Landlock (OVA 1) – Red Eye!
The peaceful land of Zul has been destroyed by Zanark, a megalomaniac in search of power, and Luda is the key. However, he has no interest in just giving up, especially when his father and sister are killed by a mysterious girl!
Landlock (OVA 1) – Red Eye!
What happened?
It was supposed to be a joyous occassion. Ansa had been confirmed as the vessel for the wind god following the ritual carried out in the temple outside of the city. Unfortunately, the joy was short lived as the city came under attack from a massive warship. After the initial attack, it began dropping mechas on the panicked citizens. Mobe, the user of the wind fought back with everything he had, however, he was no match the number of attackers. Eventually, worn down from battle, he found himself facing a girl with silver hair. She confirmed his identity and then killed him. Before his last breath had escaped him, she told her forces to locate their next target – Red Eye!
Luda had been on his way from the temple to the city when he was attacked by mechas. They surrounded him, allowing the silver-haired girl to approach. She was delighted to find someone like her. After all, she had one blue eye and he had one red eye. Ansa caught up with them and attempted to free Luda, but the silver-haired girl restrained her and then killed her, but not before telling them both that she had already killed Mobe. Luda lost control of his powers. Something appeared to take over him and attack the silver-haired girl with a giant green hand. Then, he was thrown into the air and then disappeared into the distance.
Agahali, the silver-haired girl returned to Zanark and reported the results of the attack. She confirmed that she killed Mobe, however the one with the Red Eye escaped. Zanark was disappointed and sent her out to track him down and bring him back alive. Agahali tracked him across several lands and ultimately found him in a temple far from his home. While they were talking, Ansa appeared before them, alive and well. Agahali was confused, but she captured them and returned to Zanark. Later, Zanark revealed that the captives would be executed and Agahali was to carry it out. However, she saw something on Ansa that troubled her. They both had the same birthmark on their backs. Agahali may have suspected something, but Ansa knew right away. They were twin sisters, which meant that Mobe was Agahali’s father, too! She helped them escape and then went to confront Zanark.
What did you think?
I found this DVD on ebay and as soon as I saw the cover, I knew that I had to get it. The characters screamed Masamune Shirow (one of my all time favourite artists). Unsurprisingly, the characters were designed by Masamune Shirow which is amazing. It’s always nice to know that I can spot his work in the wild. However, other than the character and mecha designs this was not a great story. Well, it might have been, but releasing it as two forty-five minute episodes was not nearly long enough to do anything justice.
Everything felt rushed, which was fine at the beginning, but it very quickly became apparent that there was going to be little effort put into doing the story justice. This episode was packed full of annoying moments. The exposition monologue at the beginning was particularly contrived, trying to sound enlighted and mysterious. It failed. I really hate it when a character says something and then another character repeats it for no reason. At one point, Nosaku said “I wonder why they are after you”, talking to Luda. He then repeated the same thing in his head. That was just one example, but there were many more.
The best thing about this episode was Agahali. Her introduction was classic Masamune Shirow, coming out of a personal mecha while wearing a thong bodysuit and weilding a samurai sword. You can probably guess why he’s one of my favourite artists… Anyhow. Agahali was excellent and far more interesting that Luda or Ansa. My only criticsm of her was how quickly she accepted that Ansa was her sister and then how killing her own father didn’t really impact her. Zanark then made a complete mockery of things by mocking her for killing her father. It was all too much of a pantomine, when given more time, it could have been fascinating. Hopefully, the second part will do a better job.
Series Information
| English Title | Landlock |
| Japanese Title | Landlock |
| Genres | Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction |
Anime
| OVA | Landlock |
| Released | Spring 1996, Summer 1996 |
| Animation Studios | Sanctuary |
| Episodes | 2 |
| 1 | Red Eye! |
| 2 | Blue Eye! |
