SEGA and FUNimation are joining forces to bring you a thrilling new anime based off the epic adventure RPG of the same name. Available exclusively on Nintendo DS.
Morte is a lonely beauty with an axe to grind and a grudge against the world. Her brother died in the war between men and beasts, and now, she’s out to make everyone pay for her loss. That’s where Kyrie comes in. This wandering cook may hold the key to unlocking the Destruct Code: a mysterious orb capable of eradicating everything in existence. The fate of the world hangs in the balance, but these heroes are up to no good.
Buy “Sands of Destruction: The Complete Series” For Only $29.85
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March 11, 2010
#1
This show plays out like a classic movie title and like One Piece of Inu Yasha. The reason it’s better than those two shows i because it’s more dynamic. The fantasy side is more fantasy and the action is better action, and the characters are more unique. Some people might be turned off by the cartoony-sts of the animal characters but it’s not much worst than a Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts video game. Also the story line is a simple and the story is a complex but not confusing. The story line is more similar to One Piece in that it is almost linear. And the characters remind me of Inu Yasha chracters but darker.
March 11, 2010
#2
Sands of Destruction is based off the recent Nintendo DS game by the same name. Having played the game first I found myself really enjoying the series because of seeing some charming characters from the game in full animated glory.
The plot follows Morte, Kyrie, and Taupy (best Teddy bear ever!) as they travel their world in search of a way to destroy the world all while being chased by the “World Salvation Committee” (with smooth Naja and sexy psycho Lia being the members.)
The story is simple and similar to one you’d find in a 90s anime but what makes the show work are the excellent characters who are very lively and fun.
The art/animation/soundtrack while nothing spectacular are pretty well done and the English language track is great.
Worth owning if you enjoyed the game and worth renting if you haven’t. Either way you’ll at least be entertained for a few hours.
March 11, 2010
#3
In the Summer of 2008, “Sands of Destruction” (aka “World Destruction ~Michibikareshi Ishi~”) was a TV series shown on television in Japan. The 13-episode series and manga series was created to coincide and promote the Nintendo DS Role-playing game video game developed by Imageepoch, Inc. and released by Sega.
The series was directed by Shunsuke Tada (“Prince of Tennis”, “Hatsumei Boy Kanipan”) and a screenplay by Masahiro Yokotani (“Sgt. Frog”, “Himawari!”, Nodame Cantabile”). Character designs are by Keita Matsumoto (“Bungaku Shoujo”) and music by Yoshihiro Ike (“SD Gundam Force”, “Kamichu!”, “Ergo Proxy”, “Blood: The Last Vampire”). Anime production is by Production I.G. (“Blood”, “Ghost in the Shell”, “Eyeshield 21, “Sorcerer Hunters”) and backgrounds by Studio Biho (“Magical Girl Pretty Sammy”, “Patlabor WXIII”, “Street Fighter Alpha”).
“Sands of Destruction” is an anime series that takes place in a world where the seas are all sand and the world is dominated by beasts (aka Ferals). Humans and human-like animals are the primary beings on the planet with the humans being the life that are seen as lower and are oppressed. With death and destruction for humans, a female warrior named Morte Ashera carries with her a large blade weapon and also a self-destruct device. Her goal, to find the activation code and destroy the world.
She is accompanied by Kyrie Illunis, a guy who has been pretending to live amongst the animals with fake ears and is a fairly weak individual. With Kyrie outed as a human, he decides to go along with Morte in hopes to dissuade her from destroying the world. Also, joining the two is Toppy, a small one-eyed bear who is a true warrior. And because the two have accompanied Morte, they are dubbed the World Destruction Committee.
Hoping to stop them before they get the activation code are the World Salvation Committee consisting of Naja Gref (half human and half wolf feral) and Lia Dragunel, a female dragon feral and the last of her surviving race (who suddenly takes a liking towards Kyrie).
With each village the World Annihilation Front visits, the more that people want them for reward money. But can these three be stopped? Or will Kyrie and Toppy find a way to dissuade Morte from destroying the world.
“Sands of Destruction – The Complete Series” features a total of 13 episodes on two DVD’s.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Sands of Destruction – The Complete Series” is presented in 16:9. The series doesn’t feature complex animation but for the most part, the animation works as a series targeted towards a younger demographic. Artistic backgrounds are nicely done and shading for the characters are done well.
Audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Japanese Stereo. The voice acting are done well for both the English and Japanese audio tracks. The acting is done well but I have to admit that hearing Toppy continually saying “kuma” (which means “bear” in Japanese) gets a bit too overdone at times. But overall, voice acting is done well for both soundtracks. As for the audio, the series does have a share of action scenes but I found the soundtrack to be primarily center and front channel-driven.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Sands of Destruction – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features:
* Interview #1 – Toppy – (5:56) Featuring an animated interview with Toppy the bear who discusses his experience of the filming of “Sands of Destruction”.
* Interview #2 – Morte – (7:02) Featuring an animated interview with Morte. Morte and Lia discuss certain scenes from “Sands of Destruction”.
* Interview #3 – DJ Nadja – (8:05) Featuring a segment with Nadja as a radio personality and talking about the World Destruction Committee.
* Interview #4 – Agan – (4:04) Featuring Agan talking about winning “Best Newcomer” and showcasing his trophy and his part in “Sands of Destruction”.
* Textless Opening Song – “ZERØ” by AAA
* Textless Closing Song – “Kaze no Kioku: To the End of the World” by Aimmy
* Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment Trailers
JUDGMENT CALL:
My first introduction to “Sands of Destruction – The Complete Series” was from the band AAA (who sings the opening theme song “ZERØ”) and I felt that the anime and video game tie-in looked pretty to cool at the time and wondered if both would ever receive a US release.
Fortunately, Sega is releasing the game in the US on Nintendo DS and the anime series is now here courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.
The series is primarily targeted towards a younger demographic. In fact, the video game was intended to be much darker as humans were food for the Feral’s but was changed by the creators realizing that the rating system may be too restrictive and thus decided to make the storyline appeal to a more broader demographic, including your players. And thus the anime series reflects that.
Despite the big blade that the main character Morte carries, the act of violence is never shown. We usually get cut scenes where it shows the battle but then cuts to another character trying to escape or change the tide of battle to their side and then a cut back where we see the opponent typically knocked out. So, for the most part, the series is quite safe. Because of the dialogue, it’s not exactly for children as they probably will not understand the reasoning of why Morte wants to destroy the world and probably may find more appeal to her anger issues, Poppy the bear’s cuteness/fighting abilities and the humor in Kyrie’s cowardice.
In a way, the anime series is like “Slayers” Lite. No magical destruction or anything like that but the concept of warriors going village to village. While these travelers are not searching for a way to be paid, they are going around in order to find the destruction device.
As for the DVD, it was cool to see find out that there is about a 25-minute’s worth of special features included. Voice acting on both Japanese and English soundtracks are well-done for this television series. For the most part, I’m quite happy to know that the creators didn’t drag this series on for 26-episodes because most of the episodes are stand-alone. With the exception of the first episode and possibly episodes where the World Destruction Committee confronts the World Salvation Committee and get into a battle with each other, it’s the final four episodes where the more dramatic moments starts to emerge.
Overall, “Sands of Destruction – The Complete Series” is an average adventure-based anime series. The series has quite a bit of adventure and humor elements but if you’re looking for a series that is fun, but nothing too serious and lighthearted and a Japanese RPG lover who intends to pickup the “Sands of Destruction” Nintendo DS video game, then this anime series is definitely for you!
March 11, 2010
#4
Well, I suppose the age-old lesson of never judging a book based on its cover applies to anime as well. In this case, my advice would be not to judge the show based on its cover, previews, or video game incarnations. Well, I take that back, maybe you can judge it however you choose, so long as what you’re basing the comparison on is incredible as well. To clear the air, I’ve never played the Sega role-playing game for the Nintendo DS on which this series is based, nor am I partial to anime shows with one of their lead characters looking adorable enough to make Pikachu green with envy and yet here we are. I can honestly state that this is one of the finer series I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying in a long time!
Released across two discs, Sands of Destruction comes packaged as a pair of thin packs within an outer cardboard slipcase and consists of episodes 1-13. The show comes in at a total runtime of 325 minutes and wears an appropriate if slightly conservative TV 14 rating due to a bit of animated violence.
Language options are standard sub & dub with both an English dub and original Japanese soundtrack (either in Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround) & the choice of English subtitled if so inclined to turn them on.
Extras include English subtitled character interviews (Japanese cast), textless opening and closing songs, and a host of fresh Funimation trailers on the second disc.
The anime adaptation of the 2008 game was produced by Production I.G and began airing on July 8, 2008 in Japan. FUNimation wasted no time in securing the rights and releasing a solid dub to the North American market.
The story is set in a fantasy world, which consists mostly of vast expanses of sand. Rather like humanity’s development of vessels capable of conquering our liquid oceans, so too have the inhabitants of this sand world built ships, subs and liners to traverse the seas of sand.
The viewer follows along with a cowardly young man named Kyrie and his unlikely companion Morte; a young fairly depressed woman who was labeled by the fanatical World Salvation Committee as a member of the taboo “World Destruction Committee.” While not denying the fact that she wishes the world (including her own tattered existence) would in fact come to an end, Morte is targeted mainly because she is believed to have possession of the Destruct Code; a small black orb doomsday device.
In her travels she ends up teaming up with the fellow human Kyrie and a small bounty hunter/ living yellow teddy bear (complete with pirate-inspired bandanna and eye patch) named Taupy.
Pursued endlessly from port town to port town, the small band of humans is forced to don disguises to appear as human/ beastman hybrids. See it turns out that in this world human beings are the oppressed minority to the beastmen: large animal-based sentient beings who possess unsurpassed intelligence, strength, and cunning.
On the surface, viewers can expect clean, crisp visuals and a thoroughly enjoyable adventure romp and for many fans, this will suffice. However, dig a little deeper and one begins to unravel layers of symbolism integrated into the prose. There are themes of racism, segregation, tyranny, the power of positive thinking, even the debate of sentience in robotics integrated here.
In essence, the show is capable of appealing to a very wide range of viewers. The superficial contains all the correct elements of visual appeal, fantastic vocal work, cute characters, and a unique world to keep the masses solidly entertained. Take a look beyond the surface and there’s a fantastic political/ social commentary lurking. It’s rare to encounter a series that presents humanity as the minority in a beast-ruled world. Rarer still to accurately depict how stereotypes lead to racism, fear and misunderstanding. In one particular segment, the humans find themselves in a primarily beastman run town and the beastmen themselves are clearly filled with terror of the humans due to what they had always been told rather than judging based on the obvious bond, the common goals shared, or the fact that the humans had a beastman cohort in their company. It’s subtle, but quite brilliantly done.
Another great story arc centers on a beastman scientist, dressed in Revolutionary War garb, who cannot come to terms with why, despite 108 unique laws to guide them, his own loyal robots can be made to serve his enemies. Again, it’s the small things here that really have impact.
The dub work is very, very strong. FUNimation just continues to raise the bar with their efforts. There was a time when I wouldn’t even think of recommending anything other than listening in the original Japanese dialog on this type of show, and yet here I may go as far as to say the dub is the superior of the two options on account of the stellar delivery.
In all, I have to admit that I went into this series with very low expectations. Being quite unfamiliar with the video game and less than enthusiastic after catching some trailers, it goes without saying that I came away from Sands of Destruction very pleasantly surprised. The 13-episode length is just the proverbial icing on the cake as the show manages to weave its tale without ever becoming too bogged down in the middle (a very common trait in anime of all genres).
I definitely recommend this show to anime fans of just about any genre, as there’s something here that will surely appeal to nearly everyone.