For me, this OVA series was in no way terrible… but it just seemed like it included a pretty wide range of ideas that didn’t quite come together by the end, and so missed the mark a little for me.
Green Legend Ran (Gurīn Rejendo Ran) 1992
A lot of folks mention the influence of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind here and it’s definitely clear, though Green Legend Ran is both more violent and less assured in its storytelling, I reckon.
There were some haunting moments and some sharp action sequences in the series but even with a reasonably sympathetic hero and heroine, I still wasn’t enthralled.
I did like the character design from Yoshimitsu Ohashi (who has worked on Millennium Actress and Trigun among others) some of it was really memorable – especially the Bishops, who were both bizarre and creepy, that aspect was pretty great.
Other characters appear bold in a way that maybe evokes something common to kids animation, but this maybe clashes a little with the tone of the story for me.
(In terms of more ‘cross-overs’ from other 1990s series, a minor character is also voiced by Kōichi Yamadera who is easily recognisable as the voice of Spike from Cowboy Bebop.)
Even though it’s not super-detailed, I did enjoy the setting – it had a good mix of dystopian desert and unnerving greenery, though I don’t want to talk too much about those scenes so as to avoid spoilers.
It was nice to be unsure as to who exactly was the bigger threat in this series, as nearly everyone poor Ran and Aira encounter have their own hidden motives.
Still, despite some big themes and some fun connections with other shows, I’d only recommend Green Legend Ran if you had always been curious about the series and perhaps can find it reasonably cheap/can stream it.
3 Stars
The Review Heap 
Good review. I didn’t know someone from Green Legend Ran worked on Millennium Actress and Trigun. That’s awesome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just updating this post and I missed this comment – only nearly a year later and I’m responding! (I was thinking about the character designs while expanding the review and it’s definitely things like the Bishops that put me in the mind of ‘Trigun’ whereas a lot of the humans make me think of more ‘kids adventure’ maybe.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, wow! Has it been that long since those comments happened? Thanks for responding though. Good point about the Bishops. The humans do have that kind of vibe or at the very least a very Shonen-esque design.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I’m doing a terrible job at keeping up with things I’ve missed, huh? 😀
It does, yeah – maybe it’s the thick eyebrows that adds to that feel? (Which now makes me wonder whether there’s something extra to the parody elements with Eyebrows’ design in FLCL).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t feel bad. There have been times I don’t respond to comments right away.
Possibly! Wow, I didn’t even think about that with FLCL! Hahahaha!
LikeLiked by 1 person