Shelf Life

Band of Heroes

Despite the names, the anime series is only very, very loosely influenced by Greek mythology. One could argue that each Tribe of [Element] somewhat resembles the themes inherent in each Age, and that there are characters who are named after mythological figures, but the comparisons are something that's more interesting to think about than really focus on. See, in the extreme future, there was some almighty Tribe of Gold who could create planets and stuff. They beckoned to all the races to fan out into the universe and explore it, only oops, one of them tried to conquer everybody. The stragglers to the space race were the Tribe of Iron, the humans. Their mission is to ensure humankind's survival, so they're looking for a human that was raised by the Tribe of Gold. That human ends up being a Mowgli-looking kid named Age, who has a magical crystal in his eye that allows him to turn into an Eva and destroy things. Also, he can breathe in space, penetrate force fields, and shoot missiles. He is basically Jesus, if Jesus were a giant biorobot with gnashing teeth.

The story sounds kind of hokey, especially since it seems particularly unfair that the underdogs suddenly have this indestructible secret weapon, but things get a little murky a ways in. There's a different race trying to take over the world, and there are actually other people with powers. People give you weird looks when you try to explain the story to them, but it's surprisingly involving. I was planning on just watching a couple episodes before bed, but I was up until the birds started chirping, because I had to know what was going to happen next. The series gets a little too ambitious in the middle, though; it adds so many major characters, each belonging to different races with their own agendas, that it doesn't really get a chance to flesh out each player. With 13 more episodes to go, though, maybe this is just a temporary setback that will get cleared up in the second half.

One thing worth noting is that for a mech show, the machinery looks pretty good. Not just the Eva-thing—the spaceships are nicely rendered, the interiors of the space colonies look nice, and even all the instrument panels look pretty sharp. Anything that could've been rendered by a computer looks really good… which only serves to contrast with the characters, who look especially flat in comparison. Their movements are a little clunky, and they're almost too simple for the lush landscapes that fill the backgrounds. Also, some of the characters are seriously ugly.

Audiowise, I have one beef with the original sound mixing. It doesn't make sense why, when Age leaps onto a space car, he doesn't make any noise. Everybody is going to make some kind of noise when they jump onto a car, so the silence is unsettling. Maybe they were playing up the Space Jesus thing a lot, but I was bothered for about ten minutes by the lack of a clank or thud. To make up for it, the creators showered us with the gift of a theme song that rivals “Gimme Shelter” in the screaming of atrocities. Specifically, the chorus has a powerful voice chanting, “Dark!!!” and “Blight!!” It's truly spectacular.

As far as mecha adventure shows go, Heroic Age is a welcome addition to the genre. It has a fantasy feel to it, which gives it a unique edge amongst its competitors, and it's worth watching. It may not live to surpass some of the classics, but it diverges enough from the old formulas that anyone would have a good shot at being entertained.[TOP]

Demons are still rampaging through the lands, making the harvests bad, and wreaking all sorts of agro-havoc. The bad guys have the upper hand, and have already called forth three of the four gods. Luckily, the good guys have the Fighting Spirit required to go head to head with the bad guys, so in a series of image song-laden montages, the battle between good and evil takes place. And boy, are there a lot of image songs in the last episode. If you like the music in this series, you are in luck, because every time there is a major battle, there is a woman crooning in the background.

Haruka hasn't been one of my favorite series, but I have enjoyed watching the events play out… even if it took a while. There are some who would disagree with me, but I found the pacing in the show to be immensely slow. Even when action-packed things were happening, I found myself bored by the deliberate pace of the sequences. Watching someone pull out a talisman for the umpteenth time gets droll, and it would've been nice if they'd mixed things up a bit. I was also turned off by the lackluster character designs, which looked unsettlingly unhuman with their doe-y, alienesque eyes that melted off their faces.

There is a small, but sincere fanbase, though, who would claim that Haruka is the bee's knees, but it's something you'll have to check out for yourself. Just don't be turned off by the apparent reverse harem aspect of the show. It's somewhat misleading, as romance really isn't highlighted in the series, other than as a way for a few of the Earth-borne characters to get closer. Most of the series relies heavily on fantasy elements in its battle against demons (who are anything but two-dimensional villains), and if you like that sort of thing, you might want to check out the first couple of volumes.[TOP]