Shadow Skill

Unless you are a hardcore "Shadow Skill" or 'shonen fighting' fan, I have a hard time seeing how someone might enjoy this. It's not unforgivably terrible, but a lot of the elements in it are generally generic. It has all the classic fighting staples (such as learning more about others and oneself through fists rather than words) and it also possesses plenty of the exaggerated combat cliches one might be familiar with in this genre (such as destroying the surrounding landscape and gushing fountains of blood). Unfortunately there are also disproportionate amounts of awkward exposition which don't lend themselves well to this kind of anime. Mostpeople watching this kind of show probably want lots of action with healthy doses of plot and history introduced gradually. There are some interesting aspects to Shadow Skill (such as its magic system and special techniques), but this OVA does a mediocre job at best at developing them. The characters are kind of rushed/forced, and the supporting characters are reduced to the roles of mysterious inexplicable cameos. The animation is ok although it can look rather unappealing at times. The music wasn't memorable and the dubbing is some of the worst I've heard, down there with Silent Mobius. Finally, despite the fact that it is called Epilogue, it appears that this OVA somehow comes before the proceeding one, oddly enough. Furthermore, epilogues are usually a conclusion of some sort, so not only does this OVA have nothing to do with the other one, it also doesn't really conclude anything...