Reviews for Final Fantasy Unlimited (4.72)
ff8emil
Maeda Mahiro
Final Fantasy Unlimited - A Squaresoft tale, cut short FFU was the second try by Square to create an anime, after the mostly unknown outside of Japan Legend of The Crystals. You would...
Home
Twitter
- Approval: 86.4% (6 votes)
24.07.2006 17:44 - direct link
(rs4082)
Final Fantasy Unlimited - A Squaresoft tale, cut short
FFU was the second try by Square to create an anime, after the mostly unknown outside of Japan Legend of The Crystals. You would think that after having some expirience in the field, pros' such as square would creat a magnifecent story for both young and old fans of FF to enjoy. Well after various budget cuts and over half the episodes canceled we're left with only a mediocre anime.
Story - What the hell happened,Square?
People connect a FF title with great visuals, award deserving music and an unmatched story. Surprisingly, Unlimited's plot is the anime's weakest point.
It revolves around the siblings Yu (a boy) and his sister Ai who set out on a journey to find their parents. Theese are scientists searching to find new kinds of energy in the so called Inner World after the portal to it opened some 10 years ago. One day they go to an expedition in this new dimension and never return.So Ai and Yu board a strange subway that leads to the Inner World. They meet up with Lisa, which makes it her priority to see that nothing happens to the children, Kaze a mysterios man wielding a Demon Gun and many more. They're soon to find out that they must battle the evil count of the Inner world and his guardians if they're ever to find their parents.
So far so good. But that's almost all of it. There's a main story thread but the episode-wise connections are only accomplished by a mysterious woman "prophecizing" what will happen in the next episode and reminding you what has happened in the last. The anime is roughly divided into two parts. The first 13 episodes it's basically: Travel to a weird place, one of the guardian appears, Kaze shoots his Demon Gun, defeats the baddie, end. Nothing special or interesting there. The second part gets better with more interesting and diverse adventures, more concentrating on the other characters.However,there are so many questions left unanswerd and so many mysteries unsolved that at the end you're just left asking yourself: "What the...? Where's the rest of it?"
Most of this comes due to the fact that FFU was first planned to have more than double of the episodes it has now but for some reason they've been cancelled, so the staff tried to cramp everything into 24, leaving much go wasted.
Animation - Cute... Some CG too.
Square and Gonzo did their job here. The animation is of good quality and fits the weidness of the Inner World. It is amazing though how they were simultaneously lazy and hard working! The backgrounds and surroundings are very detailed and make you really believe that this is indeed a strange world. But there're many repeating frames and scenes. You'll see almost the exact same sailor-moon like transformation each episode, when the Demon Gun gets activated. Some character motions and scenes are used multiple times too. There's quite a lot of CG in FFU, no surprise too, as this is where Square excells in. Nevertheless, don't expect Advent Children like quality as this was done quite some time in the past.
Sound - Play the Victory theme here, as it saves this anime!
Why wasn't the rest of FFU like this? From the opening theme, to the ending and everything in between is just music to your ears. The Seiyuus are proffessionals having worked on titles like Digimon,Inu Yasha,Fushigi Yuugi, Cardcaptor,Sakura Wars and Naruto just to name a few. Many FF tunes are also present - the FF piano theme and the victory theme being two examples. And if it wasn't the great music while the repeated transformation of the Demon Gun and it's firing I would've skipped it all together while watching. But I catched myself rewinding to theese repeating frames over and over again just to hear the music.The opening and two endings (especially the second one) will make you turn up the volume for sure!
Character - You're cool... Where did you come from?
We have one of the coolest charecters in an anime here. Maybe not as cool as Arucard, but still. Kuroki Kaze (Black Wind) is,after the great sound, the only reason to watch this anime! Look at him, and envy him for being cooler than you!
There other very interesting and likeable characters and you'll see many FF creatures too, like the Chocobo,Cactacuar and Moogle.The Demon Gun actually shoots summons from different FF titles, although don't expect to recognize em on looks as they look quite different from their game counterparts. The characters develop themselves throughout the course of the anime in quite a signifficant way. The story about them, yet again, is the only bad thing to say. Characters appear from nowhere, have had some relationships in the past making them love or hate eachother, but no explanation as to what or why is given.
Value - Only for FFFreaks!
You'll be disappointed, I'm telling you. But watch it if you like Final Fantasy. You'll get quite a kick from seeing some familiar characters and you'll like Kaze as the hero. Everyone else - BEWARE!
Enjoyment - I liked it!
FFU will leave you with a mixed feeling at the end, but even the fact that you'd wish the many plot holes were filled, means you enjoyed it and want there to be more. Just don't be angry at the meaningless ending and unresolved story and you might really enjoy this. Or you might not.
Review by Ragnarok (aka ff8emil).
FFU was the second try by Square to create an anime, after the mostly unknown outside of Japan Legend of The Crystals. You would think that after having some expirience in the field, pros' such as square would creat a magnifecent story for both young and old fans of FF to enjoy. Well after various budget cuts and over half the episodes canceled we're left with only a mediocre anime.
Story - What the hell happened,Square?
People connect a FF title with great visuals, award deserving music and an unmatched story. Surprisingly, Unlimited's plot is the anime's weakest point.
It revolves around the siblings Yu (a boy) and his sister Ai who set out on a journey to find their parents. Theese are scientists searching to find new kinds of energy in the so called Inner World after the portal to it opened some 10 years ago. One day they go to an expedition in this new dimension and never return.So Ai and Yu board a strange subway that leads to the Inner World. They meet up with Lisa, which makes it her priority to see that nothing happens to the children, Kaze a mysterios man wielding a Demon Gun and many more. They're soon to find out that they must battle the evil count of the Inner world and his guardians if they're ever to find their parents.
So far so good. But that's almost all of it. There's a main story thread but the episode-wise connections are only accomplished by a mysterious woman "prophecizing" what will happen in the next episode and reminding you what has happened in the last. The anime is roughly divided into two parts. The first 13 episodes it's basically: Travel to a weird place, one of the guardian appears, Kaze shoots his Demon Gun, defeats the baddie, end. Nothing special or interesting there. The second part gets better with more interesting and diverse adventures, more concentrating on the other characters.However,there are so many questions left unanswerd and so many mysteries unsolved that at the end you're just left asking yourself: "What the...? Where's the rest of it?"
Most of this comes due to the fact that FFU was first planned to have more than double of the episodes it has now but for some reason they've been cancelled, so the staff tried to cramp everything into 24, leaving much go wasted.
Animation - Cute... Some CG too.
Square and Gonzo did their job here. The animation is of good quality and fits the weidness of the Inner World. It is amazing though how they were simultaneously lazy and hard working! The backgrounds and surroundings are very detailed and make you really believe that this is indeed a strange world. But there're many repeating frames and scenes. You'll see almost the exact same sailor-moon like transformation each episode, when the Demon Gun gets activated. Some character motions and scenes are used multiple times too. There's quite a lot of CG in FFU, no surprise too, as this is where Square excells in. Nevertheless, don't expect Advent Children like quality as this was done quite some time in the past.
Sound - Play the Victory theme here, as it saves this anime!
Why wasn't the rest of FFU like this? From the opening theme, to the ending and everything in between is just music to your ears. The Seiyuus are proffessionals having worked on titles like Digimon,Inu Yasha,Fushigi Yuugi, Cardcaptor,Sakura Wars and Naruto just to name a few. Many FF tunes are also present - the FF piano theme and the victory theme being two examples. And if it wasn't the great music while the repeated transformation of the Demon Gun and it's firing I would've skipped it all together while watching. But I catched myself rewinding to theese repeating frames over and over again just to hear the music.The opening and two endings (especially the second one) will make you turn up the volume for sure!
Character - You're cool... Where did you come from?
We have one of the coolest charecters in an anime here. Maybe not as cool as Arucard, but still. Kuroki Kaze (Black Wind) is,after the great sound, the only reason to watch this anime! Look at him, and envy him for being cooler than you!
There other very interesting and likeable characters and you'll see many FF creatures too, like the Chocobo,Cactacuar and Moogle.The Demon Gun actually shoots summons from different FF titles, although don't expect to recognize em on looks as they look quite different from their game counterparts. The characters develop themselves throughout the course of the anime in quite a signifficant way. The story about them, yet again, is the only bad thing to say. Characters appear from nowhere, have had some relationships in the past making them love or hate eachother, but no explanation as to what or why is given.
Value - Only for FFFreaks!
You'll be disappointed, I'm telling you. But watch it if you like Final Fantasy. You'll get quite a kick from seeing some familiar characters and you'll like Kaze as the hero. Everyone else - BEWARE!
Enjoyment - I liked it!
FFU will leave you with a mixed feeling at the end, but even the fact that you'd wish the many plot holes were filled, means you enjoyed it and want there to be more. Just don't be angry at the meaningless ending and unresolved story and you might really enjoy this. Or you might not.
Review by Ragnarok (aka ff8emil).
