Sometime in Earth's future, giant monoliths that come to be known as Rodo fall from space and turn the earth into a vast desert, devoid of greenery and water save for a patch of forest known as the Holy Green near each of the monument-like Rodo. After generations of living in this harsh world, many humans have become Rodoists, joining a cult that serves the Rodo. Another organization, the rebel terrorist group Hazard, has devoted itself to fighting against the tyrannical rule of the Rodoists. Somewhere in between are what is left of the Earth's population, scraping out a living in the desert. One of the people in between is Ran, a daring boy who aspires to join Hazard, but is also searching for a man with a scar on his chest.

One day, Ran runs into a gunfight between the Rodoists and Hazard, and has a chance encounter with a silver-haired girl trying to care for a dying Rodoist soldier. The surviving rebel is saved by Ran's grandfather, and Ran is determined to follow him and join Hazard. Ran eventually makes it to the Hazard base, and finds that the girl he met earlier, Aira, is helping Hazard. The two of them get along well, but when they travel to one of the few remaining live wells that the Rodoists have left untouched and the patch of greenery surrounding it, Aira has a bizarre vision calling her back to her place of birth. Shortly afterward, Hazard's mobile base, a huge sand ship called the Red Centipede, appears in the base to take a very unwilling Aira away. Ran attempts to save her, but succeeds only in discovering that the man with the scar on his chest is on the ship. Determined to follow, Ran steals a hovercraft and desert-suit and heads out in pursuit.

Unfortunately, Ran isn't the luckiest lad, and ends up stranded in the desert miles from civilization, dying of thirst and without transportation. He isn't completely luckless, though, and is saved by a traveling group of food-and-water merchants. As it turns out, this group of merchants is currently chasing down the very ship Ran was trying to find; the merchant captain, a man named Jeke, was the co-founder of Hazard, and is trying to talk the current leader out of starting an all-out war with the Rodoists. Ran now has to decide whether he is more interested in getting revenge on the man with the scar or rescuing Aira from whatever it is Hazard has in store for her. And what exactly is it that makes her so special?

Green Legend Ran is classic piece of anime--it has the cute (but not too cute) kids, the convoluted plot, sporadic humor, and a well crafted post-apocalyptic world. And, Green Legend Ran lives up to the standards of some of the better classics, with some modern polish to boot. Probably the best part of Green Legend Ran is the characters--they are and interesting cast, each with their share of secrets from the past and a distinct personality, and a fair amount of development takes place, particularly on the part of Ran. Most of the acting (at least in Japanese) is also very good, although Hazard's leader is seriously miscast (although acted as well as could be expected by Aono Takeshi, he sounds more like a cranky old man than the square-jawed commander that he looks like). And speaking of the visuals, that is another area where Green Legend Ran distinguishes itself--the character designs, though sort of old fashioned, have a unique angular style somewhat like the Final Fantasy OAVs. The animation, although somewhat uneven, is for the most part very fluid, and the character animation in particular has a distinctive, exaggerated sense of motion. The background art is also a bit unusual, with a loosely painted style that lends itself well to the dusty towns and desert landscapes of the future world. Green Legend Ran's vision of the future is quite well crafted, though we don't get to see too much of it. The only real flaw in Green Legend Ran is the story, which is also well done, but not quite to the level of the rest of the package. Although interesting (and a bit weird), it seems a little hurried and gets choppy at times, and it is complicated enough to be confusing to some (which other people may appreciate). I'll also point out the end theme song which in my opionion ranks among the most beautiful anime songs.

Overall, though, Green Legend Ran is a fine piece of work, with creative character designs, fine animation, very interesting characters, and a complicated, if a bit uneven, plot, with a smattering of humor thrown in to the mix. Though not well known, it is definitely worth watching, and I'd recommend you see it a couple times to really appreciate it.

For some more thoughts, check out these readers' comments...

Violence:
3--Not extremely graphic, but some serious violence.

Nudity:
2--A couple of brief, incidental scenes.

Sex:
0--Nothing.

Language:
1--A few mild expletives.

AnimeNation and RightStuf probably both have this video if you want to buy it.

Part 1:
Ran: Hidehiro Kikuchi
Aira: Mitsuki Yayoi
Chimin: Kouichi Yamadera
Lazlo: Issei Futamata (Kazunori Futama?)
Moji: Masato Tsujimura
Granny: Akiko Takamura
Dr. Kim: Kinryu Arimoto
Ran's Mother: Kikuko Inoue
Young Ran: Mari Maruta

Part 2:
Ran: Hidehiro Kikuchi
Aira: Mitsuki Yayoi
Kiba: Takeshi Aono
Jeke: Michio Hazama
Honran: Michie Tomizawa
Gishi: Tsubasa Shioya
Rulo: Daisuke Namikawa
Takamasa:Ê Kiyoyuki Yanada
Beta: Shigeru Nakahara
Sue: Kenichi Ogata

Part 3:
Ran: Hidehiro Kikuchi
Aira: Mitsuki Yayoi
Chimin: Kouichi Yamadera
Kiba: Takeshi Aono
Jeke: Kichio Hazama
Gishi: Tsubasa Shioya
Honran: Michie Tomizawa
Ion: Mari Yokoo
Silver Maiden: Masako Katsuki (Misako?)
Archbishop: Kenichi Ono
Granny: Akiko Takamura