Heroic Age Season 2

• Heroic Age Season 2
• Heroic Age Season 2

StorySci-fi has been one of my favourite genres since I first learned the meaning of entertainment; what's more, I have a mild, lay person's interest in anything to do with space, physics, philosophy, and politics. So Heroic Age, being developed around these exact topics, just could not go wrong in my eyes, right? To be fair, the premise is instantly gripping and full of endless promise; as we get to know the important characters which, on the face of it, appear wholly likeable, we are also introduced to a world steeped in a rich and distinctive history. Sadly, what subsequently follows is a senseless sequence of mecha battles coupled with an incongruous political subplot.Pretty much everything from the seventh episode onwards follows a familiar blueprint: the crew of the Argonaut, led by the beautiful psychic Deianeira, travel a little distance before inevitably coming across enemies whom they engage in a tactical space battle. Then they travel a little further, except, this time when they encounter the enemy, they are a bit cleverer and a bit harder to beat. I'm sure at some point the crew gets a brief respite on a peaceful planet somewhere, but soon they are off again, travelling and fighting, powering up and fighting, and so on and so forth until it all gets rather tedious. Heroic Age does attempt to establish a human political context as well, which, done well, would have added much depth to its sagging midsection. However, the answers to the dilemmas are too often obvious and who is at fault is always clear.I wish I could say the space battles make for compulsive viewing and thus help to relieve the bland plot developments, but that would be lying. Age and his adversaries spend several minutes roaring at each other and colliding with each other, and generally doing more damage to their environments than to each other. The battles are completely devoid of tension because the Nodos are seemingly invincible; it doesn't matter what they do - be it smashing each other through asteroids or blasting each other with black holes - they always come back unscathed. Needless to say, by the time I reached the halfway point, these problems had taken such a toll that even the elements built into the premise, such as the mystery of the Golden Tribe and the implications of the contracts they left to the Nodos, just could not hold my waning attention.Heroic Age also has a typical conclusion, the delivery of which shifts at various points from decent to senseless. Epic lessons are meant to be learned and interesting secrets of the universe uncovered, but the aforementioned flaws inevitably combine forces to cripple even that small experience; between the never-ending mecha fights, the overindulgent special effects, and the erratic and confusing monologues, the ending collapses without much effort into a cacophonous mess. Don't get me wrong - there are occasional highlights, but the overall product falls far short of the standard achieved by other contemporary titles such as Toward the Terra TV.AnimationWith shimmering galaxies, energy beams of all colours of the rainbow, and a token supernova in every fight, Heroic Age comes with enough gorgeous CGI trimmings to ruin an epileptic's day. Even the simple act of teleportation involves ethereal floating strands of light which must have dented the budget more than all of the other scenes put together. Sadly, for all that glitz and glamour, Heroic Age contains not an ounce of realism. For example, I can suspend my disbelief when Age, in his human form, traverses space without a protective suit - he is a mecha in hiding, after all. But when he can somehow stand on random floating bits of rock with no gravitational pull, and then breathes - yes, breathes - while a gentle space breeze musses his hair, my imagination really takes a battering.Although by no means the worst that I have seen, Heroic Age's aesthetic concept rarely looks more than acceptable; while the backgrounds are ostentatiously animated (albeit generic in design), the characters' hair and clothes are just blocks of colour with minimal detail, and their motion is not that smooth either. This contrast in quality is obvious at all times and does a lot to damage the viewing experience. On a more distracting level, every once in a while, a female will have overbearing breasts emphasised by the right gravity-defying outfit. Admiral Nillbar Nephew is an especially deformed case whose inspiring speeches are always undermined by the massive growths bursting from the front of her uniform.SoundHeroic Age is the kind of anime which accepts a well-known scientific theory, that because space has a lot of air, sound can travel with ease. Although this is a feature common to almost every sci-fi anime, Heroic Age, annoyingly enough, takes it to childish new extremes; for example, in Heroic Age's version of the universe, even insects will make an appropriate splat noise when blown up in the middle of space.As for the voice acting, it is decent most of the time, albeit not astounding; part of the problem is that half of the cast, namely the Silver Tribe, speak in hushed ‘mysterious' tones which, in fact, rob all of their scenes of any dynamism. The effect is such that whenever they hold a conversation, Heroic Age gets really boring really fast.The best Heroic Age has to offer lies with the soundtrack, which consists of fairly varied synthesised instrumentals. While the opening and ending themes are suitable yet unremarkable J-pop, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed all the themes in between; especially memorable are the eerie battle theme used for when events take a terrible turn, and Age's cheerful theme of flutes and plucked strings.CharactersWhat becomes clear by the time Heroic Age is halfway through is that none of the protagonists apart from Age have any distinctive backgrounds to speak of. They just are what they are, with no intricate motivations, no defining histories, no important memories... nothing. There is thus little to make sense of what drives them apart from the obvious wish to save their respective races from destruction.Perhaps the least enjoyable case of this would be Deianeira's stupid brothers, whose political scheming is about as subtle as a bullfight; they are the type of people who treat war like a game for glory and congratulate themselves for every massacre visited upon other races - they are in essence nothing more than stereotyped villains. Similarly, the Nodos are initially interesting because of their various skills and personalities, but they also fall into the trap of being clichéd slaves to the plot.Princess Deianeira herself is not much of a plus point either, since she spends the entire series being ‘brave' and cringing delicately as her psychic powers make her receptive to every damn battle happening light years away. Everyone loves her for her good sense, her intelligent decision-making, and her caring nature (and indeed, she is likeable for that), but what a shame that she is never tested in any meaningful sense in order to develop her personality. When she first arrives on the screen, she is bright and brave and flawlessly good, and when she leaves at the end, she is bright and brave and flawlessly good, and that's all there is to say about her.Probably the only individual who is a true pleasure to watch is the title's namesake, Age; he possesses a naive charisma and a childlike frankness which makes it impossible not to feel for him. Despite being unrealistically cheerful no matter what the war throws at him, he actually remains the most refreshing aspect of Heroic Age. His background as the only human to have been in contact with the mysterious Golden Tribe and his uniquely positive perspective make him intriguing in a way that the others are not; I often found myself enjoying the events a lot more whenever he was in a scene. Unfortunately, Age feels somewhat misplaced as a cast member because he gets so little screen time; apart from the first few episodes after the humans discover him, he is mostly fighting inane battles in his Bellcross mecha form. Because of this, he never develops either and Heroic Age's biggest asset thus goes to waste.OverallThere is just not an ounce of subtlety or originality to be found in Heroic Age - because of the poor character development and only the marginal role of human politics, it consists almost entirely of flashy, repetitive space battles. Still, Heroic Age builds largely on well-established clichés and is likely to remain mildly absorbing for any mainstream viewer; in fact, even if the subsequent events are far from innovative, for young teenagers and die-hard fans of space epics, there is definitely enough here to enjoy.

• Apr 02, 2007  Poll: Heroic Age Episode 25 Discussion Faust721 - Sep 26, 2007: 18 replies: by HagePotPotato »» Aug 3, 6:52 PM: Poll: Heroic Age Episode 24 Discussion Kineta - Sep 20, 2007: 14 replies: by HagePotPotato »» Aug 3, 6:27 PM.
• Watch Heroic Age Season 1 Episode 2. 2007 7.1 Streamers Information 7.1 Release date: 01 Apr 2007 Genres: Adventure, Anime, Science Fiction. Streaming Guide TV Shows Adventure Heroic Age Season 1.

Heroic Age Season 2

This is the result of a perfectly synchronized English dub which was really hard to find, anyways hope you enjoy because i don't think there are many English.

Heroic Age (ヒロイック・エイジ, Hiroikku Eiji) is a Japanese science fictionmechaspace opera^[1] anime originally conceptualized by Tow Ubukata. The series first aired on TV Tokyo on April 1, 2007 and ended on September 30, 2007, with 26 episodes.

On July 23, 2007, a manga adaptation began serialization in Kodansha's Magazine Z. Though the story is the same, it is told from the point of view of Iolaous. Five official guidebooks were also published and had consecutive monthly releases from July to November 2007.

Premise[edit]

The story's theme is based on stories in Greek mythology, especially those surrounding Heracles, upon whom the main character is based, and his Twelve Labors. Many of the other characters are also based on Greek mythological figures; characters share similar names to their Greek counterparts, and how their relationship is defined with others correspond with Greek stories. The title of the series, Heroic Age, is also a slight testament to the similarities to Greek mythology, referring to the time of the Heroic Age. The tribes featured in the anime are loosely based on Hesiod's Five Ages of Mankind.

Storyline[edit]

The show is set in a futuristic universe, controlled by a few races or 'tribes' that possess the capabilities for interstellar travel. The universe had once been ruled by a 'Golden Tribe' (黄金の種族 Ougon no Shuzoku), who had since left the current galaxy long ago; they passed on their knowledge to the humanoid 'Silver Tribe' (銀の種族, Gin no Shuzoku), the insectoid 'Bronze Tribe' (青銅の種族, Seidou no Shuzoku), and the gigantic 'Heroic Tribe' (英雄の種族, Eiyuu no Shuzoku). The latter was later punished by the Golden Tribe for causing havoc in the universe and made to serve the other tribes as 'Nodos' (ノドス, Nodosu) - extremely powerful beings that play a key role in the story. Before the Golden Tribe departed, Humanity answered the call of the Golden Tribe and was dubbed the 'Iron Tribe' (鉄の種族, Tetsu no Shuzoku). Viewed as a threat to the order of things, the Silver Tribe decided to annihilate the Iron Tribe with the aid of the Bronze Tribe. However, humanity survived their assault on Earth and scattered their numbers across the stars in order to preserve their race.

The story follows the voyages of the starship Argonaut and its crew to find a means to bring peace to the universe. The ship carries the young human clairvoyant princess Dhianeila, who is on a mission to find the mythical savior of the human race. This savior is expected to aid humanity in their war against the Silver and Bronze tribes, who are bent on humanity's extermination.

Heroic Age Season 2

Initially, the expedition finds a child-hearted boy called Age on a partially destroyed planet. When the Argonaut is attacked by the Bronze tribe, Age is shown to transform into a 'Nodos' form, Bellcross, a gigantic and immensely powerful being. He easily fends off the superior attacking force. Having found their messiah, the Argonaut starts its way back to Dhianeila's home-world, Duey. During their journey home, the Silver Tribe launches several attacks on the Argonaut to prevent the ship from returning to their home-world, but Age always managed to stop them.

During the many attacks on the Argonaut the crew begins to warm up to Age, they had been fearful of his powers as a Nodos. The Silver tribesman Phaetho O assigns himself the role of 'testing' Age, destroying the Argonaut and all the Iron Tribe on it. After Age drives Phaetho O away and saves his tribe they all begin to accept him. Iolaous Oz Mehelim of the Yunos knights is jealous of Age but warms up to him after the attack on Titarros. Once they escape the battle against Phaetho O at Titarros the Argonaut crew arrives near the Cemetery belt where they are again attacked by Phaetho O and the Bronze Tribe accompanying him, here Age fights another Nodos whom had visited him on Titarros. During the fight the Argonaut manages to escape however in order to do so Age had to stay behind to fight. The Argonaut warps to what they think is an unoccupied place and end up running into stragglers from the Bronze Tribe, rather than fight they attempt to run only to be cornered by an enormous fleet. the fleet is also Iron Tribe, after saving the Argonaut that fleet accompanies them and they leave to help Age.

After reaching back to Duey, word had spread throughout humanity of the Argonaut's success and Dhianeila's brothers used the momentum to successfully convince humanity to launch a counter-offensive against the Silver and Bronze Tribes. With humanity united under the Junos family, the Silver Tribe throws the full might of their forces along with their 4 Nodos's to destroy humanity. As the fighting intensifies, the humans move towards the Golden Tribes' old home world. At the last moment, contact is made both between the Silver Tribe, humanity, and the Nodos of each side. Dhianeila brings the Silver Tribe to accept a ceasefire and Age is shown to be the 'key' to opening a portal to the universe into which the Golden Tribe has moved.

When this portal is opened, the Silver Tribe moves on to this other universe and passes all of its knowledge to humanity, including the ability to control the Bronze Tribe. However, during the battle, Age is missing after he opened the gateway; some believed he died in the process, while others believed he'll return one day. Honoring Age's wish, Dhianeila dedicated the next few years of her life to restore Age's home planet.

Four years later, Humanity has now brought order throughout the universe. With the Silver's Tribe's technology, humanity had advanced further and rebuilt Earth. Dhianeila and the Argonaut's team has succeeded in restoring Age's home, but through it all, she missed Age the most. Just as she was about to leave the only planet that gives her some comfort, the Golden Tribe's gateway opened and revealed that Age was alive, and he and Dhianeila were reunited.

Media[edit]

Anime[edit]

The television series was produced by King Records, KlockWorx and Xebec and directed by Takashi Noto and Toshimasa Suzuki, with Tow Ubukata handling series composition, Hisashi Hirai designing the characters and Naoki Satō composing the music. It first aired on April 1, 2007, and is now completed with a total of 26 episodes, the last of which having aired on September 30, 2007. Dhianeila gives a short narrative in the first five episodes to explain the Golden Tribe, the Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and Iron Tribes, and the events leading up to the anime series. Since episode 14 a new introduction shows the Iron Tribe members in a different manner than in the first episodes' introduction.

The anime was licensed for North American distribution by Funimation on June 30, 2008. A release date was set for May 12, 2009. As of May 2011, episodes 1-26 of Heroic Age are available dubbed in English via Netflix streaming, and episodes 1-26 are available both dubbed and subtitled at Hulu.

DVDs[edit]

The first two DVD volumes had a simultaneous release in Japan on August 8, 2007. It was announced that every volume would contain two episodes. The first two volumes would also contain an eight-page booklet and stickers of the corresponding DVD cover for a limited time only. The illustrations on the cover jackets are designed by Hisashi Hirai.

The third volume was released on September 5, 2007, and also contained a sticker of the jacket cover.

Volumes

Heroic Age I - contains episodes 1 and 2 (Release date: August 8, 2007)
Heroic Age II - contains episodes 3 and 4 (Release date: August 8, 2007)
Heroic Age III - contains episodes 5 and 6 (Release date: September 5, 2007)
Heroic Age IV - contains episodes 7 and 8 (Release date: October 10, 2007)
Heroic Age V - contains episodes 9 and 10 (Release date: November 7, 2007)
Heroic Age VI - contains episodes 11 and 12 (Release date: December 5, 2007)
Heroic Age VII - contains episodes 13 and 14 (Release date: January 9, 2008)
Heroic Age VIII - contains episodes 15 and 16 (Release date: January 9, 2008)
Heroic Age IX - contains episodes 17 and 18 (Release date: February 6, 2008)

Heroic Age: Complete Series - contains episodes 1–26 on Blu-ray 3-disk box set (Release date: February 16, 2010)^[2]

Manga[edit]

On July 23, 2007, the first volume of the series' manga adaptation began serialization in the Japanese magazine, Magazine Z. The manga is published by Kodansha Publishers, Ltd. The story is the same as the anime; however, the story will be told in Ioraus' point of view.

Volumes

Heroic Age Manga 1 - Release date: July 23, 2007
Heroic Age Manga 2 - Release date: November 22, 2007

Guidebooks[edit]

Along with the manga, the first of five official guidebooks was published in Kodansha's Magazine Z on July 23, 2007. The following four volumes had consecutive monthly releases, with the last one being released on November 30, 2007. Each guidebook has a total of 36 colored pages.

Volumes

Heroic Age Official Guidebook Volume 1 - Release date: July 23, 2007
Heroic Age Official Guidebook Volume 2 - Release date: August 23, 2007
Heroic Age Official Guidebook Volume 3 - Release date: September 28, 2007
Heroic Age Official Guidebook Volume 4 - Release date: October 29, 2007
Heroic Age Official Guidebook Volume 5 - Release date: November 30, 2007

Music[edit]

Singles[edit]

Opening themes[edit]

The opening theme of Heroic Age, 'Gravitation', was performed by Angela. An opening themes single, performed by Angela and containing six tracks, was released on May 9, 2007.^[3]

• Lyrics: Atsuko
• Composition: Atsuko and KATSU
• Arrangement: KATSU

Track listing

1. 'Gravitation'
2. 'Storm of Nothingness' (虚無の嵐)
3. 'Your breath'
4. 'Gravitation' (Karaoke/no vocals)
5. 'Storm of Nothingness' (虚無の嵐) (Karaoke)
6. 'Your breath' (Karaoke)

Ending themes[edit]

The ending theme of Heroic Age, 'Azurite', was performed by Tae Urakabe. An ending themes single containing four tracks was released on May 23, 2007.^[3]

• Lyrics: SHUMA (for Azurite)
• Composition and arrangement: YUPA (for Azurite)

Track listing

1. 'Azurite'
2. 'Starry heavens'
3. 'Azurite' (Karaoke)
4. 'Starry heavens' (Karaoke)

Soundtracks[edit]

The first original soundtrack album, entitled 'Star Way', was released on July 11, 2007. It contains two discs, with the second disc being a Drama CD.^[3] The second soundtrack, which was released on September 26, 2007, also contains two discs. The first disc contains 18 tracks, while the second disc is another Drama CD containing the continuation of the story in the first Drama CD.

References[edit]

1. ^T, Jon (2009-06-16). ''Heroic Age Part 1' Forges Myths And Legends In Deep Space'. Anime Superhero News. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
2. ^FUNimation release schedule February 2010Archived 2010-03-01 at the Wayback Machine.
3. ^ ^abc'XEBEC's Heroic Age Site - Media section' (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-03-23. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
4. ^ ^ab'Starchild's Heroic Age Site - Music section' (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-06-08.

External links[edit]

• TV Tokyo Official Site(in Japanese)
• XEBEC Official Site(in Japanese)
• Starchild Site(in Japanese)
• Heroic Age (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Heroic Age Season 2