DVD Corner

Heroic Age- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review

“Heroic Age” is worth watching for the battle sequences.

Grades:

Content: C+

Picture: A-

Audio: A-

Extras: D-

The story: In this 26 episode epic Sci-Fi anime series, humanity (AKA the Iron Tribe) is on the verge of extinction due to the fact that the Silver and Bronze tribes want to wipe them out. Luckily, there is hope for humanity in the form of a young boy named Age who has the incredible gift of turning into a nearly unstoppable monster called Bellcross. Can humanity survive or will the Silver and Bronze tribes defeat them?

The “Battlestar Galactica” esque storyline definitely caught my attention in the first few episodes, but unfortunately, the story and the writing never quite live up to their potential. The main problem is that the characters are just too bland. Sure, the writers make the hero (Age) an interesting, goofy, personable “fish out of water” character with powers, but one decent character is not enough to carry such an ambitious series. There’s simply far too much dull exposition being uttered by the main characters about prophecies, leadership, Age, and battles and it quite frankly gets old after awhile. How many times do the Iron Tribe characters need to constantly remind the audience of the same statements and proclamations? It really bogs the show and the story down which is a shame.

Luckily, not all is lost here. The action and animation in “Heroic Age” will definitely catch your eye. ‘Age’ is a flat-out gorgeous looking series. Whether there’s a battle involving lasers, robot suits, and Bellcross or you’re seeing shots of the Argonaut or a planet’s environments, the series is constantly wowing you with it’s amazing visuals as well as entertaining you with the intensely satisfying action.  

Summary: Sci-Fi action junkies will get a kick out of “Heroic Age,” but for those looking for a well-written anime series, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

The widescreen 1080p picture quality is first rate. The CGI animation in particular really shines in hi-def. Just look at the planet environments and ships and tell me the Blu-ray transfer isn’t breathtaking.

This Blu-ray set contains English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks. The English track contains a so-so dub, but the action really rocks the speakers on the TrueHD track. The Japanese track, on the other hand, clearly has the better voice work.

The only extras here are textless opening and closing songs and trailers for “Tsubasa,” “Jyu-Oh-sei,” “Spice And Wolf,” “Dragon Ball Z,” “Tower Of Druaga,” “D.Gray-Man,” “Evangelion 1.11,” “Samurai 7,” “Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror Of Shamballa,” “Nabari No Ou.”

March 9, 2010 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 1 | Heroic Age- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review