Alternative TitlesJapanese: ファイナルファンタジー：アンリミテッドInformation Episodes: 25 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Oct 2, 2001 to Mar 26, 2002 Broadcast: Tuesdays at 18:30 (JST) Source: Game Duration: 24 min. per ep. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 6.171 (scored by 1703617,036 users) Ranked: #888722 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #3778 Members: 37,913 Favorites: 83 Available AtResources
DetailsCharacters & StaffEpisodesVideosStatsReviewsRecommendationsInterest StacksNewsForumClubsPictures Reviews Filtered Results: 14 / 14 Sort Suggested Most voted Newest Oldest Filter Click once to include and twice to exclude Clear AllYour Feelings Recommended Mixed Feelings Not Recommended Categories Funny Informative Well-written Creative Preliminary Spoiler Apr 5, 2008 It is not what I've expected it to be... Most of you would think the same after seeing it for the first time.Almost every episode starts off with a narrator called FABULA telling you what happened so far and at the end she makes a brief prophecy for the next one.The characters are appealing and I grew to like every single one of them, but their design doesn't match (to be honest, they're even ugly sometimes...) with the backgrounds and effects (both really good), however... you get used to it after a while and with each passing episode you come to know them better.Anyways, the... story is imaginative and completely different from any series before. The plot is relatively dynamic and contains only very few repetitive or boring sequences. Another thing that fascinated me were the locations, because they seemed to be very well thought out.A lot of fans of the Final Fantasy games do not appreciate this anime, because it has nothing to do with any of the already existing parts. In my opinion Unlimited is special in its own way and shouldn't be compared to anything seen in the games. That would be the same as if you'd hate F.F.X. just because it isn't associated with F.F.VII. but as in everything that shares the name 'Final Fantasy' there are Chocobos, Cactuars and Moogles featured!So, don't listen to bad critics and judge for yourself. Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Feb 10, 2008 If you just found out about this anime are are thinking: "OMG!!! Final fantasy anime~ this must be the best thing in existence!111!!!11" Think again.... Besides references to a few summons and other final fantasy lore~ the story feels like nothing resembling final fantasy at all. Its not a sequel or connected to any other fantasy universes in any way~ If anything it just felt like a diabolical anime company decided to add "final Fantasy" to the title to brainwash fans of the franchise to buy their series... a very inhumane marketing tactic indeed...Story: Kids from the "real world" looking for their lost parents in... a "fantasy world"... run into trouble because they have no powers to protect themselves from the crazy monsters running about. They are saved by a few people in the world who decide to help them find their parents. The flow of the story is VERY VERY slow...Alot of cheesy jokes and talking that no one really cares about. The fighting scenes are not the best, but because the Fighting Protagonist "Kaze" is just so awesome, and the rest of the plot is so slow, you just pray a fighting scene will come soon to save you from misery. ohhh... and the fighting relies on summoned beast fired from guns... Some sword action would have been nice. Art: Its not a masterpiece or anything~ but for the time it was rather good. Kaze and his main antagonist have a very unique presence that makes them shine compared to the rest of the cast. Sound: Nothing stands out about the sound for the most part, it wasn't very memorable. One of the endings was very upbeat and nice, I still listen to it occasionally. Characters: Nearly all character attributes are stereotypical shounen roles... Nothing stands out barely at all. The two siblings Ai and Yu were supposed to be the main characters, but they're just so boring and predictable its not even fun. Kaze, the "fighting protaganist" was the only real reason I could even bare the show~ and even then he's the stereotypical "Silent hero" type, and gets little to no attention unless its a battle. If not for Kaze and his antagonist my rating would have been a 4 overall...Enjoyment: I honestly felt betrayed watching this series. If Final fantasy has made alot of mistakes on its path to glory... but this series takes the cake. When the show was over I wished I had a time machine to go back and delete this series off my hard drive before I had the opportunity to waste a good 7-8 hours of my life on this show. Rating: 6/10The only thing you'll get from watching this series is bragging rights that you didn't commit suicide in the watching of this series. Reviewer’s Rating: 6 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Oct 8, 2008 Normally, when I think about Final Fantasy, I think about FF 7 and all of those characters.But, when I saw this Final Fantasy, I immediately fell in love with it.The characters are great, the plot is very good, and the mood of the story matches the usual drama that Final Fantasy is so fond of.I love how we get a quick but detailed look at the past of each character. It helps us to see how dramatic and tragic their lives were.Another thing I absolutly loved was the return of everyone's favorite Final Fantasy animal....the Chocobo!Chobi was very cute, and even if he seemed... clueless at times, he was a lot smarter then we thought.I recommend this series to EVERY Final Fanatsy lover. It's a watchable series, most definatly. Reviewer’s Rating: 10 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Jun 10, 2014 As a longtime Final Fantasy fan, I'm continuously amazed that this triple-A videogame series, with over 20 years of lore to draw from, remains unable to make a successful big screen transition. "Final Fantasy: Unlimited" may not be completely devoid of elements from the games or a bunch of FMVs duct-taped together to appease fanboys, but this anime still pretty much lost me when one of the characters uses a gun to conjure summons (yes, a freakin' gun). When all is said and done, "Unlimited" is nothing but a souless "Alice in Wonderland" ripoff (the anime's world is even called Wonderland). The barely-there story yields... boring action, tons of recycled animation and a cast consisting of some psychic monk bimbo with bouncy boobs, a couple of bratty kids and the anime staple "guy with black cape who never talks whom we're supposed to believe is a bad@ss just cause he's a jerk with a big gun." I was literally an inch away from quitting this series after Disc 3, but I somehow managed to tough it out all the way to Disc 5, only to watch "Unlimited" collapse into an abrupt heap of an ending. Yeah it's got chocobos, something resembling summons and that legendary Final Fantasy victory theme, but the rest of "Final Fantasy: Unlimited" is simply a weird for the sake of weird mess with hallow, uninspired characters and a non-sensical story that isn't even complete. The English dub is also strikingly below-average. If you're still waiting for a decent Final Fantasy anime or movie, you're gonna have to wait some more. One and a half stars. Reviewer’s Rating: 2 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Jan 31, 2018 Final Fantasy: Unlimited began airing towards the end of 2001. It was one of Gonzo's early anime projects. Yes, the same studio behind Gantz, Solty Rei, Strike Witches & Gankutsuo. Gonzo is one of those studios that seems to have something really bad for every good series they put out. The Sunabouzu to balance out the Bakuretsu Tenshi, if you will. They've also had quite a few middling titles. Where does this one fit? Let's take a look.Story:We open with a scene in our everyday world where two dragons are facing off as onlookers take bets and wonder when Godzilla is going to get involved.... Or, maybe it'll be Gamera. I hear he's really neat and full of meat. We cut to much later when the existence of the other world has become old hat. Twins Ai & Yu are heading to a magical subway to journey to the Inner World in search of their parents who went there to do science. On the subway they encounter Lisa Pacifist, a young woman going to the Inner World for reasons of her own. Which may be related to them having really good tacos, but probably isn't. We follow the travellers as they go through different, strange locales of the Inner World and encounter all kinds of trouble. Fortunately for them, a mysterious bloke with a magic gun always seems to be in the same areas to help them.By far the biggest issue with this series is just that it's under-developed. There are quite a few things that had the potential to be interesting. The revelation involving the soil that Kaze uses in his magic gun could have been interesting and led to some really compelling stuff in turn. The revelation about Ai & Yu had potential as well. But in both of these cases the revelations come at the very end and there's really nothing to even strongly hint at them beforehand. So, they end up as pretty close to nothing. There's also the evil death lord characters. It's hinted throughout that one of them, Oscha, is plotting something. And there's a lot of build up and then it all leads up to nothing. The series also suffers a bit from being overly repetitive. Yeah, the characters travel to a variety of strange locations but, ultimately, most of it culminates in some big bad attacking, Kaze's magic gun moving, him shooting a summoned creature and the FF victory music playing. Incidentally, you know how a good magical girl series will start abridging its stock footage so that you aren't watching the same thing in every bloody episode? Well, Unlimited takes the other route. They never abridge Kaze's magic gun sequence and most episodes use it. I guess they were really happy with the animation. Or they didn't want to bother writing a little extra content.There are some parts to the series that are kind of dumb too. For example, there's a point where our characters are in an advanced submarines and its weapons work by having a bunch of men blow into tubes like they're trying to audition for pornographic yaoi. You can make a really advanced submarine but you can't build a more effective firing mechanism? You really have to take the giant blowgun route? This version of Cid is an idiot. There's also the whole magic gun thing. This thing doesn't just require specific combinations to work, it requires super specific combinations. There are at least three different versions of white. With that many kinds of Soil, how exactly does Kaze know which ones work? A lot of trial and error? Considering the soil's secret, that would be unfortunate. Did he look it up on the Internet? Does he have a strategy guide with all two hundred varieties of soil and exactly which summoning recipes each one is used for? Did he scour the bookshelves, chests and back alleys of the Inner World until he found all the secreted away books with summon recipes in them? Inquiring minds demand answers.With that out of the way, I do have to say that most of its problems aren't all that bad. And it is kind of interesting to watch them go through the strange locations. Some of the set ups they find themselves facing are quite intricate and it can be interesting to experience how they function. The series also has some pretty nice comedic moments here and there. It never quite reaches the point where it's a slog to get through.Characters:The characters in this can best be described as mediocre. With the main cast, you occasionally get glimpses that indicate that the writers are going for something better but they never take the time to really focus on any of the characters enough to elevate them above average. Take Kaze for example. For most of the series, he acts as a “mysterious” figure who seems to care more for his vendetta than for the people around him. We then start getting hints that he has some tragic past that drives him. Towards the end of the series, we learn basically what that tragedy was but it comes across more as a blanket justification for his behaviour as opposed to a new facet for the character. His attitude and behaviour remain completely stagnant.Art:The art is pretty mixed. On the negative side, the character designs look kind of lazy. There's also some awkward CG in places. To top it all off, the stock footage stuff gets boring very quickly. On the positive side, the summoned creatures do look pretty interesting. There are also some visually surreal locations they go through that look good.Sound:There are some superb actors in this. Takehito Koyasu, Imai Yuka, Canna Nobutoshi & Ishida Akira among them. We also get a surprisingly good performance from Inoue Kikuko who only gets to say variations of “kukururu” but manages to show a lot of emotion anyway. Her character has moments where she sounds shocked, uncertain, sad & frightened. All while speaking gibberish. None of them are giving their best performances ever here, but they're all good. The music is very Final Fantasy. We've got some classics by Uematsu Nobuo. We've also got some from Hamaguchi Shiro (who also has a decorated background in FF music) & Tada Akifumi. The music is, by far, the strongest element in the series.Ho-yay:The closest thing we get to ho-yay in this series is Lisa blushing furiously when she finds out she'll be sharing a room with Mireth, and Mireth winking at her when imparting that information. There might be payapaya happening on this submarine.Final Thoughts:There are certainly things to like about Final Fantasy: Unlimited. The music and acting are both strong. The summons and diverse, strange worlds look good. The story keeps your interest with its strange set ups & locales. It manages to get some laughs. Unfortunately, it's also a series that never reaches its full potential. The story has a lot that's under-developed and under-utilised. The characters are just mediocre and the boring, uncut stock footage attack is a constant. I would still say the series is okay but it's not good. My final rating is going to be a 6/10. Next week I'll talk about Trinity Blood. Reviewer’s Rating: 6 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Jul 25, 2012Not RecommendedPreliminary (13/25 eps) First off, if you are looking for something that is just like the games, then stay far away from this show. It is made for children and that’s how it should really stay in my mind. Another thing is that it pretty much gives you a middle finger when you want to know more of the ending because the manga that takes place after this isn’t translated for Americans. I seriously don’t know why they would dub this (except for maybe the big boom of video game selling, and yet, this has nothing to do with them.) A lot of the stuff that should be... explained is never explained so I feel really left out, not a great way to try and get me to watch. I actually don’t feel I could finish this show at all. Nothing is explained; some things are implied but leave you wondering what the fuck was going on. In the end, I lost interest half way threw because of this and the fact that Kaze’s summoning takes so freaken long. I mean, do we really need a 10 minute summoning in a half hour show? Its worse then Sailor Moon’s transformations each and every episode. I just about fell asleep to it! It pretty much consists of him flipping a bullet as he talks about what color it is and what it symbolizes, it going into the gun where it pretty much shows as a CG version, and then he does it 2 more fucken times… give me a break! How come it has to happen that long? It pretty much seems to take up all of the show just for him to summon one monster. It was supposed to be 50 episodes long but got cut down to pretty much fucken half, so makes me not want to watch it even more.The animation is BAD! Really, the runny egg look of everything and the way they move is so bad. The design of things looks like a freaken acid trip and the CG feels much out of place in a lot of the scenes. What can I say? Gonzo messed another one up again. I mean, go look at it if you really care about the animation because I don’t know how else to explain how bad they messed up.The voices are really bad, most of them full of monotones that show no really feeling. Kaze rarely speaks and even his counterpart seems a real downer. I really wish he would talk a little more. At least explain something!Now here’s a part where I’m going to speculate something about Kaze and his rival that I probably will never know if it’s real or not. Kaze might be the reincarnation of Bahamut and his rival is the reincarnation of Mist Dragon from the fight in the beginning of the show… There, I said my bit, and I probably will never know the truth now because the stupid show is bland and the part with all the answers has not come out in English. Reviewer’s Rating: 4 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Feb 10, 2010 Before you start to watch this anime, leave all your preconceived notions at the back door. This is NOT a typical final fantasy story. It is more childish and has nothing to do with the video games aside from a few mixed references of "chocobo" "mog" some of the summons. If someone were a hardcore final fantasy fan and would be severly angered and dissapointed if it wasn't up to their expectations, DONT WATCH THIS ANIME. That being said it should be judged on its own scale.That being said I will get more into specificsStory- good, but what really makes it is the whole... "adventure in the quest". The storytelling is solid in this simplistic overdone aspect but they do it well.Art- The art is medicore with the occasional blend of CGI that stands out like a sore thumb.Character- The characters are simplisic and enjoyable. Not very complicated which you would expect from an anime that should have a age group of around 12-15. Kaze has a good sense of mystery and at the last episode you really start to feel engaged and too root for him as the hero.Enjoyment- Since I am not crying about how the FF franchise was butchered through this anime, I feel I am on the flipside and enjoy a medium seriousness, fun, and enjoyable program.Overall- Leave all of your notions at the back door and come into this expecting just another anime about a quest and some enjoyment along the way. Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all May 22, 2016 This was a very different kind of Final Fantasy I'm used to, but coming from a Final Fantasy fan since over a decade now, I didn't expect it to be just another sword hack-and-slash anime trying to copy the games. I enjoyed it very much, even rewatched and shared with my friends.It's much darker and creepier than I imagined it would be. The story was pretty great and original, and the characters were likable. The character's did, however, seem to come right from a children's book, which, at least to me, added to the effect. I recommend the subtitles though, because the english dub for... Ai and Yu are hard to listen to; they sound like they are just reading the script. The summoning scenes is easily noticeable redundancy in the show. I found it hilarious really. I even find myself memorizing the entire summoning. Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Aug 11, 2022 The best way to explain FF:U's situation is this; it's not as bad as it may be made out to look, in fact a good story *is* there, but it does suffer from a lot of outside issues that hurt its production. See how the anime stops at 25 episodes? It was originally supposed to be about 50, with the ending actually being just about the halfway point, but had to be cut due to multiple budget cuts. There are published versions of the rest in the form of light novels, but none have been officially translated. That, and it's an FF anime in the... way other FF games are tied together - recurring creatures, a mechanic named Cid, a few notable pieces of music, and a couple other misc features. Do not go into the series under the thought process that it's just like the games, because it's a completely separate medium.If one can look past these things, and without going into story details, it's more or less remnants of a project that probably would have done a lot better if the creators of it were given the means to do so. The music has a unique feel to it, and while the animation can be rough (especially early on) in some parts, there are others later that look quite nice. Things are really rushed in the last few episodes due to the mentioned budget cuts forcing them to find a half-decent stopping point, but it's a fairly simple series to pick up and put down whenever since the first half is more episodic while the latter half is more serialized like a typical anime. It's fairly dark for what you might think as an FF anime, but subtly so. A lot of it comes from reading in between the lines and might not be apparent immediately.You'll probably be able to enjoy it for what it is if none of the circumstances surrounding its creation bothers you and you go in without expecting it to be like an FF game. Personally, I love it with flaws and all, but not everyone will. Give it a shot, enjoy it if you want to and move on if you don't. It has some problems, but they're more a result of unfortunate circumstances than they are anything else. Reviewer’s Rating: 6 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all May 3, 2009RecommendedPreliminary (18/25 eps) I think this is nothing like the proper FF series, certainly the animation is poor and simple in comparison but it's like FF for Kids.It is a easy anime to follow and 9/10 episodes "Soil is my Power" said by the character called "Black Wind" which so far he saves the day a lot but there is not much history on why he sticks around.But saying all this it is a good anime, and being in English Dub it is easier to follow, you have a brother and sister looking for there parents in the other world called "Wonderland".If you look at it differently from... the proper FF series movies then you'll enjoy it more Reviewer’s Rating: 9 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Nov 4, 2015 I remember watching this Anime 10 years ago and the thing that stood out the most about this Anime was how long that guy (Kaze) took to load his gun with 3 soil capsules. Probably the most annoying part of this Anime, don't waste your time. Sure there's a chocobo and moogle and Neo/Ultimate/Omega Bahamut (I forget which one) is in this Anime to give it a Final Fantasy experience but other than that, the overall story and character building sucks. No one really stood out in particular in personality just only in design. The action scenes were nothing special and it became predictable like... a Sailor Moon anime that all it's going to take to win the battle was for the main character to show up, but instead of a "moon tiara magic", he's going to take 5 minutes to load his gun and shoot it. Reviewer’s Rating: 5 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Jul 11, 2010 StoryFirst of all I watched this anime just because I played the FF games...all of them until FF 13...and...it doesen't have nothing regarding these 13 games...[Just a chocobo that later transform into super-chocobo *sarcasm* actually was the "Legendary Ciel" ? , a Kupa that apers in the last episodes, and some enemies from FF VI apearing in one episode [I think they were named Cactus? -] and 2 ore 3 sound max from the FF series sountrack...the rest...is a rock on the bottom of a ocean...Now...regarding this anime story...At the begining I thinked it was nice...but as the episodes started to repeat I kindda hate... myself for watching the whole episodes....[Btw...I hate the sucky ending -] What hapened with all protagonist? What about Kaze? Makenshi? Nothing about them....ArtIt didn't impress me very much...even though it might be an old anime...I saw older anime's with better graphics and landscapes than this one...SoundI gived a 7 just because it has 2 or 3 tunes from the FF games...If it weren't for that It would have 4 from me... First OP - I hate it, First ED - Hate it too , Second OP - Hate it more than the first OP, Second ED - What the hell? Is this even an ED?CharacterI want to make it clear...I watched this anime ONLY for my only favourite character... Makenshi ...I loved his atittude and the way he protected those 2 twins from Earl..I hope it didn't die...because if he really died...I would hate myself even more for watching this anime...and almost forgot...I HATE Fabula...why does she have to apear in every episode and present me what hapened in the early ones and say what would happen in the current one?EnjoymentIt had some pretty funny moments with Chocobo...but as the same jokes started to repeat I got bored...lucky me that sometimes I got to see Makenshi in action and rise my interest....OverallThe only thing that made me give this anime 7 is because of Makenshi and 3 tunes from the original FF games...that's all...It would got a big 3 from me if it weren't for these.... Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Jan 5, 2023 The anime is an adaptation of the Final Fantasy video game series. There are many themes borrowed from the games from the power of crystals, heroic struggles, and self sacrifice. While the concept was good and the stories were interesting, the overall work lacked the execution necessary to do justice to the Final Fantasy franchise. The anime sets up its own story and lore like many Final Fantasy games. It is self-contained so it is not necessary to play the games beforehand to follow the adaptation. Overall story is very cheesy and lighthearted and not in a good way. The themes from... the games were underutilized and minimally explored. It seems as if the serious nature of the concepts were deliberately toned down in order to cater to a younger audience and this was a bit disappointing. In the anime version, 12 year old twins Ai and Yu Hayaka go searching for their missing parents who along with their scientists colleagues, were attacked by unknown assailants. They board a train that leads them into a bizarre world called Wonderland. In this strange place, everything seems out of order. Normal rules do not apply here, as you can steal from anything from anyone without any consequences. During their search for their parents, they meet up with many other inhabitants of Wonderland and learn about a massive threat that will come. The musical score is decent and fitting for the anime. The art style and character models were serviceable without being memorable while the creature designs for the Chocobo, Moogle and Cactuar looks generally like the games. The animation looks dated and appears sluggish and stiff at times. It seems recycled in every episode. Even the plot is recycled and follows the same formula in every episode. Most of the episodes are just filler and padding and the twins are not really focused on finding their lost parents. The villains are unstoppable as they appear in the episodes one after the other even though they were supposed to be defeated in the previous one. The villains are based off Alice In Wonderland characters like the Queen of Hearts. In the anime, they are known as the four lords of Guardum. The main villain was really no different to Ciel Phantomhive in Black Butler which was another Square Enix produced anime. The villains in general are evil for the sake of being evil which is a massive contrast to many of the Final Fantasy series villains from Kefka, Arydn and Sephroth. The pacing was uneven as some scenes can move way to fast or drag out for a while. The voice acting was also really terrible with Ai’s voice being grating and irritating due to how high pitched it is. The voice of Kaze’s tries way too hard to imitate the more serious and brooding characters of the games like Squall Leonhart, Vincent Valentine and others. The script and dialogue were also poor and the humor was kind of cheesy and not very funny. They balanced it out with its serious moments this focuses heavily on humor to the point it can get really annoying and stale fast. There really is not that much in terms of character development. The kids and the characters often make dangerous and ridiculous decisions and then run away instead of facing problems head on and finding some solutions. Ai Hayaka can be very bratty and whiny and her curiosity, while common for a child, sets off disastrous events which put everyone in danger. Her brother Yu is supposedly meant to be the mature one but he can be just as fearful and runs away from situations like his sister. Their relationship was not really different from Yuri and Chelinka’s in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Rings Of Fate and they also are not that different from them in terms of character. They just run around trying to dodge enemy attacks, hide then run away until Kaze randomly shows up out of nowhere to diffuse the situation. Lisa Pacfist can be naïve and ditzy. As the guardian of the twins, she does whatever she can to keep them safe, but she ends up running like the kids from time to time. She really has no purpose in the story as her true goals are not exactly clear. Lisa appears have her own agenda and she is not honest about who she is. Her powers are very weak and her barrier powers can hardly hold up from the more powerful attacks. The action was underwhelming and all it takes for a monster to be defeated is for Kaze to use his summons and that’s just about it. Enemies are easily dispatched and they do not pose much of a threat. Kaze was really a carbon copy of the dark and brooding characters Tetsuya Nomura creates for his works. Many characters and stories were not properly developed and their personalities felt hollow. Many of the concepts and lore of this show was either half explained or just left unexplained leaving the viewer in the dark. Kaze has a mysterious past and something seems to drive him for vengeance but it is never really elaborated. Nothing is known about Lisa Pacifist and her organization C2, who they are and what their objectives are. The ending was abrupt leaving many loose ends. One of the reasons this anime was cancelled was allegedly due to how Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within flopped critically and financially. There were supposed to be 50 episodes and eventually, an audio cd drama and a manga were released to help explain some of the storylines for this adaptation. With lame dialogue and poor voice actors, recycled villains and senseless storylines, this anime adaptation did little justice to a storied franchise. It felt more like an entirely separate show rather than an anime based off the Final Fantasy franchise. Reviewer’s Rating: 2 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all Aug 15, 2024 "When I watched it as a kid, it seemed wow, but rewatching it in 2024 feels meh"Final Fantasy has an anime series I've been searching for over the past two years. I only remembered a character who used various bullets and had incredible powers, and that was a memory from my childhood.So I searched and found out the anime is called Final Fantasy: Unlimited. When I rewatched it in 2024, it turned out to be very boring. The storyline is similar to Inuyasha, Digimon, and other 90s anime. The characters are chased by enemies, fight, and then it's over, and the same formula repeats in... every episode until episode 24.In my opinion, the only exciting episodes are 1-2 and 24-25; that's it. The rest of the episodes always put me to sleep, and it even took me 5 days to finish just one episode. Oh, and the ending is pretty much just as expected, nothing special, and felt rushed.However, for kids, this kind of storyline might still be okay, but as an adult, I wouldn't recommend it."(in bahasa)Saat menonton di masa kecil, anime ini terlihat luar biasa, tetapi ketika saya menontonnya kembali di tahun 2024, rasanya biasa saja.Final Fantasy memiliki serial anime yang sudah saya cari selama dua tahun terakhir. Saya hanya ingat ada seorang tokoh yang menggunakan berbagai macam peluru dan memiliki kekuatan yang luar biasa—itu adalah ingatan masa kecil saya.Setelah mencari-cari, saya akhirnya menemukan bahwa anime itu bernama Final Fantasy: Unlimited. Ketika saya menontonnya ulang di tahun 2024, ternyata anime ini sangat membosankan. Alur ceritanya mirip dengan Inuyasha, Digimon, dan anime-anime 90-an lainnya, di mana tokoh-tokohnya dikejar musuh, bertarung, lalu selesai. Episode berikutnya pun mengulang resep cerita yang sama hingga episode ke-24.Menurut saya, yang menarik hanya episode 1-2 dan 24-25. Selebihnya, saya selalu tertidur, bahkan butuh lima hari untuk menyelesaikan satu episode. Oh, dan akhirnya pun tidak ada yang spesial, terkesan terburu-buru.Namun, mungkin untuk tontonan anak-anak, alur cerita seperti ini masih terlihat menarik. Tapi, ketika kita sudah dewasa, saya tidak merekomendasikannya. Reviewer’s Rating: 5 What did you think of this review? Nice0 Love it0 Funny0 Confusing0 Informative0 Well-written0 Creative0Show all
Alternative TitlesJapanese: ファイナルファンタジー：アンリミテッドInformation Episodes: 25 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Oct 2, 2001 to Mar 26, 2002 Broadcast: Tuesdays at 18:30 (JST) Source: Game Duration: 24 min. per ep. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 6.171 (scored by 1703617,036 users) Ranked: #888722 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #3778 Members: 37,913 Favorites: 83 Available AtResources
Apr 5, 2008 It is not what I've expected it to be... Most of you would think the same after seeing it for the first time.Almost every episode starts off with a narrator called FABULA telling you what happened so far and at the end she makes a brief prophecy for the next one.The characters are appealing and I grew to like every single one of them, but their design doesn't match (to be honest, they're even ugly sometimes...) with the backgrounds and effects (both really good), however... you get used to it after a while and with each passing episode you come to know them better.Anyways, the... story is imaginative and completely different from any series before. The plot is relatively dynamic and contains only very few repetitive or boring sequences. Another thing that fascinated me were the locations, because they seemed to be very well thought out.A lot of fans of the Final Fantasy games do not appreciate this anime, because it has nothing to do with any of the already existing parts. In my opinion Unlimited is special in its own way and shouldn't be compared to anything seen in the games. That would be the same as if you'd hate F.F.X. just because it isn't associated with F.F.VII. but as in everything that shares the name 'Final Fantasy' there are Chocobos, Cactuars and Moogles featured!So, don't listen to bad critics and judge for yourself. Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice
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Feb 10, 2008 If you just found out about this anime are are thinking: "OMG!!! Final fantasy anime~ this must be the best thing in existence!111!!!11" Think again.... Besides references to a few summons and other final fantasy lore~ the story feels like nothing resembling final fantasy at all. Its not a sequel or connected to any other fantasy universes in any way~ If anything it just felt like a diabolical anime company decided to add "final Fantasy" to the title to brainwash fans of the franchise to buy their series... a very inhumane marketing tactic indeed...Story: Kids from the "real world" looking for their lost parents in... a "fantasy world"... run into trouble because they have no powers to protect themselves from the crazy monsters running about. They are saved by a few people in the world who decide to help them find their parents. The flow of the story is VERY VERY slow...Alot of cheesy jokes and talking that no one really cares about. The fighting scenes are not the best, but because the Fighting Protagonist "Kaze" is just so awesome, and the rest of the plot is so slow, you just pray a fighting scene will come soon to save you from misery. ohhh... and the fighting relies on summoned beast fired from guns... Some sword action would have been nice. Art: Its not a masterpiece or anything~ but for the time it was rather good. Kaze and his main antagonist have a very unique presence that makes them shine compared to the rest of the cast. Sound: Nothing stands out about the sound for the most part, it wasn't very memorable. One of the endings was very upbeat and nice, I still listen to it occasionally. Characters: Nearly all character attributes are stereotypical shounen roles... Nothing stands out barely at all. The two siblings Ai and Yu were supposed to be the main characters, but they're just so boring and predictable its not even fun. Kaze, the "fighting protaganist" was the only real reason I could even bare the show~ and even then he's the stereotypical "Silent hero" type, and gets little to no attention unless its a battle. If not for Kaze and his antagonist my rating would have been a 4 overall...Enjoyment: I honestly felt betrayed watching this series. If Final fantasy has made alot of mistakes on its path to glory... but this series takes the cake. When the show was over I wished I had a time machine to go back and delete this series off my hard drive before I had the opportunity to waste a good 7-8 hours of my life on this show. Rating: 6/10The only thing you'll get from watching this series is bragging rights that you didn't commit suicide in the watching of this series. Reviewer’s Rating: 6 What did you think of this review? Nice
Oct 8, 2008 Normally, when I think about Final Fantasy, I think about FF 7 and all of those characters.But, when I saw this Final Fantasy, I immediately fell in love with it.The characters are great, the plot is very good, and the mood of the story matches the usual drama that Final Fantasy is so fond of.I love how we get a quick but detailed look at the past of each character. It helps us to see how dramatic and tragic their lives were.Another thing I absolutly loved was the return of everyone's favorite Final Fantasy animal....the Chocobo!Chobi was very cute, and even if he seemed... clueless at times, he was a lot smarter then we thought.I recommend this series to EVERY Final Fanatsy lover. It's a watchable series, most definatly. Reviewer’s Rating: 10 What did you think of this review? Nice
Jun 10, 2014 As a longtime Final Fantasy fan, I'm continuously amazed that this triple-A videogame series, with over 20 years of lore to draw from, remains unable to make a successful big screen transition. "Final Fantasy: Unlimited" may not be completely devoid of elements from the games or a bunch of FMVs duct-taped together to appease fanboys, but this anime still pretty much lost me when one of the characters uses a gun to conjure summons (yes, a freakin' gun). When all is said and done, "Unlimited" is nothing but a souless "Alice in Wonderland" ripoff (the anime's world is even called Wonderland). The barely-there story yields... boring action, tons of recycled animation and a cast consisting of some psychic monk bimbo with bouncy boobs, a couple of bratty kids and the anime staple "guy with black cape who never talks whom we're supposed to believe is a bad@ss just cause he's a jerk with a big gun." I was literally an inch away from quitting this series after Disc 3, but I somehow managed to tough it out all the way to Disc 5, only to watch "Unlimited" collapse into an abrupt heap of an ending. Yeah it's got chocobos, something resembling summons and that legendary Final Fantasy victory theme, but the rest of "Final Fantasy: Unlimited" is simply a weird for the sake of weird mess with hallow, uninspired characters and a non-sensical story that isn't even complete. The English dub is also strikingly below-average. If you're still waiting for a decent Final Fantasy anime or movie, you're gonna have to wait some more. One and a half stars. Reviewer’s Rating: 2 What did you think of this review? Nice
Jan 31, 2018 Final Fantasy: Unlimited began airing towards the end of 2001. It was one of Gonzo's early anime projects. Yes, the same studio behind Gantz, Solty Rei, Strike Witches & Gankutsuo. Gonzo is one of those studios that seems to have something really bad for every good series they put out. The Sunabouzu to balance out the Bakuretsu Tenshi, if you will. They've also had quite a few middling titles. Where does this one fit? Let's take a look.Story:We open with a scene in our everyday world where two dragons are facing off as onlookers take bets and wonder when Godzilla is going to get involved.... Or, maybe it'll be Gamera. I hear he's really neat and full of meat. We cut to much later when the existence of the other world has become old hat. Twins Ai & Yu are heading to a magical subway to journey to the Inner World in search of their parents who went there to do science. On the subway they encounter Lisa Pacifist, a young woman going to the Inner World for reasons of her own. Which may be related to them having really good tacos, but probably isn't. We follow the travellers as they go through different, strange locales of the Inner World and encounter all kinds of trouble. Fortunately for them, a mysterious bloke with a magic gun always seems to be in the same areas to help them.By far the biggest issue with this series is just that it's under-developed. There are quite a few things that had the potential to be interesting. The revelation involving the soil that Kaze uses in his magic gun could have been interesting and led to some really compelling stuff in turn. The revelation about Ai & Yu had potential as well. But in both of these cases the revelations come at the very end and there's really nothing to even strongly hint at them beforehand. So, they end up as pretty close to nothing. There's also the evil death lord characters. It's hinted throughout that one of them, Oscha, is plotting something. And there's a lot of build up and then it all leads up to nothing. The series also suffers a bit from being overly repetitive. Yeah, the characters travel to a variety of strange locations but, ultimately, most of it culminates in some big bad attacking, Kaze's magic gun moving, him shooting a summoned creature and the FF victory music playing. Incidentally, you know how a good magical girl series will start abridging its stock footage so that you aren't watching the same thing in every bloody episode? Well, Unlimited takes the other route. They never abridge Kaze's magic gun sequence and most episodes use it. I guess they were really happy with the animation. Or they didn't want to bother writing a little extra content.There are some parts to the series that are kind of dumb too. For example, there's a point where our characters are in an advanced submarines and its weapons work by having a bunch of men blow into tubes like they're trying to audition for pornographic yaoi. You can make a really advanced submarine but you can't build a more effective firing mechanism? You really have to take the giant blowgun route? This version of Cid is an idiot. There's also the whole magic gun thing. This thing doesn't just require specific combinations to work, it requires super specific combinations. There are at least three different versions of white. With that many kinds of Soil, how exactly does Kaze know which ones work? A lot of trial and error? Considering the soil's secret, that would be unfortunate. Did he look it up on the Internet? Does he have a strategy guide with all two hundred varieties of soil and exactly which summoning recipes each one is used for? Did he scour the bookshelves, chests and back alleys of the Inner World until he found all the secreted away books with summon recipes in them? Inquiring minds demand answers.With that out of the way, I do have to say that most of its problems aren't all that bad. And it is kind of interesting to watch them go through the strange locations. Some of the set ups they find themselves facing are quite intricate and it can be interesting to experience how they function. The series also has some pretty nice comedic moments here and there. It never quite reaches the point where it's a slog to get through.Characters:The characters in this can best be described as mediocre. With the main cast, you occasionally get glimpses that indicate that the writers are going for something better but they never take the time to really focus on any of the characters enough to elevate them above average. Take Kaze for example. For most of the series, he acts as a “mysterious” figure who seems to care more for his vendetta than for the people around him. We then start getting hints that he has some tragic past that drives him. Towards the end of the series, we learn basically what that tragedy was but it comes across more as a blanket justification for his behaviour as opposed to a new facet for the character. His attitude and behaviour remain completely stagnant.Art:The art is pretty mixed. On the negative side, the character designs look kind of lazy. There's also some awkward CG in places. To top it all off, the stock footage stuff gets boring very quickly. On the positive side, the summoned creatures do look pretty interesting. There are also some visually surreal locations they go through that look good.Sound:There are some superb actors in this. Takehito Koyasu, Imai Yuka, Canna Nobutoshi & Ishida Akira among them. We also get a surprisingly good performance from Inoue Kikuko who only gets to say variations of “kukururu” but manages to show a lot of emotion anyway. Her character has moments where she sounds shocked, uncertain, sad & frightened. All while speaking gibberish. None of them are giving their best performances ever here, but they're all good. The music is very Final Fantasy. We've got some classics by Uematsu Nobuo. We've also got some from Hamaguchi Shiro (who also has a decorated background in FF music) & Tada Akifumi. The music is, by far, the strongest element in the series.Ho-yay:The closest thing we get to ho-yay in this series is Lisa blushing furiously when she finds out she'll be sharing a room with Mireth, and Mireth winking at her when imparting that information. There might be payapaya happening on this submarine.Final Thoughts:There are certainly things to like about Final Fantasy: Unlimited. The music and acting are both strong. The summons and diverse, strange worlds look good. The story keeps your interest with its strange set ups & locales. It manages to get some laughs. Unfortunately, it's also a series that never reaches its full potential. The story has a lot that's under-developed and under-utilised. The characters are just mediocre and the boring, uncut stock footage attack is a constant. I would still say the series is okay but it's not good. My final rating is going to be a 6/10. Next week I'll talk about Trinity Blood. Reviewer’s Rating: 6 What did you think of this review? Nice
Jul 25, 2012Not RecommendedPreliminary (13/25 eps) First off, if you are looking for something that is just like the games, then stay far away from this show. It is made for children and that’s how it should really stay in my mind. Another thing is that it pretty much gives you a middle finger when you want to know more of the ending because the manga that takes place after this isn’t translated for Americans. I seriously don’t know why they would dub this (except for maybe the big boom of video game selling, and yet, this has nothing to do with them.) A lot of the stuff that should be... explained is never explained so I feel really left out, not a great way to try and get me to watch. I actually don’t feel I could finish this show at all. Nothing is explained; some things are implied but leave you wondering what the fuck was going on. In the end, I lost interest half way threw because of this and the fact that Kaze’s summoning takes so freaken long. I mean, do we really need a 10 minute summoning in a half hour show? Its worse then Sailor Moon’s transformations each and every episode. I just about fell asleep to it! It pretty much consists of him flipping a bullet as he talks about what color it is and what it symbolizes, it going into the gun where it pretty much shows as a CG version, and then he does it 2 more fucken times… give me a break! How come it has to happen that long? It pretty much seems to take up all of the show just for him to summon one monster. It was supposed to be 50 episodes long but got cut down to pretty much fucken half, so makes me not want to watch it even more.The animation is BAD! Really, the runny egg look of everything and the way they move is so bad. The design of things looks like a freaken acid trip and the CG feels much out of place in a lot of the scenes. What can I say? Gonzo messed another one up again. I mean, go look at it if you really care about the animation because I don’t know how else to explain how bad they messed up.The voices are really bad, most of them full of monotones that show no really feeling. Kaze rarely speaks and even his counterpart seems a real downer. I really wish he would talk a little more. At least explain something!Now here’s a part where I’m going to speculate something about Kaze and his rival that I probably will never know if it’s real or not. Kaze might be the reincarnation of Bahamut and his rival is the reincarnation of Mist Dragon from the fight in the beginning of the show… There, I said my bit, and I probably will never know the truth now because the stupid show is bland and the part with all the answers has not come out in English. Reviewer’s Rating: 4 What did you think of this review? Nice
Feb 10, 2010 Before you start to watch this anime, leave all your preconceived notions at the back door. This is NOT a typical final fantasy story. It is more childish and has nothing to do with the video games aside from a few mixed references of "chocobo" "mog" some of the summons. If someone were a hardcore final fantasy fan and would be severly angered and dissapointed if it wasn't up to their expectations, DONT WATCH THIS ANIME. That being said it should be judged on its own scale.That being said I will get more into specificsStory- good, but what really makes it is the whole... "adventure in the quest". The storytelling is solid in this simplistic overdone aspect but they do it well.Art- The art is medicore with the occasional blend of CGI that stands out like a sore thumb.Character- The characters are simplisic and enjoyable. Not very complicated which you would expect from an anime that should have a age group of around 12-15. Kaze has a good sense of mystery and at the last episode you really start to feel engaged and too root for him as the hero.Enjoyment- Since I am not crying about how the FF franchise was butchered through this anime, I feel I am on the flipside and enjoy a medium seriousness, fun, and enjoyable program.Overall- Leave all of your notions at the back door and come into this expecting just another anime about a quest and some enjoyment along the way. Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice
May 22, 2016 This was a very different kind of Final Fantasy I'm used to, but coming from a Final Fantasy fan since over a decade now, I didn't expect it to be just another sword hack-and-slash anime trying to copy the games. I enjoyed it very much, even rewatched and shared with my friends.It's much darker and creepier than I imagined it would be. The story was pretty great and original, and the characters were likable. The character's did, however, seem to come right from a children's book, which, at least to me, added to the effect. I recommend the subtitles though, because the english dub for... Ai and Yu are hard to listen to; they sound like they are just reading the script. The summoning scenes is easily noticeable redundancy in the show. I found it hilarious really. I even find myself memorizing the entire summoning. Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice
Aug 11, 2022 The best way to explain FF:U's situation is this; it's not as bad as it may be made out to look, in fact a good story *is* there, but it does suffer from a lot of outside issues that hurt its production. See how the anime stops at 25 episodes? It was originally supposed to be about 50, with the ending actually being just about the halfway point, but had to be cut due to multiple budget cuts. There are published versions of the rest in the form of light novels, but none have been officially translated. That, and it's an FF anime in the... way other FF games are tied together - recurring creatures, a mechanic named Cid, a few notable pieces of music, and a couple other misc features. Do not go into the series under the thought process that it's just like the games, because it's a completely separate medium.If one can look past these things, and without going into story details, it's more or less remnants of a project that probably would have done a lot better if the creators of it were given the means to do so. The music has a unique feel to it, and while the animation can be rough (especially early on) in some parts, there are others later that look quite nice. Things are really rushed in the last few episodes due to the mentioned budget cuts forcing them to find a half-decent stopping point, but it's a fairly simple series to pick up and put down whenever since the first half is more episodic while the latter half is more serialized like a typical anime. It's fairly dark for what you might think as an FF anime, but subtly so. A lot of it comes from reading in between the lines and might not be apparent immediately.You'll probably be able to enjoy it for what it is if none of the circumstances surrounding its creation bothers you and you go in without expecting it to be like an FF game. Personally, I love it with flaws and all, but not everyone will. Give it a shot, enjoy it if you want to and move on if you don't. It has some problems, but they're more a result of unfortunate circumstances than they are anything else. Reviewer’s Rating: 6 What did you think of this review? Nice
May 3, 2009RecommendedPreliminary (18/25 eps) I think this is nothing like the proper FF series, certainly the animation is poor and simple in comparison but it's like FF for Kids.It is a easy anime to follow and 9/10 episodes "Soil is my Power" said by the character called "Black Wind" which so far he saves the day a lot but there is not much history on why he sticks around.But saying all this it is a good anime, and being in English Dub it is easier to follow, you have a brother and sister looking for there parents in the other world called "Wonderland".If you look at it differently from... the proper FF series movies then you'll enjoy it more Reviewer’s Rating: 9 What did you think of this review? Nice
Nov 4, 2015 I remember watching this Anime 10 years ago and the thing that stood out the most about this Anime was how long that guy (Kaze) took to load his gun with 3 soil capsules. Probably the most annoying part of this Anime, don't waste your time. Sure there's a chocobo and moogle and Neo/Ultimate/Omega Bahamut (I forget which one) is in this Anime to give it a Final Fantasy experience but other than that, the overall story and character building sucks. No one really stood out in particular in personality just only in design. The action scenes were nothing special and it became predictable like... a Sailor Moon anime that all it's going to take to win the battle was for the main character to show up, but instead of a "moon tiara magic", he's going to take 5 minutes to load his gun and shoot it. Reviewer’s Rating: 5 What did you think of this review? Nice
Jul 11, 2010 StoryFirst of all I watched this anime just because I played the FF games...all of them until FF 13...and...it doesen't have nothing regarding these 13 games...[Just a chocobo that later transform into super-chocobo *sarcasm* actually was the "Legendary Ciel" ? , a Kupa that apers in the last episodes, and some enemies from FF VI apearing in one episode [I think they were named Cactus? -] and 2 ore 3 sound max from the FF series sountrack...the rest...is a rock on the bottom of a ocean...Now...regarding this anime story...At the begining I thinked it was nice...but as the episodes started to repeat I kindda hate... myself for watching the whole episodes....[Btw...I hate the sucky ending -] What hapened with all protagonist? What about Kaze? Makenshi? Nothing about them....ArtIt didn't impress me very much...even though it might be an old anime...I saw older anime's with better graphics and landscapes than this one...SoundI gived a 7 just because it has 2 or 3 tunes from the FF games...If it weren't for that It would have 4 from me... First OP - I hate it, First ED - Hate it too , Second OP - Hate it more than the first OP, Second ED - What the hell? Is this even an ED?CharacterI want to make it clear...I watched this anime ONLY for my only favourite character... Makenshi ...I loved his atittude and the way he protected those 2 twins from Earl..I hope it didn't die...because if he really died...I would hate myself even more for watching this anime...and almost forgot...I HATE Fabula...why does she have to apear in every episode and present me what hapened in the early ones and say what would happen in the current one?EnjoymentIt had some pretty funny moments with Chocobo...but as the same jokes started to repeat I got bored...lucky me that sometimes I got to see Makenshi in action and rise my interest....OverallThe only thing that made me give this anime 7 is because of Makenshi and 3 tunes from the original FF games...that's all...It would got a big 3 from me if it weren't for these.... Reviewer’s Rating: 7 What did you think of this review? Nice