Gensou Jotan Ellcia (original) (raw)

*SOILERS AHEAD*

The Legend of Ellcia is a pretty obscure little 90s OVA, embodying many of the classic characteristics that cause people to fall in love with that era- unique creative vision, hand-drawn animation, and a warm, colorful palate. However, beyond these characteristics, it does fall short in a few key areas. Beginning with the story, the viewer is presented with some bizarre yet decidedly engaging worldbuilding, taking the classic evil empire setup and spicing things up with a weird quasi-steampunk world, full to bursting with religious symbolism and strange prophetic mystery. These aspects it nails, and pair well with certain... visual elements I'll discuss later. However, the story itself, underneath all the innovative trappings, remains a fairly standard formula with a somewhat predictable arc. It also loses the thread towards the end, and fails spectacularly when it comes to the ending, making some moral decisions and narrative choices that do not make any real sense at all. I usually try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but in order to fully convey my dissatisfaction with the story, I have to speak plainly here. Why didn't they destroy Megaronia? Why did they save King Nabosu and Crystel, when one carried out the brutal subjugation of the Eijan people, and the other carried out wanton war crimes against them. Together, they are easily responsible for the deaths of millions. Surely, off all people, they deserve just punishment. If not Crystel, then at least King Nabosu! Also, what's with them returning to piracy at the end? Why do that? Since the one who was supposed to be the king of Eija is dead, shouldn't Eira, as the chosen one and sister of the king, inherit the throne as queen? They basically said as much that she was meant for the role, but it doesn't appear like she takes it. All in all, it's a very weak and unsatisfying ending for a show that is otherwise pretty good.

The art is far and away the strongest aspect of The Legend of Ellcia, embodying that weird quasi-steampunk aesthetic really well, playing up the unusual, fantastical look of a world that is rooted in both technology and mysticism, making it easily one of the more unique art styles I've seen. The animation itself can be a little choppy at times, faltering in qualities like fluidity and consistency, but the illustration and use of color throughout are very strong, each scene full of intriguing visual style and immense detail, all while absolutely dripping with vivid colors. The blues of the ocean are vast and alluring, the rich reds of blood are striking and impactful, and the whole palate, from the sickly green of the industrial core of Megaronia, to the mysterious aquatic hues that make up the appearance of the Selkie clan, it truly brings the art to life.

The sound is more of a mixed bag, with a really strong soundtrack and sounds of life, but some pretty poor voice work. beginning with the good, the music is orchestral and engaging throughout, and the sounds of life are rich and multifaceted, giving the combat much of its weight and the world much of its tactile dimensionality. The voice work, however, both in the English dub and in the Japanese, leaves something to be desired. I ended up watching the dub because the subs were paced way too fast to properly comprehend, but the same things are generally true of both versions. There are some really strong performances, notably from King Nabosu, Eira, Crystel, and Phelkis, but the bad performances are more than just bad- they're genuinely annoying. The anime seems to suffer from the delusion that loud equals funny, so comic relief characters like Ganak and Nupure are basically always screaming or crying or whimpering or complaining in their stupid accents whenever they're onscreen, and it really detracts from a lot of the anime, being the last straw that ends up costing it a higher score. As an additional note, the ancient evil spirit is genuinely unintelligible, and I often had to go back a couple of times to catch what exactly he was saying under the bizarre, gurgly filter they put the actor's voice through.

The characters are, unfortunately, the weakest aspect of this anime. While there are some strong showings, like from Maeyard and Crystel and Phelkis, the vast majority are either useless, annoying, or only situationally useful. These include Ganak, Nupure, Flack, and many others. There are just too many people in the story, and they drag it down, especially given the fact that they are taking up space and detracting from the anime's strengths. Of this cast, however, I found Phelkis and Eira to be the most compelling, because the two of them feel the most three-dimensional and well-explored. Phelkis, with his dedication to realpolitik contrasting with his tragic love triangle between him, Sarah, and Crystel, proves himself to be an interesting an multilayered presence in the show. Eira, despite being little more than your run-of-the-mill 'chosen one' archetype, is still a strong execution of that archetype, bringing her own distinct flare to the role. Other runner-ups include Maeyard and Crystel, with a distant honorable mention going to the prophet Guku when he's possessed by the ancient evil spirit. Overall, The Legend of Ellcia is good at its very core, but is sorely lacking in some key areas, which ends up holding it back in the end. I still enjoyed it and its bizarre fantastical world, but whether or not the unique setting is enough for you to forgive its various shortfalls is up to you to decide.