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Advance Anime Review: Ragnarok: The Animation Vol. 2 - Second Quest
- By Gretchen Lee
- Published 01/27/2008
- Anime and Manga
- Unrated
Gretchen Lee
Gretchen is an anime junkie who spends far too much time reading manga and searching for that elusive new favorite series. She lives with her cat, and raises tomato trees.
View all articles by Gretchen Lee
After all the introductions of the previous volume, this extended second installment of Ragnarok: The Animation really gets the story rolling. Characters develop a little more, and the quest for adventure becomes less vague as the players set their sights on what could be a rather dangerous goal. This series is very much intended for children, and I still contend its main objective is to get the kids to ask Mom and Dad for Ragnarok Online accounts, but as an anime, it's fun and entertaining.
Roan, Yufa, and their companions' adventure takes on a much more narrow focus when they learn that Yufa's brother, Keough, isn't as dead as he ought to be. The face is Keough's, but Yufa and the others are still uncertain if this cruel, desolate man who calls himself Haze and commands monsters really is her brother. Yufa's love for her brother and her tendency to look for the good in people brings her dangerously close to Haze, who ruthlessly takes advantage of Yufa's confusion. Neither Roan nor Iruga are certain who Haze really is, but their investigation leads to a much darker discovery.
Meanwhile, several episodes focus on various characters, offering a bit of backstory, namely for Takius and Maya. Maya has been alone most of her life, and has worked hard to reach her self-proclaimed status of merchant, such as it is. The episode offers a bit of insight as to why she has such a strong sense of self-preservation. Takius, on the other hand, was raised by her teacher, who she communicates with mentally across great distances. He gives her instructions, guiding her actions from afar, but it may not be the wisest choice for Takius to blindly (pardon the pun) follow his commands.
After some startling revelations, Takius must choose between her teacher and her new friends.
This installment of Ragnarok takes on a slightly darker tone as the baddies coalesce around a shadowy figure of evil known only as the Dark Lord. Even while the companions must band together to take down this threat, they have to learn to work together as a group as personalities grow and change. Despairing in the fact that he's just not strong enough, Roan leaves the group to improve himself. He returns as a more powerful swordsman (don't ask about the training time--he seems to grow three inches and gain many years' worth of sword training in a matter of days) without any explanation. His shiny new power brings trouble, however, due to his newfound pompousness. For whatever reason, this is the one time Yufa doesn't whack him for being an idiot. A terrible oversight. Feeling left behind by Roan's increase in power, Yufa decides that it's time to become a full-fledged priest, so she can match Roan's strength, and help the group. Sobered by unfortunate events and their resolved strengthened by those same events, the little fellowship must decide what they should do next.
After watching the first volume, I was a little worried about this series, but the second volume moves along at a steady pace with plenty of action, a bit of character development, and plenty of humor to lighten some of the gravity. The darker tone makes the series more interesting, and if I had seen this as a little girl, I would have loved it. It's not something I'd buy, but if I had kids, it would definitely be on a list to rent for them.
Details: Runtime 207 minutes, contains episodes 10-18 on two discs. It doesn't include an extras section, but there is an option on the menu for trailers.
Roan, Yufa, and their companions' adventure takes on a much more narrow focus when they learn that Yufa's brother, Keough, isn't as dead as he ought to be. The face is Keough's, but Yufa and the others are still uncertain if this cruel, desolate man who calls himself Haze and commands monsters really is her brother. Yufa's love for her brother and her tendency to look for the good in people brings her dangerously close to Haze, who ruthlessly takes advantage of Yufa's confusion. Neither Roan nor Iruga are certain who Haze really is, but their investigation leads to a much darker discovery.
Meanwhile, several episodes focus on various characters, offering a bit of backstory, namely for Takius and Maya. Maya has been alone most of her life, and has worked hard to reach her self-proclaimed status of merchant, such as it is. The episode offers a bit of insight as to why she has such a strong sense of self-preservation. Takius, on the other hand, was raised by her teacher, who she communicates with mentally across great distances. He gives her instructions, guiding her actions from afar, but it may not be the wisest choice for Takius to blindly (pardon the pun) follow his commands.
This installment of Ragnarok takes on a slightly darker tone as the baddies coalesce around a shadowy figure of evil known only as the Dark Lord. Even while the companions must band together to take down this threat, they have to learn to work together as a group as personalities grow and change. Despairing in the fact that he's just not strong enough, Roan leaves the group to improve himself. He returns as a more powerful swordsman (don't ask about the training time--he seems to grow three inches and gain many years' worth of sword training in a matter of days) without any explanation. His shiny new power brings trouble, however, due to his newfound pompousness. For whatever reason, this is the one time Yufa doesn't whack him for being an idiot. A terrible oversight. Feeling left behind by Roan's increase in power, Yufa decides that it's time to become a full-fledged priest, so she can match Roan's strength, and help the group. Sobered by unfortunate events and their resolved strengthened by those same events, the little fellowship must decide what they should do next.
After watching the first volume, I was a little worried about this series, but the second volume moves along at a steady pace with plenty of action, a bit of character development, and plenty of humor to lighten some of the gravity. The darker tone makes the series more interesting, and if I had seen this as a little girl, I would have loved it. It's not something I'd buy, but if I had kids, it would definitely be on a list to rent for them.
Details: Runtime 207 minutes, contains episodes 10-18 on two discs. It doesn't include an extras section, but there is an option on the menu for trailers.