Record Of Lodoss War: The First Mighty Critical Legend

Decades before Critical Role was even a thing and getting animation based on their campaigns, creators Ryo Mizuno and Hitoshi Yasuda would print out prose reproductions of former sessions of the various RPGs, mostly Dungeons And Dragons. These appeared in Yasuda’s gaming magazine, Comptiq. All the campaigns were set in the fantasy world of Forcelia which also incorporated the Sword World tabletop games. Whereas Critical Role was made up of voice actors, Mizuno's campaigns were comprised of various fans of fantasy, including sci-fi novelist Hiroshi Yamamoto. Ryo Mizuno was the Dungeon Master of these sessions, and he took the transcripts and wrote them into a series of novels titled Record Of Lodoss War indicating that this story was a recording of past campaigns. The novels became so popular that in 1990 the renowned studio Madhouse produced a 13-episode direct-to-video anime saga. This series was among the first full-length OVAs ever produced, and its completion took only two years.

Considering the anime came out over 35 years ago, Madhouse did an outstanding job that made it a timeless classic among otaku and a real starting off point for beginners. Gamers found the anime to be compatible with Dungeons And Dragons including its lore, although some outsiders might have wondered why it did not have anything to do with the American cartoon that played on Saturday mornings. Central Park Media released the anime in English as one of their first big productions first in VHS and eventually in DVD with a stellar dub. Anyone who used to watch Sci-Fi Channel back in the 90s might remember the first three episodes occasionally broadcast in a single feature, although the cryptic thing about that is the first episode is really a flash-forward already showing the main cast of characters assembled and going on a mission that begins at the end of the sixth episode making it a lead-in to the overall plot. The OVA series was based on the first four prose novels, and a manga series spinoff titled The Grey Witch.

The Lodoss franchise continued with a 26-episode anime TV series titled Chronicles Of The Heroic Knight, which retold the story from the original OVA. In between these were a trio of theatrically released anime shorts titled Welcome To Lodoss Island featuring chibi versions of the main characters which the TV series used as a bonus feature at the end of every episode.

Two other titles came from this world, one of which is Legend Of Crystania acting as a sequel to the story covered in the TV series at first in an anime movie and then a 3-episode OVA continuation. Crystania was a darker story starring two of former villains from Lodoss in a different country and finding their way in a new civilization ruled by different gods. Following this was a more humorous manga and anime titled Rune Soldier set in the same world but with a more lighthearted approach inspired by comedic fantasy anime such as Slayers.

Ryo Mizuno made a considerable number of other installments to the Lodoss saga including manga sequels and prequels, some that were parodies like the Welcome To Lodoss Island chibi adventures. Mizuno went back to the well to create a new RPG titled Record Of Grancrest War which itself received a TV anime adaptation but had no connection to the world of Forcelia. Recently, a sequel to the Lodoss saga has come out which takes place a century afterwards, one in a Castlevania-styled video game named Wonder Labyrinth, plus a series of light novels titled The Crown Of The Covenant that eventually got a manga adaptation.

Lodoss on its own is an island that separated itself from the continent of Alecrast during a civil war among the gods. Alecrast is where Rune Soldier takes place in, so Lodoss was like the continent removing all the negative aspects away from itself. Record Of Lodoss War has a consistent theme through each incarnation which consists of a party of six heroes teaming up to save their land from destruction. The first was in The Lady Of Pharis manga where the party consisted of a knight, a thief, a cleric, a wizard, a dwarf, and an elf fighting your standard issue demon lord. Following that was The Grey Witch story arc that is covered in the manga of the same name and the original OVA which is the primary cast most people are familiar with. Chronicles Of The Heroic Knight takes place a generation later with a party of six teaming up with the surviving heroes from the The Grey Witch.

The Record Of Lodoss War OVA is the best introduction to the franchise. In it, Lodoss is a land separated into various kingdoms and constantly warring with the lower island of Marmo led by the ruthless Emperor Beld who plots to take over all Lodoss. Parn is the son of a disgraced knight who sets off on a quest with his old priest friend Etoh, and they are joined by the local mage Slayn and his dwarf companion Ghim who is on a mission of his own. Later on, Deedlit, a high elf, and Woodchuck, a witty thief, accompany them on their quest to warn the kingdoms of Lodoss about Marmo's impending invasion. What most of them don’t know is that this is all a game being played the Grey Witch known as Karla who was one of the six heroes from the prequel series who has all these conflicting forces working against each other to keep Lodoss in a constant state of perpetual battles so the land will never be conquered or unified. Parn grows as a swordsman during this journey while having a clashing rivalry with the Marmo dark knight Ashram, all while Deedlit has an instant attraction for Parn even though he is over a century younger than her as an immortal elf.

Critical Role pretty much copy-pasted the Lodoss model for role-playing but differentiated itself by tailoring its campaigns for livestreaming and fits into the Dungeons And Dragons universe. Led by Matt Mercer, its cast consists of voice actors from anime and video games. From there, the campaign was made into an animated series titled The Legend Of Vox Machina for Amazon Prime, and then later the spinoff series of The Mighty Nein, both of which have become rippingly popular.

The divide between Lodoss War and the Critical Role adaptations is that Lodoss tells more of an actual story whereas Critical Role is more character focused which has a dash more diversity to it. However, the original OVA series is one of the few 90s anime that achieved the universal verdict of being priceless. The animation is just as crisp and dynamic as it ever was along with a stunning soundtrack. The cast of Lodoss have deep relationships as Parn’s journey continues and you feel the pain they share when one of their numbers dies. As high fantasy, Lodoss rings all the bells that you would find in any story set in Middle Earth as both it and Dungeons And Dragons borrowed a lot from the works of Tolkien. Vox Machina and Mighty Nein might be a more contemporary starting point for an outsider to get into fantasy, but if you’re looking for the finest animated example of the sword and sorcery genre then you need to find a portal to the otherworldly island of Lodoss.