Final Fantasy: Unlimited

Final Fantasy Unlimited, the previous comment was made after watching only one episode, and he said it was a terrible anime, personally i don't comment on IMDb, but after hearing him rip into this i had to act. Around a year ago i first watched "FFU", i was blown away by it from the start. It has everything you would look for and love from the final fantasy series, and adds its own unique and great touches along with a strong story. True the ending leaves many unanswered questions but it leaves space for a hopeful sequel. The story mainly focuses around Ai and Yu a pair of twins searching for their parents in an alternate universe known as wonderland. On their journey alongside a young woman Lisa, they repeatedly cross paths with a man without a name who is searching for someone, one of the twins affectionately refers to him as Kaze who wields a powerful magic gun known as "MAGUN". While they are constantly attacked by a group of people for reasons unknown to them. I cannot highly recommend this anime enough. If you consider yourself a fan of the final fantasy games or are a anime fan looking for something unusual this is the anime for you ********(8) out of 10

This show is fantastically awesome. If you're a big Final Fantasy nerd, then you'll fall in love with it. It's a shame they cancelled the second season, but it's good they did so before the last episode was made, so they could finish it all up within a season.

Although the lines of the characters are awful most of the time (kuroi kaze is so full of himself!!), I must say that some of the characters are unforgettable, for instance Earl Tyrant, the death lords of Gaudium and, of course, Makenshi. But, what truly makes FFU a great anime is the soundtrack. The music is sumptuous and sometimes epic (the theme illustrating Makenshi's fighting scenes is truly incredible) and also provides some comic relief or accompanies battle scenes, for instance the one where Kaze loads the Demon Gun, with fast-stripped beats. Honestly, it is the main reason for the high grade that I am giving to the show because, in my point of view, the action is too repetitive and the same scenes are reused far too much. Despite that, I think the fans will be delighted to discover that an anime has managed to recreate the unique atmosphere of Final Fantasy.

The basic storyline is that Ai and Yu, two twins, are seeking their parents who disappeared in a rift 12 days ago. This rift takes the twins to Wonderland, a series of worlds with one ruler: Duke Tyrant, a cruel child who seeks to be the most powerful of all in Wonderland. Ai and Yu must find their parents and stop this Duke from invading their homeworld with strangers they meet along the way... First of whom, Lisa (a young sorceress) meets the twins on the "Ghost Train" that takes them around Wonderland. There's also Kaze, a strange fighter with amnesia and no charisma whatsoever, who defends the twins and Lisa (unintentionally) from the beasts and bosses of Wonderland using a strange and legendary "Magun" that appears to be permanently attached to his right hand that uses powerful colored bullets he calls "Soil". A wide assortment of other characters also exist...

This is a great introduction to the Final Fantasy series of video games for new players. It introduces the elements that are present in almost all of the games: Cid, the summoned monsters, what opposes which, etc. and it doesn't do it in a stubborn manner, such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, where concepts build upon each other.

Many people look at the recent games, and decide that this anime is inferior to the quality of stories that are present in the recent titles. This isn't geared towards that at all; Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II/IV were very simple in storyline as well, and are hailed as classics. Could more have been done with this OAV? Sure, but this does have value in of itself in the way it was made.

Of a four star scale, I'd give it two. It has originality and imagination, it could be better, but thankfully it's not the original Final Fantasy series anime. If the introduction was more solid, however, such as clarifying the significance of the Day of Conjunction, and how their parents released a book about it 12 days after the rift opened before disappearing... that would make this a candidate for three stars.

The creators of Final Fantasy: Unlimited made only one mistake, in my opinion, and that is not completing the all 52 episodes.

I must say that it is laughable that, when people hear "Final Fantasy", they expect to see characters from the games. Every installment of the Final Fantasy game series has its own unique plot and characters, and so does the anime series. FF:U does feature all the usuals – including chocobos, moogles and summon creatures – although it doesn't need these elements to make it a great series.

Although the series starts slowly and falls into something of a monster-of-the-day pattern early on, its every character is given special attention and will never cease to entertain you (especially Ai). Every episode packs its fair share of drama, comedy and action. As another reviewer has commented before me, it is when you get to the later episodes that you realize how great FF:U actually was. The plot is imaginative and detailed, and the further you advance into the story, the more exciting it becomes.

It is a shame that FF:U was cut down to 25 episodes, as this stands even more true for the rest of the story that was never told. I speak as one who has read the Japanese books in which the untold parts of the story have been published when I say that the best was yet to come. I think no one has the right to bash Final Fantasy: Unlimited until they know the whole story. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if an English adaption of the After series will ever be made.

Still, though FF:U might not be for everyone, anyone who is willing to watch this series with an open mind is likely to find himself pleasantly surprised.