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"Legend of the Crystals" based on Final Fantasy (Volume 1)
First volume of the classic "Final Fantasy" series based off of the popular RPG franchise.
Having my very first exposure to the Final Fantasy franchise, namely Final Fantasy VIII for the Sony PlayStation®, my attention is undivided whenever I see an item with the Final Fantasy label on it. Never would I come across an anime series dedicated to one of my personal favorite franchises in history, sans running only four episodes. A big special thanks to Urban Vision for this release, though we sympathize the contractual rights lost when wanting to distribute this to DVD. Saying that means you'd best be sure you still have your VCR player and have treated it well. If not, shop for one because this series was only available on VHS.
First volume contains the first and second episodes of the series introducing the characters and the overall setting. The introduction is quite nice as you get a scrolling text that reads:
While being imprisoned by the pirates on
the cosmis calendar year,
Kari-Yuga 1000 God Year
Planet R, attended by twin satellites,
enjoys an abundance of majestic
nature and a blue glowing ocean.
Its prosperous existence is
maintained by mystical Crystals,
which control the four major
elements of the Universe:
Earth, Water, Fire and Wind
Two Hundred years ago, when
Planet "R" was menaced by a dark
existence and faced its biggest
crisis, the valiant ones fought
desperately to protect the sacred
Crystals. A fight which has since
been long forgotten, but...
I understand scrolling text as an intro can be annoying, since viewers don't want to read first thing (what's wrong with reading?), but I liked it.
The Wind Chapter begins as we get to know Linaly and her grandfather, whose aim is to protect the Wind Crystal from thieves wanting to take away the basic elements of Planet R, let alone being the building blocks of the Universe. We also meet a young, but hilarious, lad named Prettz who decides to tag along Linaly and her grandfather going to the Temple of the Wind. Wanting to get their faster, Linaly encounters an enemy! She summons a chocobo who does a lousy job at attacking, but the enemy attacks nearly hurting Linaly's grandfather. Asked not to follow them, Prettz came anyway and saved the day eliminating the enemy. Linaly's grandfather lays in bed and tells her to continue on without him as he's feeling very weak. Next thing you know, a pink ship ran by a badass woman named Rouge and her henchwomen show up, asking Linaly and Prettz about the Wind Crystal. Without giving away too much, and escaping her capture, Linaly and Prettz reach the Wind Forest. After summoning a spell asking for the support of the spirits, the duo arrives at Valley of the Dragon getting past the heavy, tornadic winds to finally reach the Temple of the Wind. Catching up, then joining them, Prettz and Linaly, with Rouge and her crew, enter into the Temple to try and find the Wind Crystal. While waiting in their ship, Rouge finds and sees The Iron Wing where top commander Valkus show up, wanting to know the whereabouts of this Wind Crystal. Once the duo finds and gains possession of the Wind Crystal, the Crystal punctures Linaly in the chest giving her full ownership of the Crystal which is reflected off her....butt.
On to the second episode titled The Fire Chapter, and intro goes like this:
The Crystals of Earth, Water & Fire have
been stolen by the Evil forces and
Planet "R" is suffering from many grave
disasters.
Meanwhile, Prettz and Linaly, a decandent
of the legendary Valiant ones, must travel
to the Temple of the Wind to protect the
one remaining Crystal, overcoming many
dangerous obstacles along the way.
After finally reaching the Temple of the
Wind, the Crystal makes an extraordinary
move and magically dives straight into
Linaly's body...
Starting the episode off with Rouge and her crew dropping bombs on Prettz, Linaly, along with Valkus, the opening takes place at Nazalea Islands, Rouge Island where Rouge resides. Hoping to snag the Wind Crystal off one of them, the trio are held prisoner by Rouge as they all ponder what the next option, which includes breaking out, will be. Miraculously, the Wind Crystal casts a light summoning another figure named Mid—a spirit who came back to exemplify in completing his grandfather's goal gathering all the Crystals together helping soldiers to protect it. Mid was legendary during his time as he fought and defeated the evil Exodes in the past, but now has come to help out in saving the Wind Crystal from being stolen. Suddenly, the tough girls who serve Rouge take Linaly away believing she has possession of the Wind Crystal. Prettz uses all his strength to break out of the prison, with Valkus' help, fearing Linaly is in great danger. While Valkus is breaking out as well, Prettz barges in the nearby room only to see that Rouge and Linaly are having tea and conversation. Not trusting Rouge's motif, Prettz goes all out to destroy every furniture and decor in the room as Mid shows up to help the duo escape. Running away, and trying to get Linaly to hand over the Wind Crystal, Deathgyunos' army of bots begin to approach and swarm the place to annihilate the place to steal the remaining Crystal. Prettz, trying to save the entire group including Rouge, fools the bots in thinking he has the Wind Crystal and gets them to chase him back into Rouge's residence. Throwing and detonating his infamous "emoji" bombs, Prettz eliminates the entire bot army which also destroys Rouge's cave....and survives! Happy he's still alive from the explosion, Linaly jumps and dives into the water with Prettz happy that he survived. The episode ends with Deathgyunos disappointed and their plan failed and the evil forces are headed to Black Moon to execute their next operation.
Both episodes end with credits.
Prior to the first episode, promotional trailers were shown for the following titles: Gatchaman (Volumes 1, 2, 3), Psycho Diver (August 26, 1997), Dragon Slayer (September 16, 1997), Bio Hunter (July 29, 1997), Twilight of the Darkmaster (November 11, 1997), and Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals (Volume 1 - December 9, 1997, Volume 2 - February 3, 1998). The dates written are when the home video will be released for that title.
While these two episodes are great introductory stories to the series, let alone the video game, I felt it could have a bit more action. However, asking for more action may overdo the story a little bit. It's like being careful about your salt intakes, but you know eating french fries would be too bland without some salty seasoning yet even a pinch of seasoning could be overdoing it. Same with these episodes, as too much action would deter the attention away from the story even though we understand that snatching the final Crystal could result in dire consequences.
I'm sure if this was re-released on DVD, there'd be more behind the scenes and how the series connected with the video game itself. It is series like this that proves that not every show/movie has been digitized and released on DVD in some form or other. Now that you've realized that, keep and take good care of your VCR! Plus, depending on the title and condition, VHS tapes are at an all-time low and should be very easy to collect.
It is a good two-episode volume, and an excellent on for any Final Fantasy fan. As for the story, a tad more pizzazz would have been nice but it's still an enjoyable show.
- Classic animated take on the popular RPG franchise.
- Great promotional trailers of other animated shows.
- Step-by-step process makes this a convenient video to own.
- Excellent adventure.
- Story sort of drags without much action.
- Dialogue was a little flat.
- Very short series.
Fan Rating
PROFILE |
|
|---|---|
| Title | Legend of the Crystals based on Final Fantasy |
| Volume Number and Title | Volume #1 |
| Description | [FRONT] BASED ON THE BEST SELLING JAPANESE ROLE PLAYING GAME [BACK] VOLUME ONE Planet R's luminous existence is maintained by four magical Crystals, each regulating a different essential element: Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. Long ago, sinister dark forces stole the Crystals and threatened to destroy the Planet. But, the courageous heroes fought desperately and defeated the dark forces to restore the planet to its peaceful state. Two hundred years later - The great fight has been long forgotten and again, three Crystals have been stolen. The young descendants of the ancient heroes, Linaly and Prettz, are all that remain to protect the Crystal of Wind from the evil forces. If the two can manage to escape from Rouge - the leader of the leather-bound army of female pirates, they must still pass through the many dangerous obstacles that protect the magical crystal. Only the chosen one will survive the passage. Directed by the acclaimed Rin Taro, FINAL FANTASY will dazzle your senses with vibrant colors and innovative character design. Our tale continues the story from the popular Japanese RPG - FINAL FANTASY V. |
| ISBN / Bar Code number | 1-890603-14-7 / 6 38652-1015-3 2 |
| Video Format | 1.33:1 (4:3) / Full screen |
| Audio Format | Hi-Fi Stereo |
| Tape Count | One (1) |
| Genre | Anime (Japanese animation) - Action/Adventure |
| Run Time | 60 Minutes (Actual time: 1:04:52) |
| Language(s) | English (dubbed) |
| Subtitles | -- |
| Closed Captioning | Yes |
| Rated | Not Rated. Contains Mild Violence. Acceptable for all ages. |
| VHS Release | December 9, 1997 |
| Specification | Color |
| Production / Company | Urban Vision Entertainment / American Anime / SQUARE/NTT Publishing |
| Product / Item Number | UV1015 |
| Copyright | © 1994 SQUARE/NTT Publishing Co., Ltd. • Packaging design © 1997 Urban Vision Entertainment |
| Other Formats | -- |
| Quoted Reviews | -- |
| Other | Warning: For private home use only. Licensed for use in U.S. and Canada only Urban-Vision(dot)com |
and THE FIRE CHAPTER
Art Director HIDETOSHI KANEKO
Music By MASAHIKO SATOU
Sound Recording Director YASUNORI HONDA
Director NAOTO KANDA
Animation Production by MADHOUSE
English Language Version Written By R.D. MAKEPEACE
English Language Version Directed By JACK FLETCHER
Legend of the Crystals based on Final Fantasy Volume 1 Episode 1 credits
Executive Producer
Kenichiro Utsunomiya
Original Story
SQUARE
Production Supervisors
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Nobuo Uematsu
General Producer
Yoshikuni Ogata
Producers
Yojirou Shirakawa
Tetsuo Daitoku
Yuji Takae
Series Framework
Satoru Akahori
Series Director
Rin Taro
Script
Satoru Akahori
Character Design
Yoshinori Kanemori
Kunihiko Sakurai
Mechanical Design
Seiji Handa
Animation Director
Kunihiko Sakurai
Key Animation
Satoshi Tazaki
Takamitsu Kondoh
Hiroyuki Kasugai
Toshiya Niidome
Masaru Kitao
Hiroyuki Horiuchi
Yuko Kusumoto
Norimitsu Suzuki
Sumio Watanabe
Atsushi Sekiguchi
Kenji Teraoka
Tomihiko Ohkubo
In-Between Animation Check
Akiko Ohshima
Naoshi Ozawa
Yoriko Mochizuki
Hiroko Mishima
In-Between Animation
Yukio Uehira
Masahiko Sasaki
Chinami Igei
Kunihiko Hamada
Shigeki Ohshiro
Jun Takizawa
Teruaki Tokumaru
Osamu Kobayashi
Dr. Movie
Park Tae Hyun
Kim Moon Hee
Kwak Hye Jung
Lee Ae Kyung
Color Design
Miwako Nakamura
Color Setting/Cel Checking
Tomoko Yamamoto
Special Effects
Kaoru Tanifuji
Trace & Paint
Ken Hashimoto
Tomoko Fukushima
Sachiko Ohto
Kaeko Matsuo
Dr. Movie
Lee Jin
Kim Hwa Soon
Song Su Kyung
Park Pae Jung
Art Director
Hidetoshi Kaneko
Backgrounds
Yuka Okamoto
Kazuko Katsui
Masahiro Kawashima
Yasunari Usuda
Noriko Kaneko
Emiko Koizumi
Hisae Saitoh
Masumi Nishikawa
Hirofumi Shiraishi
Toshiyuki Yoshimura
Title Art
Yamako Ishikawa
Director of Photography
Hitoshi Yamaguchi
Photography
Atsuo Saitoh
Hiroshi Nakagawa
Masahiro Koyama
Photography Cooperation
Anime Room
Toms Photo
Editing
Harutoshi Ogata
Yukiko Itoh
Satoshi Terauchi
Music
Masahiko Satoh
Theme Song
"Husui Kikou"
Lyrics
Keruto Ajiya
Composition/Arrangement
Masahiko Satoh
Vocals
Shigeri Kizu
Chorus
Mishio Ogawa
By Courtesy of Epic/Sony Records
Sound Track by Nippon Columbia
Music Producer
Norihiko Tada
Music Production
Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.
Sound Director
Yasunori Honda
Effects
Shizuo Kurahashi
Recording
Yukio Abe
Sound Production
Arts Production
Recording Studio
Avaco Creative Studio
Assistant Director
Naoto Kanda
Line Producer
Masahiro Ohtake
Production Office
Maki Nakagawa
Title/Lease Work
Maki Production
Laboratory Development
Tokyo Laboratory
Associate Producers
Mitsumasa Ikeda
Hirofumi Nakamura
Publicity
Edit 90
Animation Production
Mad House
Animation Production Producer
Masao Maruyama
Director
Rin Taro
Project Collaboration
Shyueisha & V Jump
Production Collaboration
SQUARE & Final Fantasy
Development Staff
Production
NTT Publishing Co., Ltd.
English Language Production by
Urban Vision Entertainment
Executive Producer
Mataichiro Yamamoto
Producers
Kara Redmon
Art Mizuno
Written by
R.D. Makepeace
Directed by
Jack Fletcher
Cast
Prettz
Matt Miller
Linaly
Sherry Lynn
Valkus
John DeMita
Rouge
Kate T. Vogt
Mid
Julia DeMita
Queen Lenna
Barbara Goodson
Hassam
John Hostetter
Ra Devil
Michael Sorich
Recording Engineer
Ernie Sheesley
Final Mix and Sweetening
Ernie Sheesley
Second Engineers
Laurie Bean
Mark Caballero
Post Production Supervisor
Scott Narrie
Production Coordinator
Dee Gomillion
Trailer Edited by:
Action Video Productions
Hermosa Beach, CA
(800) 840-9956
Trailer Music by
RPM Entertainment Group
Post Office Box 815
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
email: RPMHITS@AOL.COM
Music Written & Performed by
Andy Preito & "Dying Breed"
Translator
Mutsy Erskin
Title Design and Packaging
David Chen
Recorded at
Screenmusic Studios
11700 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, Ca 91604
Distributed By
Urban Vision Entertainment
Urban-Vision(dot)com
©1994 Square/NTT Publishing Co. Ltd.
Legend of the Crystals based on Final Fantasy Volume 1 Episode 2 credits
Script
Mayori Sekijima
Character Design
Yoshinori Kanemori
Kunihiko Sakurai
Mechanical Design
Seiji Handa
Animation Director
Masanori Kimizuka
Key Animation
Hideo Nieta
Sumio Watanabe
Yoshiharu Shimizu
Toshiya Niidome
Masaru Kitao
Shinichi Imakuma
Hiroyuki Kasugai
Norimitsu Suzuki
Kunihiko Hamada
Shanhai Choyou Doga Co., Ltd.
In-Between Animation Check
Osamu Motoyama
Kunihiko Hamada
Ryoji Nakamori
In-Between Animation
Hiroko Mishima
Chinami Igei
Yukio Uehira
Kazunori Ohta
Masahiko Sasaki
Sakiko Watanabe
Shang Hai Choyou Dogo Co., Ltd.
Color Design
Miwako Nakamura
Color Setting
Ken Hashimoto
Cel Checking
Tomoko Yamamoto
Special Effects
Kohji Tanifuji
Trace & Paint
Sachiko Ohdo
Tomoko Fukushima
Kaeko Matsuo
Miyuki Yoshioka
Shang Hai Choyou Dogo Co., Ltd.
Art Director
Hidetoshi Kaneko
Backgrounds
Zohsui Nishikawa
Hirofumi Shiraishi
Toshiyuki Yoshimura
Yasunari Usuda
Masahiro Kawashima
Yuka Okamoto
Noriko Kaneko
Hisae Saitoh
Emiko Koizumi
Title Art
Yamako Ishikawa
Director of Photography
Hitoshi Yamaguchi
Photography
Atsuo Saitoh
Hiroshi Nakagawa
Masahiro Koyama
Photography Cooperation
Studio Cavern
IMG
Editing
Harutoshi Ogata
Yukiko Itoh
Satoshi Terauchi
Music
Masahiko Satoh
Theme Song
"Husui Kikou"
Lyrics
Keruto Ajiya
Composition/Arrangement
Masahiko Satoh
Vocals
Shigeri Kizu
Chorus
Mishio Ogawa
By Courtesy of Epic/Sony Records
Sound Track by Nippon Columbia
Music Producer
Norihiko Tada
Music Production
Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.
Sound Director
Yasunori Honda
Effects
Shizuo Kurahashi
Recording
Yukio Abe
Sound Production
Arts Production
Recording Studio
Avaco Creative Studio
Assistant Director
Hirokyuki Tanaka
Line Producers
Masahiro Ohtake
Mitsunobu Nakamura
Mitsumasa Ikeda
Takafumi Nakamura
Production Office
Maki Nakagawa
Title/Lease Work
Maki Production
Laboratory Development
Tokyo Laboratory
Associate Producer
Mitsumasa Ikeda
Hirofumi Nakamura
Publicity
Mitsuru Ishii
Edit 90
Animation Production
Mad House
Animation Production Producer
Masao Maruyama
Director
Naota Kanda
Project Collaboration
Shyueisha & V Jump
Production Collaboration
SQUARE & Final Fantasy
Development Staff
Production
NTT Publishing Co., Ltd.
Executive Producer
Mataichiro Yamamoto
Producers
Kara Redmon
Art Mizuno
Written by
R.D. Makepeace
Directed by
Jack Fletcher
Cast
Prettz
Matt Miller
Linaly
Sherry Lynn
Valkus
John DeMita
Rouge
Kate T. Vogt
Mid
Julia DeMita
Macho Girl 2
Barbara Goodson
Gush
John Hostetter
Ra Devil
Michael Sorich
Recording Engineer
Ernie Sheesley
Final Mix and Sweetening
Ernie Sheesley
Second Engineers
Laurie Bean
Mark Caballero
Post Production Supervisor
Scott Narrie
Production Coordinator
Dee Gomillion
Trailer Edited by:
Action Video Productions
Hermosa Beach, CA
(800) 840-9956
Trailer Music by
RPM Entertainment Group
Post Office Box 815
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
email: RPMHITS@AOL.COM
Music Written & Performed by
Andy Preito & "Dying Breed"
Translator
Mutsy Erskin
Title Design and Packaging
David Chen
Recorded at
Screenmusic Studios
11700 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, Ca 91604
Distributed By
Urban Vision Entertainment
Urban-Vision(dot)com
©1994 Square/NTT Publishing Co. Ltd.
Look for Volume 2
in stores
2/3/97[sic]
MORE VHS REVIEWS
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