Introduction
For a year and a half, Youko Asagiri has fostered an unrequited love for one of her classmates. To express her affection, she composes a piano solo that she plans to show him when she confesses. When the moment of truth comes, however, Youko is not brave enough to speak to her classmate, and the ground suddenly swallows her up!
In an instant, Youko finds herself in the mysterious realm of "Ashanti." She quickly makes friends with a talking dog named Lingam, who explains that Ashanti is a sister realm of "Noa," the realm that Youko came from. The two worlds were once connected, but they were separated long ago by the warrior Leda in order to protect the people of Noa. Now, Youko's arrival has temporarily opened a path between the realms, which the evil forces of Zell intend to make permanent.
The forces of Zell steal Youko's cassette player under the belief that it is the mythical "Heart of Leda," a necessary artifact for their nefarious plans. However, Youko manages to evade their capture by transforming into Leda's warrior. With these new powers, will she be able to protect the people of Noa and return to her own world?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
9 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
7gatsu
Genmu Senki Leda is a 1985 OVA that perfectly captures the experimental spirit of Japanese animation from that era. While it is by no means the first isekai, it stands as one of the strongest examples of the genre of the decade, thanks to its striking aesthetics, solid fantasy foundations, and the presence of a beautifully designed warrior heroine.
Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama (whose notable works include episodes of Ginga Tetsudou 999 and Yattodetaman, as well as the 1986 film Windaria) the OVA places a strong emphasis on oneiric imagery and dreamlike transitions, which blend seamlessly with the narrative. For a production released in 1985, the animation is remarkably fluid and vibrant, with bold colors that bring its fantasy world to life, making it both visually credible and aesthetical…
Read at the sourceMilakochan
I thought this was going to be some cheap anime with a sultry maim character but it's actually quite good. The difference between this one and Windaria is that even though both have the topic of love underlying, Windaria makes it it's main subject with poor decision choices by the characters and overall message that didn't age well whereas this one uses love as the catalyst of the story.
Both animation are topnotch as far as vintage anime is concerned. The enjoyment for this one is 8/10 for me. If you're between both of then I'd choose this one to watch. Did I mention they are from the same animation group? They are. So there's that. The character designe is quite similar.
The story of this one might be a bit too linear without not many surprises underneath. The other one is just a mess…
Read at the sourceMcPickles
One of the most rewarding parts of finding old, forgotten gems like this is digging around in the credits, because you'll often be pleasantly surprised by the names that appear. Notable ones here include the late Hiromi Tsuru, who would go on to voice Bulma for 30 years, Shirō Sagisu, whose music for Evangelion is among the best ever composed, and Kunihiko Yuyama, who has directed almost every Pokémon film since the beginning of the franchise. There's a lot of talent behind this OVA, and I imagine it was a strong addition to the resumes of everyone involved, because they all contribute to an adventure that's wonderfully animated, creatively styled, and, most importantly, competently executed, a distinction that's pretty rare when it comes to some of the other dreck from this era.
The con…
Read at the sourceDISKOWN
Genmu Senki Leda is simple good fun. The best thing about this Ova is the distinctive and unique art-style used for the ships and mechs. They are unlike anything else, and show a huge amount of creativity from the art team. The story is simple and does not impact watch-ability. The animation is dated in a nostalgic way that only adds to the enjoyment of the anime. The characters are stereotypical and one dimensional. This show is simple, and that's what makes it so good. It is easily watchable and digestible. While Genmu Senki Leda might not be winning any awards it is still good and fun.
Read at the sourcezimonov
I rarely write reviews but this movie is quite special to me, thus i feel it deserves more reviews.
Genmu Senki Leda is a strange little beast of an OVA movie. It has the feel of a serialized show but is only over an hour long. Managing to do this, have a focused story and characters that would work in such a format is no easy feat to accomplish but they did it with adequate sucess.
Story: 6
The story is fairly barebones but it ties together nicely in the end and manages to carry a few in depth metaphors for the internal struggle that Yohko, the main character, is experiencing throughout her adventure. The lore of the workd of Ashanti is explored and hinted to quite well for being such a short movie. The simplistic story, the metaphorical storytelling along with the "in the background" wo…
Read at the sourceArboria
Action, adventure, fan service. This very underrated OVA does a great job on delivering this combination. A charming fantasy world with awesome wizard and mecha stuff going on that manages to be depicted with clarity in it's short running time. Slap on an absolute babe with a sword and a skimpy outfit and you're set. This is the kind of OVA that people who like cute girls doing cool things will find exceptional, and even if that's not so much your thing the setting is still really fun.
It was clear that the people who made this cared very much about the quality of their work. Some of the audio syncing work and some segments of animation are film quality. The main character's design is in my opinion at the highest tier, and the mecha conversion sequences are detailed and fairly original. T…
Read at the sourcechubar
The first impression I had about this particular anime is it didn’t strike me as a magical girl OVA and just more of medieval/fantasy story. Since this particular OVA was released during the 1980s, I wondered if it’s going to have any of the ridiculousness and cheese that American movies had in their own media that was present at this time. Although, looking at the promotional art and some screencaps, the art is extremely gorgeous and it’s something that definitely appeals to me. The only thing, though, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I actually do.
Since this is only one OVA, I’m not going to do a synopsis of it, but there are elements in this review that do have quite a bit of spoilers.
Because Yohko wrote a song, it’s important to note that the music is an important factor in th…
Read at the sourceFel_Temp
I feel like I liked this more than I should. I mean the plot is pretty bare bones and kind of dumb, but there's something weirdly charming about the package as a whole. The world is distinctive and well designed, and after watching n a whole bunch of 80s OVAs lately, it's really nice to see mechs that aren't just designed to look like they came out of Gundam or Macross. That said, what really elevates this into something decent is the direction. Yuyama kept this whole thing surprisingly atmospheric, and he gave us some pretty good action setpieces. Seriously, these things were good enough to make me like an anime where a girl gets bikini armor and super powers after falling into a flower for no adequately explained reason.
I don't know if I'd quite call this a hidden gem or anything, but…
Read at the sourcebrashieel
This was a strange bit of 80s nostalgia for me.
As another review noted, this feels like it was intended as a pilot movie for a magical girl series that was never made. The main character, animal companion, and sidekick are all introduced. The setting is established, and then they have a short adventure. Afterwards the main girl returns to Earth, but they make a point of saying that she can come back. An open ending that was never followed up on.
That said, while the characters, music, and plot are all bog standard 80s OVA anime, the art itself is very distinctive. This is a trippy anime to watch, with surreal landscapes, dream sequences, bizarre animals, and most anything else the artists thought might be fun to try.
It's not a great OVA, but the art design makes it stand out to an ext…
Read at the source