The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2

By: Iggy Michniacki, Posted: June 25, 2012

The Movie itself:

The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 is the follow up release to part one and wraps up the arc of the twenty-five episode series based off the light novel. For those not in the know, Ryner Lute (our hero) has established himself as Roland Empire’s most powerful mage thanks in part to the secret power he possesses; the Alpha Stigma. He has teamed up with the good king Sion Astral, as well as Ferris, the powerful lady with a sword. Together Ryner and Ferris search for Hero Relics in an attempt to bring balance back to the Roland Empire.

If my review of The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 1 didn’t make it clear, this legendary anime series takes on a bit more than it can handle. The plot is extremely complex, often leading to loose ends and forgotten sub-points. The writers worked too hard on putting action in the mix than making sure the story flowed well enough. Some episodes feel as if they get plenty accomplished while others are there to show off what the animators can do when told they need to make a magic fight. The plot does become more defined in The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2; however, it's only when the series builds up to an ultimate point and a final destination. This helps (especially for the fans) as the series avoids being left in a pile of rubble and actually accomplishes its goals in the end.

The biggest issue I find with The Legend of Legendary Heroes is the mixed message it sends in regards to tone of content. The series starts off very light-hearted and somewhat silly, but takes a turn for a darker tone a few episodes in. At that point it's clear that there's no definite direction of whether this will be a dark and violent anime series or a light-hearted, stereotypical sexist anime that goes for cheap laughs. Frankly, the bag is mixed and never really gets sorted out. Slapstick adventures of the heroes immediately become a dark battle with graphic violence and content that covers genocide, rape, and murder.

The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 does a better job at character development, as the characters really start to take shape during this back half of the series. Ryner’s relationship with Ferris is blossoming, but the creators do a great job of keeping it hazy on where it will go. Ferris continues to view Ryner as a pervert and he tries his hardest to be a straight arrow hero in front of her. Ryner also continues to deal with his secret power, the Alpha Stigma. The supporting cast gets a bit more in The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 as well, with characters like Shion, Kiefer, and Iris getting some screen time and well rounded presences.

The Legend of Legendary Heroes comes to a close, at least a temporary one, in Part 2. The twenty-five episode series is definitely adventurous but it’s also erratic with both its plot and content. The series needed to figure out what direction it wanted to go instead of being all over the place. Ryner’s journey is unique but also carries the feeling of not being original. In the end this is just another anime series that keeps me distant from the genre.

Movie Rating: 5/10

The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 Screenshot

The Presentation:

The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 arrives on Blu-ray with the exact same AVC 1080p encode that The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 1 has. The video presentation is about what I’ve come to expect from any new FUNimation title. The video isn’t overwhelmingly great, but the presentation does enough to show that the movie is a solid high definition release. Colors are great, with reds being a noticeable front runner in that department. The two-dimensional animation is given a boost by the nice palette as the colors and variances of them give the image a considerable amount of dimension. Fast moving scenes, which there are plenty of, don’t suffer from any kind of microbanding or motion blur, and the animation flows very nice from scene to scene without any issues. Detail remains strong and allows The Legend of Legendary Heroes to stand strong.

The audio tracks are the standard bag as well, with the English dub track getting the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix and the original Japanese track being presented only in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo. Either way, the tracks are rather impressive and the dubbed track stands out as one of FUNimation’s better audio presentations. The subwoofer roars on cue, adding much to the battle sequences and intense music. Dialogue is crisp and clear not having to fight for the audience’s attention. The surround sound is well rounded and audible, as all the speakers have a good amount of play with this track. Sound effects depict what is on the screen accurately and the overall track flows from one episode to the next without any volume issues. The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 sounds fantastic on Blu-ray, if you can handle the fact that I’m talking about the dub track.

Video Rating: 8/10, Audio Rating: 8/10

The Extras:

The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 Blu-ray release is typical of what FUNimation has been pumping out on Blu-ray in regards to extra features these days. There’s the textless music, a couple of commentary tracks, and some trailers for other FUNimation titles.

Audio Commentary on Episode 21
Audio Commentary on Episode 24
Textless Opening Songs: Last Inferno (HD)
Textless Closing Song: Filament of Light (HD)
U.S. Trailer (HD)
FUNimation Trailers (HD)
DVD Copy

Extras Rating: 4/10

Overall:

The Legend of Legendary Heroes: Part 2 closes out the twenty-five episode series with a solid, but temporary, ending. Fans of the first volume will take no issue with the second part as the back half of the story is better and the characters are more defined. The Blu-ray quality is identical to Part One as it has a solid video and audio release and the standard set of FUNimation extras. Fantasy fans might find some enjoyment in checking this out, and The Legend of Legendary Heroes fans shouldn’t have any issues going Blu-ray with this one.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Disc Details

Distributor:
FUNimation

Release Date:
April 17, 2012

Tech. Specs:

Region A
50 GB Disc (x2)
DVD Copy

Video:

Mpeg-4 AVC
1080p
1.78:1

Audio:

English TrueHD 5.1
Japanese TrueHD 2.0

Subtitles:
English

Rating:
NR

Genre:
Anime, Adventure, Fantasy

Runtime:
300 min.

Features:

Commentary
Textless Songs
Trailers
DVD Copy

View this movie at