Heroic Age Complete Series [Blu-ray]

Heroic Age is a throwback (a wonderful throwback) to the Golden Age of Science fiction when battles where truly epic, plotlines encompassed the entire galaxy and characters were much larger than real life! And that's exactly what Heroic Age does in spades!

In fact, as I watched it; it brought back pleasant memories of such epic old school science fiction as E. E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series (quite possibly the greatest sci-fi epic of all time) or Isac Asimov's Foundation series. A grandiose storyline writ across the entire cosmos!

It is the far future and humanity is fighting for it's very existence. The Golden Tribe which once governed the cosmos has departed and the Silver Tribe along with it's proxy the Bronze Tribe is intent on wiping out the Iron Tribe (humanity) although they don't know why! And the last hope of humanity rests in one young man who contains within his self the power of the Heroic Tribe which nearly wiped itself and the rest of the cosmos out of existence. Only five of them remain and four of them are attached to the enemy. You can pretty much figure out how it's going to go from there.

The series starts out with a bang right from the very beginning and just keeps getting better and better. The fights between the Nodoss (those with the Heroic Tribe's power) get bigger, the space battles start to encompass entire fleets and star systems and the whole series takes on an almost mythological scale and sense of power. True old school story telling from the golden age of science fiction but with state of the art animation and a bigger than life musical soundtrack that can truly be called heroic!

The animation is superb and the Dolby True HD 5.1 English dub has one of the best surround tracks that I have ever experienced in an anime series. Even a lot of movies ain't this good. And unlike a lot of anime, this one has a great ending and an even better ten minute epilogue as well.

I watch a lot of anime and I like most of it. But it's very rare for me to fall in love with a series. This is one of those rare occasions. A truly grandiose sci-fi series that will remain in my permanent collection forever. Five stars if you like them big and bold! Four stars if you don't.

J. A.

I wanted to love Heroic Age, I really, really did. It's Giant Monsters meets Mecha Anime meets Space Opera meets Dragon Ball Z, how could this NOT be awesome? Unfortunately, it doesn't quite live up to its premise.

Heroic Age had a lot of potential. The monsters are awesome, the space battles are epic, the music is grand. Plenty of eye candy to go around. However, Heroic Age really *is* a Giant Monster story set in outer space, in that it succumbs to the typical downfalls of the genre; there's too much focus on spectacle and not enough on character. I couldn't connect with the cast, they're just too boring. The Nodos in particular, the characters who matter the most, are especially dull. I can't even remember their names. Without any engaging personalities to latch on to, I have no investment with the monsters or the fighting or the plot or character development or anything else. Some more light, humorous moments to round out the characters' personalities would have went a long way.

That squid alien from the first episode was pretty cute though, I'm glad he survived.

Heroic Age (HA) is a self-contained series about mankind''s struggle for survival as its initial forays into deep space incurs the wrath of the elder space faring civilizations. Its inspiration draws from Greek epic and the Japanese giant-robot sub-genre of anime. Managing to combine these disparate sources into something half-coherent would have been achievement enough, but the creators of the series do much more than that. HA is a series that thrusts you straight into the action and drama, and adds just enough fantasy to give the story that 'mythic' aspect that really sets it apart.

Premise

In the distant past a great civilization presided over the universe. They called themselves the Gold Tribe and using their supreme powers they called out to the nascent races of the cosmos. Their message was simple, 'leave the worlds that are your cradles and reach for the stars.' Three races answered their call '- the Silver Tribe, the Bronze Tribe, and the Heroic Tribe.

Tragedy however strikes the Heroic Tribe, for the personal power of each member of that race is such that they can destroy planets, and all of them have a rage that when triggered can not be appeased. (In this way the members of the Heroic Tribe were Sophoclean heroes, mortals of godly power whose very resolve was their downfall, for once set upon a path they could not change their ways.) This eventually leads the Heroic Tribe to nearly destroy itself, and they are saved only through the intercession of the Gold Tribe. The Gold Tribe takes the last five survivors the Heroic Tribe and binds them to members of the younger races, containing their power and granting it to their hosts (the intricate reasons as to how and why are revealed by the story).

Later, the Gold Tribe decides to leave the universe, but just as they are about to do so, one last younger race, humanity, launches a spaceship. Unlike the other three space faring races, humanity did not hear the Gold Tribe's call. They achieved space travel on their own. Intrigued, the Gold Tribe follows the human ship, and after a crash landing kills all but one child passenger, the Gold Tribe imbues him with the last of the essences of the Heroic Tribe.

For reasons that are initially unclear, the Silver Tribe, aided by the Bronze Tribe, declares war on humanity, dubbed the Iron Tribe. With their superior abilities and technology, the two elder races make short work of Earth''s defences. Now humanity is one the brink. Its only hope is to find this young boy, granted the power of gods by the Gold Tribe, who might save them from extinction.

Setting Conventions

One of HA's strengths is how incredibly understated the level technology and personal power of the characters are. Normally in shows of this genre the ''look at the shiny powerz!'' factor has a way of taking the place of good storytelling. This does not happen in HA. Consider for example the first episode. We are introduced to a ship which is kilometers long, that launches a drone fleet numbering in the hundreds, that holds an army of giant robot suits each one of which has special, idiosyncratic powers keyed to their human pilot, energy swords, and is ten storeys tall. The ''normal'' humans are capable of everything from telekinesis, clairvoyance, astronavigation, and teleportation. The enemy they face is a race of giant insects, capable of opening spacial gates with their bodies, creating impenetrable barriers of energy with their will, and whose mothership is a small moon.

Despite this, the first episode is not about technology exposition. Instead, it focuses on the discovery of the human boy, Age (for whom the series is named), and it is his human aspects and vulnerabilities, not his godly powers, that are extolled in the show.

Production Value

This is one beautiful anime. Even by anime standards, the animation level is high. True to its Greek epic roots this show has set piece battles with enough eye candy to satisfy the most ardent geek. Its music is also top notch, with a thought provoking soundtrack that complements well the trials of the characters.

Summary

If you want an original story with a strong beginning, middle, and end, or if you just want some good fun with explosions and cosmic powers, then HA is the series for you. Unequivocally, this is one of the best anime series I have ever seen.