Anime: Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of the Time

Growlanser IV is a well-rounded OVA if I could find one. Nothing about it is exceptional, but it has no major flaw either.

This is the story of Dianna Silvernale, member of the Royal Guard of Valcania, a country subject of the newly created Confederation. Under this new government, many are angry and think of rebellion and, under great pressure from her King, Dianna must choose between her country and its people, and her closest, rebellious friends and former leaders.

Satoshi Urushihara is one of my favourite artists out there, both in manga and anime, and he strikes again a high score for this OVA. If you liked Plastic Little and Chirality, this one is very similar to those, less the boobs and over-the-top ecchi that are his trademark ;) I guess they had to be careful to release this game and OVA for a more general audience. The character design is absolutely gorgeous, with every person dressed with originality and individuality, and both genders will be satisfied by the high numbers of bishounen and bishoujo. Only the animation is pretty ordinary, with few CG and the usual lot of still frames.

The BGM and ending song are OK, though not truly memorable. I feel it's better than most TV series out there, but it's hardly something you'd wish to own, except maybe for the ED song single...

The story is somewhat hard to grasp at first, and I guess it's aimed at people who already played the game before watching it. Its highly political content involves a lot of countries and people presented in the first half, and although it's not really confusing, you really wonder when it's going to start making sense and go somewhere. I'm sure having less characters around would have been helpful in making a better script and story, but the game fans out there would probably have been disappointed if their favorite character had not been present. Overall, I felt they gave too many details that are not really useful in the end, since the focus of the story was mostly its main character, Dianna Silvernale.

I really liked her because she is reminiscent of Lady Oscar in Rose of Versailles. She is a strong leader, and has enough background to be a more human, believable character than most, who is torn between the loyalty to her country and the loyalty to her King. It's disappointing we don't have more than one episode, or even a movie featuring her, because she has a lot of potential :)

Overall I really liked watching this OVA, mostly because of its gorgeous characters and strong female lead. The story could have been better, but it could also have been much, much worse than this. I'm sure all fans of the game will be satisfied, and it's a definite recommendation if you like fantasy anime.