Master Chief, Cortana, and the Arbiter will be getting the anime treatment, Microsoft announced at this week's Comic-Con 2009.
Despite being a runaway success in the Western world, the Halo franchise has never really caught on across the Pacific Ocean in Japan for whatever reason - perhaps it's because the Japanese don't really flock to FPS games the way others do, perhaps it's just the lack of superpowered teenagers, giant robots, and tentacle monsters. Really, your guess is as good as mine.
That doesn't mean that Microsoft feels that Japan has nothing to offer the series, though. Quite the opposite - at Comic-Con, the software giant announcedHalo Legends, a collection of seven short films drawn in the Japanese anime style.
While Microsoft's own 343 Industries - its internal house devoted to all things Halo - will be financing and overseeing the development of Legends (as well as writing all the scripts), the shorts themselves will be animated by five relatively prominent Japanese studios: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio4C, and Toei Animation. Shinji Aramaki, director of mecha anime Appleseed and Gasaraki, will be overseeing production on the Microsoft end.
In fact, Aramaki is one of the few Japanese gamers who fell for the Halo series, and was immediately interested in the idea. "I liked that this would be an anthology of human stories told from different characters' perspectives," he said.
The LA Times reported that 343's Creative Director Frank O'Connor spoke briefly about two of the Halo Legends shorts in particular:
Studio4 C's project, tentatively called "Origins," is a two-parter that's about 30 minutes long in total and tells the entire 100,000 year history of the Halo universe. Another, from Toei, is the only one outside of the official canon and pokes fun at some of the game's characters.
'It's a wildly varied genre, but anime creators do things with weapons and vehicles and technology nobody else does, and that marries very well with Halo,' [O'Connor] explained. 'It's amazing to see some of the new stuff they're introducing and how neatly it maps to the visual aesthetics in the Halo universe.'
One can't help but wonder if the presence of big-name animation studios like Toei and Bones means that Japanese gamers might actually sit up and take notice of the franchise for once, or if they'll respond with a resounding and deafening, "Meh."
Money, probably. Why else do businesses do anything?
I would've given it to Sunrise after what they did with Code Geass and Gundam 00, but I'm sure Toei will do their job as well as they can.
That said, no matter which studio did it I'm not expecting great results from the Halo anime. I'll still probably watch it just so I can be in the perfect position to complain, but my expectations aren't high.
Money, probably. Why else do businesses do anything?
I would've given it to Sunrise after what they did with Code Geass and Gundam 00, but I'm sure Toei will do their job as well as they can.
That said, no matter which studio did it I'm not expecting great results from the Halo anime. I'll still probably watch it just so I can be in the perfect position to complain, but my expectations aren't high.
*deep breath* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy! 2 of my favorite things blending together, halo and anime. True the game stories were a bit of a flop, but the books were great. I just pray they dont screw it up.
Money, probably. Why else do businesses do anything?
I would've given it to Sunrise after what they did with Code Geass and Gundam 00, but I'm sure Toei will do their job as well as they can.
That said, no matter which studio did it I'm not expecting great results from the Halo anime. I'll still probably watch it just so I can be in the perfect position to complain, but my expectations aren't high.
Sunrise probably doesn't do badass enough for them. Wait. Wait!
WAIT!
Bones is involved?!
They did Soul Eater and Darker than Black for Christ's sake. This will probably be epic.
RavingPenguin: *deep breath* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy! 2 of my favorite things blending together, halo and anime. True the game stories were a bit of a flop, but the books were great. I just pray they dont screw it up.
One can't help but wonder if the presence of big-name animation studios like Toei and Bones means that Japanese gamers might actually sit up and take notice of the franchise for once, or if they'll respond with a resounding and deafening, "Meh."
Who cares? American geeks outnumber Japanese geeks. The target audience is domestic, not foreign.
They did Soul Eater and Darker than Black for Christ's sake. This will probably be epic.
Okey, yeah, Darker than Black was pretty freaking epic I'll give you that much.
It's more the fight scenes in Soul Eater that were Epic. They raped that series to a halt at around 50 episodes, something I cannot forgive, considering it was fairly enjoyable and entertaining overall.
Oh, and they are also behind FMA, the Cowboy Bebop movie (co-production) and Wolf's Rain, among other good works.
The Japanese aren't going to go for it if the series continues to focus on what the American audience likes, namely, explosions and gruff men shooting things.
What they need to do is find a way to focus the story on family, and friendship, and strength form the heart, and all that jazz.
RavingPenguin: *deep breath* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy! 2 of my favorite things blending together, halo and anime. True the game stories were a bit of a flop, but the books were great. I just pray they dont screw it up.
See above.
I know now Im pretty much gauranteed to love it now. Wiki Bones (studio) and youll find a list of my favorite anime in the first paragraph. Eureka 7, Ouran High, Darker than Black, Soul Eater, and Full Metal Alchemist. Horray for Bones!
Something interesting to keep an eye on, that much is for sure.
Whether or not it will be good is entirely up in the air, but my bets are that it'll be decent at least. Naysayers might want to remember the AniMatrix, and how awesome that was, before they automatically dismiss this.
I'm torn here. I love Bones, but I'm sick to death of Halo. I enjoyed all three entries (the first 2 more than the last), but I'm just tired of it. Don't know if want.
RavingPenguin: *deep breath* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy! 2 of my favorite things blending together, halo and anime. True the game stories were a bit of a flop, but the books were great. I just pray they dont screw it up.
See above.
I know now Im pretty much gauranteed to love it now. Wiki Bones (studio) and youll find a list of my favorite anime in the first paragraph. Eureka 7, Ouran High, Darker than Black, Soul Eater, and Full Metal Alchemist. Horray for Bones!
Not to mention Sword of The Stranger, a not so known film that I love, as well as Wolf's Rain and Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door.
Ah good, combines the constantly declining Halo franchise with the shitniness of japanese animation. Well, at least it will keep retards indoors and off the streets for an extra 30 minutes a week.
CantFaketheFunk: [snip for great justice] Despite being a runaway success in the Western world, the Halo franchise has never really caught on across the Pacific Ocean in Japan for whatever reason - perhaps it's because the Japanese don't really flock to FPS games the way others do, perhaps it's just the lack of superpowered teenagers, giant robots, and tentacle monsters. Really, your guess is as good as mine. [second snip for great justice]
Y they farming out to japanese studios? didn't some american company show a halo anime at PAX? That company did a really good job with rooster teeth...
RavingPenguin: *deep breath* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy! 2 of my favorite things blending together, halo and anime. True the game stories were a bit of a flop, but the books were great. I just pray they dont screw it up.
Money, probably. Why else do businesses do anything?
I would've given it to Sunrise after what they did with Code Geass and Gundam 00, but I'm sure Toei will do their job as well as they can.
That said, no matter which studio did it I'm not expecting great results from the Halo anime. I'll still probably watch it just so I can be in the perfect position to complain, but my expectations aren't high.
Sunrise probably doesn't do badass enough for them. Wait. Wait!
WAIT!
Bones is involved?!
They did Soul Eater and Darker than Black for Christ's sake. This will probably be epic.
RavingPenguin: *deep breath* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy! 2 of my favorite things blending together, halo and anime. True the game stories were a bit of a flop, but the books were great. I just pray they dont screw it up.
See above.
Hopefully bones doesn't write the ending -_- , because SE's ending sucked.
Unreliable: Ah good, combines the constantly declining Halo franchise with the shitniness of japanese animation. Well, at least it will keep retards indoors and off the streets for an extra 30 minutes a week.
Japanese animation isn't shitty -__-.
randommaster: The Japanese aren't going to go for it if the series continues to focus on what the American audience likes, namely, explosions and gruff men shooting things.
What they need to do is find a way to focus the story on family, and friendship, and strength form the heart, and all that jazz.
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Halo Legends Anime Miniseries in the Works
Master Chief, Cortana, and the Arbiter will be getting the anime treatment, Microsoft announced at this week's Comic-Con 2009.
Despite being a runaway success in the Western world, the Halo franchise has never really caught on across the Pacific Ocean in Japan for whatever reason - perhaps it's because the Japanese don't really flock to FPS games the way others do, perhaps it's just the lack of superpowered teenagers, giant robots, and tentacle monsters. Really, your guess is as good as mine.
That doesn't mean that Microsoft feels that Japan has nothing to offer the series, though. Quite the opposite - at Comic-Con, the software giant announced Halo Legends, a collection of seven short films drawn in the Japanese anime style.
While Microsoft's own 343 Industries - its internal house devoted to all things Halo - will be financing and overseeing the development of Legends (as well as writing all the scripts), the shorts themselves will be animated by five relatively prominent Japanese studios: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio4C, and Toei Animation. Shinji Aramaki, director of mecha anime Appleseed and Gasaraki, will be overseeing production on the Microsoft end.
In fact, Aramaki is one of the few Japanese gamers who fell for the Halo series, and was immediately interested in the idea. "I liked that this would be an anthology of human stories told from different characters' perspectives," he said.
The LA Times reported that 343's Creative Director Frank O'Connor spoke briefly about two of the Halo Legends shorts in particular:
One can't help but wonder if the presence of big-name animation studios like Toei and Bones means that Japanese gamers might actually sit up and take notice of the franchise for once, or if they'll respond with a resounding and deafening, "Meh."
(Via Joystiq)
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