Ruin Explorers!


These are the two main characters, Ihrie and Fam. Ihrie is sometimes spelt Ihrlie or Iri. Seeing as I watched the dubbed version, I'm going to call her Ihrie. :)

Bet you thought you'd never see an update on this page, huh? Anyway, I finally added a new section, Dub vs. Sub! Because I finally saw the second part of Ruin Explorers subtitled... *drool* Anyway, it's down at the bottom under the othe review parts.

Ruin Explorers is the tale of a group of five adventurers searching for the Ultimate Power, a mystical, vague thing that gives the owner great magical power. Even though they are all searching for the Ultimate Power, their reasons are very different. The group consists of Ihrie and Fam, two explorers looking for treasure and adventure, Rasha and Miguel, another pair with much the same goals, and Lyle, a prince who is dead set on killing Rugudorull, the evil mage responsible for destroying Lyle's kingdom. Incidentally, Rugudorull is also after the Ultimate Power... Together with a scummy merchant and his brat of a dog, these five adventurers set off to find the Three Things of Power which must be accumulated to attain the Ultimate Power.

Ihrie!


Even though Fam's voice actor is usually listed first in the credits, Ihrie is really the main character. She is a ruin explorer, the name for those that seek treasure in ancient ruins. The specific treasure Ihrie is looking for is something called the Ultimate Power. She wants this to get revenge on her old master, who taught her magic. When she was little, she trashed the sorcerer's laboratory when a spell went awry, and he put a curse on her that changes her into a mouse whenever she uses her stronger magic. She has pills that will turn her back to normal, but nevertheless, it is rather inconvenient.
Ihrie has a short temper, especially toward Fam. Despite this, they are really very good friends. Ihrie is the more responsible of the group, but she is offended easily, usually by someone mentioning the fact that she doesn't act like a girl very often. She is an accomplished swordswoman, but far from the best. Ihrie's magic is also very special, in that it is the same sort that Rugudorull uses, and can therefore hurt him.



Fam!


Isn't Fam just adorable? She's a Wiggan, a creature that looks kind of like an elf kitty. The magic she uses comes directly from the spirits, whom she talks to all the time. She doesn't like to use "destructive" magic because she thinks it will make the spirits mad at her. Fam wants the Ultimate Power to help Ihrie and also to create a place where all her "animal friends and spirit friends and people friends" can live happily ever after. Fam is extremely innocent and naive, and sometimes quite immature (she can't be very old). Her voice is so high that it would give some people a headache, but I don't mind :) Fam's personality is bubbly and happy, and she is rarely sad for long. At the beginning of the second episode, she runs away after Ihrie gives her a slight chewing out about her defective magic and meets Prince Lyle in the forest. She falls head over heels in love with him at first sight (I can't say I blame her) and decides to help him get the Ultimate Power so he can kill Rugudoroll. She had taken the first Thing of Power (which she and Ihrie had gotten earlier) with her when she ran away, and she gives it to Lyle. Throughout the story, her friendship with Lyle gets stronger.
Even though Fam and Ihrie bicker all the time, each really misses the other when she's not around. Despite the fact that Fam is clumsy and a bit incompetent and the fact that Ihrie can be sort of grouchy does not keep them apart for long.




Best of friends :) Most of the time...



Prince Lyle!


Lyle... *drool* ... ... Yes. Well. Now then. Lyle is possibly my favorite character in Ruin Explorers. Could it be because he's a handsome prince with a British accent? Maaaaaybe. Anyway, Lyle is sort of unique among the cast. He doesn't share the over-the-top traits of the other characters. Lyle's voice actor does a magnificent job in this role -- yelling at Rugudoroll, crying out in angst over Meria, and speaking gently to Fam all while keeping in the voice range of a normal human being. Lyle's emotions come across as very real, unlike the others who periodically bash each other over the head and other slapstick humor stuff that runs rampant throughout the film. Not that that's a bad thing... But back to the point.
Lyle is searching for the Ultimate Power for one reason: to kill Rugudorull. When Lyle was younger, his father was the ruler of a vast kingdom. In the kingdom lived Meria, whom Lyle was in love with. They were going to get married and live happily ever after when Lyle's father decided that his son needed to see the world and get the expirience needed to be a king. So off Lyle went (if a little reluctantly). Meanwhile, Rugudorull, a high priest of the kingdom, released a power that had once been sealed away. He wanted it to make him more powerful so he could help the poor people of the nation, but it corrupted him and turned him into pure evil. Well, almost pure evil... anyway, when Lyle came back, his country was in charred ruins and the only person left alive was a chamberlain who told Lyle what happened then disintegrated. Since then, Lyle's only goal has been vengence.



Meria!


Meria doesn't have a very large part in the story, she's actually dead before it starts. But there's a flashback sequence and at the end, the spirits that Fam call up to help Lyle take the form of Meria, which they find in his memories. Meria was the young maiden in Lyle's kingdom whom Lyle was in love with. She was killed by Rugudorull when he decimated Lyle's family and homeland. She is his reason for fighting.



Rasha!


Rasha is one half of Ihrie and Fam's rival group of treasure seekers. At the beginning, they compete to get the first Thing of Power, but after they realize what they're caught up in they decide to team up. Besides, Rasha fell for Lyle the moment she saw him, so she's willing to do anything to help him and upstage Fam. Rasha is an excellent sorceress, probably the best of the group. She grudgingly teaches Fam more magic, but only for Lyle's sake. She and Miguel are at first only searching for the Ultimate Power so they can get rich, unlike Ihrie and Lyle's desire for revenge and Fam's quaint hopes for a place where everyone can live happily together. But as soon as things get rolling, they, like Fam and Ihrie, change their goal to helping Lyle kill Rugudorull.



Miguel!


Miguel is Rasha's partner, and even though she seems to be the leader of the two, it's clear that she didn't win that position from him, it was just decided that she would make most of the decisions. Miguel is the best swordsman of the group (he teaches Ihrie and Lyle how to use their weapons better at one point) and he is rather vain. One of his favorite sayings is that no one has ever cut his face. Of course, he says this right before Ihrie gives him a good whipping, but she doesn't cut his face! Rasha and Miguel have a very interesting sort of relationship. They don't show any romantic interest for each other whatsoever, but they obviously do care a lot about each other when the chips are down. Miguel gets a little irritated by Rasha's boasting and her shameless sucking-up to Lyle, but they remain friends anyway.




Rasha and Miguel, compeditors turned (sort of) compatriots.



Galuff and Gill!


Galuff first appears in the story when he shams Ihrie out of bunch of treasure for a map. He also sells a copy to Rasha and Miguel... Later, he sells a faulty map to Lyle that gets him totally lost in a forest, where he meets Fam. Galuff is a shifty, cowardly, treacherous jerk, but somehow the others tolerate him and he comes along. At first he is just along for the fame and fortune, but after a while he only sticks with the group because he doesn't want to be left behind in the unfriendly lands they pass through. Galuff's dog, Gill, has the same lovely personality as his owner. Right from the start he exhibits his kindness by almost taking Fam's hand off when she offers him a doughnut.

Rugudorull!


Rugudorull is the master villain of the story, a priest of Lyle's country that turned bad after a powerful magic corrupted him. Before he was a bad guy, Rugudorull went around the countryside, trying to help the poor people. He saw so much despair that he couldn't do anything about that he unleashed a power locked away years ago, and that power was so great that it turned him into pure evil. Now he wants the Ultimate Power as well, and with his magic, our heros are hard pressed to stop him.



The Review!

The Good

This series has a lot of good points, but some of the best
parts of it are the characters. They are well-developed and
interesting, as well as very attractive (especially Lyle *grin*).
The story keeps your attention, to say the least, and by
the end, I felt like I knew the characters and had
been through the ordeal with them. I may just be strange,
but the end of this anime made me extremely happy. It's always
nice to have a happy ending... there are so many things that
don't. Another thing about Ruin Explorers was the magnificent
score. You usually don't see a musical score like this in a
normal OAV (I think that's what this is), and this score was
done by a real orchestra, so it was especially enthralling.

The Bad

The dubbing job on this series could have been much better.
The voices are all right, unless high voices irritate you, and
in that case, you will not like Fam. I actually liked all
of the voice actors (especially Lyle's -- that British accent was
a nice touch) and I think they did a pretty good job. Ihrie sort
of sounded like she came from California ("The Ultimate Paur"), but
the actress did a good enough job to make up for it. Rasha's voice
reminded me of Nahga from The Slayers, and Miguel was suitably macho
and self-centered sounding. Meria's only voice cameo came after she
was already dead, and she sounded very ethereal. Rugudorull and Galuff
were pretty good, too. However, the job the English dubbing crew did on
matching the voices with the characters' mouth movements could have been
better. Much better. It did get better, though, as the series went on
That was the only part about the movie that I found could have been
improved.

The Ugly

There isn't much ugly about this series, but there was
a volumonous amount of falling-through-the-floor gags,
which got a little old, as I've said before. There's also a slightly
nude scene (Ihrie in the bathtub) but you don't see anything;
and a little swearing, so I'd suggest that really little kids
shouldn't be shown this. The only swears that are mentioned
are the "d-word" and the "h-word", if you get my drift,
so it wasn't anything too offensive.



The Theme Song!

The theme song is one of my favorite things about this series.
It was the... *counts*... third or fourth Japanese song I'd ever
heard (all the other ones were also from anime) and I was
absolutely enthralled by it. Don't ask me why ;) Anyway, here
are the lyrics, in Japanese and then in English.

Magical Beat
Tobedasunda madaminu sekai To Be Found
Materu dakejya mitsukaranaiyo kakenukero ima wo

Daremo kizukanai menomae wo towori sugiru
Bonyari shiteicha wakaranai
Dakedo sagaseba kito sekai no dokokani
Negaiwo kanaeru chikara aruhazusa

Aa, arakidasunoha
Aa, yuuki irukeredo
Aa, kuzikewa shinai
Materumonoka, date hitoridake zyanaikara

Let's Sail To The Wonder
Kanatano shimawo mezasou yo
Chikarawo awasete arashi no umi he tobidasouo
Kimito



Magical Beat
You gotta jump out!
There's a new world you haven't seen yet To Be Found
You can't find it just waiting around
Keep running through the present

Nobody notices something that passes right before them
You won't get it if you are doubtful
But if you look for it, somewhere in this wide world
The power that fulfills your wish has to be out there

Oh, you need courage
Oh, to start venturing out
Oh, but I won't give in
I'll never give up, because I am not alone

Let's Sail To The Wonder
We'll head to the farthest islands
We'll ride out the stormy seas with teamwork and perseverance
Together

Dub vs. Sub
I finally saw some subtitled Ruin Explorers! Yay! Only the
last tape, but I'm not going to spend too much money on
something I already have ;) Anyway, it was great, the sub. Subs are
always great. And the really nice thing was that the script of the
dubbed version was almost exactly the same. Anyway, the sub wasn't a
million times better or anything, but I don't know Japanese so
I couldn't tell if Ihrie sounded like a valley girl or not... But
the reason I got the tape was to feed my Hikaru Midorikawa obsession,
and boy, it worked ^_^ He was Lyle, of course. You can't go wrong with Lyle...
In English, he's got a British accent, and in Japanese, he's Hikaru Midorikawa!
They both do a wonderful job, but for some reason I think Midorikawa gives
a slightly better performance... he can get such emotion into his
voice. It wrenches your heart :) He's done some of my favorite people... Mikage,
Fiore, Lyle. Anyway, everyone does a good job, but I can't really tell the nuances because
I don't know Japanese. Rugudorull is a lot the same, and he goes crazy in the exact
same way as in the dub ;) The lines and everything... You can tell the same people did
both translations.

Links!
I've only got one link, but it's a really, really good one! It's probably the best Ruin Explorers page I've seen so far (they're aren't many of them).
Fam & Ihrlie - Ruin Explorers

Cool, isn't it? Anyway, I love this anime. It's one of my very favorites, and I've watched it over many times. I hope my reviews and junk have made you want to watch this awesome series :)

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All the images on this page and the story and theme song are that goes with them are © 1995 Kunihiko Tanaka, Hobby Japan/Bandai Visual, Nippon Columbia, MOVIC, and A.D.V. Films. The reviews and junk are © me.