"Alpha Stigma" are known to be eyes that can analyze all types of magic. However, they are more infamously known as cursed eyes that can only bring destruction and death to others.
Ryner Lute, a talented mage and also an Alpha Stigma bearer, was once a student of the Roland Empire's Magician Academy, an elite school dedicated to training magicians for military purposes. However, after many of his classmates died in a war, he makes an oath to make the nation a more orderly and peaceful place, with fellow survivor and best friend, Sion Astal.
Now that Sion is the king of Roland, he orders Ryner to search for useful relics that will aid the nation. Together with Ferris Eris, a beautiful and highly skilled swordswoman, Ryner goes on a journey to search for relics of legendary heroes from the past, and also uncover the secrets behind his cursed eyes.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Archaeon
These days we often misuse words in ways that sometimes don't make sense. Take "epic" for example, and think about all of the occasions where the term has been applied as a colloquialism that simply means "I enjoyed it" , "it was very good", or some other sentiment along those lines. It's actually surprising how many people don't know the meaning or usage of the word, but rather than comment on the failure of education systems, let's have a look at how "epic" applies to an anime like Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (or The Legend of the Legendary Heroes, whatever floats your boat). The originaleleven volume light novel series by Kagami Takaya was published in Dragon Magazine from February 2002 until October 2006 and has spawned a sequel (The Legend of the Great Heroes of Legend), and two spin offs (The Legend of the Legendary Heroes Anyway, and The Legend of the Black Fallen Hero), as well as being adapted as a drama CD, a PSP game, a manga, and the recent anime rendition.
Now aside from mild curiosity at the obvious addiction to using the words "legend" and "hero" in some manner, one has to wonder if the anime adaptation can really live up to the popularity of the franchise.
The story begins with an attack by the Nelphan army on the person of Ryner Lute, a layabout who is on a mission for his trusted friend, boss, and cause of all of his problems, King Sion Astal of Roland. Accompanying him on his journey is the warrior and perpetual dango addict Ferris Eris, a woman who may be a genius with a sword, but is pretty clueless with almost everything else (except dango). The pair have been tasked with finding and acquiring the legendary artifacts known as the Relics of Heroes, which lie hidden in various places across the continent of Menoris.
As with any fantasy tale there's an element of derivation inherent in the plot which results in several very familiar scenarios being played out over the course of the series. This in itself isn't a bad thing though, as these staples are often used to drive home a particular point, or as support for the main storyline.
And this anime really does need the support.
The main issues with Denstsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (DenYuuDen), are the lack of coherency with the story and the constantly changing pace of the plot. Viewers may often find themselves wondering how a particular situation came about, and while there are efforts to tie up certain loose ends, these are nothing more than papering over the cracks. The narrative suffers from a distinct lack of timely explanations, and events can lead the audience on a merry dance as they struggle to keep up with the storyline. This is exacerbated by the constant mood swings that occur from one episode to the next, and the addition of seemingly random comedy scenes give the viewer the sense that even the show itself has no idea what's going to happen next.
The heart of the problem is simply that ZEXCS, like many other studios, have made a screenplay that is nothing more than a "cut and paste" rendition of the original source material. While there are some anime that get away with summarily stringing together disparate events, it would have been better for everyone if they at least made the effort to stick to the story. Better yet, ZEXCS could have followed the example set by Satelight when they made Guin Saga, and only adapted a portion of the story to ensure there would be a continuous flow to the plot.
One has to wonder what moment of "genius" would persuade director Kawasaki Itsuro and series composer Yoshimura Kiyoko to make such a disjointed narrative.
On the plus side the lack of care with the storyline isn't really reflected in the look of the show, and DenYuuDen has some nice, imaginative scenes that really show what ZEXCS are capable of if they put their backs into it. The series features some decent animation, but the design principle impinges on this to a degree, partly because of the bishounen aspect of the show, but mainly because of the costumes. While the various outfits and garments are creative in their own way, there are several scenes where things like cloaks would clearly be a hindrance to any actual combat. In addition to this the characters tend to be on the impassive side when it comes to facial expressions, although this becomes less of an issue as the series progresses.
DenYuuDen also features some very nice lighting and visual effects that add an extra layer of atmosphere to particular events, giving them an elegant, decadent, or dramatic feel that requires little in the way of added audio. Unfortunately this is offset by a lack of attention with small, specific details which seem like they were pencilled in as afterthoughts (Ryner's two year old beard is one example of this). While it's sometimes easy to overlook these relatively minor flaws, every now and then they become impossible to ignore, and viewers may be left wondering why the studio didn't notice these discrepancies before releasing certain episodes.
The series features two opening themes, LAMENT Yagate Yorokobi Wo by Yuuki Aira (episodes 1 to 12), and Last Inferno by Ceui (episodes 13 to 24). The first OP is a rather bland affair that is generally well timed and edited, but ultimately fails to inspire. The second track is an altogether different beast that has far better choreography, and possesses a more serious and dramatic air than before. As for the ending themes, Truth Of My Destiny by Ceui and Hikari no Filament by Takagaki Ayahi, neither is anything other than a reasonable pop ballad coupled with pointless visuals that have no bearing on the story proper.
What is interesting is the manner in which the background music is utilised. The tracks are often subtle additions that never really come to the fore unless the situation warrants more drama or tension, and because of this there are very few clashes with the dialogue. In addition to this the effects are given precedence over the music during a number of action sequences, and given that this series is a relatively disjointed affair, the quality of the audio choreography is more than a little surprising.
One of the problem areas for DenYuuDen is the dialogue, in particular the tendency towards oratory and the sudden changes between banter and seriousness that are extensions of the inherent issues with the storyline, so it's to the credit of the actors and actresses that they deliver some decent performances. Fukuyama Jun (Ryner Lute), Ono Daisuke (Sion Astal), Takagaki Ayahi (Ferris Eris), and the rest of the cast are able to inject a degree of personality into their characters, but this is limited by some truly cumbersome scripting.
Unfortunately this, together with the compression of the story, has a knock on effect where the characters are concerned.
Like so many other fantasy anime out there, DenYuuDen follows the tried and tested method of event driven development, but like many other shows it also falls into the trap of poor characterisation. From the beginning of the first episode the viewer is expected to not only identify with Ryner, Ferris and Sion without knowing anything about them, they are also supposed to wait for any explanations because of the disjointed nature of the story. Add to that the fact that much of the growth is dependent on specific events that are scattered throughout the narrative, and the lack of personality comes to the fore.
That said, while there is little to maintain the viewer's interest in the characters at the start of the show, things do take a turn for the better at the midway stage so that by the end of the series they are no longer cardboard cutouts. The events that drive the development also become a little more complex as the story develops, which is nice to see as the tendency in fantasy anime is to add more detail to the story while keeping these "signposts" simple.
Now it may seem like I'm being unfair to DenYuuDen by picking up on so many of its flaws, but there is a reason for this. While there is a lot that could have been done to improve the series as a whole, it's actually a rather enjoyable romp too. The byplay between Ryner, Eris and Sion can be odd because of the poor scripting, but there is humour in there, enough to make the viewer smile at least. In addition to that, there is a concerted effort to improve the story in the second half of the show, with darker themes emerging and more focus on consequences. The action sequences are decent enough, but every so often there is a flash of brilliance, and the characters can sometimes show a surprising depth that really should have been there for most of the series.
And that's the rub. It really, really could have been so much better than it is. There is so much that ZEXCS could have easily done to improve DenYuuDen, and even something as relatively simple as deciding to adapt only a portion of the light novel series would have made a profound difference.
One thing that should be touched on is the mistaken assumption that Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu is somehow an homage to Legend Of The Galactic Heroes due to the similarity in the naming conventions. The problem is that far too many people who have heard of, or watched, the latter anime have automatically decided that DenYuuDen should be just as good when, aside from the name and the fact that heroes, politics and war are involved, the two bear very few similarities. It's a bit like saying apples and apricots should taste the same just because they're both fruits that grow on trees and their names start with "ap".
Anyway, leaving that aside, the one thing that really stands out about this anime is that it's effectively an unfinished product, especially as the light novels are still publishing. The disjointed storyline and initially lacklustre characters make this a much more difficult show to invest in, and this is a shame as there are several key plot elements that are interesting enough to warrant much more attention.
That said, ZEXCS' attempt at adapting the novels has some good points, and while there is enjoyment to be had, it's a far cry from being an epic.
iSuckAtWriting
I often think that as long as I know what to expect from a show, it couldn’t disappoint me. First impressions from the title alone gave a sense it was trying too hard to be epic, but that didn’t matter since I expected “Legend of the Legendary Heroes” to be a fun, clichéd romp. But instead of creating a brainless fantasy flick for dumb people like myself, the show adopts a taste for complexities with writing that leaves a bad taste. The story opens with two of the three main characters, the wizard Ryner and the knight Ferris, as they journey across the continent of Menorisin search of powerful Hero Relics to aid our third main character, the High King of Roland, Sion. The lazy Ryner and steadfast Ferris aren’t anything beyond that in the first episode, with the only noticeable interplay between them being a scene where Ferris calls Ryner a pervert. Unfortunately, this scene is a running gag throughout the show that turns the Ryner and Ferris duo from simple to cringeworthy.
Much of the show follows Ryner and Ferris’ adventures, meaning much of that time focuses on their relationship, which is Ferris calling Ryner a pervert for no reason; Ryner doesn’t so much as see a pantyshot from Ferris, so it’s not even clichéd in the way it should be, but outright unbelievable. Their relationship is 70% one running joke and 30% serious moments with no real progress between them, because they’re only sentimental when the show calls for it. Their relationship goes in a circle, or maybe it’s a see-saw; I don’t care, but neither do the writers.
In one of the show’s scenes, Ryner is going out of control for plot reasons while Ferris is trying to snap him out of it. After she manages to get through to him, Ryner breaks down and starts crying in her arms as the rain suddenly pours. This scene of clichés doesn’t work since there’s a lack of tells on their progress. Ferris blushes maybe once before this while Ryner shows no interest in her at all. And even if this scene did work, they go back into being a weightless comedy duo until the story demands their sentiments again. And this happens more than once.
But Ryner and Ferris’ relationship is harmless compared to the threads in the rest of the show. Ryner’s lack of personality outside his laziness can be made up for with his background, but the show’s storytelling often jumps back and forth from present day to flashback without any tell it’s done so, making it hard to follow. Even then, most of what little backstory he has is in the later parts of the show. It’s hard to take his tragic past seriously when the show often glosses over it for attempted comedy.
Ferris is an even bigger joke than Ryner. When she’s not wrongly calling him a pervert for whatever reason, she’s going on about dango flavors without much else to her character. Somehow, she has even less background than Ryner, and it doesn’t help that this background is little more than skin service that isn’t even charming, but a forced attempt at being dark and edgy. But, it wouldn’t be a forced attempt at being dark and edgy if Ferris was a character worth caring for, if she had real progress and most of her time didn’t focus on failed comedy.
The final main character, Sion, is also a big joke. His character arc is about learning to make tough choices that come with being High King, but his personality doesn’t show it at all. He’s equally serious and easygoing until the end of the show, which makes it easy to wonder whether story events are affecting him at all. Most of his background involves characters that have one or two lines of dialog, which isn’t enough for it to be taken seriously like it’s supposed to. He’s also incomprehensible, saying he doesn’t want to rule like a tyrant one moment, then leaves his assassin servant to take extreme measures so he can reach his goals the next moment.
Sorry, I tried jumping over one cliché and fell onto another. When the story isn’t being lazy with its characters’ progress or background, it tries TOO hard and ends up being a war and politics philosophy discussion without compelling characters to distract from the fact. These heavy themes require a delicate touch, but unfortunately most of the villains—villains, not antagonists—are wealthy, evil people that take away from any social depth the show tries to have.
Not that what depth the show does have is worth much anyway. There’s a lot more going on in the story, but most of it amounts to nothing or is rushed. One of the characters shows a thirst for vengeance without any build-up leading to that moment. The character he wants revenge on wants revenge on another character. And that final character is dealt with so quickly it disrespects the passion and empathy the first two characters (try to) invoke. If that sounds like a short plot description, then don’t worry, because the show doesn’t give these multiple story threads more than a few episodes.
But even with a lot of episodes, one of the characters still proves ineffectual.
When this character is introduced, she wants to reunite with Ryner because he was her friend during her rough childhood. It makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is how bubbly she is for most of the show, badly clashing with her background. What’s worse is that this isn’t the set-up to a gag character, because she’s supposed to be taken seriously. But her serious moments don’t work, because she lacks the roundedness needed to make her bubbly and serious side believable as the same character.
The only decent characters are more like two pairings that are unfortunately not around for long. One of the characters in the first pairing appears at the early and later parts of the show. She meets someone she doesn’t like at first, but in their next scene they’re enjoying a cup of tea, and in the scene following she’s a blushing maiden. The other pairing is a classic warrior and princess story that believably flows from adoration to sweetness; in the first scene they’re smitten at first rescue, in the next scene they’re trying to hide their feelings from their friends to no effect, and then they’re enjoying a moonlight walk.
Ignoring the small amount of screentime these four characters have, they’re believable because there’s real progress to their relationships. Sure, it’s cheesy, but it’s at least an attempt at a pairing compared to Ryner and Ferris’ see-saw relationship. It’s not as layered as the other parts of the story, but being more layered doesn’t mean better, but a greater chance to be worse. When there’s more plot to juggle, it only falls down much worse when the juggle isn’t kept up, and the juggle falls the moment it starts.
This is part of why Legend of the Legendary Heroes’ writing leaves a bad taste, and what I mean when I say the story adopts a taste for complexities. It tries to execute too many threads at the same time and doesn’t give enough time for each thread to be properly weaved. At the same time, the three main characters take up most of the story’s screentime but have almost nothing to show for it. It’s this odd combination of incoherent density and weightless quantity that makes this show such a failure from a storytelling standpoint.
This leaves only the presentation to save the show, but the visual part of that falls short. Save for Sion, his assassin servant, and the four pairing characters—the last four lack screentime—most of the character designs are multi-colored to the point where it’s hard to tell them apart. For a world with swords and magic, many of the fight scenes are underwhelming for being nothing but beam spam or poor choreography that makes one question if the combatants are only as strong as the plot demands.
The best part of the presentation is the music, but music isn’t the aesthetic focus of an action fantasy show. Still, it’s loud when it needs to be, and has a surprising amount of grace during quieter scenes when it uses the art of silence to put focus on the dialog. Unfortunately, the music is held back by its odd habit of using random rock music during some scenes. This modern flare clashes with the medieval, fantasy feel of the show. I suppose it’s trying to be cool, and in a better show it’d be shameless fun, but here it comes across as trying too hard.
Which is odd, because looking at how the show’s main characters are handled, it’s like they weren’t trying at all. No respect is given to most of the characters and their stories, it tries to tell too many stories, the stories often lack chronological coherence, the social themes lack any depth with its stereotypical villains, and the presentation is best where it doesn’t matter anyway. This show does a few things right and everything else very egregiously wrong.
But the best thing I can say about this show is what Ryner goes on about from episode 1; take a nap. Sage advice, because taking a tap is preferable to watching Legend of the Legendary Heroes. Sure, you won’t be doing anything, but at least it’s better than getting Alpha Stigma-level angry at the people who made this.
shanimebib
[Edit Part A: This original review was written on the basis of what I have seen up until episode 18 and around that episode the anime had two options 1. stick with the original novel, which has a sequel to it and continue with it or 2. going for an "anime-only" ending with 8 episodes to spare (26 episodes). I would recommend not to read Edit Part B at the end of the original review, unless you want to.] Okay I admit, the title is a bit... I mean it's really something that can put you off. Add to that, a very very ordinary firstepisode definitely led many to have a thought such as "Oh! Okay. Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (Legend of the Legendary Heroes). I will watch it later." or most likely, 'Meh, it's definitely not my type." And yes, I can tell that with the number of people actually dropping it after first couple of episodes, let alone placed it in their 'on hold/plan to watch' list which is staggering.
Regardless, before you even read this review, I would suggest to watch the first three episodes (you can seriously do without the FUNistreams, since it is actually nicely animated) and drop the show if you like, well its more like I dare you would drop it once you've seen episode three.
So much for an introduction, here goes the real deal:
Legend of the Legendary Heroes is based on a novel of the same title which goes back some 8 years from now (first published in 2002). The anime is almost an exact adaptation of the novel. The novel and its anime adaptation are based on a feudal European setting, just that, blended with Magic and Monsters.
As for a brief introduction to where the story picks up, Ryner Lute (Fukuyama Jun), a magician of the Empire of Roland goes on a journey to find what they call the 'Hero Relics' scattered all over the continent. He is partnered with Ferris Eris (Takagaki Ayahi), a beautiful, arrogant and insanely skilled swords-woman. Both of them have been dispatched by Sion Astal (Ono Daisuke), the young Hero-King of the Roland Empire. If it wasn't for Sion's slave-running, as what both Ryner and Ferris see him to be, Ryner would have been enjoying countless number of days taking his afternoon naps while Ferris enjoying her share of dango, and only dango in all of her meals. Everyday!
To give an insight, Hero Relics are assumed to be sources of immense power that can overthrow an entire empire, something Sion desires to have available at his disposal so that he can make his empire a force to be recognized. You can easily understand Ryner and Ferris wouldn't be the only ones on the hunt. As Ryner and Ferris keep searching for the relics, putting his absolute faith on both of them, Sion follows his dream to make an empire where everyone would have a wonderful life. Something that comes with a price indeed; Coup d'état followed by numerous assassination attempts from time to time from power hungry nobles and their followers. I won't say anymore than this. Rest are for you to find out, because it goes far beyond anything as simple as it might seem as you've just read.
The story is surprisingly good. I always tend to enjoy anime with lots of flashbacks, past happenings which often help a story to grow. Denyuuden, as what it is called in short, really is impressive on that regard. While the first episode is more like an introductory episode that goes to show the main characters involved in the anime, the following couple of episodes show flashbacks from where it all began, why Ryner set for the journey to find the relics, why Ferris has been appointed as his companion, and how, young Sion came to throne. These two episodes (2 and 3) are basically the foundation of the story that will take so many turns here and there as more characters are blended in while making the anime all too enjoyable, that when you will look back, you will be thrilled to realize how simply it all started. The story has unimaginable twists and when you think a character was included just for the sake of it, they will surprise you with the role they are going to play in the development of the whole story. Story wise, this couldn't be any better. And I dare say, I have seen lots of anime already to make such a rather bold statement.
The anime can be seen as from both the characters' point of views, as well as from the political aspects involved, which makes it a very intelligent anime. For example, the decisions Sion makes as a King often conflict with his philosophy, but he shoulders everything as a King should, refusing to give in to his ideals. At the same time, the conflicting nature of the characters within themselves makes it a very heartfelt anime. Like Ryner, who has been through enough, shows lack of emotion, although he cares for every living thing around him, ironically though, he puts threat on those around him just through his very existence. Ferris, who is always mocking Ryner doesn't falter to hold him dearly when he really needs it the most. And the anime translates a society that is ruled by the so called nobles and their hunger for power, and a society where everyone brands certain people as 'monsters' for the inhuman power they possess, ironically again, something they wish they never have possessed, something they were born with in the first place.
The characters are nicely depicted. From the absolute loyalty of the subordinates of Sion, for instance General Claugh Klom, to the emotional involvements of the members of the Roland Taboo Hunter team, (yeah, you have to know Milk Callaud (Fujita Saki) and her reverse-harem :P) everything makes sense. Characters making their entrance halfway through the series, for instance, the Hero-King of Gastark, Riphal Edea (Nakai Kazuya), or even the late, very late introduction of Tiia Rumiblue (Sakurai Takahiro) has been intensifying. And there are mysterious characters like Ferris' older brother Lucile (Sugita Tomokazu), Sion's right hand Miran Froaude (Suwabe Junichi) and Milk Callaud's second in command Luke Stokkart (Hino Satoshi) will make you ponder to understand their every move and their motives. You must have been really annoyed by now to see all those seiyuus in the bracket. But the reason behind putting them there is to show the number of popular voice-casts have been working on this anime, justifying the weight of the characters being portrayed overall.
The animation quality is really of top notch. The backgrounds are nicely animated and gives you the feel of a feudal European setting coupled with magical terrains and mysterious plains. The actions are simply put, stunning. From the magical circles that Ryner draws before unleashing the commands, to Ferris' sword fights are animated smoothly without any glitch. Like I warned before, watching online streams, or stream-rips will kill half the real enjoyment. The fierce battles, magic circles, blood gores; you really cant enjoy them over low quality streams. This is not an anti-FUNi claim, just a fact which you can clearly confirm if you google the anime's screenshots/screencaptures. I would rather you buy the DVD/Blu-rays when they are out.
The sound, particularly the BGM of the anime is really good. They change and merge so nicely with the mood that it makes the anime vibrant. One of the major contributions of BGMs is to propagate the emotional state of mind of the characters involved and Denyuuden scores a perfect 10/10 in that aspect. I would also like to say that the OP/EDs are really good, and grow into you as you continue the anime.
The only downside of the anime is probably every time it wants to pull a comedy. I would say it failed miserably to make me laugh even once.
[Edit X: the following bits under [Ignore][/Ignore] was a conclusion I came up at episode 18. So they don't carry enough significance for my overall entertainment of the anime up till that point. Of course it changed after episode 24. Regardless, it was a nice watch and I found the anime quite good compared to many other shows that came out in Spring 2010 anime calender.]
[Ignore]I hope this review helps you to pick an anime that gives you a negative vibe when it actually is one of the real gems out there. I am enjoying this anime like nothing else from the Spring 2010 season and the reason behind writing this review is to make YOU find out what you've been missing out!
Again a reminder: Please do watch the first three episodes at least before coming to any conclusion. And if you still think its not your plate of dango, I would rather see you finding this review I took my time to write on 'Not Helpful'. [/Ignore]
[Edit Part B: The anime decided to stick with the original novel and follow it until the final episode. Which left the Anime highly open ended and a lot of things to be answered. According to forum reads, twitter feeds and blogs, I have reached to a conclusion that unless there is a significant improvement of the market of DVD/Bluray Disc, which is really poor at the moment, a sequel is highly unlikely. So if you don't intend to read the sequel novel, which is still ongoing, this anime is definitely not for you. Other than that, I would just say that there were bits in the original anime trailer which were never shown in the 24 episodes run of the entire show, leaving a bigger question, why those bits were there in the trailer when they were never in the anime series at all. Of course, I am referring to the bits that directly showed parts that collaborates with where the anime ended and giving a glimmer of hope to a sequel of the anime. You just never know.]
Andristian
Titles are essential in most forms of entertainment in order to draw attention. Titles, however, can also be misleading. Such was the case for me and the anime series entitled The Legend of the Legendary Heroes. It may be have been just me, but for some reason I did not find the title to be particularly appealing and it certainly did not paint an image that seemed interesting to me—it felt too simple, too exaggerated. Then again, titles can be misleading. The Legend of the Legendary Heroes is a fantasy piece—a tale of magic and war in land inspired by Europe during the Middle Ages. Itdeals with Feudal Warfare, more or less. Its focus lies in a number of characters, each taking up a particular role in shaping the world that they reside in. The Roland Empire is the country brought into our attention. At its throne lies the striving Sion Astal, a king of quite a young age, but one that has decided to do everything within his power to change his kingdom for the good. Things are looking better than they have been for a while in Roland, but the greatest battle has yet to take place, for behind the shadows lie assassination attempts to overthrow the king and various conflicts between the neighboring countries.
Sion Astal knows that in order to prevail and fulfill his dream of changing the world for good he must find alternative ways of going about the problem. Therefore, he sends his good friend Ryner Lute, whom he made a promise to make the world a better place, and Ferris Eris, a female swordsman stemming to a clan in charge of guarding the king, beyond the borders of Roland and upon a journey to search for ancient relics that are said to have once belonged to a great warrior. These relics may hold the power to single-handedly turn the tides of battle in the bearer’s favour.
Apart from the three aforementioned characters, which could be called the most important ones in the series, there are still lots of other ones that receive a notable amount of screen time and are quite vital to the progress of the story, such as Sion Astal’s right-hand man Miran Froaude (a highly interesting character that remains as puzzling in the end as he ever was) or Milk Callaud, the captain of Roland’s taboo-breaker squad who has her own personal reverse harem.
Too many anime series like to paint their characters in black or white, but The Legend of the Legendary Heroes always remains in the gray area with most of its characters. Sure, Ryner Lute is a typical protagonist, yet even he has some pretty dubious past experiences. What’s fascinating is the way we gain a different perspective on certain characters, since some tend to change their alignment (or so it appears, at least) or something about them is revealed that puts them in a completely different light. Flashbacks are no stranger in this anime and they are often used in clever ways, usually giving us more insight about the characters and their principles (or their lack of them), but they also tend to become dull or overused at times (so everyone had a bad childhood—how convenient).
Magic plays an important part in The Legend of the Legendary Heroes. The person most in contact with it is Ryner Lute, who is actually one of Roland’s greatest magicians (not many know this since he prefers afternoon naps over battles) and an Alpha Stigma bearer, meaning his eyes can detect forms of magic, but he is cursed as much as he is blessed, for those possessing the Alpha Stigma tend to go out of control and destroy everything in their path if things get too intense. There’s certainly some sword fighting to be had throughout the series (especially from Ferris’ part), but most battles are fought using magic. Thankfully, the fight scenes are very well-done and they’re always highly entertaining and easy to decipher (no weird camera angles or hurried editing here, don’t worry).
One of this anime’s most impressive aspects is the story. It may not be innovative or original, but it’s executed in a spectacular manner, often exploring different themes or following several plot paths all at once. The main storyline never feels neglected, but somehow the series always finds time to develop other things at the same time and offer each of its characters satisfactory screen time. The episodes work great because their filled with a lot of variety, often featuring fashbacks and focusing on several plot points. The Legend of the Legendary Heroes gets a lot done in twenty minutes’ time, always remaining entertaining yet never feeling rushed or overloaded.
The art and animation is truly excellent, often eye-popping, but it does exhibit some problems. For one, some of the characters’ facial expressions could have been drawn better, especially when it came to scenes depicting comedy. My other gripe is with an episode about halfway through the series which uses a different art style from the rest of the episodes. The reason why the anime changed styles was because the episode was more action-packed than the usual ones, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact that that certain episode felt too unfamiliar to work in balance with the rest of the series.
Perhaps the most important drawback of this anime is its conclusion, or rather the lack thereof. While the series does not end with a cliff-hanger, it does leave most things open for a supposed sequel. However, a sequel coming out or not completely depends on how well this anime does on a financial level (it hasn’t been doing very well up to this point from what I’ve heard). So before deciding whether to give The Legend of the Legendary Heroes a watch or not, you might want to take into consideration the fact that things may never be resolved if no sequel is produced (of course, we’ll always have the light novels to ease that pain).
Despite such flaws, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes remains an excellent fantasy anime series. The story is very well done, the characters are thoroughly interesting and adopt shades of gray instead of black and white and every episode is as enjoyable as the previous one. Don’t let its corny title be the deciding factor when it comes to considering whether The Legend of the Legendary Heroes is worth your time.
HavanaCruz
The unique (and corny) name is what got my interest in this anime. I read the description looking forward to a great plot that contained fantasy and adventure, but it ended up with trite comedy, disappointment and magic tricks. Story: 6/10 General Scenario: The beginning (first two episodes) was dare I say, terrible? It's most likely to turn viewers off leaving them to think "I'll pass". It jumps around, confusing the viewer instead of being intriguing. The story contains Ryner Lute being a lazy student and Ryner as well as Ferris searching for relics. It's much more than that but unfortunately it doesn't evolve everything it introduces. Forexample: What happened to the people of the land that was conquered by Roland? There was not a significant follow up. How about God's Eye group (the group of kids who were outcast because of Alpha Stigma)? You would think Ryner would be concerned about them. They should have used less of their time on Ferris love for Dango and more on the plot. It was like they were trying to cram a whole plot into 24 episodes, when in order to develop the plot into a masterpiece for what they were trying to present, it needed more time than that. A concept does not guarantee an excellent finished product.
Form of Development/Pace:
The pace was moderate for each individual episode, but overall I would say it's fast even though it doesn't seem that way. Since it tries to cram a lot of information in 24 episodes, a lot of development is left out of the loop.
Sides stories/ Extra space:
There are no fillers however there is one recap episode.
Believable?
It's believable it's just poorly done to where people connect with the story itself.
The Conclusion:
The Legend of the Legendary Hereos' conclusion was a big disappointment, reminding me of the ending of the atrocity known as Pandora Hearts /パンドラハーツ,/ Pandora Hātsu (I haven't done a review on that but I should. I'm already expecting hate mail for that review). It ended with a test of friendship (23rd episode) and bringing back people that the anime left behind but not to contribute to the plot it was more like "hey, these people you forgot about they are still alive" kind of feel (24th episode). It also left the viewer to ask what in the hell was the story about? Was it about finding relics, a legend of legendary heroes or was it attempting to be about the struggle of existing as an outcast (Ryner) and the burden of wearing a mask (Sion and Ferris, when it came to her issues and how she acted them out on Ryner)? Conclusion are supposed to bring the plot together and make the viewer at peace because of everything made sense it's not supposed to leave you hanging with a lot of questions unanswered.
What kept my interest:
What kept my interest as the viewer is wondering how will the characters overcome their struggles. Sion with the pressure of trying to produce a "perfect world", a more harmonious world. Ryner finding true happiness leaving the mental despair of the Alpha Stigma behind and Ferris with her mental trauma, how will she overcome her fear of abandonment by those who loves her and her truly learning how to display love. (Instead of putting up walls and beating Ryner up and jokingly at his character for comic relief would she ever come to a place where she is truly vulnerable.)
Explanation of rating:
At most I would rate this story 6 out of 10. 6, meaning fine. It had the potential to be great but failed but at the same time it'll keep your interest anyways. Critically I would rate it a 4 (4 meaning bad), instead of the comic relief it could have used that time for plot. Black Butler /黒執事/ Kuroshitsuji is an example of funny moments but the plot is more essential and the comedy does not attempt to make up for lack of plot. However I did wonder how it would all pan out so at most I would give it a 6 for fine because some might love the hell out of it despite it's flaws while others looking at it critically would recognize what a big disappointment it is.
Art: 8/10
The artwork is splendid. It would have been better if had a great plot to flow with. I love the color schemes and the details and colors of the character costumes. Ferris costume is a treat with her purple and pink costume. This anime contained nice reflections and magic effects esp. the glow of the Alpha Stigma eyes, beautiful sunsets and detailed and fitting backgrounds. There isn't much to complain about the artwork. I don't remember one episode where I felt that the art team was slacking off on their job so with that I would give the artwork 8 out of 10. 8 meaning very good.
Sound: 7/10
The beginning theme and (especially) end theme compliments the series. The end theme were the better out of the two but nothing outstanding that makes me wanna rate higher. I like themes that encourage me to learn the lyrics not fast forward or skip if I have a chance. The background music was good though, it complimented the artwork and theme of the story. There were no annoying voices so that was a plus. So I would give it an 7 out of 10, 7 meaning good.
Character: 6/10
I would rate the character 6 out of 10, 6 meaning fine. The main characters Ryner, Ferris and Sion have issues that one can relate or sympathize with. That what makes them appealing to the story. Ryner have been rejected by society and still consider those who reject him well being. He often struggles with the will to go on in a world that hates him. Ferris has her trauma from her parents and she acts that out on Ryner with joking about his behavior being lewd and perverted while physically hitting him. Sion abandoned by one parent while the other one died, rose to power . He carries the burden of the world on his shoulders by trying to do the right thing. If the story was right it would have been beautiful to see how Sion finds balance in ruling a kingdom and being happy, Ryner would have overcome his struggle and Ferris would have faced her trauma and how it has affected her behavior towards a person she obviously cared about... Ryner. None of that happened instead the potential for great characters who could overcome were left how they were found in the ending. No significant progression at all.
With the side characters, they were introduced but some of them weren't effectively utilized to be a benefit to the story.
Enjoyment: 7/10
Episode by episode I enjoyed the anime after the beginning the first two episodes in particular. However on an all overall scheme I'm disappointed esp. with the conclusion.
Overall: 6/10
It averages out to a 6.8, most of that would be due towards the non-plot reviews so that should be taken into consideration. I'm putting down to 6 so it wouldn't give any false hope. This might be an anime where the viewer has to watch again to catch little details to be satisfied with the plot but that shouldn't be necessary and wouldn't be necessary if it was written well.
Would I recommend to someone else? I don't think I would. If you are fond of the animation for cosplay reasons and can handle the first two episodes then buy all means go for it but don't say I didn't warn you.
Final notes:
Even though I heavily criticized this anime I liked it and enjoyed it despite it's flaws. :-)
8thSin
'Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (Legend of the Legendary Heroes)' is a medieval fantasy adventure about Ryner Lute, a social outcast born with powerful magic eyes, and his friend the new king Sion Astral's quest to end all wars. Story/Character: It's impossible to watch this show without being reminded of similar themed series. For example, the magical medieval setting of 'Scrapped Princess', art style of 'Koukaku no Regios', magic eyes of 'Code Geass', and knighthood and characters of 'Fate/stay night". However, this show had the mother of all premises by blending all the best qualities from such series with an interesting mission of collecting "Hero's Relics". With sucha cool mix of setting, characters, and items, we could've expected a captivating epic adventure. What we actually got was a rather dull, huge mess of a story.
First of all, the show had an awful story flow. A classic case of poor anime adaptation of a novel where the story jumps from one place to another. One minute, you're watching Ryner and Ferris trying to find Hero's Relics. Next minute, you're back in kingdom where Sion is working. Then jump back 5 (?) years before returning to a new adversary we've never seen before. Unlike novels, this effect on anime makes it nearly impossible to empathize with characters.
The character motivation is always questionable. All the kings are fighting for the same dumb reason: "Slaughter all my neighbors to stop war". This is 2010... there are already so many anime and movies about such contradicting and cliché themes. There were also a lot of scenes where characters are obviously capable of accomplishing a better result, yet simply give up or their spells are nerfed just to achieve the desired plot development. For example, the destruction of bridge by Kiefer in the final episode when she could've clearly crossed first before destroying it. Such inconsistencies are usually unnoticeable in novels, but with visual support in anime, it just doesn't make any sense.
There also was a deliberate power balancing and DBZ-like increment of average strengths. For example, Ryner and Ferris have not been able to obtain a single Hero's Relic, while far weaker antagonists manage to obtain and use them as their primary means of attack. In addition, somehow the victors don't seem to be interested in collecting the loser's Relic after defeating them. The story is very much driven by sudden appearance of new adversaries. One minute, a character seems to be invincibly strong, then a new foe appears, and previous antagonist doesn't even stand a chance. The prime examples are Sui Orla, Miran Frouade, and Tiia Rumiblue. On the other hand, our hero and heroine seem to be able to put up a decent fight no matter how strong or weak the opponent is (they even struggle against minions).
There were way too many characters for 24 episodes. Not only that, most of them had very limited role and weak presence. I just browsed through the character list, and didn't even remember half of them. That's how bad the side characters were. And then we have the hero and the heroine, who were just lazy Lelouch Lamperouge ('Code Geass') and outgoing Saber ('Fate/stay night). Despite Ryner having Alpha Stigma, he only casted about 4 different spells, 80% of which being "Lightning".
The comedy was funny at first, but it got tedious through uncreative repetition of dango and sleep. A lot of action scenes, but not very exciting unless Alpha Stigma is fully activated. The story tries to be dark in the second half, but it just seemed out of place due to light first half, and didn't make sense. Overall, very boring, corny story and character.
Animation:
Amazing, considering a large portion of animation work was subcontracted to Korean studios.
Characters are usually very detailed, and every character is easily distinguishable. While the background is not as detailed as it could be, the change in mood through lighting worked well.
SFX was wonderful in action scenes and with magic circle or spells.
Unfortunately, the presentation (camera angles, cuts, art style, action choreography etc) were rather dull, and seemed lazy.
Sound:
Loads of established seiyuu even in minor roles. Some annoying, but on annoying characters to begin with, so it was somewhat tolerable. Everyone sound like they should, especially Ferris' voice was great.
While Ryner played by Fukuyama Jun was excellent, I can't help but notice how his voice was exactly same as Lelouch in 'Code Geass' series. The two characters are already similar as it is (both having magic eyes), having the same seiyuu completely cemented Ryner as a cheap copy. The evil/mad laugh really was godly though, the best I've ever heard.
BGM in battle and emotional scenes were well done and dramatic. The rest are rather ordinary and forgettable, but didn't sound out of place.
All four OP/ED in the series were pretty catchy and suit the series.
Enjoyment:
This series was by far the most disappointing series of the season (ending Fall). By episode 3, this series had such a strong introduction that it could've easily been an fascinating fantasy series, but it seemed to deteriorate by the episode from there, eventually leading to an inconclusive ending where nothing is explained and half the deliberate plot devices unused.
From boring story, character, to lazy animation and voice acting casting choice, what this series suffered through was a widespread absence of creativity. Zexcs once again proves their incompetence, and this show did not live up to its title as the 'Legend of the Legendary Heroes'. It was an epic failure.
Scragleton
The synopsis for this anime really does it no justice, there is much more going on then them just searching for relics. Honestly, the relic searching did not really last all that long. One thing that stood out to me in this anime is it was actually very funny, there should have been a comedy genre added, however, comedy was not the only thing that caught my attention. The premise of the story could seem a bit cliche, there are quite a few other anime where the main has an incredible power and has to overcome the effects of a past that heldmany hardships due to this power, but nonetheless this anime was still pretty great. It was enjoyable to see the hardships that Ryner had endured throughout his life and how he was able to overcome them. Also, they put quite a bit of back story on the other characters, such as Sion and Ferris, which was nice to see. That backstory adds a better connection to the characters as they face the conflicts together. Now onto my specific review points.
Story 8/10
As I stated above, it does seem at first glance to be a cliche of sorts, but the synopsis is quite under-developed. There is more than just them searching for relics, much of it is based on the power that Ryner has and the hardships that came and are to come from it. Also, the comical parts in this story were quite enjoyable as well, whether it be the constant whining or witty remarks of Ryner about his naps, or Ferris' constant belittling of Ryner with her large imagination of perversion.
Art 7/10
The art was not anything spectacular, although it was well done and they did not use many shortcuts. They had a good amount of detail as well. The gore scenes usually had some sort of shade above them not making them easy to see, but it was still good drawn overall.
Sound 7/10
The sound was ok. Nothing really struck me as really bad, or really good, it matched fine, but it did lack in some respects. The English voice acting was pretty good, the main characters seemed to match well with the voice actors. I have no speculation on the Japanese voice actors, as I have not watched the subbed.
Character 8/10
I liked the fact they gave lots of back-ground information on the other main characters and didn't just focus of Ryner. The flash backs and the information on Ryner was very tragic and gave a lot of meaning to the story.
Enjoyment 9/10
The story was great. I loved the way the characters were portayed, being that Ryner is a lazy guy that has witty remarks, and Ferris having the very funny imagination. The comedy in this anime was very funny, even though there was not a comedy tag. Also, being that Ryner was so powerful, it was cool to see how he progressed with his power, and how he gave it meaning.
Overall 8/10
I really enjoyed this anime. There were many aspects I did not plan to see, such as the comedy, and the small amount of romance. Many people may see it as cliche and boring, but the synopsis really does it no justice. So give this anime a try, and maybe you too, will find it to be a great watch.
ninjapintu
Densetsu no yuusha no Densetsu(The legend of the legendary heroes) seems to be very good at leaving bad first impressions. I mean, just by looking at the name, generic character designs, boring looking synopsis and a badly done first episode, it is very easy to dismiss the series as an uninteresting fantasy based around the same old beaten-to-the-death ideas. But here's the thing, although the name suggests otherwise, deep down Denyuden is a charming series which knows how to take itself seriously. Based on a novel series which was published in 2002, Denyuden is a story of Ryner Lute, a lazy guy who wants nothing morethan to sleep for ten thousand years, and his relationship with his best friend, Sion Astal, an idealist king who finds himself facing the harsh reality of the world. The story follows Ryner as he tries to deal with the world who sees him just as a monster, and Sion, who finds himself getting further and further away from the dream of creating an ideal country without any sadness. I have to say, Denyuden walks a very dangerous line as it tries to mix humor with themes like drama and betrayal, but it manages very well and I just loved the way the mood suddenly changes from silly comedy to deadly politics in this show. Not only that, there are many other elements like saving the world, sad childhood, betrayal, young leaders etc which can easily go wrong and destroy the show, but they are used well and only contribute in making the show more enjoyable.
The staff behind Denyuden is pretty unimpressive, but I have to admit, they did a very good job on this series. The series doesn’t try to be too ambitious, and slowly builds up its characters and fleshes out its setting. The first half of the series, pretty much does nothing more than introducing characters and giving them a clear role. Many of the subplots are just there for the character introduction. The second half of the series uses all that building up efficiently and things suddenly pick up pace and that’s where the show really starts shining. The characters starts developing in the way you want them to, the story starts becoming very interesting and series throws away most of its humor and finally gives you the awesomeness its first arc promised.
Although the story of Denyuden is not the series’ best part, it is still impressive. There are many interesting elements in the plot(Alpha stigma, Hero relics) and as the plot moves further, the questions just keep on increasing. The series also does a very good job on answering the questions yet not answering them. Many answers are followed by even more questions. Also there are many hidden answers in the series itself. The downside to this is that it may leave a few confusing parts but that can be solved by re-watching the series after you have finished it.
The setting of the series may not be too special itself, but the way it is used, getting fleshed out by its politics, makes it very interesting. I love the way the characters are influenced by the world they live in. There are many myths and legends in the world of Denyuden and the way they effect the main plot also proves very enjoyable.
Now, the best part of the series, the characters. Yes, the characters of this series are just awesome. Whether it’s the main characters or the side characters, all of them have distinct personalities and are really fun to watch. I just love the main characters. They are just fleshed out really well. I especially liked how Ferris, who at one time was really annoying, turns enjoyable in the end. Same goes for the side characters. Even the annoying ones like Milk. They all turn charming later in the series. I also like how there are many flashbacks in the story. Normally too many flashbacks are boring for me, but here they tell that the characters don’t forget what happens and try to develop themselves. This is true for especially Ryner. He was good at the beginning of the series, but he really developed in the series and by the end, he turns into a really fantastic character.
The opening and ending themes of this series are okay, but I really love the voice acting here. It really brings life to the characters. And the use of BGM is pretty good too. The art isn’t too bad but nothing awesome either. I really liked the animation of the last arc, but apart from that it’s nothing that stands out.
Well, to sum up and add some stats to the review:
Story (9/10): Impressive and keeps you interested till the end
Sound (9/10): Impressive voice acting and use of music
Animation (8/10): Nothing special here although I liked the work they did on the last arc
Characters (10/10): Really awesome characters. Loved everyone of them
Overall (10/10): I loved Denyuden and it’s certainly one of my favorites.
I would also like to add that if you are wondering whether to watch the show or not, just give the show a chance and watch the first arc(first 4 episodes) and then decide whether to continue or not.
Ikano
Enter a world of magic & sword fights, corrupt nobles & warring kingdoms. Meet Sion Astal: his father was a noble and his mother a "commoner." After a twist of fate he ends up taking over the throne and is determined to change the Kingdom of Roland for the better. It sounds very cliche at this point and all (and there's no reason why one wouldn't think that) but don't let that turn you off. The anime keeps it happy and fun be following the journey of Ryner Lute and Ferris Eris whom -under Sion's orders- are on a "secret mission" to seek out the Legendary Hero relicsin the name of "world peace"! Or something like that.
Again, it might sound cliche but the fact that Ryner and Ferris were forced to work together and each have their personal quirks make all of their interactions so amusing to watch.
(For example: Ryner -the real main character of the show- is the laziest guy ever and always prefers to take naps over doing anything. Ferris is a beautiful "assassin" who's quick to resorting to violence [[at least towards Ryner]] easily twists and misinterprets situations in weird ways and [arguably] is only devoted to dangos [A kind of dessert/snack made up of several sweet sticky mochi-like balls that are "shish-kabobbed" on long thin sticks]
Throw in a few more characters with equally weird quirks/moments and magic & mystery behind the Legendary relics and you've got potential for a amusing and fun series!
However it's not all fun and games as something dark & mysterious is also hidden beneath the plot....
I recommend checking out this anime to anyone who's interested at all in anime with this type of setting/backdrop and those who like a good mix of action and comedy but also don't mind dark twists/drama, etc.
----------------------------
My personal ratings and few other random comments:
((This part down here has now been changed to reflect my impressions up to episode 18))
Story: 9
** The political side (aka Sion's side) of the plot can be rather confusing & unclear sometimes if you're not paying attention especially towards the beginning but if you get the general gist it's enough to understand everything else.
The other parts of the story are somewhat slow-paced and the episodes are constantly littered with cliffhanger endings but when it's all pieced together it's an epic story filled with a good balance of comedy and twists and those touching moments that make you feel sad for the characters.
Art: 6
**Colors are generally "soft and smooth" and not "stressful" to the eye. It also tends to use "bright colors" more than other color tones....though that's not to say the show doesn't know how to use dramatic lighting ---It's done well enough for those key dramatic moments, etc. A pretty standard yet fitting art style.
Sound: 8
**It's never bothered me so it's not bad to say the least. I think it's more or less fit in nicely with the moods of various parts as well (otherwise It would have bothered me) By the way, OP and ED songs are pretty good/catchy unlike other series I've seen.
Character: 7
**Character backgrounds are only expanded on when the episode/plot pacing finds it necessary. This can lead to a good mix of well-timed character introductions vs the not so well-timed ones. At least the main 3 (Sion, Ryner, and Ferris) do not suffer from a lack of enough character development. Overall I'd say the major characters have been expanded well like they deserve while most minor characters (and sadly- a few major characters) have yet to have a purpose established
Enjoyment: 9
**Outside of the Sion moments (Yes I'm sorry Sion...I find you mostly boring) The other parts are either action packed or full of amusing conversations/situations that even something as mundane as walking through a town or forest can turn into something amusing. I really enjoy watching every episode and always can't wait for the next to air.
Overall:
As of what I've seen so far, I give an overall score of 8...but that may change later on...
Ziote
Let's get this out of the way first. The name. Legend of the legendary heroes? It must be a translation mistake right? I'm sure no one would call out the translators if it was just shortened to Legendary Heroes. So a couple years ago I got the entire series for FREE on itunes. Thats right folks it didn't even cost me a dime. Like any anime fan I downloaded it without a second thought, I didn't even look at the summary. But after 15 minutes of the first episode I turned off my computer and walked away, never turning back to see the rest ofthe series. Lesson learned from this - there was a reason why this series was for free.
But lo and behold! Years later I find it on Netflix. It's like this series haunts me!! This time I watched the whole thing.
Animation
It's plain! it's like a cardboard cutout of the definition of anime. It didn't stand out to me at all.
Sound
while the music wasn't bad it wasn't amazing either. It was just there.
Story
Now imagine Berserk and attack on titan had a child. That unholy offspring would be this. Now if done correctly itd be an amazing anime, but the writing had no structure.
The begining was bad. Didn't hold my attention at all.
Although once the story started explaining itself and I became attatched to the characters and knew their background. Then that's when this anime truly got me interested.
But the ending is where it all fell apart. That excitement it built shattered instantly. This anime expained nothing. When I thought it was going explain something it'd turn around and leave me with even more questions than before. How did Sion ever become king? What did Sion do the 2 or so years Ryner was in prison? What is going on the entire last episode?! Seriously someone explain that last episode to me!
Characters
honestly 75% of the characters were useless and could have been cut from the show entirely and it wouldn't have effected this anime one bit.
I dont understand how some people are giving this 10/10 rating. Was it a masterpiece? Absolutely not. But it did have some redeming qualities. For a while there I would have given this anime an honest 8/10. But after the last 4 episodes that 8 dropped so far it became a 5. By the end of it all I felt like I wasted my time and unfortunately there is no way I'll ever get back the hours I wasted on this show.
If you want a better fantasy/action anime I point you to Berserk. (Or anything really. Just don't watch legend of the legendary heroes)
Daimyo
The End In this world there are many legends. The legend of Zelda, the legend of Excalibur, the legend of leisure suit Larry. Likewise it also isn’t usual for many Legends to carry hero in their titles; Legend of Condor heroes and the legend of Galactic heroes are two good examples of this particular trend. However, this series I’m about to review (in my now trademarked half-assed style) does what very few series before have dared to do. It gives itself a name so damn awesome you’ll cream yourself every time you think about it. Welcome to Legend of the Legendary Heroes (DenYuDen!). Characters With a name asawesome as this, the story has to be good. I'm guessing probably full of action, epic battles, great characters and manri men. Well, if you (like me) thought that was the case you couldn't be anymore wrong. Try dumplings, tsundere, more dumplings and assassination attempts that clearly aren't Ezio based(ubisoft, western?... ok ok tenchu based then) . The plot is exactly as written in the title; the primary (and often randomly exploited) story is about a search for legendary hero artifacts from a past age, called legendary hero relics(very original). You might want to bring a map for this one as you'll have almost no clue where this story is headed. One episode they'll be searching for the hero relics(and failing) and the next episode Ryner and Ferris will be wasting minutes discussing dumplings in a very bakemonogatari like banter. There's literally little to no consistency in this shows tone. Which really wouldn't be so bad if that was what they were aiming for. However, that is definitely not the case as you'll see that shortly after these episodes about dumplings, going on a date and various other things(that belong on a slice of life show and not a show with the name legend) we are given massacres, wars and tales of hidden corruption. As a result this show has no flow, no sense of direction. Now I'm well aware that this was originally a light novel and perhaps this style of narration worked best for that format. But for an anime? Many times I found myself confused at to what was going on. This especially worsened towards the end. Where I assume the producers/studio found out that they had blown their budget and poorly managed the episodes and now suddenly had to fit 100 plot devices into the last 2-3 episodes. Seriously, I don't even know if what happened at the end could even be called a cliffhanger. It all just felt very anti-climatic and rushed. Cliffhangers are supposed to build the tension for a possible(or in this case improbable) continuation. All this ending did was build more confusion. There are so many questions left unanswered at the end. Who is Ferris' brother? Why is Gastark so desperately after the relics? What is the point to all this Lonesome Devil Dark Hero business ? I fear at the rate they're going even if they did continue this series it would take at least another 2 seasons before any of these questions get answered. And we'll all be left no doubt with a feeling that it was 2 seasons 2 many(ahahah...no?). Be that as it may the story does captivate it's audience and if you get past the slow beginning you'll definitely find something moderately interesting. For that reason alone it gets a 7/10.
Story
The characters. Ah what would a show be without its characters(what would a daimyo review be without random questions and comments)? First and foremost we have Grif...Sion Astal as this shows black knight. He starts off with good intentions(conquering the world), a coup and later down the road begins to ask himself where all of this went wrong. It isn't Sion's fault though, Sion's mom was a commoner and his father was a noble so it completely makes sense to us the viewers when we see things like Sion being split into two personalities. His first personality and the personality that defines his character as whole (as it sets the tone for yaoi fanfiction writers across the globe) is the typical shojo male. Flamboyant and visually effeminate it is the face he usually shows when talking to Ryner(suspicious). It is also the one usually displayed during this show's ending credits. His 2nd personality however is what I would describe as the serious fucking business look. Anything can happen when he displays this look ranging from: wars, noble executions and various attempts to kill his best friend. The reason for all these things? I suppose you could explain the first two kingly business and all that but the last one is up for grabs. Is Sion a crazy sadistic mofo(awesome)? Or is he just jealous that Ryner loves Ferris and not him? Who knows, who cares he's the villain and that's as much as the series wants us to believe. Who needs a motive? Evil is evil guys. Next up we have Ryner what I guess you could call this shows primary protagonist. What you need to know about Ryner is that in Japan people that don't work and want to sleep all day are cool dudes(shikimaru, etc). Where just about everywhere else they're jackasses (or daimyos). The main difference however, between a Ryner and a Daimyo is a Ryner has no reason to be lazying about all day. Ryner has atleast 3 women who would come(pun) to his every whim and call. The fact that he has what could potentially become a harem makes Ryner anime 2.0 approved. His first bi... love interest is this chick by the name of Kiefer (ran out of good names). Not much needs to be said about her and so I won't say anything else. But please do feel free to imagine and ad lib whatever this loquacious Daimyo might say. His 2nd and by far more tsundere love interest is Ferris (Ferris? Ferris? Ferris Bueller?). Just as you might imagine she loves hitting our main character and subsequently wasting our time pretending not to like him. Many an episode died as these two tried to conceive what would only be described as a bastard plot. Don't get me wrong though I'd love to bone her, but would I marry her? No. My life is what could only be described as an action anime full of suspense, violence, explosions and tissues(don't ask). Having her involved would change my life into some sort of mediocre slice of life. And that is exactly what Ferris does to Legend of the Legendary heroes. Her interactions with Ryner while they may seem interesting to some just remove quality from the show. Finally for the last love interest, we must ask ourselves this question. What does a show need to be greenlight for production these days? Random dialogue check, tsundere check, moe check, bishounen males check. Seems like everything doesn't it. But in the words of the eternal captain Konata of the USS Fap-J "Make it loli". Now you'll have to excuse me for not knowing this last ones name off the top of my head so I will just call her Orange Juice. In fact it is my opinion she was just added to ensure that this show maintained anime 2.0 standards. Without Orange Juice, Ryner is just in a love triangle( easily solved when studying rumbling hearts). With her, Ryner has a certified harem. The fact that Orange Juice is also a loli guarantees sales. Now we have other characters and once again simply out of lazyness I won't comment on them. Don't worry you really aren't missing out on anything all we have left is shotas, hentai sized women(mmm), more bishounen and very poorly written blood knights. Once again proving that if you can't write a story with a few characters adding a bunch of them won't make it any better (though it does make my rants longer). 6/10
Overall
Going by the trend in my scores a 7 in the story and a 6 in characters can only be the sign of worse things to come. Normally you would be right but believe it or not I rather enjoyed this series. Now some of you may think I've gone AWOL but it really isn't that bad(it isn't that good either). The most entertaining stories I found usually had to with Sion's story of conquest. I found that the darker elements helped to combat the uneventful I love Lucy type plots. 8/10
Entertainment
Despite all it's flaws though, unlike another show I rated and review similar to this, Legend of the Legendary Heroes almost never comes off as pretentious. It doesn't try to fool the viewers into believing its made a masterpiece of a show. Neither does liking this show require one to kiss the feet of Kagami Takaya, the shows creator. For those reasons alone I am truly grateful. At the end of the day it's up to you (or your favourite reviewer) to decide whether or not you will like this show more than let's a stardriver or an index. But with so many shows attempting to blend different genres into one mass produced food tablet you'll find that no matter what you decide to watch this or next season everything will seem oh so similar. DenyuDen just did it in a way that wasn't dreadfully painful to watch. 7/10
striffy
Also known as Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, an anime with a silly name if ever there was one. Now where to begin with this one? Densetsu starts off pretty straightforward- a magical fantasy with sword fights, a quest for powerful items, blah dee blah blah, been there, done that. Nothing new. However, I have to admit that my expectations were soon blown out of the water when the show escalated into something much darker and much more ambitious than what it first seemed. To anybody who starts off the series all I can sayis watch until episode three before you decide whether to watch it or not.
There's quite a bit of mood-swinging involved where one moment you'll be laughing at the lighthearted talk and the next you'll be watching a bloodbath. The series has its high and low points in its 26 episodes and can be best described as erratic, but not necessarily in a bad way. There's quite a bit of world building (which never really came to fruition). but there's also a lot of character focus (which was way better).
The characters were one of the strong points and many of them are fleshed out very well, especially the three main characters who are all likable and have good chemistry. (Also I have to applaud Ryner Lute's English voice actor for an excellent performance- he really brought Ryner to life). However, there are three (or two, your mileage may vary) annoying female characters whose definition of comedy appears to be screaming nonsensical lines nonstop at maximum volume. Please do yourself a favor and cover your ears every time they're onscreen.
Other than the three idiots pretty much everyone was interesting- especially Miran, the ruthless guy with seemingly ulterior motives and a thirst for blood. He always managed to spice things up with his psychopathic behavior (and he usually just laughs off the mass murder).
So there you have it; watch the Legend of the Legendary Heroes with zero expectations, and you'll probably emerge happy the way I did. I should warn you that though the series did have a good conclusion it's a bit of a cliffhanger (and there probably won't be a second season). Still, I'd recommend Densetsu to anyone interested in a bit of lighthearted/bloody entertainment with nothing better to do.
SpinDoctor
This is the very first anime that has inspired me to write a review, and I have watched MANY anime over the years. It isn't necessarily the best anime I have watched nor is it my favorite, but despite this fact it was one of the more compelling and intriguing series that I have watched. This is very surprising to me, because I found many flaws in the way it was executed. Densetsu's first flaw, and arguably its largest is the pacing of the story. For the first half of the anime not much happens. The anime comes off as cliche, repetitive. Ryner, the malelead of this anime is lazy, and whines about having to do work, Ferris is the emotionless female companion that is there to keep Ryner in line. Whenever Ryner is lazy she gives him a good hit over the head. Both characters seem bland, and uninspiring. This sums up most of the interactions between the two leads for one half of the show.
Unfortunately you are not able to skip the first half of the show because there are a few very important events that take place. They often come in the form of flashbacks, and they happen at peculiar times.
What the first half of this anime is trying to accomplish is fleshing out the characters, and setting up the story. This is the anime's biggest downfall, too much time is devoted to setting the story up. That being said the second half of this anime is very memorable, and is teetering right on the verge of greatness.
This is where the anime shines, this is what makes the anime memorable. It asks the fundamental question: What shapes each person as a human being? What seemed like bland, cookie cutter character suddenly are given a lot of depth. Suddenly the menial day to day interactions that you see in the first half become clear. There is a reason behind the repetitiveness, Ryners laziness, Ferris's relatively emotionless, cold exterior. What seems like a cookie cutter fantasy turns into a multifaceted, deep story line.
This anime is slow developing, but the slow development will be well worth your time. What looked to be a bland, cookie cutter anime turned out to be one of the most enjoyable anime that I have ever seen. There were a lot of themes tackled in this anime, and it was done well in my opinion. If not for a lackadaisical first half, and a open ended ending it would have been one of the most talked about anime's of 2010.
In reality the story is only just getting started when the anime ended. I think a second season was intended for this anime, but unfortunately it will never happen. You will just have to make due with the visual novels if you enjoyed this anime. All in all this was an anime that was greater than the sum of its parts.
Inferno792
From the title itself, you must have figured out that the anime "Legend of the Legendary Heroes" tries too hard. I was sucked into watching this anime over a couple other I had on my mind because of its setting. I really like the kingdom setting where is conflict between the different nations as well as inside one empire. The Legend of the Legendary Heroes is just that. The idea for the series, while nothing original, is really intriguing. But the execution was in one word - BAD. I will divide this review into two parts, the good and the bad of the anime. BAD : Nothing isexplained : Most of the important details are never explained and some are at the end of the series which isn't of any use. This leads to confusion and plot holes which leads to a lot of people just dropping the anime, which is fair enough. Who would want to watch something which throws different things at you that you don't understand? We are never explained or even told how many hero relics exist and how they were actually formed.
Unnecessary Comedy : The comedy is so out of place in this anime, its not even funny. Almost all the important scenes are destroyed by comedy.
Inconsistent Power levels : I'll give you an example.
A is as strong as B. C is almost as strong as B. But C is annihilated by D. Then, D is annihilated by B. No matter what, this shouldn't happen.
Character Development : The characters don't develop, they take a jump from being one personality to another. The main character Reiner is a kind-hearted loving guy at one time while at the other, he is simply lazy and uncaring(I am not talking about his inner demon). His relationship with Ferris develops to one point at around the episode 10 mark and then suddenly, it reverts back to how they were. at the start.
Romance : While there isn't a whole lot of romance, the amount there is, isn't done well at all. Places where there should be romance doesnt have romance while there is romance between characters we dont know enough about or how they fell for each other.
Irregular Pacing : You'll never get the feel of what's going on in the anime.
Good :
Concept : The idea was really interesting but it isn't executed well enough.
Characters : Although the character development isn't good, the characters were really likeable. Well, most of them were. I didn't like Ferris constantly beating up Reiner. She is just a sadist and has nothing more to her personality.
The art and sound is good yet nothing to make a fuss about. They're satisfactory I would say.
Enjoyment : 6.5/10
I am not sure how much I enjoyed the series. I liked the idea and this could have really turned into a great story had it not been for multiple stupid scenes and plot holes.
There were some concepts which were opened but never explored. For instance, Reiner should've spent much more time with the people of his kind. Also, this should have happened way earlier in the anime. That had so much potential but the idiotic mangaka couldn't see it.
Overall - 7/10
I know I shouldn't be giving this anime a 7 after all the complaints I had about it but there were some really interesting scenes and episodes which had a ton of potential. They were good to watch briefly but the stupidity and some of the nonsensical things that happened brought this anime down. I didn't feel the anime had to be in lower than my "7" score category, which is the score I give to most of my anime.
As for if I recommend the anime or not, I would say watch the first few episodes and decide for yourself. If you can stick with the anime and follow the story without getting bamboozled about what's happening after the first 5-6 episodes, then you might come to like it... somewhat.
NavyCherub
The Legend of the Legendary Heroes is a surprising show in that it has quite a bit to offer that one most likely wouldn't have expected on a quick glance. On the surface it is a typical shounen action anime involving magical attacks and a search for mystical objects, and to some extent that is true. However, once the story begins unraveling, and it happens pretty quickly, Legendary Heroes shows that it has much more to offer than fighting and quirky antics. The show starts off in the middle of the protagonist's, Ryner Lute, journey for the "Relics of Heroes," a mysterious collection of artifacts thathe and his reluctant partner Ferris Eris have been tasked to find and collect. While these artifacts are supposedly powerful and destructive, Ryner wants to use them to create a world full of "afternoon naps," and to achieve this goal he is supporting his old friend and the current king of Roland Sion Astal. Sion, the "Hero King of Roland," has a similarly lofty and idealistic, though simple, objective - peace.
These naive ambitions would probably go unhitched in most shows where they are present, but the Legend of the Legendary Heroes turns the reality of these dreams into the main theme of the whole story; the sacrifices that the characters have to make and the way those losses affect and eventually make impossible the causes they strive for is the driving force that keeps the plot interesting. Each faction has their own needs, and when these needs clash the plot thickens, keeping the anime interesting all throughout. These sort of moments allow for plenty of character and plot progression which always comes at just the right time.
The characters themselves are a mixed bag. The ones that aren't expanded upon much in the show's run come off as shameless archetypes which, though appropriate for their individual role in the story, weakens the believability a bit and makes character interaction much less provocative. The most unfortunate part of this negative aspect is that each episode seemed to have some focus on the side characters that never end up fully developing, leaving the viewer wanting more but knowing they won't get much. On the other hand, the characters that do have significant progression are endlessly interesting and show where the plot really shines. Luckily Legendary Heroes seems to know that is where most of its strengths lie and the first arc of sorts is a long flashback explaining Ryner and company's current situation, and it is definitely intriguing enough to catch the attention of anyone who might otherwise have been bored with the seemingly typical plotline that is laid out in the first episode.
One would expect a good amount of action, and Legendary Heroes certainly delivers. There are plenty of fights to satisfy those looking for flashy magic moves and even some large-scale battles involving plenty of throwaway soldiers and explosions. Unfortunately there isn't much variation in the attacks themselves; for example, Ryner doesn't even use more than one kind of spell for the whole show despite being heralded as "the Greatest Mage in Roland" and being a wielder of the powerful Alpha Stigma. Most of the interesting action surprisingly comes from the otherwise mostly uninteresting side characters, who obviously don't have as many fights but when they are the center of attention they show off as much as possible, making their fights the most entertaining.
The animation and art are mot much to speak of, outside of one particularly stylistic episode. Normally this wouldn't be a huge problem but the grand feeling the show should have is brought down at times by the lackluster visuals when they should ideally be on an equally outstanding level. The music is on a similar level of alright but not noticeable or memorable, again unfortunate given the creative things they could have done with the medieval-inspired setting.
Legendary Heroes is an interesting and engaging plot filled with a mixed bag of generic and genuinely entertaining characters, topped off with a fleshed out fantasy world of politics and bloodshed. The things it is brought down by are significant enough to warrant some hesitation, but its assets are truly strong and warrant a chance from anyone who enjoys a well thought out and engaging plot and are willing to look past some of its clear faults and enjoy the whole.
greenblood1991
Story: 5/10 in the beginning of the story it makes no sense you are left with confusion, its about a lazy guy (Ryner) who likes to take afternoon naps and girl (Ferris) who are strong with swords both of them goes to a journey to collect hero relics, then she discover that Ryner got the Alpha Stigma ( you will get bored from hearing the name ). The story was not direct in one direction it kept going back and forth to all directions, and the hero Ryner every ep. he goes with another kingdom to fight another Kingdom...... and thats all about the story. Art:7/10
The colors of the costumes and the eyes of Alpha Stigma was good other than that it was ok.
The artwork could have been better with the magic art.
Sound:5/10
Opening theme and the ending was Meh.. was not thrilling at all, even the lyrics was bad, but there is one good thing about the sound it was the background music for in the fights.
Character: 6/10
Main characters Ryner, Ferrris and Sion all of their progression is really funny lets take sion who until last rp. you dont know hes good or bad, the entire anime he was weak and cant even do anything he must have a guard then suddenly in last fight he became a monster so strong that no one could take him..
Enjoyment: 5/10
i finished the anime in couple of months that says it all, because when i start an anime i cant leave it until i finished it.
Overall: 5/10
The plot was bad and even in the ending you dont know what is really happening, i would not recommend it to other viewers, you will better fishs in the sea <3
starfarts
This anime is a case study in how to spend 24 episodes telling a grand-scope story only to get nowhere in the end. Is it worth spending all that time only to have no finale? No. Absolutely not. There are some stories worth experiencing just for the ride itself, but there are others where every single passage builds to a grand showdown/big reveal/epic sacrifice/whatever only to completely abandon that idea in favor of sequel baiting; here, there is no sequel and won't ever be one, so the entire anime is a pointless endeavor from the outset. I'm entirely serious when I say that all 24 episodes(to the very last moment) work tirelessly to construct a foundation of mammoth proportions. There are so many side plots and interesting characters built up but 100% of them are unresolved in the end--and it also doesn't help that Densetsu's primary worldbuilding technique is an over-reliance on flashback sequences. In my estimation 15% of this show is flashbacks, and while I generally loathe that technique it wasn't so bad and I could have looked past it. Unfortunately none of it amounts to anything.
There are early hints of brilliance with Ryner's colossal power level, but besides a titillating peek it never shows itself again. The entire last half I was anticipating it being unleashed but it never came--just like everything else. It's like a neverending game of "no honey, it's YOUR turn to enjoy yourself" where no one gets off and everyone just goes to sleep out of frustration.
I've come out of pointless series with good impressions before because, as I said earlier, some journeys are worth experiencing. What differs here is that absolutely everything contributes to setting the snowball rolling downhill. All the little plot developments, character quirks, funny asides, and long philosophical diatribes build and build and build only for the sun to come out and melt the snow before the bottom. So, what do you get for 24 episodes? A decent magic system, snappy animations with impressive backdrops, a large cast of likeable characters where everyone has good motives, a musical score that's largely serviceable with flashes of brilliance, and a surprising amount of lighthearted scenarios (episode 23 in particular was extremely good in this regard). What you don't get is even a hint of closure, every single narrative thread still open, and an overwhelming sense of "what the fuck was the point?"
What an overwhelming disappointment. This should have been amazing.
toyhammered
Anger, sorrow, hatred, despair, happiness…regardless if you are a human or a monster, these are emotions that everyone feels. What is a monster? The ones who are born unique to others and have no say, or the ones who hunt them down and kill them due to fear of being overpowered? The title of this anime in English translates to “The Legend of the legendary heroes”, which is a very relevant and fitting name for this anime. It is quite simple and at the same time quite complex. After watching just a few episodes you will understand the meaning, but what I do recommend is thatas you are watching try to figure out the multiple meanings of this anime title, and try not to just categorize this anime title as a “simple one”. Now to begin the adventure of the legendary heroes!
The story starts off where you meet two out of the three most important characters. Ryner Lute is with his partner Eris Ferris on a mission to try and collect these “Legendary Hero” relics. At first while watching this anime, like most animes you tend to start off confused and wondering where this show is going to go. You have Ryner Lute who is a magician and holds a secret power within himself. His partner Ferris… man on man what an interesting character to put in an anime that could have been very serious. She practically uses her “charm” as an excuse to bully Ryner. She also bullies Ryner by calling him a “monster” (in a jokingly way) that abducts and does terrible stuff to kids and women. Aside from that she forces Ryner to agree with her, and EVERY mission she has to have her dango, and she uses the excuse to go on missions with Ryner to “protect the dango”.
Later on you will meet the last main character who is King Sion Astal. As you can probably tell he is a king, and throughout the anime you learn bits and pieces of why he became king, and what he wanted to achieve as king… the usual. What made this such an interesting story was how you would always learn about the pasts of different characters in like segments and at crucial times during the anime. You learn about why most of them are who they are as the story goes on. You realize though after a while, after learning about all the characters pasts, some main some supporting, that this show could be very powerful and you could learn important life changing lessons. The biggest problem I found with this anime, aside from all the unanswered questions was the character Ferris. I mean I felt like her character (being tsundere) just went overboard at some points. Like at one point it will be very serious and intense and the next she is making fun of Ryner and it completely killed the atmosphere that had been built up.
Aside from that, the only minor thing that I was disappointed about was the lack of a presence of Kiefer Knolles. I felt as if she could be one of the most important characters but she kind of just disappeared and reappeared randomly and I personally think she is one of the most important characters, especially for the development of who Ryner Lute really is. Those were the two biggest issues (or really only the issues) that I had with this show.
Some things that I really enjoyed about this show were the magic, the character development, the character interaction with each other, and also the character styles. I really liked the way they portrayed the characters. This also goes with the fighting scenes that happened. I really like the pace they went at and also enjoyed watching all the unique aspects that were brought to each fight, and at the same time some of the silliness that was added. This show did go into great detail during the fighting scenes, with lots of parts being cut in half and everything that you would expect for a show that is rated “R”. That was one thing I was not disappointed bout, the amount of blood that flew around and the inhumanity of how people were treated.
This show also managed to show another lifestyle that isn’t as relevant in today’s society, which is hierarchy. You have a king at the top and then the lords who follow him and the commoners. At first, this sounds like an ideal way of living for the people because they believe that what the king is doing was helping the commoners out a lot, but in reality you notice that people are still treated as outcasts and excommunicated from society (shunned). This show was also able to show you that people might act nice on the outside, but deep down they have this hatred towards certain types of people just because they are different.
On a different note though, the music in this anime was good, nothing outstanding but it went with the show nicely. Personally the part that I always look for is when they end a show what is the mood or atmosphere that they leave you in. For this anime I found this very fitting using a very mellow song that filled each episode almost with a suspense and sadness in our hearts. I did really enjoy them trying to bring emotion to this anime (which was quite successful), and to be able to in some cases feel the pain of some of the characters and what they had to go through.
This leads to ‘did I actually enjoy this show’? As I say in most of my reviews I do enjoy almost all animes, but there is always something that leaves almost this hesitant feeling in me, and in this case was all the unanswered questions that were left. Normally animes leave maybe 2-3 questions for the viewer to think about but this anime had an amount that made the series feel incomplete. With the incompleteness of the anime also comes the hope of expecting more to come, if you look at it in an optimistic way, otherwise…. You know where I am going. At the end of the day though, once I completed this anime I was quite pleased with the outcome because at first glances I was not expecting that much from this anime.
If you have any questions or comments please just send me a pm or write on my wall, I will try my best to answer to the best of my power! I will accept any type of feedback on to how to better improve my reviews, but please be constructive as well! Please also check my other reviews. Also if you want me to do a review on a certain show (whether I watched it yet or not) I will try to prioritize. Also check out my blog post (http://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=723679), to help me with future reviews!
Sweetbirrita
Hi! I will be totally honest, i have watched this show like ten years ago.. i have a friend and we watched a lot of animes, we have nothing to watch sometimes lol. Everytime we are talking about anime we always say hey you remember that anime yuusha i don't know what else? This is an anime that i will remember always and i want to rewatch it. This is not a masterpiece but is an anime that you can enjoy watching! If you have any doubt watch an amv. Story : 8 I don't remember the full show. I remember the MC, his powers, thefinal plot that was sooo nice, the girl that travel with the MC and the super dangos
Art : 8
It is old, but the animation i found it very good to see
Character : 8
The MC is badass and the powers he has too
Enjoyment : 10
The fantasy and the adventure are so nice.
Overall : 9
I have a lot of affection for this anime. I recommend it if you like fantasy / magic / adventure animes.
I hope it was useful and you give it a chance.
