Hero Tales: Part One (Limited Edition)

Title	Hero Tales: Part One (Limited Edition)
Director	Tyler Walker
Actors	John Burgmeier, Brian Mathis, Newton Pittman
Release date	2011-04-05
Theatrical release date
List price	$64.98
ASIN	B004GZZH9Y
Genre
Manufacturer	Funimation
Running time	325minutes
Studio	Funimation
Purchase	Buy it now!

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From the artist behind “Fullmetal Alchemist” comes a new series about heroes and the power they wield.

Few things set the anime world on fire like the name “Fullmetal Alchemist.” A sea of blue military uniforms is present at every con (beaten only by the host of “Bleach” cosplayers). When a company can legitimately tie the FMA name to their project, they will; FMA fans are legion, and they spend money. My interest in “Hero Tales” came entirely from one name: Hiromu Arakawa, the artist behind FMA. “Hero Tales” stands as a lesson that a series needs more than the artist behind a well-loved story to be enjoyable.

Taitou wants to be a hero. He trains as a defender of his village, but one night a man comes to take an artifact held in their Lian Tong Temple - a sword called Xian Jia Lan Wu. During the fight, Taitou releases enormous power, given to him by the mystical star Hagun. It is not enough; his enemy, a general named Keiro, steals the sword and leaves. The theft and awakening of Taitou’s power marks the beginning of a journey for him to recover the sword and learn the handling of his power. His sister Laila, and Ryuko, another man with the power of a star, join him on his trip. Ryuko serves as his teacher, both in the mastery of his powers and as the voice of the exposition.

Pace is at turns too fast and too slow, with little to no believability in the character’s emotions and motivations. In fact, the shallow plot seems akin to something a fan boy would write, not a seasoned mangaka. In the end, what this series comes down to is this: I couldn’t bring myself to care about anything that happened to the characters, and the art wasn’t compelling enough to distract me.

Oh and watch the subtitles; the dialogue in the English dub and the subtitles differ wildly. It even goes so far as to eliminate character quirks, like Taitou’s tendency to repeat himself when he’s angry.

This series spans two sets, simultaneously released by Funimation. Set one, which retails for $64.98, and set two, $59.98, feature two discs of episodes and one disc of bonus features. On set one, bonus features include textless opening and closing songs as well as parts one and two of a radio talk show by the Japanese voice actors for “Hero Tale.” The show, themed “Inspiration Talk,” shows the voice actors listing their first impressions of various topics relating to the show and the actors themselves. Set two features the third part of the radio show, more textless opening and closing songs and the original Japanese commercials for the anime.