The Humanoid: Ai no Wakusei Lezeria

This is an unusual anime. It doesn't say much, doesn't explain much and only hints at some things. Despite having dramatic moments in it, it feels strangely peaceful. Also, it is 80s anime, meaning the style is quite different from what is expected today. Regarding visuals, it is one of the beautiful 1980s animes, very well drawn. I'd recommend to check it out if you have the opportunity. Detailed breakdown below. Story: IT is a sort of a exposition/glimps of the world in the anime. As I said, this anime doesn't really explain anything, just presents series of the events one after another. IN the end it allkind makes sense, although prolonged explanations in opening and ending credits could be a bit confusing. Art: It is probably one of the best looking 1980s animes I've watched. There's a lot of details in background, and machinery is animated in high quality hand-drawn old style. Basically, I remember seeing Magic M60, and this anime looks better. However, the style of characters is old, and very different from pretty much any modern anime to the point where it almost resembles something like jonny quest. It is different from even gainax animations like Gunbuster that was quite old, and it does not resemble cartoonish visuals of Urusei Yatsura. Characters are tall, looks adult, and strongly resemble style of some of the Hanna Barbara animated movies (although, to be honest , it's been a while since I watched those, so it is possible that jonny quest looks much worse than this). Girls have large eyes, almost in faux-shoujo style, like that displayed in Maria X Holic in parody screenshots. Overall it looks good, but getting used to the old school visuals after watching modern anime takes a few minutes. Anything mechanical looks great. Sound: 1980s music that reminded me of original "Nagareboshi" intro from urusei yatsura. It fits the atmosphere, but is not very memorable by itself. Characters: They're believable enough, but due to short duration anime doesn't really have any time to do any character development. Interactions and characters are formulaic, almost theatrical. They aren't incredibel, and they aren't bad. Something in between. Enjoymenet; It was an interesting anime to watch. Overall: I'd recommend to check it out, if you have the time. It is no masterpiece, but it is interesting nevertheless, and visuals are quite unique by modern standards. It also has a bit of a relaxing feeling about it.

Dull, rushed and pitiful. There are a great many stories that have ingrained themselves into the literary consciousness, in as much as one can exist. Rags to Riches, Conquering the Monster, Error of Your Ways, and many more are all well-known even from cursory knowledge of fiction. But though none of them are actually "bad" plots, each have rightfully fallen into archaism. It is instead the norm to reinterpret and reimagine. A Machine learning of Humanity, though far younger than its peers, is another of these plotlines. And in suit, it too needs to distinguish itself with novel ideas and perspectives. So, when faced with such anold story, would it not make sense to use it as a springboard for something new, something intriguing? It certainly would. And yet, Ai no Wakusei Lezeria did nothing of the sort. It's another formulaic retread, an exercise in banality. If one has seen any media that touches on the themes of soul and sapience, they've nothing to gain by going through this OVA. ---- Thankfully, Lezeria's B-plot and world are much more interesting. Though that's hardly a commendation, since the OVA has neither surpass window dressing. There's a lot of intrigue to be had in the state of the war, or what it was the planet's precursor civilisation created, and if more, or rather, any focus had been given to them it would be a great boon to the work. Characterisation, on the other hand, is shallow and sparse. Arlon likes coffee, Sherry likes Eric, and without even a mote of exaggeration, that's about it. The focal character, Antoinette, isn't any better. Part of this could be due to her stoicism, being a machine and all, but even when moving past her nature she hasn't got much of a personality to speak of. I can give a little bit of credit to the antagonist having a moment of complexity to begin with, but he soon faded to another destruction-craving caped fool, so that's no good either. ---- There's not a lot to talk about when it comes to directing. It's acceptable, nothing particularly inventive. But under its umbrella you have what really irks me, which is ending the OVA with a weak poem summarising what we just saw. I don't think I need to explain how obnoxiously irritating and unnecessary that is. Art wise, I do have to give a lot of praise to the basic design of Antoinette herself, at least, in her final and promotional appearance. She's somewhat reminiscent of the Maschinenmensch from Metropolis, a modest but justifiable basis for this work. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the rest of the cast, none of whom have even faintly memorable designs. Finally, we come to the music, which is probably the strongest element Lezeria has going for it. Though there're only a few tracks, what with the length, they're rather well sung and have nice rhythm. It's about what I'd expect from pieces of the era, and they're used pretty well throughout the OVA. ---- But what's particularly aggravating about Lezeria, what had me condemn it to such a low score, isn't just how mediocre and uninspired its story is, but that it doesn't even take the time to trudge through it properly. It's not just that it's something everyone's seen before, it's that it knows that's the case. The audience knows Antoinette is supposed to fall in love with Eric, so rather than actually developing a relationship between the two, the OVA just pairs them up in a few minutes and lets us figure out the rest. It's just plain lazy. Were I to helm repairs, I'd expand on the secondary plot, that of the planet and the war surrounding it, and put far more effort, (that is to say, any at all), into developing the characters and their relationships to each other. And I'd do way with that agonising poem it closed on, it's crass and pointless. In summation, terrible narratively, about average technically. I'd advise briskly moving on.

One of the OVA's that should just be enjoyed for what it is. It reminds me of a bunch of OVA's like California Crisis, Call me tonight and Wicked city in the sense that it's very well drawn, has incomprehensible pacing and a leans on general tropes to make itself work, but that's why I watch these OVA's. It's a thing I enjoy. It's quite straightforward on what it's gonna be right from the very star: Princess, spaceships, robots, legends blahblablah. Most thing don't really get an explenation because there's not enough time and, once again, should simply be accepted for what they are if youwant to enjoy the OVA. The music was neat in the sense that it fits the overall aesthetic, but is not so special that I'd listen to the songs in daily life. An example where I would do this is Bubblegum Crisis. The Star Wars references in the beginning were very funny to me. It's a perfect OVA to enjoy when you don't want to think all that much but it's defenitely not a masterpiece in my eyes.

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