Movies / Animé and Toons

Hero Tales Part 2

By Chris Zimmerman
April 20, 2011 - 21:01

In my review of the first half of Hero Tales, I criticized the series for lacking the creative ingenuity present in Hiromu Arakawa’s other work, Fullmetal Alchemist. After marathoning the last half of the series did my opinion change?

Hero Tales is a result of collaboration between Arakawa and Huang Jin Zhou based on a Chinese folk lore. The series’ setting is reminiscent of ancient China with a twist. Magic appears to be prevalent as well as other fantastical elements. The zodiac plays a key part in the plot’s direction, with the majority of the cast each representing a star.

The main protagonist is a young man by the name of Taito. In the first half, he learned of his destiny to oppose his opposite number in Keiro, a warlord who seeks to bring the country under his rule. The two clashed a bit during the first set, but their difference went unresolved, and so their destined duel is resolved here.

The first DVD largely focused on introducing the key players and positioning them for the events that take place here. Taito grew up in a sense and accepted his responsibility as the savior of mankind. Because of the amount of time spent on his character development, the story meandered for a while.

The second half kicks off in a big way, with Taito grounded at the hands of Keiro. However, thanks to some quick thinking from Ryuko, our heroes live to fight another day, though his fate isn’t made clear right away. This begins a long series of episodes that see’s Taito spiral into a depressive state, blaming himself for the loss of his friend. The series spends too much time on what should have been an episode max. The plot element of the hero doubting himself only to eventually regain his confidence has been used countless times, and is an effective tool in getting the audience behind the character if done correctly. Unfortunately, Hero Tales has no sense of pacing, and instead Taito comes off as a self deprecating whiner.   

Eventually he does conquer his doubts and prepares for his final battle with Keiro. What follows are an assortment of interesting twists that truly took me by surprise. Sadly though, as has been the case for the bulk of this series, I found myself disappointed with the conclusion that felt flat and anti-climatic.

Therein lies Hero Tales main problem. While it has some great ideas that crop up from time to time, there aren’t enough to keep it from sinking under a poorly paced plot and poor story choices. Passable is the term I would label Hero Tales. It’s not bad, but it’s certainly not worth going out of your way to see.

C+

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12