Legend of Lemnear Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2005-12-05 (updated 2012-09-24)
• 0.5 stars out of 5 (?)

Legend of Lemnear is sleazy fantasy at its worst. Filled with gratuitous nudity, wanton violence, and a complete lack of plot and characterization, there's none of the pretty art and mindless fun usually associated with Urushihara's name to be found. At least there's a heap of action--the entire last third of the film is a big ol' fight--but the animation is cheap and the visuals bland. Even the Japanese acting is bad (the dub sounds good by comparison).

A low-minded, nudity-strewn, fantasy action fest only likely to be worth the time for fans of heckling bad action movies and diehard Urushihara followers.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2005-12-05 (updated 2012-09-24)
• 0.5 stars out of 5 (?)

A low-minded, nudity-strewn fantasy action-fest with a complete lack of plot and characterization, Legend of Lemnear is lame fantasy at its worst. Seeing Satoshi Urushihara's name attached to it might give you the idea that it's a good kind of sleazy (a la Plastic Little), but no--it fails badly even in the fun department.

Like the manga it's (loosely) based on, there's no shortage of action--at least the last third of the show consists entirely of one fight, and there's plenty more in the preceding two thirds. There's also plenty of nudity to go around--Lemnear's costume would embarrass the women on Baywatch, and there is, of course, a harem. Sadly, the story manages to be both convoluted and non-existent at the same time, and neither the action nor the cheesecake look good enough to be worth sitting through it for.

The characters, despite following a tried and true formula, are another area where Legend of Lemnear doesn't cut it. The overall mediocrity of their designs, personalities, and acting left me not caring much about any of them. When you don't care about the main characters, there'd better be something pretty darned interesting going on to make up for it. There isn't.

Based on Urushihara's talent for pretty art I was expecting at least some nice visuals, but Lemnear doesn't even have much to offer in that department. The character designs are okay, but not noteworthy and nowhere near the level of Urushihara's more recent work. The art, likewise, is passable but entirely unimpressive. The animation, at least, has a few brief bright spots, but for the most part is rough and cheap-looking.

I was a bit surprised at how bad the Japanese acting is. Not awful, but despite a couple of recognizable names in the cast it's well below par even for lame fantasy. The dub is surprisingly good. Well, not really good, but it is decent, and in comparison to the striving-for-mediocrity Japanese (and the often-abysmal USM dubs of the era) it seems praiseworthy.

Put together, the whole thing is so sleazy, mindless, and plotless--all in the bad way--that it just isn't much fun to watch. The entertainment level is about equal to the no-budget fantasy slasher flicks on late night cable, worthy of heckling at best. If bad action movies and/or bad fantasy action movies are your cup of tea you'll probably have a ball, and diehard Urushihara fans might want to give it a shot. Otherwise, just stay away.

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Related Recommendations

Your best bet for quality B-movie action and lots of skin is either the anime adaptation of Urushihara's Plastic Little (even though it's still bad and sci-fi, it's much more fun) or the semi-serious handiwork of the (in)famous Go Nagai: Devilman, Shuten Douji, and more. If you really want fantasy, there are plenty of choices as well: Bastard!! (relatively similar), Record of Lodoss War (much less sleazy), Rune Soldier Louie (less sleazy and less serious), and more.