a corrupt town run by an aristocratic sorcerer which has some monster running amok. If you've seen "Sorcerer Hunters" this feels exactly like one of the "sorcerer of the week episode" plots from that series.

Likewise, if you're familiar with Akahori's manga, or the "Sorcerer Hunters" anime, you'll recall that he's got this weird penchant for using of food, beverages or other proper nouns from other languages to name various characters. Such as it goes here, with multiple examples like "Gin Fizz" or "Count Cuttlefish", again just like in "Sorcerer Hunters". The main character here warrants special note as he is a sorcerer literally named "Chivas Scotch" after the famous blended Scotch whisky brand Chivas Regal.

The whisky brand again provides the name of the manga "Chivas 1-2-3". Ergo, this anime is also known as "Chivas 1-2-3" in Japan, identical to the manga title. However, the US retail DVD title is "Sorcerer on the Rocks". One assumes ADV, the original and so far only US licensor, changed both the title and the character name (in subtitles and credits) to "Shivas Scotch" to avoid legal issues with the Chivas Brothers corporation. Well and also it's a translation technicality. The word "Chivas" is really a surname and is pronounced more like "sheh-vis", even by the Scots themselves, as is evident in the word's rendering in Japanese Katakana as "シーバス" which when transliterated into romaji is "shiibasu". Additionally, using "Sorcerer" in the retail DVD title also kind of ties it into the "Sorcerer Hunters" brand for marketing purposes, I suppose (Note: ADV originally licensed the "Sorcerer Hunters" TV and OVA in the US as well).

Aside from Chivas himself, the rest of the primary cast includes Chivas' three companions/servants. These are; a chaste raven-haired cleric-maiden named "Gin Fizz" (usually referred to as "Fizz"), a spunky green-haired sylvan animagus girl named "Kiss the Wolf" (usually referred to as "Kiss") and a red-haired male swordsman named Gemini. This motley crew is ostensibly a team of bounty hunters, but Chivas will do pretty much anything if the money is good and he's interested in the work.

Right at the outset in the anime it's made clear that our titular MC Chivas is a massive cocksure bastard. Highlighted in a particularly puerile opening conversation between he and Fizz. Not too much further in, we're also shown that he's an unabashed hedonist. He loves to live up the nightlife on the seedy backstreets, drinking, gambling and womanizing in dive bars, brothels and casinos. He's also a bit of a deadbeat, currently in debt to a female loan shark named "Million Dollar".

In general, Chivas' characterization is consistent with the established premises from "Sorcerer Hunters"; that all sorcerers are in general bastards or are otherwise irredeemable. Apparently Akahori writes them as exemplars for the the epithet that "all power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". In "Sorcerer Hunters" we saw this repeated time and again with the "sorcerer of the week" episodic stories showing corrupt self-centered aristocratic sorcerers abusing their power for their selfish or hedonistic desires. Indeed some were characterized as grotesquely degenerate. Even the sorcerers portrayed as having the best of intentions were revealed as ultimately corrupted by the use of their power. Certainly, Chivas further exemplifies these general characteristics.

With that back premise, it's not completely surprising then that Chivas' morals are shown to be even more questionable when it appears that Fizz and Kiss are somehow enslaved to him. They both wear what look like collars with a few chain links attached to represent this fact (though Kiss's may also represent a "dog collar" considering her wolf form). Additionally they refer to Chivas as "master" and he literally commands them to do things to which they seem unable or unwilling to disobey. A salient example is, after Chivas gambles and looses all their money he forces Kiss and Fizz to work as lewd dancers (wearing bunny costumes, of course) in a bar to pay for their lodgings and other daily expenses. This situation being much to Fizz's chagrin; obviously not something she would choose to do of her own volition.

While the ever perky Kiss seems completely happy being Chivas' slave/servant (again playing up the dog/wolf angle), it's strongly implied that Fizz is only associated to Chivas because he must have somehow enslaved her against her will. Mainly because their intrinsic natures are diametrically opposed. As previously mentioned, Chivas gets off on things like gambling, drinking and prostitution, all of which are anathema to Fizz.

Chivas is also a very powerful sorcerer and is a stereotype model of the "over-powered main character" trope. He can cast a spell called "chaser" which turns him into a giant winged sentinel clad in gold armor. In this form he can summon a mighty sword and wields devastating magic. However, in this state his real body becomes a vulnerable crystalline shell. Nevertheless, Chivas' prowess is legendary and this feeds into his already egotistical personality.

The primary plot unfolds with Chivas and crew down and out on the outskirts of the town of Gesoura; a known seedy burg filled with all sorts of characters of ill repute. After a few expository events, they make their way into town, whereupon Chivas promptly heads to the bars to get his drinking and womanizing game on. Not long after a massive monster appears and starts attacking the town, which prompts a perturbed Chivas to intervene. This, of course, gives us in the audience the opportunity to see Chivas' unrestrained power in fully-animated glory.

The next day Chivas visits the town's aristocratic sorcerer, Count Cuttlefish, to take him up on his bounty request to address this issue with the monster. For a massive cash reward, of course. However, the next encounter with the monster doesn't go to plan as Gemini, Fizz and Kiss attempt to handle it on their own. This premise provides an opportunity to mainly show a sequence with Gemini and Kiss fighting, including Kiss's transformation into her wolf form (girls turning into animals was a thing in the 90's). Eventually though, Chivas' has to suspend his debauchery at the bars and intervene. On arrival he eventually casts "chaser" but in the battle his crystalline body shell is damaged.

Apparently his physical body being damaged has happened multiple times previously, and when it does, Chivas' spirit takes up residence in Fizz's body until his real body can manifest physically again. This leads to the classic anime trope of a body swap or "shared body", and we now see a split personality version of Fizz; the normal Fizz and when Chivas takes over as himself in Fizz's body. Ultimately this plays out to the end of the second episode when his physical body is restored again.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that underneath all that massive ego Chivas has a heart of gold. Maybe he does in the manga, but in the anime he's little more than an unrepentant hedonist ass. Mainly in how he treats his crew. First, Chivas seems rather dismissive of Gemini. Mostly because Gemini comes across as gay for Chivas which Chivas absolutely rebukes. Though it does not appear Gemini is a slave like the girls, meaning Gemini is hanging around just because he's got the hots for Chivas. We don't get any hint that Chivas cares whether he's around or not. Chivas does otherwise treat the slave girls with a modicum of deference, but that's because to him they are his property. This is exemplified by a late scene where, in Fizz's body, Chivas receives a minor cut on her cheek, to which his response is (in the ADV subtitles) "how dare he scratch something of mine". Regardless of how they relate to him, Chivas still clearly believes he literally owns Fizz at least. Thus, in the very end, when Fizz seems to profess her devotion to Chivas, it sounds more like Stockholm syndrome taking hold than a genuine admission of affection.

As a final word on content, these kinds of OVA were never really meant to be broadcast on television, and almost always contain graphic prurient content. This one is no exception. Kiss is usually pretty scantily clad so she's around mostly for fan-service. We see both Kiss and Fizz in the bath at times, with various amounts of frontal nudity on display. Towards the end, a situation arises where Chivas, in Fizz's body has to awaken and save her, which leaves her (well Chivas as her) standing around basically buck naked for quite a bit of runtime. So, yes, this thing should be considered R18 or TV-MA.

Overall, this show can be a fun chaser to a re-watch of "Sorcerer Hunters", but on it's own isn't great. I mean, it's not bad for a classic 90's trash OVA. Production values are decent, above average for a two part OVA and the plot is mildly cohesive. Even the ADV dub is serviceable if you don't care to read the subs on this. I personally like it well enough for what it is. However, if you're into digging up nuggets like this, you probably should try to find it online somewhere streaming for free and just experience it once. That is unless you're a "Sorcerer Hunters" fan (like me) or are somehow an actual fan of the "Chivas 1-2-3" manga, then your best bet is to hunt for the ADV DVD on Ebay, or maybe a lucky strike at a used/trade-in video store if one exists in your town.

Really if anything about this sounds like your glass of Scotch, there are plenty other things out there now that are like it and much better. Primarily Yukiya Murasaki's "How Not To Summon A Demon Lord" light novel series. The TV anime adaptation of same is basically this same premise only different, or maybe "more 21st century". Instead of body-swap it uses the isekai trope to put an otaku into a fantasy world as an over-powered demon sorcerer. Said sorcerer has two slave girls, one's an elf not to dissimilar in style from Kiss but fills more of Fizz's role, and the other is a cat-girl mage who looks more like Fizz but provides the "furry factor" as an alternative to Kiss's role. That and it's got the same or more ecchi factor to it. Though the only drawback is some lolicon elements, which I personally find to be a disturbing 21st century anime trend (it's always been around but seems to have gotten worse). The one positive thing about these old 90's anime is, thankfully, lolicons weren't as much of a thing.

If you liked this (or maybe can't find it or don't care to) or it otherwise sounds interesting and would like something similar, Paladin recommends the following:
- "Sorcerer Hunters", obviously
- "How Not To Summon A Demon Lord", for reasons stated above
- "The Rising of the Shield Hero", similar themes including slave girls and bastard aristocrats
- "Sorcerous Stabber Orphen", over-powered MC who's a sorcerer and kind of a bastard
- "Bastard!!", another OP MC sorcerer who is literally a bastard, and also another classic (early) 90's OVA series
- "Overlord", yet another OP MC sorcerer with a literal army of sycophantic OP servants
- "Gestalt", over-powered sorcerers featured prominently, as are slavery themes; it's also another classic 90's OVA

This is the "original" and first Anime based on Kousuke Fujishima's "Aa! Megami-sama!" (Oh! My Goddess) Manga, produced in 1993; only roughly 6 years after the first Manga release. It was originally sold on home video directly to customers; the target market would largely have been fans of the extant Manga. This series is only 5 episodes, all running around 30 minutes. However it is formatted like it would be if it were to actually be broadcast, including a mid-show "break" with an eye-catch (many direct-to-video OAVs of the era were designed that way both for fun and in case the videos were ever ... picked up for broadcast).

Having been produced in the early 90's, this is Anime in its original ink-and-paint form. Here that medium is used deftly, setting the tone in a way you rarely see in digital animation. Many of the background paintings are soft watercolors or vibrant – yet washed out. While some backgrounds are stronger, depending on the scene, on the whole this gives the Anime a soft texture, underscoring its whimsical romantic-comedy structure. As with many OAV of this era, the artwork on the cell animation is exemplary, as these kinds of OAV typically had limited budgets but were not quite as production-time constrained and as such, what was produced was of general higher quality than what you'd see in a TV production run. The lush detailing of the cell animation is proof of this, and is fairly uniform throughout. In fact, for me, coming back to this Anime is like re-watching a dream. Not just from the soft watercolor backgrounds and the now gone cell animation styles. More so because the manga was originally created in the late 80's and many sets and technology objects rendered into the Anime are increasingly anachronistic, but familiar to some of us who grew up in that era (as I did). For example the rotary land-line phone in the Nekomi Tech dorm (including its 10-yen coin slot) is decidedly foreign to many in our post-landline mobile smart-phone world today. Other subtle objects like the apparently miniature (but not really for its era) CRT television with channel dials, or the computer Skuld uses. There are probably other details only the Japanese would pick up, probably with dress, hairstyles, and the general nature of the college students (like the Auto Club) which are probably sorely outdated now.

As to the story, as was also typical of this era of OAVs, it's adapted from the Manga but doesn't hew to it exactly. It also skips a bit in terms of chronology, due in no small part to the limited production and the need to put together something cohesive and satisfying. Remember most consumers buying this would have already read the Manga (so fans would fill in the blanks around the enjoyment of seeing key scenes in animation) or were to be inspired to do so by watching it (if you like the Anime, read the Manga!). Therefore the goal was never to "animate the manga succinctly". Indeed, often non-manga-canon alternate scenarios were done in OAVs as much to explore the characters and story in a new and exciting way as it was a method of ensuring the OAV could end satisfyingly without rushing through a long Manga plot (without doing it justice). Of course, it also gave the Manga fans yet another incentive to purchase it if there was new content that wasn’t in the Manga. So be thankful for all the manga and light novels that get turned into 12-13 episode half-seasons today, even if that's all you get. In the past, often all we got were a few (albeit really fun) episodes direct-to-video "back in the day" like this with years (or never!) before seeing anything else get animated.

In any case, with this OAV we do get a number of requisite scenes which really aren't spoilers here; Belldandy's arrival and Keiichi's wish; their move into the Tariki-hongan temple, Megumi's appearance, the Auto Club and the Senpais, Urd's appearance (which is simultaneously wonderfully hilarious and embarrassingly sultry), Skuld's appearance, and a few scenes with both Sayoko and Aoshima as antagonists. There are also a number of supernatural elements in the story utilizing some pretty impressive-for-their-time analog lighting effects.

However, it must be said, the later television series and its related specials and OAV which began in 2005, cover all the major elements shown in this OAV; most of it in the first 12 or so episodes of the first 2005 TV season and most of the rest in the second 2006 TV season. Therefore, in terms of a "sequential Anime marathon" this OAV is rendered obsolete. Thus it is best taken on its own, for its own sake and qualities. I often, personally either watch it just before or just after completing a re-watch of all the other Oh! My Goddess! Anime. However, because it doesn't tend to precipitate into hours of re-watching the whole Anime canon, it's also fun as a one-off...like if you get the hankering for a little SoL RomCom on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It's a little old but a lot charming, and definitely a fun little distraction, which is why it’s consistently remained high on my list since the time when I was a poor college student, much like Keiichi.

~PREFACE~

The first thing you must know about this movie is that, while it may stand on it's own, it's really not intended for that purpose.

Legend of Crystania is a high-fantasy entry into Ryo Mizuno's fictional Lodoss universe. It is set in the Sword World RPG universe which takes place in the world of Forceria/Forcelia. Or to be more explicit, it is a spin-off of Mizuno's (originally) very popular "Record of Lodoss War" novel/manga/anime series.

Chronologically, the movie was released in 1995, after the 1991 Lodoss War OVA but prior to the 1998 Chronicles of the Heroic Knigt TV series. From a purely anime perspective, the only ... way the Crystania story makes any sense in 1995 within the Lodoss universe is if you're Japanese and you've been keeping up with the Lodoss War novels. However, fortunately, as you'll read below, you can prep for this movie without learning Japanese and reading the novels.

/!\ RELATED ANIME SPOILER ALERT /!\

To set the stage for this movie, one must spoil the ending of the "Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight" saga which plays out in a Light Novel series, a Manga adaptation and a TV Animation adaptation (the one from 1998) -- which for most non-Japanese the TV Anime is likely the most obtainable CHK story medium; i.e. "you might have seen or heard of that".

Therefore if you have not seen the Lodoss War Anime it may be advisable to stop reading this review and look into viewing the Lodoss War Anime (both the 1991 OVA and the aforementioned 1998 TV Series in that order) which this reviewer highly recommends.

~REVIEW~

OVERVIEW

The basic premise of Legend of Crystania (LoC) is the fate of the Marmo people after the events of the "Chronicles of the Heroic Knight" (CHK) story-line in the Lodoss continuum. At the end of CHK, the Lodoss heroes have successfully stopped the sorcerer Vagnado/Wagnard from resurrecting Kardis, the Goddess of Destruction. Given the amount of destruction and devastation the Marmo have caused to Lodoss and in particular their own island, there's little left for them in Lodoss. The Dark Knight Ashram, now King/Emperor of the Marmo, loads the surviving Marmo people onto the remnants of the their naval fleet and leaves Lodoss in search of a new land.

Instead of heading north to the continent of Alecrast, the Marmo fleet heads out into the open seas. Where they end up is Crystania. Now, looking up some of the Sword World RPG reference materials, there aren't any very good maps of the world of Forceria showing much other than Alecrast and Lodoss. However we do know Crystania is a kind of "teardrop" shaped island, generally thought to be fairly far from either Lodoss or Alecrast; probably south and east of Lodoss. The southern part of the island is inhabited by a human colony/kingodm. The northern part of the island towers above the seas and is surrounded by what is known as the "God's Wall" inhabited by magical beings.

This is where the movie begins, it's been some time after the Marmo defeat in Lodoss (it's unclear just how long but one assumes perhaps less than a year or just long enough for the Marmo to be suffering aboard their ships from a long voyage). The Marmo Fleet has come upon the Land of Crystania, but has arrived somewhere around it's northern coast. With his fleet in tatters, his people on the brink of death, and no obvious spot to land (the God's Wall is too high) we see Ashram make a deal with the God's King Barbas in order to save them all, including the loyal Dark Elf, Pirotess.

At this point the Movie might begin to become confusing because this sequence is actually a prologue whereafter the title sequence proper begins. Thereafter we are fast-forwarded chronologically, many years into the future, to events that take place in the southern part of Crystania and the humans that inhabit it.

The rest of the movie involves, at it's most basic and spoiler-free description; an attempt by some of the humans from Crystania to aid Pirotess and the magical beings beyond the Gods Wall in saving Ashram and the Marmo from Barbas' control. And really, that's all the more spoiler-free story worth exposing here. The movie itself does a pretty good job of explaining what the God's Wall is, what the Gods of Crystania are, how the Marmo and Ashram are "trapped". To tie up the Lodoss War universe connection; the magical beings (Gods) of Crystania are linked to the War of the Gods which is described in the 1991 Lodoss War OVA anime. In addition the "greater" Gods of the Forceria world referenced in Lodoss are also referenced in Crystaina by the humans there. For example the Cleric Aderishia worhips Rhada, the god of Wisdom. This god is at one point mentioned in the Lodoss Manga and is on par with the Gods established in Lodoss such as Myree, Marfa, Pharis, Falaris, etc. Aderishia calls upon Rhada's power much like in the Lodoss anime Etoh of the "Parn Party" invokes Pharis and Neece of the "Spark Party" invokes Marfa.

TECHNICAL

Audio. One of the first items to cover is the English Dub versus the Japanese + Subtitles. You definitely want to go subbed here. It's an older ADV dub from the early 2000's. It uses none of the common (now veteran) voice actors of the day, and it's a bit phoned in. Also the dub doesn't really convey the story properly (probably from script editing to the animation) and it makes the movie a bit more confusing than it really needs to be. It's one of those releases that made sub-snobs out of older American anime otakus. Regardless, the overall soundtrack is appropriate to the movie and it's themes though it is somewhat dated to the time period and general popular trends of the mid-90's in Japan. Two notable pieces, the opening theme "Haruka na Inori" a very atmospheric fantasy-sounding tune and the closing song "Hikari no Chizu" (Map of Light) an 80's-ish hard rocker, both performed by industry veteran Hitomi Mieno are quite good. "Hikari no Chizu" is personally one of my favorite anime songs and JRock tunes in general.

Animation. The animation style in LoC diverges a bit from what is used for other Lodoss-universe shows in both the 1991 Lodoss OVA and later in the 1998 CHK TV series and even 2001's "Louie the Rune Soldier". It's a bit simpler and probably more suitable for the higher frame rates and animated action the movie format and budget offers over the OVA and TV formats.

Production. As of this writing, for those of us in the US or outside Japan, the old ADV DVD release has gone out of print with that entity going defunct. The last, most recent release being in 2008 as a combo release called "Legend of Crystania - Complete Collection" as it contained this movie and the "Legend of Crystania: The Chaos Ring" OVA sequel. However there were stand alone DVD releases of the LoC movie, first released in 2000 and then later on ADV's "Essential Anime" label in 2004; both long out of print. If you have to have this on your shelf try to find that 2008 release and get both the movie and OVA (the DVD's are identical to the stand alone releases of both, in a single DVD case). However I wouldn't pay exorbinant prices for this; it's easily somthing you can find online somewere. The old retail DVD is not a very high-quality transfer either, and might even be from a VHS master as was often the case at the time. If there is a blu-ray or HD version, it's not yet commercially available outside Japan.

OVERALL

I scored this movie a solid "7" because, well, I'm a high-fantasy fan and especially a fan of the Lodoss War universe. Although a spin-off, LoC is a welcome part of that universe for me. However for more casual veiwers, and especially as far removed as we now are from the time in which this movie was produced, it's likely to be lower for most. To get the most mileage out of it I strongly encourage familiarizing yourself with, at least, the Lodoss War Anime prior to viewing this movie. You'll have a bit more investment in, at least, the plight of the Marmo and Pirotess. That and taking the trip through Lodoss War to get back here isn't a waste either, especially if you like high fantasy fiction.