Gestalt

Original Title: 超獣伝説ゲシュタルト
Romanized: Choujuu Densetsu Geshutaruto
Literal: Ultra Beast Legend Gestalt

Plot Synopsis

In ancient times, there was a war between the most powerful of the gods of good, and Gestalt, who was banished to Earth. He is said to reside on a distant island, and so feared is he that even his name is never spoken aloud. But a priest of light, Fr. Olivier, has received a calling to leave his order and travel to the feared island called only "G".

Well, the head of the order isn't taking this sitting down, and has hired the dark elf Suzu to haul him back. Unfortunately for the good priest, he accidentally finds himself in possession of a pretty young slave by the name of Ohri. Unfortunately for his pursuer, that young girl turns out to be a powerful sorceress, and takes more than a bit of a liking to her new "master." Things get more interesting when the traveling pair stumbles into a kingdom whose ruler has recently taken a turn for the nasty, and Fr. Olivier vows to end the injustices before him. Easy enough if it weren't for all the sorcerers and monsters wandering around...

Quick Review

Rating: 2 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2004-06-07

Gestalt just can't seem to decide whether it's a straight fantasy story with some humor, or a parody of classic role playing games. It's better as the latter than the former, with a few very funny send-ups of classic RPG standbys, but in either case it does little to distinguish itself from the crowd, the early computer-assisted animation occasionally ends up looking cheesy, and it's unfinished to boot.

In all, although a serious fan of old RPGs or the original manga might get a kick out of it, for most people there's just not much to recommend.

US DVD Review

The DVD contains both episodes, both languages, a subtitle track, and little else.

Content Guide

A couple of off-color jokes and skimpy costumes, but not much else.

Violence: 2 - Violent, but not very serious.

Nudity: 2 - A flash once.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - A kiss or two.

Language: 1 - Not noteworthy.

Notes and Trivia

Among the producers is the old-time video game RPG maker Enix, so it's not exactly a surprise that it's got some RPG blood in its veins.

Gestalt is based on a 5-volume comic series by Yun Kouga, better known for the shoujo story Earthian. (It's worth noting that the animated incarnation of Gestalt never reaches the parts of the story where the sort of same-gendered relationships that distinguish Earthian come into play.)

The animated version follows the story of the comic relatively closely (the first two episodes cover roughly the first two thirds of the 5 volume manga series). And where the parody of fantasy RPGs was obvious in this series, it's downright blatant in the comic. For example, whenever a character appears, a box shows up with their stats: Age, race, name, character class, level, etc. And whenever someone casts a spell, a convenient info box is displayed with the complete statistics for it (level, MP used, etc.). I must admit, as a longtime roleplayer I found that hilarious when I first saw it.

Unfortunately, the comic version hasn't made it to the US yet as of this writing.

Availability

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