As a big fan of JRPGs, Star Ocean: the Second Story (PS1) was one of my personal favorites back in my younger days, and still remains, as of today, a game I very much like. So, when I found out, in 2005 or 2006, that an anime adaptation had been made, I was excited to watch it. So, yeah, here's a confession: my judgment will probably be biased by sheer nostalgia, as I feel towards those characters, this world and this story, an affection that probably goes deeper than it should – if I were to watch it for the first time today. Still, Iwill try to be fair.

When the original game had us choose between two slightly different points of views, of the two main protagonists, Rena or Claude, the anime clearly opts for the latter. As a young ensign of the space Federation fleet, assigned to the Calnus spaceship, whose admiral is none other than his dad, Claude C. Kenny, while exploring a devastated planet, finds himself shot off by a mysterious device to the faraway world of Expel. There, he'll meet Rena Lanford, a local girl, and save her from a dire monster with a single bursting shot of his laser-gun. But such technology exceeds what's known on those underdeveloped lands; and the prodigious laser-beam will quickly be seen as the "sword of light" of a hero whose coming was foretold by the church...

I find such premise to be rather interesting, although it’s not really original. A lost boy tries to make his way through an unknown world, with the help of a young girl he met; it’s basically that. The main purpose of such narrative doesn’t lie into complex connections between religious beliefs and advanced technology – for example. It’s an adventure; a pretty standard one, where a bunch of characters unite to fight evil monsters and save the world from its demise, with sword techniques, constant traveling, slight romance and comic relief – really, basic stuff. Still, it’s not so bad; pace feels overall pretty decent, some characters are funny, like Ashton and his barrel fetish, and the story remains faithful to the original…

Well, at least, for the most part. Despite all the affection I still get for this anime series, the six/seven last episodes still are a slight source of disappointment. Not because it drifts apart from the initial game story, but because the pace slows down quite a bit, because characters are really just too many, but most of all, because it ends on a cliffhanger, which is even more frustrating that no sequel was ever produced – all 26 episodes of this show only cover the events taking place during the first segment of the game, its first disk out of two. There’s still a way to get next part by playing the original game, sure, but still… that’s a bummer.

In this regard, it would be hard recommending this to people who’d want to engage in a full, finished story. But if you enjoyed the original product, or if you like anime adaptations of videogames, or even the adventure genre in its whole, you may have a fairly good time watching Star Ocean EX, as I still think it’s good enough of its own to deserve some attention.

Also, it’s old, but, you know, nostalgia…