Red vs. Blue: The Shisno Paradox

“A simple trip out for pizza ends up with the Reds and Blues scattered and lost in time. Their ridiculous adventures in history inadvertently make them pawns in a war between Gods and Titans, which has been raging since before the dawn of time.”

Red vs. Blue is a web-mini-series based on and using Halo characters as actors which parody science fiction films and video games as the group of characters embark on crazy adventures, the most recent being an adventure through time. Red vs. Blue The Shisno Paradox is the sixteenth season of the mini-series. I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of this series, and to see that it’s been on for sixteen seasons since 2003 is a bit mind boggling. It’s spanned the introduction of the franchise with the original Halo, and continued all the way through Halo 5. The dedication to the characters, many who’ve remained since the beginning, and dedication to the fans of the game are indeed impressive.

As someone who’s been a Halo fan since the original it was interesting and definitely nostalgic seeing these characters interact and be formed into a series. Although I don’t really play Halo anymore, that feeling was definitely a draw in getting started with this season. What may be a bit of a downside is if you’re coming into this series brand new like I was, the beginning of the first episode didn’t make much sense, as it picks up where the last season apparently left off, with the groups deciding where to get lunch. It’s a pretty silly premise, which can be quite funny at times. But again, coming into this brand new you feel a bit overwhelmed at the sheer amount of characters that are on screen at the beginning, all trying to get a word in on where to eat.

Voice acting is done well, which is important because that’s what 90% of the series seems to be, talking to one another and making jokes. The limitations of the game and animation make it difficult for much to happen, and you can tell when certain objects or explosions are created and not native to the game. Although there certainly are action sequences, I have a feeling these aren’t what made the series popular, it’s the dialogue and stories. My biggest question while watching this series was about their target audience. Although I grew up playing Halo, most of the humor and stories seem geared toward a much younger audience. That being said, the show contains a lot of crude humor, language and sexual themes that wouldn’t be appropriate for that age-range, so the confusion on who they are exactly targeting deepens.

Although this series has continued for this long, as a newcomer to Red vs. Blue I found the story and humor to be a bit more juvenile than I expected, with random bits of very mature humor that made it very confusing as to who they wanted to watch the show. I’m sure fans that have kept up with the series for this long will be thrilled to get another adventure with RvB, and those are the ones who should be checking out this set. Any newcomers to the series should perhaps start at the beginning to see if it’s your cup of tea.

Here’s a breakdown of the episodes on this set and the extras you’ll see.

1. The Shisno
2. Incendiary Incidents
3. Lost Time
4. Sis and Tuc’s Sexellent Adventure
5. Headshots
6. A Pizza the Action
7. It Just Winked at Me
8. Recovery
9. Walk and Talk
10. Caboose’s Travels
11. Sword Loser
12. Docudrama
13. A Time for Hammers
14. Lights Out
15. Paradox

Special Features

• Designing Sound for RvB
• Machinimating for RvB
• Behind the Animation
• Behind the Scenes with Joe and Minni
• Behind the Scenes with Sister and Tucker
• The Cyclops
• Bloopers
• Trailers