With Halo: Reach fastly approching and many Halo fans getting psyched over it, Microsoft and 343 Industries are interested to tide them over with Halo Legends until this fall. Halo Legends is an anthogy of anime segments made from the most talented animation studios from Japan. It consists of seven stories told in eight segments spanning the entire spectrum of the Halo universe with many characters from the games, including Master Chief. If you didn't catch them on Halo Waypoint (which I didn't), you can own it on Blu-Ray and DVD. I picked this up over the weekend and I was impressed with it. The animation was nice, the localization was decent, and it's a very nice collectible for Halo fans like me. And now I shall go through each segment....Oh, and there will be spoilers!!!
Origins is a two-part segement about Cortana and Chief floating through space after Halo 3. Cortana resites the entire origin of the ancient Forerunners and the Flood. She also speaks of the events leading up to the Human-Covenant war. The idea is interesting and the art design is suberb. It also fleshes out Cortana's character. I would say it might hint at Halo 4, but....Naaah, that's too far-fetched....
The Duel is about an unstoppable Arbiter facing the corruption of his leaders. It was based off of a japanese myth about a legendary Samurai. It's 3D, but has a filter that gives it a motion painting vibe. It's not a bad short and has great animation.
Homecoming is about a female Spartan on Reach and her past escape from the SPARTAN program and is drawn in a traditional anime style. This is one of my favorites because it has interesting questions. If their was a clone that was posing as you, would you kill him/her?...
Odd One Out is another favorite of mine and the only story in Legends to be non-canon. It focuses on Spartan 1337-No, I did not make that up!- dealing with a powerful covenant beast with the help of some locals. It has awesome action scenes and a goofy plot, but that's what makes it work. Sometimes you need to take things a little less seriously. Plus, It has Dinosaurs :P!!!!!
Prototype is about a robotic marine in a battlesuit who admires his fallen teammate's dying wish for him to "Be Human." It's a great moral and has nice animation too.
The Babysitter is about a group of ODSTs trying to take down a covenant prophet. A Spartan accompanies them along the way, so the short deals with prejudice. It is another fav of mine and it is a great segment
The Package is about a group of Spartans (Including MC) trying to save a fellow doctor. It has absolutely great action and even has some clever in-jokes towards the games...
Overall, it's a great project. It's well animated and stays true to what makes Halo so enticing. It's nice for getting into anime, but I'm not totally sure you'll like it if you're an anime-junkie. So, thanks for reading my review :) Now, where did I put my Plasma Sword?....
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