Monthly Archives: November 2017

Sword Art Online Ordinal Scale trailer

Sword Art Online, otherwise abbreviated as SAO is just another classic rendition of one of Japan’s favorite anime genres; that of virtual reality gaming. SAO has been in the limelight as Japan’s flagship virtual reality anime for some time now for its high octane fight scenes as well as the electric animation and graphics. SAO has had three successful seasons and with the debut of the new movie “Sword Art Online Ordinal Scale”, this gravy train has no real signs of halting.

The first trailer for SAO Ordinal Scale premiered on March 12th 2016 with much acclaim. It sprang up on multiple media outlets such as Crunchyroll, Anime News Network, Goodanime.net, etc. The initial video ran for a little more than two minutes clocking in at two minutes and twelve seconds. The trailer itself was geared towards your average anime fan looking for something fun and exciting to watch. In the trailer they relay to instances of SAO’s success and make sure to highlight all of the accomplishments that have been made as a series.

The trailer taken by itself is somewhat successful in cultivating interest. The trailer looks as if the production team took the most awe inspiring frames from the film that they could and turned it into a trailer. The trailer is glossy and nice to look at leaving the viewer with the same premise that SAO has used for every season that they have aired; “The virtual world that we’ve created is not what it appears to be, let’s use our superior skill to solve the underlying problem and beat the bad guy at his own virtual reality game. The only significant change up in story basis for this movie is the fact that in the film instead of virtual reality, the clincher for this film is augmented reality. There aren’t a lot of breakthrough themes or techniques being used, just what has been working is being exploited.

That being said this isn’t the worst trailer for an anime that I’ve seen. Most anime movie trailers are gaudy and extremely hard to keep up with. What they usually rely on is an overwhelming fan-base that they have built up over the years. When you already have a dedicated audience who will support your franchise and the official release of almost all of your products, there won’t be that great of a need to make your trailers that nuanced or in-depth. In some regards the only thing that you really need when you’ve successfully created an anime brand is a few money shot from your movie, along with some tough dialogue and you’re golden.

Boku no hero Acadamia Illegals

Boku no hero Acadamia is an anime that has been taking the anime world by storm. Strong characters, amazing graphics, powerful morals and of course a protagonist with an overwhelming amount of heart. Boku no hero ended its 2nd season on  September 30th, leaving fans panting and heaving for more. One instance that shows just how powerful and how jaw dropping this series is, is the fact that they not only has it been awarded a spin off series, but said series is picking up traction in  major way. The new spin off series was introduced  in the first volume of Shonen Jump this year.

Not much was said upon initial release. The story or overall premise was left to the imagination inline with the title. The only thing that was promoted was the following image-

Looking at things from an advertising standpoint the marketing team outdid their selves. It’s relatively easy to cause intrigue once the details have been laid out and the subject matter is connected to such a successful venue. The biggest thing the audience of Boku No Hero look for is the characters; along with the subsequent powers each character has. So to showcase three new characters in the premiere graphic, interest has already been stirred up. This ad works because its simple and shows you exactly what you want to see; if you’re a fan anyway. If you are not a fan Boku no hero then more than likely this ad simply isn’t for you, since there’s an exceedingly strong possibly than you won’t have any idea on the premise or what its even trying to sell you. The downside of this ad is that it is not inclusive to the average anime viewer.

Other more well known series such as Attack on Titan with Attack on Titan Junior High or Naruto with Naruto: Rock Lee and his pals have also tried their hand at spin off series, however they have not been shown nearly as much success. These series’ were planned, well advertised but ultimately fell flat and/or failed to drum up enough general interest before falling into obscurity or the dreaded “rainy day anime bank”. Perhaps they deviated to far from the subject matter or maybe the too much was revealed before the initial release. All that is clear is that the writers and artists behind Boku No Hero have once again caught lighting in a bottle and if their success stays on track like this its doubtful they’ll ever let that spark out.