Ragnarok is an anime based on an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) called Ragnarok Online. The Ragnarok anime consists of 26 episodes, and the series was first broadcast on TV Tokyo in 2004. In 2005, SBS in Korea aired the show. When it comes to the MMORPG and its connection to the anime, both Japan and the Philippines have held some in-game events to commemorate the anime. In January 2007, FUNimation Enterainment announced that the company had acquired the U.S. license for the anime. FUNimation has released all the episodes of Ragnarok on DVD.

Ragnarok takes place in a world called Rune-Midgard. This world has an evil entity named the Dark Lord, who just wants to create chaos. The Dark Lord can cause this chaos with the aid of seven crystals (which represent the seven ambitions who sealed the Dark Lord away years ago).

Roan is the main character in Ragnarok. He is a swordsman whose main goal is to gain power, so he can protect Yufa, his childhood friend. While Roan doesn’t quite realize it right at first, Yufa will ultimately become his love interest during the course of the anime.

Yufa is an acolyte (in the series, this means that she is a healer). She has an older brother named Keough, who passed away at the beginning of the series. As the show progresses, however, we learn that Keough was resurrected by the Dark Lord to serve as one of his knights. Irgua, a childhood friend of Keough’s, joins Roan and Yufa in their journey to protect them (as a way to honor Keough’s memory). Later in the series, Irgua has to decide whether or not to fight with the resurrected Keough.

In the first episode, Roan and Yufa meet a blindfolded mage named Takius. She is on a quest to search the world for the ultimate truth. Her teacher, Zephyr, appears later in the series, and the audience learns more about Takius’ background. Roan and Yufa also meet Maya in the Prontera Sewers. Maya is the merchant in the group, and usually only joins parties to steal loot and make off with the party’s money. The group is later joined by a hunter named Judia, who ends up developing a relationship with Irgua.

Personally, I would recommend Ragnarok to anime fans who have an appreciation for fantasy themes: magic, quests, destiny, romance, and an epic battle of good versus evil.