Presentation
The box art is absolutely gorgeous depicting Dhianeila, Age, and Iolaous superimposed over slightly larger version of themselves superimposed over Belcross on the background of a desolate planet. The individual DVD vases are also beautifully done, the first one displaying Dhianeila and Aneasha on a red space background, while the second one displays Iolaous and his Mecha on a bluish space background. The animation in this series is also top notch, blending hand drawn animation and CGI special effects to create a truly beautiful and gorgeous space-faring universe. The animation sequences for the battles are truly epic, though when the Nodos start fighting you might at times feel like you’re watching a mecha version of Dragon Ball Z. The characters designs are pleasant and easy going on the eyes, though the Nodos do remind me a lot of the EVA’s from Evangelion. The backgrounds are simply amazing for a space adventure. Most space-faring adventures tend to be done mostly in black and white, but this one adds quite a bit of color to the palette and it works very well for it, making the backgrounds far from boring or dull. The music in this series is also quite good, relying on an orchestra to do most the work. The opening song is beautiful and inspiring, and the lead vocalist’s voice is absolutely beautiful. The ending song is a bit sad and melancholy at times, but still really pretty. Both voice acting cast do a fantastic job in this, though I felt the American’s may have actually done a slighter better job with conveying the right sense of emotion coming from the characters. The story-line itself is told beautifully, borrowing quite a bit from my favorite mythos, the Greeks. The main character is more or less a representation of Heracles (Hercules for those that know the roman name), and you’ll spot several other familiar names associated from Greek mythology.
Extras
As is becoming quite common, the extras in this is completely bare-boned displaying the textless opening and closing songs, and the handful of helpful trailers. It would’ve been nice to at least have a commentary or maybe a small art gallery thrown in just to have something else to do once this part was over. Well, maybe next volume.
Overall, this series is a truly epic, space-faring, saving humanity story. While the plot might be a little borrowed and clichéd, Heroic Age brings quite a bit to the table to keep you entertained.