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AKA: 竜機伝承 (Ryuuki Denshou)
Genre: Swords and sorcery epic
Length: OAV series, 3 episodes, 30 minutes each
Distributor: VHS and R1 DVD from ADV Films
Content Rating: R (nudity, adult situations, violence, language)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended: Arc the Lad, Tales of Eternia
Notes: Based on the PC game series "Ryuuki Denshou". This is completely unrelated to Legend of Dragoon or Panzer Dragoon. It just has a really generic name.



In the great (and Evil) Garubado Empire, a lethal weapon is in the process of being manufactured, but is stolen and subsequently lost by some nameless pirates in a battle. Now the Empire is looking for this weapon: a girl that can call forth the "Dragoon" power. Of course she gets amnesia and a wandering swordsman in training by the name of Sadie happens to find her. They instantly fall in love and he vows to help her find out who she is and why she has such a strange power. (Which of course means they'll be fighting the evil empire and finding traveling companions along the way...it's typical.)


Gosh, this is so unoriginal it should have been called "The Legend of Cliche" or "The Adventures of Been There and Done That". It's got stock characters (some bordering on stupid), a predictable storyline, and that lovely one-episode-a-week style of animation that looks only half-painted at times. Let me explain in detail - you've got your main hero with the "legendary sword" (seen it!); your damsel in distress who makes Belldandy look like a Penthouse pet (Oy! Doormat has a whole new meaning!); your Prince with the gimmicky weapon who disguises as an average traveler to spy on his kingdom who claims to be a gambler (we'll get to that in a second!); your ditzy cleric who wouldn't be a main character if it weren't for her healing ability; your flashy, busty, smart-alecky, and overconfident sorceress; AND your faithful lackey with the laughable name who's eyes are always covered by his hair (hey, with a name like "Bubb" who wouldn't cover their eyes? I'm surprised he doesn't wear a brown paper bag over his head as well!!!) The bad guys are all equally cliched and overall laughable.

Plot? This anime is MST3K fodder if I have ever seen it!! Utterly predictable in each and every scene. They'll corner a bad guy, and then he'll escape through a hidden trap door. The hero will be trapped fighting a bad guy, and then he gets flown to safety. The sword will glow at precisely the moment you expect it to, right when the bad guys are about to make mincemeat out of the heroes.

I also wish someone would tell the directors about how to pay attention to small details as well. For example, there are only four aces in a deck of cards- therefore it's impossible to beat four aces with a royal straight flush!!! The only hand that is capable of doing that is a straight flush. Of course the directors must've found out afterwards, for they have the prince sheepishly find this out *after* he returns to his chambers to rest.

"Duh...waitaminute...she cheated! How'd she get an extra ace?" What a sorry excuse for a gambler!!!

And why, oh why does every man that captures Miu (the main female character with the dragoon power) feel compelled to rape her? It's as if none of these men had ever seen a girl before! And just when they manage to disrobe her, dadadada-da-daaa! The hero busts in and saves her! No exceptions!! Every bad guy seems to wanna get into her pants and nothing else! Ugh! And of course, the hero is never once tempted. (How cliched can you get?).

And isn't there anything they can do about the way the story is to be set up??? Why is it *always* an Evil Empire out to destroy the world? Just once I would like to see the "Empire" be the good guys and the band of rogues or small kingdom be the bad guys! You won't be able to resist the temptation to make fun of this title, as it's as generic as you can get.

Technically, the music was okay, but nothing exceptional. The animation style could use a lot of fine-tuning and smoothness, and less of that annoying gloss!

If you are a fan of fantasy RPGs in need of a quick laugh, rent it. Otherwise, its best left on the shelf... unless you like to MST3K bad anime, mwahahaah!.

If you are in an MST3K mood, or have a taste for cheese, add a star. — Eric Gaede

Recommended Audience: Full frontal nudity of Miu every darn chance they can get. It makes you wonder if this wasn't written by horny high schoolers. Little actual blood, except in one scene where Sadie almost lives up to his name.

Version(s) Viewed: VHS, Japanese with English subtitles
Review Status: Full (3/3)
Dragoon © 1997 KSS
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