Record of Lodoss War is an anime based on a franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno. The franchise is based on work Mizuno originally did for a world called Forcelia, which was part of a role-playing game. The Record of Lodoss War game was created in 1986 by Group SNE as a Dungeons & Dragons "replay," and the transcripts of the RPG sessions were serialized. These transcripts became so popular, they were adapted into the light novel series that became the basis of the anime.

The Record of Lodoss War anime started out as a 13-episode OVA released between 1990 and 1991 by Madhouse Studios. A television anime, Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, ran for 27 episodes.

There are also two other anime related to Record of Lodoss War: the film Legend of Crystania and the TV series Rune Soldier.

The hero of Record of Lodoss War is a warrior named Parn. He starts out as a simple youth, but through some extraordinary circumstances, he comes to don his father's armor and sword. Parn's specialty is the use of a bastard sword. His romantic interest is a high elf shaman named Deedlit. Deedlit comes from the Forest of No Return, and she is the last high elf born within the last 1,000 years. She is considered the last hope for the high elven people to be able to prosper once more.

Etoh is Parn's best friend, as well as a priest of Falis (the Supreme God in the series). Slayn, a wise and powerful magician, sometimes serves as Parn's advisor. Ghim, a Dwarven warrior, serves as a mentor for Parn (Ghim teaches him how to fight). Woodchuck the thief is the last member to join the party.

King Fahn is the king of Valis, and is a former member of one of the Six Heroes; he also served as a Holy Knight of Valis. The main adversary in Record of Lodoss War is Karla the Grey Witch. She is the sole survivor of the ancient kingdom of Kastuul, who maintains a secret influence over the major events of Lodoss. At one point, she was one of the Six Heroes alongside King Fahn.

Record of Lodoss War is an anime that can be appreciated by fans of fantasy stories, as well as by fans of role-playing games. There are some shots that contain blood in them during the battles, so this series probably isn't appropriate for younger viewers. Between the content and storytelling of the series, I think Record of Lodoss War is best for anime viewers who are 14 or 15 years of age and older.

Title	Episodes	Release Year(s)	Director	Studio	N.A. Licensor
Record of Lodoss War	13	1990-1991	Akinori Nagaoka/Akio Sakai/Hiroshi Kawasaki/Katsuhisa Yamada/Kazunori Mizuno/Shigeto Makino/Taiji Ryu	Madhouse	Central Park Media
Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight	27	1998	Yoshihiro Takamoto	AIC	Central Park Media