Dragon Knight: Wheel of Time
Oshimeter
Synopsis
Growing up as the son of a legendary knight means living in the shadow of his father's reputation. That would be pressure enough on its own, but then a dark sorcerer named Lucifon starts marching his armies across the kingdom, and a creeping black mist turns everyone it touches into stone. Classic problem for a hero's kid to deal with. Kakeru gets pulled into the quest anyway, guided by a mysterious swordsman named Eto and joined by a crew of capable, mostly female warriors who each bring something different to the fight. This 4-episode OVA from 1998 is an adult fantasy adventure in the vein of La Blue Girl or Bible Black, meaning the fantasy quest framing is genuine, not just window dressing, but the hentai content is definitely there and very much the point. If you've watched Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend and wanted something with a lighter tone and a more traditional RPG party setup, Dragon Knight 4 lands closer to that territory. It's based on a visual novel, and that lineage shows, there's actual character variety and a sense of progression as the group pushes deeper into Lucifon's territory. The animation holds up reasonably well for its era, and the character designs are distinct enough that the cast feels like a real party rather than interchangeable faces. Go in knowing what it is and it delivers on its premise without pretending to be something else.
Episode Guide
Characters
Marlene
Lucifon
Kakeru
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Watching the Trollocs tear through the village was brutal and the character designs for the monsters actually looked pretty scary in motion
Moiraine just blurting out that one of them is the Dragon Reborn felt way too fast and it ruined all the mystery of the first few chapters
I keep thinking about the Dragon Reborn potentially being a woman because it totally flips the core mechanics of the world on its head
Making Perrin have a wife just so he could kill her in the first battle was so dark and it felt like a cheap way to give him trauma right at the start
following Kakeru as he starts his own journey after his father was a good way to begin and the black mist threat kept things moving fast
watching the group prepare to head into the heart of an evil empire while wearing almost nothing is the kind of logic only you get in these older fantasy OVAs
Lucifon seems like such a weirdly cruel villain for wanting to turn people into lawn ornaments and the mist effect was actually pretty cool
seeing such a gritty fantasy vibe in the middle of all the scantily clad girls and fanservice really surprised me
It feels weird watching the son of the main guy from the first series take over but the art style is charming in its own way. The whole concept of people turning into stone statues for a villain's garden is pretty dark compared to the fanservice and you have to wonder if they make it to Lucifon's castle alive or not.
Eto leading the group into the heart of Reimling makes the whole thing feel like a classic quest and those character designs are exactly what you expect for this kind of show
the black fog rolling in and turning everyone into statues really hit me because it made the quest for Kakeru feel so much more urgent
Seeing Kakeru take over for his father was a neat touch, and the way those girls are dressed while fighting monsters is just hilarious to see.
you can tell this is from a different era because the character designs are so wild and everyone is wearing basically nothing for no reason
I still cannot get over that black mist turning everyone into statues because it looked so creepy and effective for a fantasy start
Eto joining the party really changed the energy for me because the group needed someone who actually knows what they are doing instead of just standing around looking at stone statues
It feels a bit dated, and the way Kakeru just stumbles into being a hero because of his dad is such a tired trope even for an older show like this
Kakeru has a lot to live up to with Takeru being his dad and that opening scene where the mist hits is a brutal way to start a quest
the character designs are exactly what you expect from an old school fantasy ova and it is pretty funny how the girls are barely wearing anything while fighting literal demons
The girls in kakeru's party are definitely dressed for a fantasy quest, and the animation during the mist scenes looks surprisingly decent for the age of the show.
I am so glad they kept the 90s grit for Kakeru and seeing that black mist turn that whole village to stone actually creeped me out more than I expected
Dragon Knight: Wheel of Time
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