Otaku no Podcast » halo

Halo Legends is out!

Donald Burr — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:39:29 +0000

Remember last year when we wrote about the (then upcoming) Halo Legends anime? This is a series of 7 animated shorts that pay homage to the Halo franchise of video games, and are animated by some of the hottest anime studios, including BONES, Production I.G., Studio 4C, and Toei, and with notable project participants including Shinji Aramaki and Mamoru Oshii. Like another famous anime/pop culture tie-in, The Animatrix, Halo Legends expands on the Halo universe, filling in backstory, etc.

Well, at the time of release, Warner Bros., who is the US distributor, promised a release on both DVD and Blu-Ray sometime in “early 2010.” Well, they’ve delivered! Halo Legends is available TODAY, on DVD in both a single-disc “bare-bones” basic edition, a 2-disc special edition, and on Blu-ray (which I would wager looks simply awesome).

Halo Legends (Single-Disc Edition)

Warner Home Video 2010, DVD, $7.73

Halo Legends (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Daisuke Nishio (Writer). Warner Home Video 2010, DVD, $13.75

Halo Legends [Blu-ray]

Warner Home Video 2010, Blu-ray, $16.95

Did you miss the Halo Legends preview last week?

Donald Burr — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Did you miss the special teaser of the new Halo Legends anime that Spike TV aired last week? Well you’re in luck, thanks to the YouTubes. Check out the below video for your special sneak peek at the new “The Babysitter” short, part of the Halo Legends anthology currently in development by BONES, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4C, and Toei.

Unfortunately, the YouTube video doesn’t show everything that Spike TV broadcast (there’s about a minute missing). But this should at least give you an idea of what to expect when the DVD (and Blu-ray!) of Halo Legends hits store shelves sometime early next year.

(Thanks to Japanator for the video link!)

Quick, set your DVRs: Spike TV to show exclusive Halo Legends preview tomorrow night!

Donald Burr — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:23:52 +0000

Psst – are you a fan of the wildly popular Halo video game franchise? Do you get Spike TV on your cable or satellite lineup? Then you might want to set your DVR to record Spike TV’s “GTTV Presents Halo 3: ODST Countdown to Launch” special. Which, at least according to my TV schedule, starts at 9PM on Thursday the 17th. (So for you East Coasters, this is probably Friday morning at midnight. Definitely check your TV listings to be sure!)

Why would you want to do this? Besides the obvious Halo goodness, Spike TV will be teasing us with a preview of some scenes from the “The Babysitter” short, part of the Japanese-animated Halo Legends anthology, animated by BONES, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4C, and Toei. This was of course one of Microsoft’s big announcements at San Diego Comic-Con this year. Shinji Aramaki, who you might know as the creator and director of Appleseed and Appleseed Ex Machina, serves as the project’s creative director. Famed director Mamoru Oshii is also involved.

Halo Legends is a collection of 7 short films based on the Halo universe — a la Animatrix style. The Animatrix parallel is particularly apt for two reasons: Halo Legends expands on the Halo universe, filling in backstory, etc., similar to how The Animatrix expanded on and filled in backstory for the Matrix universe; but also because one of the participants, Studio 4C, was in fact responsible for the Animatrix. Either way, this should be some pretty good stuff.

“The Babysitter,” the short which Spike TV will be showing parts of, follows the Spartan super-soldiers as well as the ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troops), “when an all-or-nothing opportunity to strike at the heart of Covenant leadership arises.”

Fans can look forward to the DVD and Blu-ray releases of this anime, coming from Warner Bros., sometime in early 2010.