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...

Review

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

Gestalt is a rather oddball little fantasy tale--it just can't seem to make up it's mind about 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, but in either case it's not really a noteworthy series, and it's unfinished to boot.

When you look at RPG-inspired fantasy, the two opposite ends of the spectrum are Record of Lodoss War and Slayers. Gestalt fits right between those two poles... but not at the halfway point. Instead, it's like Slayers' comedy with plot style taken to the extreme, awkwardly blending serious plot and outright parody: One moment you could believe that it was pretty good (if unoriginal) serious fantasy--talk of false legends and visions from the gods--then a minute later, a studly priest is pointing at an onscreen dialogue box (for a mute sorceress, of course) that's straight out of an old video game and asking "What's with this?"

An odd combination to be sure, and while both the silliest and straightest parts are done well, the rest is more or less lackluster. On one end, the story has the makings of something epic and cool, but the way it's executed doesn't (in this half-finished form) quite support that scale or level of seriousness. Worse for me is the comedy--it has the elements of some really funny stuff, but though it's good at times it just doesn't go far enough over the top to live up to its potential.

To Gestalt's credit, that dialogue box gimmick was very funny, and as a sort-of-parody of fantasy RPGs it's pretty successful. Coming back to Slayers and Record of Lodoss War, both of those series definitely have the feel of being inspired by classic role playing games. Gestalt goes one step farther, pulling the names of monsters and spells straight out of the old Dungeons and Dragons game. Ah, the fearsome Carrion Crawler (actually, they're not supposed to be anywhere near as awe-inspiring as their portrayal in this series, but...). If you're a fan of those old fantasy RPGs, Gestalt might be worth watching just to holler out "So that's what an Undine looks like!" For the RPG-uninitiated, though, there probably isn't much to enjoy, since the monsters really aren't very creative, and you'll miss the in-jokes.

The characters are like the rest of the production--a few high points, but mostly uninspired. I was quite fond of our hero Olivier--he has some real personality and is among the tiny group of "good guys" who actually decides not to toast the guards because they're ignorantly following orders. His generally gentle demeanor is a nice contrast to the usual hothead or anti-hero type, and played off well against Ohri. As for her, it's hard as an anime fan not to like a cute, possessive, ultra-powerful sorceress from a mysterious far-off land, but she wasn't as appealing as she could have been, and most of the other characters were on the same level.

Artistically, Gestalt is noteworthy one of the series created during the industry transition from camera-and-cel animation to computer-composited anime, but while a step up from the earliest efforts, it suffered from some growing pains. Still, for the most part the computer compositing, pans, and effects work well enough, and I'm pretty sure that with old-style animation it wouldn't have looked nearly as good on the budget it had.

The art is very clean, and nicely colored, but is also quite simple--probably too much so (disappointing in contrast to Yun Kouga's original artwork), though the backgrounds had enough detail. The animation is respectable, though not noteworthy, but the character animation isn't very good. The action is passable, although a little infrequent, and for those wondering, it is all "sorcery" and no "swords." Actually, it's one interesting point was the magic: it was almost all done with computer effects, with varying degrees of success. Some of the ripple or transparent effects are kind of cool, while others are awkward or just look like a cheap video game. The production design is likewise kind of uneven; most of the characters look pretty good (especially the guys, who have an almost shoujo look to them), but most of the monsters are relatively silly (kudos on the Carrion Crawler, though--not great, but a huge step up from the picture in the original D&D book).

I've only seen the dub, but the acting in that is varied, pretty well cast, and generally good enough. Not really remarkable, but there are no sub-par performances, even in minor roles. I can't say as much for the writing, which is mostly pretty weak. Funny at times--ending a wordy verbal assault on a villainess with "...and that's why you suck!"--but too cheesy and awkward to take very seriously. On the non-vocal end, the sound effects, unfortunately, are underwhelming--the big, impressive spells are too quiet for their own good. The background music isn't really noticeable, but is good enough. As for the end theme, the vocal one in the second act could have been nice, but there's too much talking going on over it to tell.

In all, Gestalt is an odd mix of serious fantasy and really silly fantasy, with some fun characters, a plot that could perk up in future installments were any ever made, lots of old RPG references, and a smattering of magical action. As it stands, Gestalt is an amusing diversion, but uneven and not creative or fun enough to recommend. If you can't get enough light fantasy, you'll probably like it, and if you're an old RPG fan, you'll almost certainly enjoy at least the references. Otherwise, it's probably not worth spending the time or money, even as a rental.

Related Recommendations

Very similar to Ruin Explorers, Record of Lodoss War, Fire Emblem, and many other fantasy shows, but the closest to it in execution is Rune Soldier Louie, which much more effectively pulls off a mix of humor and straight fantasy, followed closely by the simultaneously more serious and much sillier Slayers. Gokudo deserves a nod as well for similarly-themed and far more over the top fantasy comedy.

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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