Tower of Druaga: The Aegis Of Uruk | |
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| | Alternate title : Druaga no Tou: The Aegis of Uruk
Studio : GONZO
Licenced by : FUNimation
Length : 12 Episodes
Year : 2008
Genre : Comedy - Adventure - Fantasy - Action
Synopsis :
The Summer of Anu is a season that only arrives once every few years. During the duration of that season, the god Anu's grace causes monsters that dwell within the Tower of Druaga to weaken. As a result, the Uruk kingdom sends its armies to invade the Tower and eventually reach the top of the tower. Numerous years later, Meskia, a fortified city is built on the very first floor in the tower. In addition to the army of the Uruk kingdom, several adventurers set out to the top of the tower in hopes of finding the rumored legendary treasure.
Additional Notes :
- Loosely based on the video game Tower of Druaga.
- There are two versions of the first episode, one from Jill's perspective and another one from Naeba's.
Added : 2008-04-04
Synopsis by : v-boi2002
Last update : 2009-07-12
Last update details : Seiyuu modified
Score : 8.25
Number of reviews : 4
Link(s) :
Official #1 : Official Druaga no Tou Website (English)
Official #2 : Official Druaga no Tou Website (Japanese)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : Muramasa - Swinging
Ending #1 : Kenn - Touchousha-tachi
Release(s) :
2008-09-02 -- Episode(s) 10 by Otaku-Legends. BT Link
2008-09-02 -- Episode(s) 10 by Otaku-Legends. BT Link
2008-09-02 -- Episode(s) 1 by Otaku-Legends. BT Link
Found 57 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
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Posted by : Lightningcount12 
Posted on : 2009-10-31  
I am reluctant when it comes to anime based off of video games, but Aegis of Uruk does what it needs to be good.
Story (7/10): At its base Aegis of Uruk is a very video game like story of several groups of heroes traveling up a tower to defeat the evil lord of the tower Druaga. Sometimes the story recognized the fact that it was based off of a video game; then it would revel in that fact to the end where things became very comedic. While some episodes were mainly comedic, others were more serious to help the cast grow. It was good how both comedic and serious episodes helped the story advance, keeping a good pace to the end. Aegis of Uruk is only season one and thus many things, mainly involving King Gilgamesh, are left unresolved. But the main plot point of climbing the tower and defeating Druaga is resolved, which is a nice change from other recent season one endings that leave viewers with nothing but cliffhangers.
Characters (7.5/10): Aegis of Uruk follows two groups traveling the tower, one lead by the protagonist Jil and the other lead by Jil’s brother and the anti-hero Neeba. Two other groups also provide relevant roles in the story, one being the King‘s military unit and the other being the creepy co-main antagonist Pazuz. The cast is mostly likeable, but it is somewhat average. Jill is a typical screw-up who learns to grow and become competent along the way. His personality is that of a two dimensional hero-complex nice guy, but it makes him likeable. Ahmey serves as the basic big sister whose experience helps the other members survive. Kaaya is a little more interesting being a heroine whose exterior is nice but viewers know from the start that she is deceiving Jil and everyone else. The real winner in this cast is the young girl Coopa, whose voice actress Chihara Minori matches the character perfectly. She is the brightest spot in the cast as a responsible assistant who comedically reprimands her master, the loser, albeit powerful sorcerer Melt. I do not feel like her character is the most unique around, but she still really stands out and brightens this cast. Neeba’s group is not heavily developed, but enough is revealed about each member to make them interesting. Kelb, leading the military, is a prick at first hating climbers like Jil for being greedy treasure hunters, but given time he becomes cooler.
Animation (10/10): I really liked the cell shaded character designs and I appreciated the somewhat goofy looking monsters. I am not the hugest fan of complete CGI in anime, but the completely CGI Druaga was a good touch. His design really helped bring out his overwhelming superiority. I also like when they used old 2D video game sprites at certain parts. It was a nice touch used a couple of times as the anime tipped its hat to the old video game.
Music (8/10): The OP gets a 10/10. Not only is the song great but the animated sequence used for it was non-conventional. Instead of using the medieval fantasy setting where the show takes place, the OP opts for a modern day setting of Jill running to school, with some characters playing the role of regular humans and others being in their suits of armor and well being monsters. Honestly the ED and the rest of the musical score and sound are not memorable or stand out.
Entertainment (7/10): I was impressed with how well Aegis could be both very silly and very serious. The build-up to the climax was excellent as things get very serious towards the end. As a whole Aegis of Uruk was very entertaining. I did not feel like it was great or particularly special, but it is certainly better than your average anime. Again, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying a video game based anime. It also helped that this anime requires absolutely no knowledge of the now ancient video game (I knew nothing going in). No, I do not feel like many will leave this show in awe, so I will not go over a 7, but I feel like most will leave satisfied.
Simple, serious, and fun Druaga is worth giving a chance.
Posted by : seefutbow
Posted on : 2009-01-13
I originally noticed that DnT was done by Gonzo, which made me not want to watch the series at all, but I decided to give it a go anyways. I was pleasantly surprised to find that DnT is a average to good series overall. Though DnT doesn't have anything great or outstandingly memorable, the series is enjoyable if you're willing to give it a chance.
Highs:
-The animation was pretty consistent throughout the series. I enjoyed watching the fighting scenes for the most part. Some scenes where the characters would get ready to attack had much higher quality animation and were reused a few times, so that kind of balances itself out. Overall pretty good job.
-DnT was surprisingly funny. I found myself laughing quite a few times. Considering DnT was so similar to MMORPG's, it was quite funny to see an MMORPG-like world animated.
Lows:
-The opening sequence kind of threw me for a loop. I didn't like what the opening sequence hinted at. I won't throw out any spoilers, but after having seen the series, I'm quite disappointed.
-Jil seemed to grow way to fast. In 12 episodes, he grows from being unable to take on a first floor enemy to being able to fight a boss. At least try to make his development believable.
Er...:
-DnT seems to have something that just made it enjoyable and captivated my interest. I wanted to see how Jil and his party would progress after each episode. Perhaps it was the characters or the MMORPG world, but something just kept me watching.
-The first episode had 2 versions, and both are a must watch for fans of the series.
As I mentioned above, DnT hooked me in, and I kept coming back for more. The series doesn't do anything in a spectacular fashion, but DnT also doesn't do anything bad either. The series is good and nice change of pace from all the school life love comedies floating around these days. If only Gonzo would produce more decent series these days. Fun little series anyone can watch, though people with MMORPG experience may enjoy this title more.
Posted by : kevinchaosvs
Posted on : 2008-06-27
Story/Dev : 85%
Characters/Dev : 78%
Seeing as how this is a RPG-ish type of anime, I just have to watch this! (I love RPG style Adventure/Quests anime) The storyline is good: the classic plot about Adventurers forming parties and going on Quests and stuff. I like the gags and references to other RPGs and old-school games, some of which are oh-so-nostalgic. Despite having a large cast, there is distinct development of the characters, though I must say that I disliked the protagonist, Jill, right towards the end. There’s nothing wrong about being a noob, but his actions and the way he behaves kind of annoy me. Thankfully, the other characters are enjoyable, particularly Coopa and Melt, the joker pair.
Most importantly, however, this series successfully captured the essence of RPGs, such as the respective Roles of the characters (the standard set-up of Mage, Swordsman, Healer, Archer etc), the concept of the Climbers on a Quest, Magic Abilities and Skills and such. Indeed, I’ll say that this series is like a redemption after GONZO’s horrendous failure with the anime adaptation of Ragnarok. (See my review on Ragnarok for details.)
One problem I have with this series is that they seem to kill off some of the characters too casually. They should have made the scenes slightly more dramatic.
Animation/Graphics/Design :85%
As expected of GONZO Digimation. They certainly lived up to their reputation for visual stunners in their productions. Great animation and graphics quality, especially the Magic effects and spells. However, I wished Gonzo had showed off more of their signature 3D effects for the Magic effects. And most importantly the swordfights! Having seen the animation and designs for swords in some other productions of GONZO’s, Druaga’s was quite a letdown. I’m not saying the swordfights are bad. They are good, but I know GONZO can do better. In addition, the battle with Druaga could have been more epic and the pace much faster. Nevertheless, we can see the effort that GONZO has put into the series. The background is detailed and the costumes are nicely designed. So are the characters.
Music: 87%
I love the OP, which has a very catchy tune and also very lively. Also, I like the animation in the OP, particularly the scene which shows Fatina leap across the barrier and onto the train. Yeah, the OP was very random, but it’s entertaining so who cares. Well, at least it didn’t bother me. The ED is also enjoyable. The BGMs are also great – really create the RPG-ish atmosphere.
Summary:
Great. Loved this series. I highly recommend this to fans of RPG style Fantasy/Adventure anime.
Personal Overall Rating: 86%
Posted by : Molenir
Posted on : 2008-06-23 
I finally finished watching Tower of Druaga. All I can say is, Wow, what a ride! I can't wait for the sequel!
Aegis of Uruk is an anime based on the idea of a MMORPG game, where parties gather fighting challenges of the game world, as well as each other. In fact the OP makes it seem like any second we'll see the people behind the characters, and perhaps their real lives. However despite the hint, these characters never appear. Even still, the humor and silliness of many RPG games comes through, with the quest, the characters, as well as many of the situations.
Its basically a game world, where people form parties, and climb a Tower, with a mystical Rod at the top, that can grant a wish to the one who uses it. There are lots of challenges along the way, with many monsters, as well as an Ultimate Boss at the top. The parties fight against the monsters and with each other occasionally as well. Jil and his brother Neeba are members of different parties of climbers, Neeba having fired Jil from his party. I don't want to get to in depth about things as it would require spoilers, simply suffice it to say, the story is an RPG where the characters grow and develop, and we learn more about each of them as they climb the tower.
There isn't a whole lot negative to say about the show. The OP was extremely catchy, I listed to it a bunch of times. The ED while not as great was still good. The story was loaded with silliness of the quest, and yet seriousness as well. The animators weren't afraid to kill off main characters too, as several really good characters died. About the only negative I can say, is that perhaps due to its brevity, some things seemed a bit anticlimactic, and because of that lacked a bit of the punch that I would have liked.
They did a really good job setting us up for the second season, leaving me hoping for rather then a Jil X Kaaya situation that everyone thought, rather a Jil X Fatina. I'm also curious about the OP.
Overall I highly recommend this series. It is easily one of my all time favorites. Though that might change with the next season. I'm really looking forward to the sequel, and hope its as good as this one. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like this show. Though I warn you, the first episode might throw you a bit. Once you get past that though, the rest is fun, and hooks you right in.
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