Intro: Claude C. Kenny, a young ensign on the shaceship Calnus, has always been trapped by his father's heroic reputation. After an accident sends him on an unknown planet, Claude finally gets to choose his own destiny... sort of.
Background: This anime is based on the video game "Star Ocean the Second Story." Sadly, it only covers the first disc of the video game, the second half was recorded as audio dramas. If you haven't played the game, it'll be a frustrating series to follow.
Brief Story Description: Claude ends up on the planet Expel and meets up with a girl named Rena. Expel is being plagued with all sorts of disasters which seems to have been brought about by The Sorcery Globe, which fell from the sky. Claude and Rena join up to go investigate this object of evil and meet new party members along the way.
Story: 6/10 Though "Star Ocean the Second Story" is my all-time favorite video game, the anime leaves a bit to be desired. There's a lot more room for development with the game, but the anime story seems rather cliche.
Characters: 8/10 You either love them or you hate them! There are many characters in this story, but again, they're more cliched in the anime than in the video game. Plus everyone calls Claude "Clowed" in the dub. I'd like the dub just fine if it wasn't for that! On the plus side, the characters have better lines in the dub version than in the original Japanese... at least that's my opinion.
Quality: 6/10 The animation is digital, but it's also become a pet peeve of mine... at least in the fact that there is so little animation for this series. They like to use a lot of pretty panning images and shaky screens to give the illusion of movement. All in all though, you can only do that so many times before people catch on. Otherwise I LOVE the style and the parts that are animated.
Music: 5/10 All the music is done digitally. Some background scores are rather fun. Others remind me of cruddy midi files. I really do like the opening and ending themes though.
Little Kid Factor: Eh, kids can take it! There's no nudity, practically NO blood, and very little swearing.
Bottom line: It's amazing that I had been waiting for this anime to come stateside since 2000, it finally comes in 2004 and I'm giving it a lousy review. Hehe! Well, I really like it, but then I'm so attached to the video game, so it is rather special to me despite its faults. If you're familiar with the original game and enjoyed that, then I'd recommend this anime.