After a week of Mass Effect 3 news content – in the form of positive reviews (read our Mass Effect 3 review), DLC controversy, and impressive day one sales – the Mass Effect PR blitz continues at full strength. This time we’re getting our first look at the Mass Effect Anime from FUNimation – who debuted images and details from the upcoming project at the 2012 SXSW (that’s South by Southwest for our non-movie fans) event.
FUNimation not only shared loads of concept artwork with Mass Effect fans, they also revealed that Mass Effect 3 new recruit, James Vega, will be the anime’s central protagonist.
For any She’s All That enthusiasts, it’s unclear (read: unlikely) at this point that teen heartthrob-turned-voice actor Freddie Prinze Jr. will be returning (for the English dub) to voice Vega once again – though, given the trajectory of his career lately (no disrespect intended), anything is still possible.
While Vega wasn’t given a ton of backstory or development in Mass Effect 3, there’s certainly room to flesh the character out in a compelling way – especially in pre-reaper invasion anime form. At least, that’s what FUNimation’s Justin Rojas seemed to indicate when he spoke with DailyMotion on the SXSW floor.
Check out the full interview with Rojas (which also includes info on the Dragon Age anime “Dawn of the Seeker”) below:
For a closer look at the Mass Effect anime concept artwork check out the images (click to enlarge) in the gallery below (courtesy of Kotaku):
Details about the anime are still pretty slim; though, it’ll certainly be interesting to see how FUNimation’s script turns out – given that the studio’s past work is mostly comprised of animating other people’s finished treatments. Since the story fills-out Vega and (presumably) showcases his pre-reaper accolades, it’s clear the anime will focus on prequel content, respective to the current Mass Effect installment. Rojas indicates that the film is still pretty far off – specifically Fall 2012. As a result, we’re working from pretty slim information and, as more details become available, we could discover that the anime story covers more than just the hinted-at prequel events.
However, what else (if anything) could be covered is anyone’s guess at this point – and fans shouldn’t be expecting an especially nuanced narrative. More than likely the project will be in line with Rojas’ comments – an isolated prequel story about James Vega. Whether or not that sounds enticing will probably be reflective of how individual players feel about the character.
Mass Effect 3 is available now on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
The Mass Effect Anime has a tentative release scheduled for Fall 2012.
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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates.
Sources: DailyMotion and Kotaku
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of course they would not put it around a character people like. You know Garrus or Thane, Mordin or tali.
Any one notice that the most favorite characters in mass effect are not human?
Why they chose Vega is beyond me, Garrus would have been a way better choice.
A “Jersey Shore” lookalike in space. Joy.
this looks retarded
I dont see why everyone hates on Vega so much… Not the best character but not a bad one, not by a long shot. Even in game I found him very personable as he interacted with crew through out the ship. I’m looking forward to this, as he detailed somewhat what he did pre-shepard, this should be good.
I just doubt anyone really used him since everyone was going to use their favorite characters they already know and love.
i used James Vega more than any other character actually, i liked using him and garrus to go with my adept. i almost always used Vega, just swapping out the other squadmate for what seemed right at the time
I dont hate him… he just uninteresting.
i dont hate Vega. but he was just a character thrown in and i just dont care for him. i think Tali or Garrus would be good. Also Thane if he wasnt already Dying. Vega is just doesnt Stand out to much.
And make a alien a lead role for once.
They obviously chose Vega because he’s new and players won’t have different preconceptions about the character based on how they interacted with him over two games like they would with any other character. “My Garrus isn’t like that!!!” “My Ashley isn’t like that!!!” “My Vega… oh.”
who wants to watch something that you know the character ends up stranded on planet with no way home.