Four clan leaders fight evil forces sent by Taishakuten, the warlord who previously dethroned and executed the benevolent Lord of heaven, Lord Ashura. The four, Yasha, Ashura (Lord Ashura's daughter), Ryu and Karura, have a spiritual connection to stars that, when six are united, unlocks the power to defeat Taishakuten, consequentially restoring their world to peace. While searching for the sixth star, Yasha gets trapped by a demon in an ice castle. Ashura, driven by their celestial bond, rescues her fellow clan leader and, in doing so, frees the good soul trapped inside the demon's body.

The four stars invade Taishakuten's palace, following Ashura's magical sword, which will lead them to the sixth star. Ashura's troubled family past prematurely triggers a fight against Taishakuten before the sixth star has been found. All miraculously works out in the end with the help of Ashura's dead father, and the stars learn that the harp girl, Queen Kendappa, is the sixth star. Now, all the stars are together, but they decide to fight Taishakuten later. He boasts his supreme power at the end without acknowledging the danger that may await him just around the corner.

With its cardboard characters, totally unimpressive musical score and dull storyline, "RG Veda" succeeds where many others fail by offering a foolproof cure for insomnia. Since the story plows ahead without taking time to develop sympathetic characters, little intrigue remains in which the viewers can invest. But each of the main characters, or warlords, has different powers. Neat. No exclamation point

Yasha and Ashura's relationship, that of protector and protectorate, easily transferred to a father/daughter type relationship, forms the basis for the most complex dynamic between any of the characters - which involves each promising always to be there for one another. Yasha and Ashura experience a litany of worn-out and tired emotions as they journey together, leaving no common expectation unturned. CPM's cover art for the tape evokes more emotion than the anime ever does.

And CPM's dub does little to compensate for weak emotional stakes. A near sardonic narrator opens the title with all the believability of a used car salesman and, dry as a desert, the cast churns out clotted, non-enthused performances.

Nick Wood's synthesizer rich musical score rivals elevator music for redundancy and blandness. More time has already been spent reading about "Veda's" music than will ever be recalled musing on it after the credits roll.

Like many of Clamp's titles, "Veda's" plot stems out of a contrivance to showcase the quartet's art. Though, this is not even a particularly good sampling of Clamp's characteristic Romanticism.

And not even trying to follow the plot will keep a snooze from creeping in. The 'fate of the world' plot and fighting over heaven ... blah, blah, blah ... does not contain even the most plastic of original hooks to distinguish this story from the primordial soup of fantasy-themed anime. The main goal has something to do with fulfilling a prophesy of six stars uniting to overthrow the evil warlord in charge of heaven. And the leaders of certain clans apparently represent the stars. At the end of the second episode, all of the stars have united, but for some reason they chose to fight the bad guy later. The bad guy laughs the usual ominous bad guy laugh (muyha, ha, ha, ha, ha) at the end, and arrogantly states his invincibility. The good guys will probably win. But who really cares?