Green Legend Ran
Encyclopedia
is an approximately 140-minute long 3-episode anime
OAV
released in 1992, and by Pioneer Entertainment
(later Geneon
) in the U.S. as an unedited subtitled three-Laserdisc
or VHS
set. It is drawn in a style reminiscent of the Final Fantasy
OAVs and directed by Satoshi Saga. In the U.S., it aired on the Sci Fi Channel
's Saturday Anime block during the late 90s.
-style post-apocalyptic Earth, which has turned largely into a vast desert
after an alien invasion, in which six of the "Rodo" (a race of what appear to be giant monoliths) crashed onto Earth from space, somehow effecting massive climate change which has completely wiped out the oceans and rain. At the time, mankind was ruining the environment, making an apocalypse of some sort inevitable (similar to other environmentally-focused anime like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
; in general style, Green Legend is much like Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
and Future Boy Conan
).
In this brutal new world, two polarized factions have arisen: the first faction, the "Rodoists" are a fanatical religious sect
who worship the Rodo while practicing hydraulic despotism; all communities are clustered around one of the monoliths, as they are the only remaining sources of water and food - most of which is gathered quite close to the monoliths in what they call the "Holy Green". Travel between communities is infrequent, as at a certain distance from the monoliths, the environment peters out to the point that the air itself cannot be breathed - necessitating pressurized vehicles akin to spaceships. The second faction, the "Hazard", is a secretive revolutionary movement opposed to the Rodoists.
The protagonist (Ran) is a young orphaned boy who seeks to survive, to join the Hazard, and to find and take revenge upon the man with a scar on his chest who killed his mother. He blunders into the middle of a battle between the Hazard and the Rodoists, during which he meets a strange silver-haired girl named Aira. Ran helps some Hazard scouts escape his town and joins them. Soon, the Rodoist army attacks the Hazard base; Aira is forcibly evacuated against her will by the Hazard. Ran attempts to board the sand ship, but fails, and begins pursuing it across the desert in a stolen pressure suit. He is rescued by traveling water and food merchants just before his air runs out. The merchant leader, a contemplative man named Jeke, offers Ran his assistance in rescuing Aira. The rescue goes awry when the Rodoists attack the Hazard sand ship and recapture Aira as Ran and the merchants attempt to infiltrate the same sand ship.
(still known as Pioneer Animation at the time). Even compared to other early DVD releases, the Green Legend Ran release was extremely sparse, as it contained no menu to allow for easy set-up or navigation. Geneon has yet to release the title in a more user-friendly package.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
OAV
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
released in 1992, and by Pioneer Entertainment
Geneon
is a Japanese music, anime and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Geneon has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime in Japan...
(later Geneon
Geneon
is a Japanese music, anime and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Geneon has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime in Japan...
) in the U.S. as an unedited subtitled three-Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
or VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
set. It is drawn in a style reminiscent of the Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
OAVs and directed by Satoshi Saga. In the U.S., it aired on the Sci Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
's Saturday Anime block during the late 90s.
Plot
Green Legend is set in a science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-style post-apocalyptic Earth, which has turned largely into a vast desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
after an alien invasion, in which six of the "Rodo" (a race of what appear to be giant monoliths) crashed onto Earth from space, somehow effecting massive climate change which has completely wiped out the oceans and rain. At the time, mankind was ruining the environment, making an apocalypse of some sort inevitable (similar to other environmentally-focused anime like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)
is a post-apocalyptic manga written and illustrated by acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki. It was serialised intermittently from 1982 to 1994 in Japan...
; in general style, Green Legend is much like Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
is a Japanese animated television series inspired by the works of Jules Verne, particularly Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the exploits of Captain Nemo...
and Future Boy Conan
Future Boy Conan
is an anime series, which premiered across Japan on the NHK network between April 4 and October 31, 1978 on the Tuesday 19:30-20:00 timeslot. The official English title used by Nippon Animation is Conan, The Boy in Future....
).
In this brutal new world, two polarized factions have arisen: the first faction, the "Rodoists" are a fanatical religious sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
who worship the Rodo while practicing hydraulic despotism; all communities are clustered around one of the monoliths, as they are the only remaining sources of water and food - most of which is gathered quite close to the monoliths in what they call the "Holy Green". Travel between communities is infrequent, as at a certain distance from the monoliths, the environment peters out to the point that the air itself cannot be breathed - necessitating pressurized vehicles akin to spaceships. The second faction, the "Hazard", is a secretive revolutionary movement opposed to the Rodoists.
The protagonist (Ran) is a young orphaned boy who seeks to survive, to join the Hazard, and to find and take revenge upon the man with a scar on his chest who killed his mother. He blunders into the middle of a battle between the Hazard and the Rodoists, during which he meets a strange silver-haired girl named Aira. Ran helps some Hazard scouts escape his town and joins them. Soon, the Rodoist army attacks the Hazard base; Aira is forcibly evacuated against her will by the Hazard. Ran attempts to board the sand ship, but fails, and begins pursuing it across the desert in a stolen pressure suit. He is rescued by traveling water and food merchants just before his air runs out. The merchant leader, a contemplative man named Jeke, offers Ran his assistance in rescuing Aira. The rescue goes awry when the Rodoists attack the Hazard sand ship and recapture Aira as Ran and the merchants attempt to infiltrate the same sand ship.
DVD release
Green Legend Ran was among the first Region 1 titles released on DVD by GeneonGeneon
is a Japanese music, anime and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Geneon has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime in Japan...
(still known as Pioneer Animation at the time). Even compared to other early DVD releases, the Green Legend Ran release was extremely sparse, as it contained no menu to allow for easy set-up or navigation. Geneon has yet to release the title in a more user-friendly package.
External links
- Review at Animeworld.com
- "Green Legend Ran" -(by Mark L.Johnson; a review at ex.org)
- Article at the IMDB
- Review at the "Anime Cafe"
- Review at the "Anime Critic"