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From Studio Deen comes Star Ocean EX.
Studio Deen is the studio that brought such anime series as The
Violinist of Hameln and Rurouni Kenshin, and if you know either or
both, you'd notice that these series tend to use a lot of environment
shots with plenty of dialogue... More so in Hameln than Kenshin.
Hameln had way too many still shots, that although these shots were
very well done, they slowed the pace of the anime, which is what
happened in Star Ocean EX. This time around, they used a lot of
environment shots, and still shots of characters that were jiggled to
create the illusion of animation. In short, the pace is incredibly
slow and awkward, and in many instances, annoying. The CG is very
impressive, and the few actual animated scenes are very smooth and
well done. But like Hameln, they overdid the stillshots, and the same
can be said about the opening animation. "To the Light" is a very
fast-paced song, and while the opening is nicely done, it's not as
well-paced to the music.
Navigation.1: "Jikuu Yusou" (Travelling Through Space and Time) Crawd's side-- Ronikis J. Kenny, the captain of the spaceship Karnas, is travelling through space with his son, Crawd C. Kenny, and their crew, when they come across Milocinia, a planet emitting strange energy. Crawd is bothered by the fact that he is always compared to his father, and that his father is always telling him what to do and what not to do. Crawd just wants to be himself, and be recognized as "Crawd" and not "Ronikis's son". While on Milocinia, Ronikis gives Crawd a phasegun -- in case he's ever in danger or scared (it's an omen =^^= ooh~) As they search on Milocinia, Crawd strays from the rest, and his father demands for him to return to the group. Crawd says it's all right, but his father orders him to stop hindering the group and return. All of a sudden, Crawd is transported to another world: Expel. Rena's side-- In the village of Aria on Expel, Rena hopes that Hikari no Yuusha ("Hero of Sparkle" as Mayumi Azuma calls it...  ) would
appear. The legendary hero who would come to Expel during a time of
crisis, wielding a sword of light, is depicted on the stained glass in
the church. She enjoys having fun in the forest, Shingo no Mori, and
as she plays with a bunny and with the flowers, she's attacked by a
giant ape monster.
Mysterious meeting-- Back in Aria, Alan (Hikaru Midorikawa), Salba's most powerful person, comes to meet up with Rena, but the townsfolk tell him she's in the forest, so he says he'll return some other time. The townsfold notice something strange about Alan, though they couldn't quite figure it out. Meeting-- Crawd is unable to contact the Karnas, so he does a little exploring in the serene environment, but the silence is shattered when the ape monster finds Rena. Just when she's about to be attacked, Crawd rushes over and strikes the monster with a branch. He tells her to run, but she's stunned at who she believes is the legendary hero. Unable to defeat the monster with the branch, he draws his phasegun, but he's too scared to use it at first. When he finally summons the courage to use it, it emits a massive beam of light, completely disintegrating the monster. This convinces Rena that he's the hero, and she offers him a flower. "Welcome, to our world, Hikari no Yuusha-sama" As Rena brings Crawd to Aria, there's an earthquake. Earthquakes have been more frequent since the Sorcery Globe crashed into Expel. Rena introduces Crawd to the townspeople, but the girls all tease her about it. She asks Crawd to wait for her, but he wanders into the church and sees the stained glass of the hero. "Yuusha... hm?" Rena brings him back to her place, where her mother stuffs him with food. He collapses on the bed from so much food, where he notices Rena staring at him, starstruck. Embarrassed, she rushes out, leaving him to sleep, and dream. He has a strange dream about his father leaving him, and he plunges into darkness. He awakens, startled, just in time to see someone come at him. He dodges and just as he's about to attack, Rena tells him to stop -- it's the town's elder mayor, Lejis (Kenichi Ogata),who had lost his balance and fell onto the bed. They talk about the legend and about the sorcery globe, but Crawd insists that he isn't the hero, and that legends are nothing more than legends. This upsets Rena and causes her to run off. Crawd wants to return to the Karnas, so the mayor suggests he go to Salba to see if he can find help; he also hands Crawd a sword, just in case. While in Salba, Yuki, the merchant at the Jam Shop, is being chased by some troublemakers. Crawd trips them, then beats them up, and Yuki brings him to her shop to thank him and talk awhile. She mentions how Alan has been acting strange lately, and that Rena's in trouble. When he hears her name, he runs to the outskirts of town and blocks the road, demanding Alan to stop his horse-drawn carriage, but Alan isn't about to stop anytime soon. So Crawd draws his phasegun and points it directly at the carriage, but at the last moment jumps out of the way, and watches in the phasegun's sight as it disappears. |
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Star Ocean Second Story is Štri-Ace Inc./LINKS/Minato Koio/ENIX 1998