Ys: Book I and Book II Anime series
“Dogi, there's a skull on your head!”

The mantis boss in Ys I in his before shot...

...and after. Adol has a pretty consistent style.

Ys: Book I had seven episodes made for it by Starchild Records (in cooperation with Nihon Falcom) and was released through 1989 to 1991closely following the game's storyline.

Adol was given a speaking part and the series expanded several events such as what Reah and Feena are up to on their own as well as providing a deeper look at the motivations of Dark Fact. It's also nice to see that Adol doesn't have to level up as he hits his stride right from the first episode with godly skill, at least until he meets his first boss, and combat gets pretty graphic in the last few episodes once he's boosted on Cleria. As far as the music goes, fans will recognize a few inspired pieces and a rockin' ending theme is used for the later episodes courtesy of Sound Team JDK.

Here's a familiar face. Ys II ramped up the visuals considerably after the first one.

Ys: Book II also had the same treatment as well as bringing in mega-publisher, Kadokawa-Shoten, and was released through 1992 to 1993, although its story would only take four episodes to tell it. It also looks like it was hit with the Production Staff of Jacked Up Visuals. The animation quality appears much cleaner and more detailed in general and the characters seem much more expressive as a result. Fleah and Lilia's characters quickly make their impressions in the first few minutes and seeing Adol use a blade of grass to whistle Reah's song was an unexpected but welcome surprise.

Unfortunately, the series devolves into a drawn out end-battle with deus ex machina powers, but it's still a fitting finish that could have gone a lot worse. There are more cues in its music that pay homage to the game that it is based on (thanks to Falcom's Sound Team JDK once again) and it simply feels like a big step up from the first episodes.

Doctor Fleah shows a lot more personality here than he does in the actual game.

The short lived series is a big treat for an Ys fan. As an anime fan looking for some fantasy to grind a weekend away with, however, it's certainly decent enough but struggles in holding a candle to other series such as Record of Lodoss War. Anime fans may also recognize a few names for the English dubbed versions of both series, such as anime-everyman, Michael McConnohie.

Unlike several of Falcom's titles, the anime is much easier to get a hold of. Both series have been repackaged as Ys Legacy which you can pick up on Amazon.