Halo Legends: Special Edition (2 Discs)

OK, Halo Legends, it's a bit strange.

First, animation is actually of pretty low quality, even episode 8 which is CGI looks like it was made using a PS2 to render, the writing is atrocious. Now with the anime being based on a video game you might expect this but the dialogue from the games is like a work of shakespear to this.

The stories are mainly overly melodramatic with a conveyr belt of cliche after cliche, they also take massive liberties with the source material.

This appears to be a love it or hate it kind of thing (I hated the animatrix to) with this style of anime, it's just a shame they missed a good chance to do something gritty and real with the Halo universe.

Try getting Halo Wars, complete that then watch the cut scenes in movie mode, it's way better than Halo Legends.

Absolutely awesome, jaw dropping animation and fantastic stories from the halo universe! Any fan of these games must own this!! Its worth buying for the last story alone its mind blowing and epic! 15mins of quality CGI action! I would love to see a feature length film done like this! Worth every penny, awesome features too. A must own for halo fans and anyone who loves great anime storytelling by top animators!

A real mixed bag this one, which is a shame as it starts off so strongly. The first two episodes are an origin story, narrated by Cortana and dealing with the Forerunners war against the flood and the construction of the Halo rings. It provides an intriguing glimpse into Halo lore and is a promising beginning. Next up is the high point of the collection, The Duel. A better name for this would be The Arbiters Story as it deals with the back story of the heretic Elite from Halo 2. Set on the Elite home world and presented in a watercolour effect that makes the whole thing seem hand painted. Its a stunning piece of eastern art and the story although perhaps not as sophisticated as it could be, is a captivating tale of love, duty and consequence. Easily my favourite of the lot. After this the quality varies considerably. Theres a story about a Spartan assigned to an ODST sniper unit that is fairly well done but nothing really matches the excellence of before. One story celebrates one of the more well known Japanese traditions. Absolute insanity. The only way I can describe it is Dragon Ball Halo, off the wall and rather silly, with tongue firmly in cheek youll either hate it or realise that its just par for the course for eastern animation and culture. However it is probably best viewed as a distraction rather than anything of real merit. The final episode is a CGI affair and is ok though its nothing special. The animation looks cheap and although the action does its best to impress the story is typical gung ho silliness. This seems to be the problem with Halo Legends in general. There is a deep and well crafted universe to plunder here and they have barely scratched the surface with these largely disposable story lines. The first three are definitely worth your time but after that its very much a question of how much of a fan you are and how much you would expect from this collection of Halo Stories as anybody expecting Legends will be somewhat disappointed.

Originaly when i heard that Halo Legends was going to be made by japanese studios what means anime i was worried.
But after watching most of the episodes on Halo Waypoint, I was totally taken by surprise myself someone who hasn't liked previous anime features in the past, but i think Halo legends is amazing it may just be that i can connect to it more because im a Huge fan of the franchise but still it has great art work.

Each episode has its own unique feel to it especially episode 2 i think it was where you see a Arbiter on his home planet, what has a water color effect. All in all i think its a great insite into the Halo franchise where the games haven't taken us. The only thing i might possibly change is the fact that its anime id still like to see it developed by a western developer, but never the less 5**'s from me.

If you like Anime then you'll like this, if you're an avid Halo fan then maybe not quiet you're cuppa. Gotta say it hit all my buttons. Just remember it's anime and Halo together! gotta admit the transtion between different styles was cool, the last cgi being cool. Think some reviewers expected too much. Give James Cameron the job and i think he'd make a pretty damn good Halo film!