Definitely not Legendary.
Halo Legends is a DVD/ Blu-Ray with seven anime shorts (eight if you count Origins I & II as separate shorts) by well known anime directors. It’s usually their own take on the Halo universe and it often produces mixed results. Click the cut to see which ones are worth your time, which ones aren’t, and why.
YAY :
- Origins I & II - For people like me who aren’t experts on the Halo Universe this is a great intro. The forerunners are really cool characters. I’m still kind of confused about what happened with the flood though. Are they just still kind of in the background of the Human/Covenant war? If you know everything about Halo I can see how this could be boring, but making these the first two shorts on the disc open it up to more than just previous Halo fans.
- The Duel - Great short about the Arbiter. It has the best storyline on the entire disc and the art style is great. The only problem I have with it is how it’s very rooted in Japanese culture. Like I said, I don’t know much about the Halo Universe, but in this short some members of this alien race seems to dress like samurai and live by a strict code of honor much like the samurai. Other than that it’s fantastic and shouldn’t be missed.
- The Babysitter - A team of ODST and a Spartan are tasked with photographing some ruins and assassinating a prophet of the covenant. The Spartan has to save the ODST troop’s sniper a few times during the mission. With the simple recon/assassination plot and the fluid animation in the action, this is one of the better shorts on the disc. The ending isn’t great, but it has some awesome scenes in it.
- The Package - What I think is easily the most entertaining short on the disc. It has a CGI type animation and some really awesome shots. It starts out with a group of Spartans on jet-bikes in space trying to infiltrate a ship for a rescue mission and then ends with 3 of them running through the halls of the ship just destroying everything in their way. They switch to first-person shots a few times during this sequence. It doesn’t have the much better story elements that The Duel does, but it’s definitely the best one for something Halo themed. The only thing I didn’t really like was the voices of some of the characters.
NAY :
- Homecoming - Apparently some of the genetic mutations the Spartan soldiers underwent was giving them gigantic cliché Anime-style eyes and making them emotionally gasp-y. The story is decent, while being reminiscent of the film Push. I know they tried to show these warriors who are supposed to be so unstoppable in a softer light, but I just don’t think it worked.
- Odd One Out - Wow, this is super cheesy and lame. It’s making the Spartan who’s the central character seem clumsy like Goku from DBZ could be at times. It’s definitely going for humor, but in a lame kids show kind of way. The dialogue in this isn’t funny, but cheesy. I don’t see how this even made it on the disc. It’s almost like the director is making fun of Halo.
- Prototype - After seeing two soldiers together, a man and woman, the woman dies. Later an attack on a weapons facility is occurring and the man from the previous scene is leading a team that’s supposed to destroy weapon prototypes. He decides to wear a mech suit that’s on a destruction timer to save his platoon and keeps flashing back to that first scene as a reason to why he’s doing it. Hey look, it looks like Master Chief Gundam. This short’s attempt at an emotional story falls flat. The main character’s monotone voice is largely what kills it.
There you go. The huge outside of Japan franchise Halo gets the anime treatment. It turned out well, with some of the shorts being pretty good and a couple of them being great, but I’d still only really recommend this to people who are anime fans first and Halo fans second. Give it a rent if you’re curious.
