Shadow Skill Vol-1: Fight for the Ones You Love (1998)
Animation Production: Studio DEEN
Released by: ADV Films
Episodes: 1-4
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Today is a day I never through would come. You see, I have been trying to get an opportunity to watch Shadow Skill for a couple of months now, but every time I was about to watch it something different would come up that would keep me from turning on my DVD player. Normally I do have to schedule these screenings for the late hours of any given day (family duties come first when you have a wife and daughter, you know?), but for some reason this title never could make it through on its intended viewing night.

But now, armed with my new portable DVD player (pretty snazzy little thing btw) nothing would stand in my way (well maybe if the battery ran out, but it didn’t!). So today with much pride in my ability to play a DVD disc after 2 months of failures we finally bring you our review of ADV Films cool little title Shadow Skills.

Let’s see what it’s all about.

Story

“The warrior kingdom of Kuruda is home to the fiercest fighters in the world, men and women who live solely for the chance to fight and become the greatest in the world. Young Gau Ban dreams of becoming the warrior of his generation. Along with his adopted sister Elle and the legendary Scarface, Gau trains and battles for the mastery of the Shadow Skill. ” - DVD box

Review

This first volume in ADV Films’ release of Shadow Skill contains episodes one through four in the series, which include:

Episode 1
Two young warriors are enroute to the Kindom of Kuruda, a place renowned and feared thanks to the Sevalles, a class of warriors whose skills eclipse those of all challengers and even make other nations tremble in fear. Elle Ragu, on of our two young adventurers, we learn is in actuality the 59th Sevalle warrior, an unlikely candidate for such a highly regarded title, but we soon we see why she earned this distinction as she takes on her first opponent in a fighting tournament held to showcase the Kingdom’s power.

She is powerful, but she's also headstrong and inexperienced, can she live up to the legacy of her fighting class?

Episode 2
Elle has already proven what she can do and the extent of her powers, but now a new challenger has appeared and he is holding Elle’s younger brother hostage. If she doesn’t throw her fight against him, her brother will be killed! Will our heroine be able to rescue him and defeat her foe or is this the end of the line for our heroine?

Episode 3
Having put all the prize money from the tournament towards their bills and debts Elle’s party is in a bad financial situation. They don’t even have money to pay their monthly rent!

Now the only way out of the hole is to take on a mission to help a young girl avenge her fallen comrades by taking down a giant behemoth! Can our heroes succeed where all previous warriors fell?

Episode 4
In their present quest to wipe out all their debts and move on with everything else Elle and her party take part time jobs at a local inn run by a young girl. What starts as an innocent side job takes on a more serious tone when a strange man shows up looking to buy the place from the girl. Why is he so interested in it? Is there something hidden inside that only he knows about?

I know this series is based on a manga by Mugumu Okada and that it was preceded by a couple of OVA releases in Japan (released in the U.S. by Manga Entertainment) but unfortunately I have never had a chance to see those so I don’t have any means by which to compare this 1998 anime against its animated predecessors or to see how faithful it is to the original printed work.

As it stands this 1998 series is surprisingly entertaining and comes at you with an unexpected burst of energy that elevates it above many other releases from this era. The story and characters are by no means terribly original, but the way everything is put together and relayed to us is solid and well crafted.

Basically, the story is your classic tale about a surprisingly young martial arts master (in this case that being Elle), who has surpassed everyone in fighting prowess and now stands ready to be tested physically and mentally through a series of challenges and adventures. Like all good adventure/fighting shows our protagonist will be joined by a small band of characters who will be there to provide support and comradely to our heroine.

A formulaic setup no question, but the details is where these type of shows are made or broken and in the case of Shadow Skill they are handled better than most. First there is the setting, which pulls in many fantasy-inspired elements such Kingdoms, giant monsters and a mostly peasant populace that lacks technology. Second, it combines this fantasy-oriented setting with the atmosphere of a fighting/tournament style anime series that includes fantasy-oriented schools or martial arts. Third, the series’ characters have mostly unique personalities that don’t feel rehashed or generic.

As far as this first volume goes we basically get four introductory stories whose purpose is to help setup the cast of characters and introduce us to the world they inhabit. This is handled well with the first two episodes focusing mostly on Elle and Gau (her adopted younger brother) and the nature of their relationship and then the other two episodes on how the other members of the team come on board and begin bonding with our two principal characters. The introduction to their universe is methodical and definitely takes its time, choosing instead to hint at the depths that are yet to be explored.

The martial arts end of the series, which is its thematic focus, is probably the most satisfying aspect of this show because it’s really well done for a show produced in 1998. In fact if I were to go by the non-fighting scenes I would have never guessed how good they would be. Filled with secret techniques and inventive attack names every action scene is silky smooth and action-packed. Suffice to say if you enjoy martial arts anime you’ll love the hand-to-hand combat that Elle undertakes through the course of each chapter of their adventures.

Speaking of the animation the production values for Shadow Skill are about what you expect from a lower budgeted show from the late 90’s. It looks very good, but outside of the fight scenes it doesn’t really rise above the pack in this area. The color palette leans heavily to the darker end of the spectrum with lots of reds and browns and visual effects are mostly limited to lighting effects during key battle sequences such as when Elle calls out her attack techniques in a dramatic fashion.

On the aural front, outside of the opening and closing themes there’s not a lot going on here that really stands out. Some of the background music pieces that play during fight scenes are good, but there’s really not much else to speak of. The voice acting on both audio tracks is well done however.

On the DVD front this is another solid release from ADV Films. The extras/bonuses are limited to a preview of the second volume, trailers for other ADV products and language options though. I would have liked to see clean copies of the opening and closing, but maybe that will come packaged with the next DVD. Both the audio and video transfers seemed perfect with no visible problems to report on.

Final Thoughts

This was a surprisingly good release that is packed with fantastic action scenes and fun characters. If you're a fan of fighting anime series or tournament-style shows don't let this one sneak by you. Definitely give it a try!

Recommended!

Jeffrey Couto