Review - Elemental Gelade Vol. 1 - React
Reviewed by Richard Brownell on 6.29.2006.
Score: 8/10
Cou is a brash young man, the youngest member of the Red Lynx sky pirate squadron. He lives in a world where men travel in the clouds and live on gigantic floating islands. Much of the world is ripe for discovery and filled with legend--perfect for a young sky pirate.
Elemental Gelade opens with the Red Lynx squad assaulting a large ship. We don't know much about what's going on, but we do know Cou wants to be in on the mission. Sadly for Cou, he is so bad at being a pirate, they won't even let him have a weapon. Instead, a grappling hook serves him in and out of battle. And they don't much want him piloting one of their small attack ships either, as a humorous flashback shows just how much of a bumbling pilot he is.
That doesn't stop him though. Much like any young hero, he does what he feels is right to bring justice to all. Then, through a bizarre chain of events, he discovers a young girl sleeping in a coffin-like box in the Red Lynx loot chamber (my term, not theirs). This is where our story really kicks off. Cou seems to have accidentally awakened a member of some sort of ancient civilization, the Edel Raids. He calls her Ren. And as he quickly learns, she is high demand. Three members of an organization dedicated to protecting Edel Raids called Arc Aile immediately attempt to pay for Ren. Our hero, always in pursuit of justice, refuses their offer.
Perhaps some sort of agreement could be met if it weren't for the sky ninjas that attack the ship next. No really. The beginning of this show pits sky pirates and sky ninjas.
After a tumultuous turn of events, the general cast of the show is nailed down as Cou, Ren, and the three members of Arc Aile end up shipless on one of the large continents. Cou promised Ren he would take her to a legendary refuge for Edel Raids, but there's nothing he can do to stop the three from Arc Aile from following along. These three, Cisqua, the diminutive leader, Ro, an almost priest-like man, and Kuea, an incredibly hungry Edel Raid.
Throughout this opening, we discover what the big deal is about Edel Raids. They serve as weapons by linking their soul with a human master. After a bright and colorful prayer of sorts, they turn into a weapon; each Edel Raid is different. And some are more powerful than others.
After watching a few episodes, one can tell Elemental Gelade is long journey anime. I know that's not a genre, but bear with me. Some shows take place almost solely in one location like at a high school. Others like Eva are largely in one location, but have episodes elsewhere when needed. But journey anime generally have a small group of main characters going from place to place in search of something they probably won't find until the end of the show. The recently reviewed Gun Sword follows this pattern. Another more of you have probably seen is Samurai Champloo.
But Elemental Gelade does feel a little bit different. More than any anime I've seen, it feels like a video game. This is probably due to the fact that many of the sky scenes look identical to Skies of Arcadia. But much of the anime has an anime feel to it. There are a few attacks from beasts that you would not be remiss in calling "random monsters." And story arcs end with boss characters.
The visual look, besides the aforementioned sky scenes, may bring thoughts of several video games. The colors chosen for the animation are all very bright and strong, one of the traits of most RPGs. The outfits the characters wear seem like a cross between Skies of Arcadia and the Lunar series. And the weapons the Edel Raids turn into are large, colorful and quite powerful.
There is no question that the Elemental Gelade creators were influenced by video games. Thankfully, the story is different enough to not feel like it is ripping off Skies of Arcadia. The story slows down after the first episode, so to some, the familiarity of the video game-like world may make the show more appealing.
Even some of the music is reminiscent of video games. The familiar RPG sound makes up some of what is heard. But there is also some diversity in the soundtrack and it's quite enjoyable throughout.
The mystical aspect of Elemental Gelade is what will make or break the show. The Edel Raids are the obvious magical part of the show and we see their power sufficiently (with some colorful repeatable animation). But it's the more subtle mystical elements that the show needs to keep interests high. The airships, the legends of far off lands, Ren's signifigance and unusual powers, and even the not-so-subtle sky ninjas are needed. The first volume leaves off with the group still on the ground walking around, but hopefully we'll see a bit more action and mystique to accompany some of the character development. Elemental Gelade volume 1 is a relatively strong start that will appeal to RPG fans, but it needs to aim its sights a bit higher to maintain interest for an entire season.
Special Features
· Textless Opening Ver. 1
· Textless Ending
