Ellcia

Original Title: 幻想叙譚エルシア
Romanized: Gensou Jodan Erushia
Literal: The Fantastic Tale of Ellcia

Plot Synopsis

When the Megaronians discover ancient ruins, they gain the highly advanced technology of an earlier culture and go on a campaign of conquest. King Nabosu conquers the four islands of god, killing the king and queen and holding their son, Elluri, hostage. Eira and her pirate friends get drawn into the whole deal when Crystel, Nabosu's ruthless elder daughter, attempts to discover Ellcia, the legendary Ship of God.

Quick Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Arcane
Review Date: 2000-09-15

Ellcia's story is kind of simple to summarize. Evil empire seeks to conquer the world--small band of pirates have to stop them. Wow. How original. But when you dig deeper, there are more unoriginal ideas to discover. To battle the vast fleet of the Megaronian (love the name!) Empire, the pirates must resurrect the legendary Ship of God, the Ellcia, from its slumber beneath the sea in the island of Eija, and the Chosen One, the only person who can control it, must unleash its full power to defeat the enemy fleet. Whoopee do!

Well, there's actually quite a bit to recommend about Ellcia. The animation is, well, distinctive. Not exactly brilliant, although things like the ships, locations, weapons, etc. look kind of impressive. The look, however, is very different--this was not drawn in the traditional anime style. This is particularly true of the characters, who are, for the most part, lame. Half the pirates are children, and the only one who is even slightly well designed is Doner (I repeat: slightly). Phelkis is also decently designed, as is the Megaronian prophet Guku, but apart from them, the character design leaves a lot to be desired.

The English voice acting mix is interesting--you'd never guess that young punk Funk is voiced by Spike Spencer (who did Shinji Ikari) although if you've watched enough Evangelion you should be able to match about half the cast (Eira-Asuka, Doner-Shigeru, Nabosu-Gendo). However, the voice acting is good enough.

I said the plot wasn't terribly original, but I haven't seen much like this, so it was original enough for me. Putting the fantasy onto the high seas for a change was interesting, and the designs of the Ellcia and Phelkis' ship are impressive indeed. The swordplay (what little there is of it) is very fast, and speed is what I look for in my action. Watching the Ellcia wreak havoc is very entertaining, and the series is nicely put together, although the ending could do with a little work.

All in all, Ellcia is a nice, entertaining little fantasy adventure, but is probably not for everyone. Still, you might want to have a look.

Notes and Trivia

Availability

Available in the US from AD Vision on bilingual DVD. Was originally available on four individual subtitled or dubbed VHS volumes.

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