Introduction
Three tales based on the Gradius video game series by Konami. The planet Latis is under attack by the Space Dragon Salamander and it's war planet, the Bacterian horde destroying everything in sight, their defenses ineffective and losing all hope, three heroes from the planet Gradius join Lord British in defense of his beloved planet.
Then in a prequel, a girl from a distant planet brings an ominous warning to the planet Gradius, the Bacterians and how three people become heroes of the galaxy.
Then we jump to the future, after the signing of a peace treaty, one of our heroes gets captured by the Bacterians, can the military might of Gradius and our remaining heroes save the prisoner from a fate worse than death.
(Source: AniDB)
Audience reviews
6 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
7gatsu
Here we go. Another solid anime that turns out to be underappreciated on MAL, with a pretty low score. Let’s change that, shall we?
Salamander was born as an adaptation of Konami’s Gradius and Salamander series, presenting three OVAs that expand the story of these shoot ’em up games by introducing planets, characters, and enemy traits that, due to the arcade nature of the originals, could not be properly developed in the games themselves. As a result, these OVAs can first and foremost be appreciated by fans of the games, and may also find a place among animation enthusiasts more generally.
The production years range from 1987 to 1989, and given their nature as minor productions, one cannot expect an exceptionally high level of animation. Nevertheless, they manage to deliver solid visual…
Read at the sourcemackie-ken
As a Gradius fan I absolutely adored this OVA. This three part covers Gradius, Salamander (Life Force in the USA) and Gradius II Gofer no Yabou *LOOSELY*.I don't think this is cannon to the games but it was nice seeing some additional lore and politics brought into the Gradius universe. The animation was great, the music was nice and appropriate with some familiar tunes from the games showing up. I definitely recommend this to anyone who even has a passing interest in the games. It's a real treat; however, if you are just watching it just because. You may not enjoy it as much. There is action, but not as much as I'd like. Ultimately if they cut out about 15 minutes of plodding nothingburger filler and added in more space fights and shot more cores. I might have given this a 9.
Good luck a…
Read at the sourcedaimon9983
A 3 episode OAV based upon the shoot'em'up series with the same title plus the Gradius games (that are sets in the same shared universe?) where a war against eldrichtian space monstrosities known as "bacterian" is on the loose between two forces from the Planet Gradius and Lotus, as been introduced in the second OAV.
The show pace is good, maybe a little too long and stretched in the first episode, the characterization is... Decent, i must say, but with the original source (that i don't know at it's best, sorry) i don't know what to expect, there's be only starships and aliens, and the "original" characters done are good and doing their job well, they act like cardboards characters sometimes but it's not a massive problem to me, thanks to the story pace and especially the character design…
Read at the sourceMandalorian
I genuinely don’t understand why does this anime have such a low score and such a small community (at the moment of writing this review, the score is 5,83 based on 465 votes only), and I think it deserves a little more than this. Let’s be clear, this is not an all-time classic nor an unforgettable mastepiece by any means, but it’s definitely not a bad one. It’s quite good actually and I’ve seen more obscure ones having a bigger community. Apparently this isn’t well known despite being related to a famous videogame franchise.
It is the adaptation of a 1986 Konami game by the same name which is related to the Gradius series. To be fair I admit I haven’t played any of them so I don’t know if the anime is loyal to the plot and to the setting of the story told in the game, but since both Grad…
Read at the sourceShura-shurato
Not your everyday space opera anime to watch, and most ppl these days don´t even know this one for sure. I think there was an computergame years ago for this on a platform but ok, for a short 3/part ova this is quitr enjoyable but the animation is average, good colours though. The story in the biginning can be a bit predictable , but i does´nt turn out the way u expect the further it develops with a small suprise.Cheaper mecha-a-la-macross style wich was no problem for me , good spacefights and nice opera background music, no spoiled charachters here cus each has an interesting background story to tell!
Read at the sourceMaverynthia
Salamander as most people probably don't know is a game series related to Gradius, a series people might know. The basic premise of this anime is lifted from the Salamander game. Basically you have four pilots unrelated to the game that have to save their world from the Bacterians that are going to turn it into yet another new home for them. The plot is pretty thin and most of the episodes are talking and flying around in the Vic Vipers to shoot stuff. Just like a game. However it does flesh out some of the questions people might have had about why they are flying into living entrails for levels.
What I liked most about this, is that in some scenes you can see on the radar and projected layout the level designs lifted from the game. Also, it has Moai statues! (Something some of the games…
Read at the source