Ragnarok is an anime based on the hit Korean MMORPG and manwha, Ragnarok Online, created by Lee Myung-jin. It features many of the NPC characters, monsters, equipment and magic spells familiar to players of the game. The series stars the crusader Roan and his childhood sweetheart, the priest Yuan, on their quest across the land of Rune-Midgard. The title of the series refers to the beginning of the end of the gods, culminating in a final battle against ultimate evil.
In this series, the ultimate evil is the Dark Lord, who has marshaled the forces of other evil entities to prevent the heroes from reaching and defeating him. Chief among these evil creatures is Yuan's possessed older brother, Keough, a Knight transformed into an Abysmal Knight. Throughout the series, Roan and Yuan travel about Rune-Midgard seeking other adventurers worthy of taking on the Dark Lord and his minions, including Takius, a mage who has taken a vow of blindness and Maya, a cheating merchant who learns to overcome her mistrust of other people. In mid-2004, some key events in the show were reflected in the MMORPG as special events players could get unique items from.
Ragnarok was made in 2004 as a co-production of the Korean anime company, G&G, and the Japanese anime company, Gonzo. It was broadcast on TV-Tokyo in Japan in 2004, the following year on SBS in Korea and ran for 26 episodes. The show was also aired in the Philippines and Brazil by the ABS-CBN Network, due to the games' popularity in those countries. In 2007, the series was picked up for distribution in the U.S. by Funimation Inc in order to stream it on its website.
