Rune Soldier 8/10

Are you thinking "8/10! WTF zenith27? Have you lost your mind?" Well, it's the rare show that has no bad episodes and only 1 mediocre one over 24 episodes. Thus Rune Soldier is rewarded.

On the technical side I loved the look of this show. The character designs are great and the backgrounds are of a style I really enjoy. This show is reminiscent of the early attempts at computer scanned and coloured anime so we see some really bright colours but none of the added computer effects seen in later efforts. This doesn't detract from the show as most of the episodes are well drawn with only about 3 episodes looking under par. The VAs were great and the music and OP theme were about average but beware the ED theme. Frankly, it blows. By the way, this show aired in 2001.

Otherwise known as Louie the Rune Soldier, this is a fantasy show about a sorcerer in training named Louie who teams up with a group of three female adventurers who are looking for a sorcerer to round out their group of fighter (Genie), priestess (Melissa), and thief (Merrill). Other than the fact that Louie is a weed amongst roses he is also a sorcerer who seems to enjoy bashing in the heads of his enemies more that casting spells. This along with his over-enthusiasm and reckless behaviour makes him more trouble than help at times for the seasoned adventurers. It also turns out that Louie has been chosen by Melissa's god as the hero she is expected to serve, making it impossible for the girls to ditch him. This show has little in the way of running plot and is mostly a series of funny adventures had by the team. There is a 3 episode ending which is quite good and I left this show feeling satisfied and willing to watch it again soon as it was really funny.

I want to add a few thoughts on the main plot. I enjoyed the whole progression of Louie's relationship with his group as the show goes on. Particularly near the end the girls begin to realize that he may be a bit of the rush-in-where-angels-fear-to-tread type but he's a good guy at heart. Even Melissa, who constantly bemoans her fate to accompany Louie, comes around near the end of the series in probably the best episode of the bunch in terms of character development. (Her in that skimpy outfit helps as well. You know the one.)

I also liked the character of Ila, Louie's female schoolmate and friend. She's an odd character for a show such as this as she's known Louie for along time before the series starts and is almost his main love interest (more like he is hers) but it's in the background of the main story. She appears in many episodes and seems to be the only person in the show, at least at first, that sees Louie as more than just some goof. She almost behaves like his wife, being there for him and supporting his adventuring efforts. It's a nice change that the main goofy character has someone rooting for him throughout the series where as most shows would never give him a break.

This show loses only a single point for some less than perfect animation at times and the crappy end theme but I'd recommend this show to just about anyone. Recommended.