Chrome Shelled Regios Anime

Directed by Itsuro Kawasaki

Written by Mamiko Ikeda

Studio Zexcs

Licensed by  Funimation Entertainment

Original run January 11, 2009 –June 20, 2009

Episodes 24

As we begin this series Layfon Wolfstein Alseif, our main man, gives the impression of being kind, innocent...even a bit goofy. And although he is all of those things, he is also....so very much more ;)

Some Background: 

Layfon lives in a post-apocalyptic polluted world filled with mutated monsters called Contaminoids.

Humans live in cities called Regios which are controlled by, and named after Electronic Spirits. Most regios travel around of their own volition avoiding the contaminoids.

 Humans skilled in the military arts learn to use weapons called DITE in conjunction with an inner power called Kei to defend themselves and their cities from the contaminoids. 

 

Layfon, Felli and Nina, to me, are the most important characters in the series, although arguably there are several other players in this game that the story-line simply would not work without. 

There is something terribly wrong with Zuellni, the Electronic Spirit that controls the academic regios they are living in. She is directing them towards the contaminoids and if they can't discover why, the city and all of it's inhabitants will be destroyed.

Zuellni

There are so many wonderful things to say about this series. I am seriously amazed that they were able to include soooo much character background in 24 episodes...and believe me...there are a lot of characters. 

It was done through the use of flashbacks and it was perfectly done through those flashbacks ;) 

Visually striking?...Yes, because I am all about the eye candy ;) 

The creators even managed to add a mini series within this series that also drew you in. How amazing is that?! 

I didn't want to offer any spoilers so I left out about fifty thousand things but trust me...there's a lot more to this.

The beautifully meshed use of emotional and physical darkness and light truly set this series apart.

The mystery...the timing...the comedy and camaraderie...it all makes for one of the best series I've ever had the pleasure to watch ;) 

Legon Trilogy Book Review

Legon Awakening (Legon, #1) 2010

Legon Ascension (Legon Series #2) 2011

Legon Restoration (Legon Series #3) 2012

By Nicholas Taylor

Published by Createspace

I started reading this trilogy because the first book was free on Goodreads and the story-line sounded interesting...and come on....it was free ;) The cover also caught my eye because...well.... I love me some dragons!

The story revolves around a young man named Legon and his sister Sasha. They aren't actually related by blood but have a symbiotic connection that is gradually explained throughout the series. Things are not as they seem in the quiet town of Salmont where they have been raised. When the treachery of the Iumenta ruler forces them to flee, their journey evolves them both mentally and physically into something far beyond their wildest imaginations.

My thoughts: 

The not so good:

I must start out by saying I don't know if these books were edited...even a little bit. The spelling and grammatical errors are abundant...and that's coming from a dyslexic ;) The characters express themselves in very childlike ways...often. It was like adolescent flirting...no lie. The world building was confused and lacking and the antagonists were seldom heard from. Details, details, details...not enough.

Also, on the about the author on Goodreads he states, "I didn't want to write until October of 2007. While I was driving around with a friend and said "hey, I wonder if I can write a book." So he thought he would try and write outline and see what happens." 

I don't really know how I feel about this statement. I'm not sure if it's pretentious or immature or just an innocent (if thoughtless) thing to say. I'm not a writer, but I would imagine it would intail hard work, long hours and blood, sweat and tears to be successful at it. 

The things I enjoyed: 

The history of the races...Elves, Humans and Iumenta. How they became what they are, the previous war, and their connection to the Dragons. The plot twists (although not all were fully explained) The childlike qualities of the characters, It was endearing at times. 

Call me crazy, but with all it's flaws I still enjoyed the story-line and the characters. I gave this trilogy a 3 on Goodreads.

These books had the potential to be great...they weren't...they settled for ok to good...but the potential was there.