Anime Review: Heroic Age

Anime Review # 001
Title: Heroic Age
Release Type: Half Season Sets (Complete Series Available Now)

Hello again my fair readers! Welcome once more to another exciting, if at times meglomaniacal, episode of Blog of a Heretical Dub Lover! I'm your Navigator Richard J.! I'm super-pleased to see I have a new follower and, in honor of that honor, I'm doing our first anime review! (Prentend I'm not a day late!)

Applause! Clap, clap.

The first and hopefull far from last anime review will be Heroic Age, a 26 episode series animated by Xebec with Argonaut Crew and Starchild Records as the Production overlords. The music is by Naoki Sato, the original story is by Tow Ubukata and the character designs are by Hisashi Hirai. (I must mention, this is the character designer for Gundam Seed! I love this character style!)

As always here at BoaHDL, we have a guest host for our reviews. Today's guest host is Princess Dhianeila her self!



Princess Dhianeila: I'm very grateful to be here on behalf of the Argonaut. It is an honor to represent humanity's quest for survival here.

Richard J.:I'm the honored one. Please, tell us what Funimation has to say about your mission.

Princess Dhianeila: Of course. The corporation releasing our chronicle uses the tag line "a boy will be the salvation of man" for this DVD release. That boy is Age, our savior, who possesses the Heroic Tribe within himself. We onboard the Argonaut searched for a long time to find him, for he is the only human to have been raised by the Golden Tribe, the great race of beings who left our universe long ago.

I wish we sought him only for peaceful reasons but alas, we need him to rescue the Iron Tribe, humanity, from our enemies the Silver Tribe and the Bronze Tribe. The Silver Tribe have great psychic abilities and consider themselves the sucessors of the Golden Tribe whereas the Bronze Tribe are a race of insects that travel through space and are subordinate to the Silver Tribe. Together with the Heroic Tribe, a race of powerful but savage beings, we four tribes alone answered the Golden Tribe's call to come forth into space.

We seek our savior on a planet outside the reach of a Star Way. He is the fifth Nodos. The other four Nodos, beings who possess the Heroic Tribe within themselves, are under the control of our enemies the Silver Tribe. Without Age's help, humanity will be overwhelmed by our tribe's enemies.

Richard J.: Thank you for that summary of your mission. Can you tell us a little about the DVD release?

Princess Dhianeila: Of course. This release has two parts. Each part is a two disc box set, featuring cover art from the original Japanese release. The images are quite lovely. The second disc of each release features Textless Songs and Trailers as Extras. The whole series has been released and has an English dub as well as the original Japanese dub. It is all uncut of course.

Richard J.: Please allow me to add some opinions. The plot of Heroic Age has a number of references to Greek myths, most prominently those surrounding Heracles and the Twelve Labors. Age has Twelve Labors of his own and the nature of these labors and what they have to do with the prophecies of the Golden Tribe become important plot points within this series. The title of the series is also a reference to Greek mythology and the names of the tribes are loosely based on the Five Ages of Mankind.

The focus of this series is mostly on great battles in space and between the five Nodos, those beings who possess the Heroic Tribe within. Each possesses unique abilities and is of a different tribe/species. Age and Yuty La, the Silver Tribe's Nodos, are the two best fleshed out in my opinion. Also of importance in the series is the epic quest aspect, as the characters move toward their respective goals, you get a sense of just how amazing it all is.

Positive elements: This series has great action, good animation quality and excellent VA work. Special praise to Cherami Leigh, primarily for her performance in the last four episodes. Scenes are stolen by Monica Rial as the twins Mail and Tail. The plot flows well and reaches a proper conclusion, so this is a very self-contained series that won't leave you going "okay, but what happens next?" While you may want to see more because you enjoy it, you won't need to see more to know how the story concludes.

Negative elements: This release lacks decent extra features. Most glaring is the lack of special clean closings for the last episode and one in the middle, which feature unique closings. While this is not a No-Buy issue, it is agravating. Also, the unusual names can make it hard to follow at times until you've learned them, especially with the Nodos who all have two names. The politcal aspects and intrigues are not as deep as some series as the focus is on the epic battles.

Princess, can you talk about some of the characters? I think that would help people.



Princess Dhianeila: Certainly. I've already said that Age is our savior. He's also very kind despite being a fierce warrior. I pray for his safety. Bellcross is the Heroic Tribe member within him. In the English dub, he is voiced by J. Michael Tatum.

I am the humble princess of the Altria system. I have psychic abilities that are unusal for my tribe but they also make it very difficult for me to be around others. Especially men. I believe I can overcome my weakness. In the English dub, I am voiced by Caitlin Glass.

Karkinos Rucan is the first Nodos Age encounters. He is voiced by Christopher R. Sabat. His Heroic Tribe member is Lernaea. He is proud and deeply protective of Yuty La.

Mehitak Bore, who is voiced by Greg Ayres, is the second Age encounters. His Heroic Tribe member is Artemia. Although he wishes not to fight, his masters the Silver Tribe send him into a terrible battle.

Lecty Leque is the third Nodos Age encounters. She is voiced by Stephanie Young and is a confidant of Prome O, a member of the Silver Tribe who is uncertain of the goal of destroying humanity. Her Heroic Tribe member is Erymanthos.

The final Nodos that Age encounters is Yuty La. She is voiced by Cherami Leigh and is the Silver Tribe's Nodos. Her appearance belies the terrible power of her Heroic Tribe member, Cerbius. She is frequently in contact with Rom Ror, the most ardent advocate of humanity's destruction among the Silver Tribe.

Richard J.: Thank you Princess. I think that covers all the most important players.

Princess Dhianeila: But I have yet to mention the crew of the Argonaut or my brothers!

Richard J.: Don't worry, I am sure that those who buy the DVD will quickly learn about them. You've introduced the two major players in this story and the Nodos the Silver Tribe controls, who can be confusing due to their double names, and I think that is enough.



Princess Dhianeila: If you believe that is enough, I will accept it.

On behalf of the Iron Tribe, the race of humanity, I ask that all of you please purchase this chronicle on DVD! My host Richard J. has awarded it a high score. Please tell them good sir.

Richard J.: I have found Heroic Age to be worthy of the following score!



Heroic Age is available at Robert's Anime Corner Store, Amazon, Best Buy, The Right Stuf and FYE.

If you'd like a review of the packaging for this series, check out Hey Nice Package!

Well, I hope this review came out okay! I'm signing out now!

Bye-ni!