Star Ocean EX
Should be "Star Puddle" really...
Review by: M.H. "Plays too many RPG's" Torringjan
Length: 26 episodes
Genre: Adventure, fantasy, sci-fi
Watched: 1-26 subbed
Status: Not licensed, trade away!
Monolith announced recently the possibility of an anime series based on their Xenosaga series, and to this announcement, I enthusiastically exclaim, in a bawdy, much-too-loud voice, "Bring it on!!!" So, in celebration of the potential plans for a video-game-to-anime series, I'm going to turn my sights on Star Ocean EX. I had been playing around with the game for about three or four years when I picked up this anime, so I could locate every important private action in the game and even quote a couple of decent-sized passages (luckily, that's passed by now). Despite the differences, the series stays pretty darned true to the video game within the confines allowed by standard 26-episode seasons and turns out to be one of the better video game adaptations on the market today (that I've seen; I just want them to do a Seasons of the Sakura adaptation).
Plot synopsis: Ensign Claude Kenni, son of the famous Ronixis Kenni, while on a surveying mission with his father's away team, falls through a mysterious green portal and finds himself stranded alone on a strange planet. While wandering around his surroundings, he uses his laser gun to save Rena Lanford, a young girl from the nearby town of Arlia. She mistakes him for the "Warrior of the Light," who is supposed to save the planet in times of danger. An easy enough mistake to make, since, coincidentally enough, the planet is in danger from the Sorcery Globe which crashed into the country of El a while back, and Claude has alien vestments and the "Sword of Light" (his laser gun). He clears up the misunderstanding and goes on his way, trying to find a way to return to his home. Just after Claude leaves, Rena is kidnapped by a childhood friend of hers, who's under the control of a mysterious stone. Claude goes to her rescue, and on returning her to Arlia, he consents to take her with him as his guide as he goes to investigate the Sorcery Globe. Along the way, they meet new friends and begin to piece together what the truth of the Sorcery Globe really is.
Artwork: Fairly standard, really. The style of artwork is similar to that of another adventure/video game series I reviewed, Final Fantasy: Unlimited. The difference here is that the style is much more jerky, and there are more still 
cuts to save on production value. Also, during battle scenes, the swirling-color-acid-trip backgrounds take the place of the scenery, sometimes for stylistic issues, sometimes, more likely than not to cut back on production values. Character design is about the same as the game, so nothing really original, but pretty interesting nonetheless.
Music: Another one of those "doesn't work out of context" soundtracks. The opening and closing themes are pretty nice on their own, but the mixed bag of songs during the actual show, such as Ashton's electronic-sounding screwing-up music only work when, say, Ashton is screwing up. At times, the music seems to be trying to vaguely imitate the video game's music, which turns out pretty well, but again only if you're watching the show.
Characters: Claude Kenni is the goody-goody pretty-boy who just lands in Rena's lap and just happens to save her twice (at least!). He's way too modest for my liking, and too good at what he does for my suspension of disbelief. Plus, I don't like him because he's the target of Rena's affection. For this, he must die slowly and painfully. Now, enough of cursing peoples' names till the day 
they die. Rena is the uber, uber, uber-cute female lead of the series. She's a conservative girl, only letting her true emotions for others show when she's (a) alone or (b) so strongly immersed in those feelings that it's justified. Celine is the out-spoken heraldry mage that the pair encounter in Cross. She's quick to temper and a bit of a gossip, and she's addicted to shopping (even though we never see any of the things that she buys). Although she cares for her friends, she can be a bit goal-oriented at times and ignore what they're going on about. Ashton is a Heraldry Swordmaster who the trio meets in a cave between Mars and Herlie. They "distract him" (he trips on a rock) in the middle of a battle with a two-headed dragon, causing him to get possessed by the dragon. He follows them, claiming that they're responsible and they have to help him become less possessed somehow. This poor bastard has the worst luck of anyone in any anime series ever. In one episode of the series, he can get stranded, lost, beaten, possessed, rejected at least three times by the girl he's got the hots for, bitten by the dragons, and squashed by a couple of boulders, all before the first commercial break. The guy's got the most noble intentions, but nothing ever goes the way that he wants it to, the notable exception being his hobby, barrel-watching. Yes, he likes barrels. I'm guessing this obsession is even more dangerous than Craig's catgirl obsession, but that's what he likes. The dragon heads sprouting from his back, which on occasion take control of his personality are called Gyoro and Ururun, and Rena and Celine think they're just so cute! Finally, Ashton's got some sort of a weird Lolita thing going with his love interest being Precis, who wants absolutely nothing to do with him. This show, as does any good anime series, has a badass, and to balance out the sappiness that is Claude, it has to be a darned good badass. His name is Dias Flac. This guy oozes both power, skills *and* style, making him a premier badass of the highest order. The only problem is that he's not a regular, only showing up every five or six episodes, but staying for one or two when he does.
Plot: Well, I wouldn't call it the most original in the world, mostly because (a) it's based on a video game and (2) because it's really similar to the first game's plot. The episodes themselves seem very episodic at first, but they're always progressing towards the overall plot. So, even though some of them have nothing to do with investigating the Sorcery Globe, all of them are about getting to the Sorcery Globe. Many of these episodes were seemingly included for the purpose of making the series seem more like the game, such as the 
incident involving Eleanor (except that she lives in Linga now; I guess property taxes in Herlie skyrocketed) and the side-quest of gathering the materials for removing Gyoro and Ururun. For the most part, these side-quest episodes didn't seem too out of place, and actually succeeded in doing what they were intended to do (with one exception, but that's ignorable). Also, many fans of the game will be rather disappointed to discover that the entire 26 episode series only covers the first half of the game, the part on Expel, which leaves the viewer with a bizarre Laverne-and-Shirley-esque sensation. And no, I haven't heard of any plans to finish it off.
CHICKS!!! Prepare yourself appropriately, because you will be amazed by the chick in this series. Rena Lanford has got to be the cutest thing to come out of Japan with the exception of Ami Mizuno and Aoi Sakuraba, what with her reserved, but passionate underneath, mentality, her loyalty to the target of her affections, and just the way she looks (elf-ears are *so frickin' cute!*). Bordering on Belldandy-esque perfection, she's shy, reserved, and much is made in the series with her ability to cook. Her figure isn't too pronounced (no E-cup), but what she does have is femininity, and she's got it in abundance. Another possible object of affections is Celine, who's got a great figure, and a slightly more high-key personality. She knows how to have some fun, I'm willing to bet! I'm sure she wouldn't mind a quick game or two of "Find the Heraldry Tattoo," as long as you had some sort of present for her before-hand. And how can I neglect mentioning that when she casts Ray, her crotch glows. How can you resist that, I ask you?!
Overall: Despite the fact that the series ends *way* too early, the series still succeeds in presenting the plot of the game in a fairly reliable (albeit convenience-based) fashion. The characters of the game have their characters on display somewhat more effectively than in the game (although you can't choose who Rena ends up with), the comedy in the series is done a lot more 
effectively than in the game, and the action scenes just look a lot more cool. However, the artwork could have been a bit more involved, and the music tends towards generic. The series has a lot to entertain veterans of the series and people who've never played any of the Star Ocean games. At this time, though, the only way to get them is to have good bandwidth and an assload of time on your hands, since it's only available online through Soldats. There have been no announcements as of yet about licensing this series in America. So, Kazaa is your friend in this case.
In a nutshell:
+ Nice comedy
+ More effective character development
+ Stays true to game
- Only half the story
- Mediocre soundtrack
- Lazy animators
Final Grade: 8/10
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