Final Fantasyis one of the most popular video game series of all time. From the epic stories, memorable characters, and the constant reinventing of the gameplay, every installment is an event that is eagerly anticipated by fans. Originally a last ditch attempt to save a fledging company at one point,Final Fantasybecame so successful it spawned multiple sequels, merchandise, manga, and even a major motion picture. One form of media that the franchise hasalways struggled with was anime. This is ironic since you would think the memorable storylines of the games would make for ideal anime adaptations, yet few of the series ever drew from the actual games or were successful. In fact, one of them –Final Fantasy: Unlimited– was even canceled midway through the first season even though it was intended to have multiple seasons and cater to a whole new audience who may have never played any of the games.
Although many believed that this was the first Final Fantasy anime production, the reality is there was one previous Final Fantasy anime that was put into production years before the infamous flop that was Final Fantasy: Unlimited. What’s more, it actually made its way to America and was (at the time) many Americans’ first introduction to the franchise. Yet the anime was a strange piece of the franchise and an even stranger one to wind up on American shores.
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A Booming OVA Market
While much anime produced in Japan is for TV, there is a direct-to-video market that thrives. This market is filled with shows referred to as Original Video Animations (OVA). These productions usually wind up on the market as a test for a weekly show later on down the road or as a safe haven for quirky ideas that would either never get on TV or didn’t warrant more than a couple of episodes to properly convey in the first place.
Squaresoft’s idea was that they would make aFinal FantasyOVA to not only expand on the story of their most recent game but also use it as a test to see if the franchise would have enough interest from viewers to potentially transition into a weekly TV anime. The anime that would be produced would simply be calledFinal Fantasy, though it would not be based on the first game but would instead be a sequel of sorts to their most recent entry video gameFinal Fantasy V.
The title revolved characters who were decedents of the protagonists of the game, who needed to reclaim the four crystals that were captured by an unknown evil force. Despite some off-the-cuff references toFinal Fantasy V, the connections to the game were relatively minor, and the episodes were made in a way where viewers need not be familiar with the game to ‘get’ what was going on.
The title was successful enough to warrant a full four episodes (most OVA’s got one or two made), but wasn’t successful enough to warrant moving forward with the weekly anime. Overall, the OVA failed to make much of an impact in Japan, but would make for an interesting story when it was released in America.
The Final Fantasy OVA Comes to America
The OVA caught the eye of a small anime distribution company in America named Urban Vision, who was looking for inexpensive titles to release. Not having a lot of money to spend, they sought out OVA titles that they could release on one VHS cassette and pay very little for the license. When they caught wind of theFinal FantasyOVA they found themselves with a unique situation in front of them.
The title was not a huge hit in Japan, so it was going to be an inexpensive license. On the other hand, the game it was based on –Final Fantasy V– had not been released in America, so there was fear there would be no context for the content.
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That said, a couple ofFinal Fantasygames were made available, so it was a title at least some people would be familiar with! On the other hand, these games didn’t have a huge fanbase (that wouldcome a decade later), so the title awareness was just barely better than most of their other titles.
Ultimately, Urban Vision decided to roll the dice as the title was familiar enough and there were enough episodes to get two VHS cassettes releases out of the deal. Deciding there were more pros than cons, Urban Vision brought the title to America asFinal Fantasy: Legend of the Crystalsand waited to see if their gamble paid off.
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals Finds Unlikely Success
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, like most Urban Vision titles, was not a huge seller on VHS. The gamble ultimately paid off though as the tapes did find some financial success in an unlikely place:Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster was the king of the video rental world, yet their anime sections were usually slim. While they liked renting out series to customers to encourage repeat visits, they didn’t like long series because of the limited shelf space.
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystalswas a perfect title because it was a relatively known title they could pad their niche anime section with AND the series only had two tapes! This was long enough to encourage anyone who rented the tape to came back to rent the second, but there weren’t too many to make stocking the title an inventory nightmare. Shortly after the release you could hardly find aBlockbuster or Hollywood Videothat didn’t have these tapes,
As a result, Urban Vision more than made their investment back from video rental stores alone. Sadly, this meant that many copies of the series are in poor condition from bring played so much by all the people who rented them, and the titles have long been out of print with no DVD or streaming release since Urban Vision ceased operations. Ultimately, good copies ofFinal Fantasy: Legend of the Crystalsare hard to come by, and the prospects of the title being re-licensed have largely faded.
Some copies do appear on eBay, but unless you manage to find a listing where the tape is factory sealed you are taking a big chance that you are getting a used Blockbuster copy, which could result in that tape being of poor quality. Since it IS aFinal Fantasyproduct there may be a chance of it popping up again sometimes, but for the time being it is a unique, mostly forgotten piece ofFinal Fantasyhistory.
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