Heroic Age

Writer: Toshimasa Suzuki
Director: Toshimasa Suzuki
Production House: Xebec
Review Type: Anime
Status: Completed
Genre: Mecha, Sci-fi

Synopsis

Answering the call of the 'Gold Race', all the sentient races launch into space. The human race is the last to launch, and are thus known as the 'Iron Race'. Much time has passed since then, and humanity is threatened with extinction at the hands of the more dominant 'Silver Race'. In order to save her people, Princess Deianeira sets out on a journey to a galaxy far away, following the prophecies of the Gold Race handed down by the royal family.

This anime's theme is loosely based on stories from Greek Mythology, particularly those surrounding Heracles, whom the main character, Age, is based on, and his 12 labors. Set in a distant future, Heroic Age tells the story of the quest of the human race to find the messianic individual that holds the power to save mankind. This savior, named Age, is the only human to have been raised by the Golden Tribe before they departed from the universe. The young princess of the humans, Dhianeila, and the crew of the Argonaut - an advanced spaceship able to travel between stars via lanes called Starways - find Age on the ruined planet Oron. After fending off an attack from a rival tribe, the Bronze Tribe, the human race sets off on a journey of salvation, led by Dhianeila and Age.



Chibi's Heroic Review

This anime at first glance is easy to overlook, with the simplistic designs of the Nodos (kind of a biological mecha that morphs with Age and several members of the Silver Tribe) to the Gundam Seed style character artwork. I must confess it took me a while to actually buy a copy of the DVD and actually watch it, and i was skeptical even after hearing so many good reviews and recommendations to go and watch it, me being a huge Gundam freak myself.

How wrong i was indeed. The series itself in essence gives off a feel of this video game i used to waste my college years on playing called Starcraft, as both the anime and the video game has 3 prime races in it, which are so identical to each other i could have sworn it's written by the same people. Age himself is a really interesting character, full of youthful exuberance and almost oblivious that he is the one individual dubbed mankind's savior. Also possessing the most powerful Nodos (the Silver Tribe has the remaining 4) , Age chooses to side himself with the Iron Tribe (humans) as he seems to be rather drawn to princess Dhianeila, thus truly giving mankind the edge over the Silver Tribe and the insect-like Bronze Tribe (or Zerg as i like to call them, another starcraft reference) in their intergalactic battle. This being a 26 episode series, the writers waste no time in laying the plot lines in the first few episodes, and as the story unfolds you would find yourself drawn to the intricate battle scenes, war subplots, twists to even Age behaving like a kid, and will get u caught up in the story in no time. The simplistic mecha designs which i was complaining about belies the fact of the series' lush scenery art and vibrant space battles, and as the series progresses the mecha designs grow on you more and more, and be sure to look out for the morphing sequences. With so many mecha animes out there with a lot more exposure (Gundam, Robotech, Evangelion etc) it's easy to overlook this gem, those who got the opportunity to watch it will be rightfully converted straight away. So if u got a weekend to burn marathon-ing an anime or simply love huge intergalactic CG battles give this series a shot, although i must warn you it's addictive to the point of finishing it in one sitting is not totally unheard of.

Heroic Age was released as a 26 episode anime series in 2007, ending in the same year
and was released by Xebec. It is also directed by Toshimasa Suzuki, whose credits include directing episodes of Fafner, Shaman King (storyboard), and MoonPhase to name a few.


Chibi's Review



Storyline: 5/5
Character Development: 3/5
Art: 4/5
Originality: 3/5