Manga Entertainment once again dives into the annals of anime history to release a title upon North America. This time, it is AMON SAGA, a fantasy tale from 1986. Perhaps AMON SAGA's biggest draw is that the character designs were done by Amano Yoshitaka, famous for Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy (EX even published a calendar with his works). However, time has not treated AMON SAGA well, and by today's standards it falls short in my opinion.

The story revolves around Amon, a young swordsman seeking to take revenge for the death of his mother. In order to get close to Emperor Valhiss and the commander responsible, Amon must pass a trial to join the army. Along the way, he meets up with a few new allies and a captured princess. Meanwhile, Valhiss grows ever closer to finding the lost city of gold, and his army seems unstoppable.

In general, the plot is very traditional, and wraps itself up over the course of the show. Amon himself is a great swordsman with an amazing blade, though is far from invincible as he gets himself into trouble. His allies are a mixed group including a super strong brawler and an agile man with a whip.

AMON SAGA is primarily an action anime consisting of mostly sword fights with the occasional odd magic battle. Romantic interest is hinted to with the princess, but AMON SAGA wastes no time with a love scene.

Looking over AMON SAGA, there are no real memorable moments. Sure, there are scenes like a giant serpent attack, sneaking around a guarded castle and the like, but I found the story didn't take any time to develop the characters in a way that would make people care what happened to them. The action itself consists of a lot of combat, but in comparison to fan favorites like NINJA SCROLL for instance, AMON SAGA lacks in style or substance as Amon and friends slash through unknown enemies.

The quality of the animation was decent for the day, with a relatively good character consistency. It does show its age and in comparison to modern titles, and the video seems washed out. The music in AMON SAGA is forgettable, while the English dub came out reasonably well considering the content.

Overall, AMON SAGA is not awful, but with the amount and choice of anime now available on the North American scene, that is not much of a compliment. With no real strong characters and a relatively predictable plot, AMON SAGA simply failed to grab my interest. A rental at best to fans of VAMPIRE HUNTER D or the like.