Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight (覇王大系リューナイト, Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight? "Lord of Lords Ryu Knight") is a 1994 mecha anime television series and OVA, notable for its super-deformed mechas and RPG elements, notably job classes. It tells the story of Adeu, a boy who lives his life by the "Ethos of Chivalry" (a code of conduct similar to the Knightly Virtues) who is on a quest to Earth's Blade, a gigantic sword reaching to the sky from the ground. Along the way, he meets Paffy, who is a princess and her two escorts, Sarutobi, a ninja, and Izumi, a priest. Throughout their adventure, they come across many villains, which is mostly composed of thieves and bandits, who are usually after their Ryu mechs, which are far stronger than the normal mechs (henceforth referred to as Solids).

In addition, each Ryu is given some form of an elemental association. (ex. Ryu Knight Zephyr is associated with the element of Fire).

The successful 52 episode TV series led to a 13 OVA series called "Adeu's Legend". On each of the 13 volumes of the home video release of the TV series there was one episode of the new OVA series. A separate sequel OVA series "Adeu's Legend II" was released on three separate volumes. Adeu's Legend is a much darker alternate retelling of the Ryu Knight story with some different characters and characters from the TV series with different backgrounds. "Ryu Knight FINAL", a parody super-deformed episode featuring characters from both the TV and OVA series, was the 17th and last OVA. The 13 episode Adeu's Legend series was later edited and released as a two-hour "movie" version.

On the Japanese DVD release of the OVA series, Victor Entertainment included a flash-animation "preview" for Lord of Lords Ryu Knight II, supposedly taking place 700 years after the original and following the adventures of Adeu's descendants. It is not meant to be taken seriously.

The Japanese anime are serialized in Shueisha's V-Jump.

Source: Wikipedia