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The next batch of Secret Level episodes has arrived, including the much-awaited Mega Man entry, Mega Man: Start. This standalone episode reimagines the Blue Bomber's classic series origin—familiar yet sprinkled with some twists to make it its own.
At eight minutes, Start is the shortest episode in the animated anthology series (closer to five minutes minus the intro/credits). As expected, it ends just as things are about to kick off, leaving room for hope that, if Secret Level gets a second season, it could see a follow-up. In fact, Tim Miller, the show's executive producer, recently mentioned that if any episode were to get a continuation, it would be Mega Man.
You can stream Mega Man: Start on Amazon Prime Video. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments after watching!
What they did was short, but effective. I wish it were longer and that we had gotten to see more of the Robot Masters besides Bomb Man. But it encapsulated Rock perfectly along with Dr.Light.
ReplyDeleteYo! It was amazing! Dr. Wily getting a hold of a robot master just like in the games, Rock's design was great, Rock wanting to help save the city, the way he helped Dr. Light, and that ending really had me wanting more! I hope we get a continuation!
ReplyDeleteFor as short as it was, I thought it was pretty good! A good balance between being a unique take while also being pretty respectful to the story. It was touching and I thought those who voiced both Rock and Dr. Light were really darn good. Sorry to all the trolls who thought this would be "trash", but it's being considered the best episode in the series and might even lead to future episodes.
ReplyDeletecompletely agree. people are being FAR too negative. while everyone is entitled to their own opinion, we have been in a DROUGHT for mega man content. and new adaptations and reaches can't be complained about for a "dead" series. the mario movie took a lot of creative liberties. did people complain? NO! and a sequel is being made.
Deletethis is the best mega man content we've gotten since 11. i am AWED. and we need to all recognize that even the most minor changes to work for a specific format are not nearly as bad as a complete overhaul of the source material, which is what people are treating this like. it's not like the 1993 mario movie or the OG sonic design. and while most (on this site, at least, who are mainly trolls) feel it's not as good as the new mario movie or new sonic movies, it's a FANTASTIC step that is almost on par with those if not for the short run time.
It wasn't bad, but it left me conflicted. The pacing felt rushed, which makes the short runtime even more confusing to me, but aside from that all my mixed feelings come from the things people were discussing beforehand.
ReplyDeleteBetween the different designs and the changes and new ideas to the story, there's not a whole lot about it that said "Mega Man" to me. The thing people were talking about with Bomb Man's function as a blaster for the sake of construction seems like it would be a hard sell, but it never came up. I assume it, and Dr. Light's other Robot Masters and their functions would be explained if there was more time, but it would likely have to be pretty different from the source. Funnily enough the characters personalities were probably the thing that felt most true to the source to me, despite not having a lot of time to develop them.
On the other hand, the new ideas weren't bad in their own right. The Wily spiders make for an interesting idea in what would be the "world" of this adaptation. Between things like that, the world building that could be done with the designs of the Robot Masters, and what looked like unique takes on ideas like the variable weapon system, there was enough there that sold me on the idea that I'd be alright with seeing more.
But because of the length it kinda feels like just that. Ideas. I've always been open to the idea of more adaptations, I enjoy the Archie comics and Megamix comics for what they are, and I'd probably be able to do the same here, but it's hard to say for sure with how little there is.
Honestly the format of Secret Level as a whole has kind of left me feeling baffled. If it were fan animations on Youtube I would get it, but as a "show" well, I can't say I don't see where the reviews of it were coming from.
"Between the different designs and the changes and new ideas to the story, there's not a whole lot about it that said "Mega Man" to me. "
DeleteI counter with, he resisted reprograming, he volunteered for conversion into a battle robot to stop Wily's crazy rampage, he has a heart, he is adaptive and resilient, and he was apologetic for blowing up a fellow robot, He started as a lab helper/assistant with a tool arm, His armor was two shades of blue and he had a mega buster once he was converted into a super fighting robot. True, they redesigned SOME of the panel lines and the mechanisms on the armor joints, but that's not so important, the heart of the story and the character's portrayal is WAY more important than the design of his armor. Besides, his silhouette is on point. If you are just not liking the redesign, that’s subjective, but to say the story and writing isn’t faithful, that’s just ignoring all the lore.
The deep cut into the lore was accurate here, it's probably the most faithful retelling story wise that have ever received.
Agree with turianx9, some of the subtle inclusions like his eagerness to help, self-doubt, and guilt for destroying Bomb Man are all spot-on with how we knew Rock' personality to be before becoming Mega Man. Not that it was ever reflected in the games, but in the decades of world-building through over media. From a lore standpoint, this was impressively-faithful.
DeleteThe design changes are just some artistic liberty, no more than Ariga's or any other artist licensed by Capcom over the years. The only thing I personally wasn't crazy about was the helmet visor, but it's not like visors don't exist in the world of MM either.
I feel like something I said was missed. "Funnily enough the characters personalities were probably the thing that felt most true to the source to me, despite not having a lot of time to develop them" and it feels like most of what you're saying agree with that, just extrapolating on the point.
DeleteI guess I should have made more of a distinction in the points of my origianl post though, as I can see how it might come across as underselling what's here. Turian makes a fair point that they establish Rock's role in the world pretty clearly despite the runtime for sure, and that's world building that I kind of thoughtlessly lumped in with "personality."
When I mentioned the story being different I was more talking about the world / world building, Light's reasons for making the Robot Masters the way they are, and things that the time constraint didn't seem to allow like Wily's role.
I'll admit, maybe I'm looking at it for what I want it to be too much rather than what it is, and should just focus on the parts they did get down, like the personalities as you two reaffirmed. That's a problem I've had in the past that I'm working on.
That said, I do still have issues with the designs. "The design changes are just some artistic liberty, no more than Ariga's or any other artist licensed by Capcom over the years" I also disagree with this take. Ariga's Bomb Man is recognizeable as the character for one thing, and while I know that's not the most extreme redesign Ariga has done, I'd still personally put these as more extreme. I also don't fully agree about the silhouette.
I do also agree with some around here that the tone doesn't feel right, and I think some of the designs contribute to that, but I choose to attribute that more to a combination of the runtime and trying to keep it more in line with the other episodes, though that does also add to that feeling of confusion I got from the Secret Level idea as a whole.
Wow, that was short. It was good. I'm still not a huge fan of the tone and aesthetic they chose, though it fit very well with what they were going for with the episode. It's not what I'm wanting out of classic Mega Man, but it was a nice little watch on the anniversary of the series.
ReplyDeleteI watched the episode with my friends, and it was good. However, the runtime felt too short, which was frustrating. I was hoping for a new Mega Man project announcement after the episode or at least something surprising, but there was nothing. Even my friends were disappointed. That said, the episode itself wasn’t bad at all—it was great and heartfelt. What frustrated me the most was the lack of new Mega Man content in recent years...
ReplyDeleteI wish they used other Mega Man songs during the special that aren't the usual title theme and Wily castle 1 theme from MM2. Like the Bomb Man fight could have used the MM1 boss theme or even his own stage theme and the scene where Dr. Light turns him into Mega Man could have used the 2nd part of the MM4 opening, but that seems like too much to ask for. Otherwise, this episode was pretty damn good and hearing the 2 songs they used still made me smile.
ReplyDeleteIt looks nothing like Geo's helmet...
ReplyDeleteLooks good, but Dr. Light mentions Metal Man at the start, while Rock isn't even upgraded yet.
ReplyDeleteAnd I still can't believe the episode is just around five minutes long.
I just missed a "See you in 2026" at the end, because this episode could be the first five minutes of the upcoming movie.
Going by people's reactions here, it sounds like they had people who gave a hoot working on this one. That's good.
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ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Rockman. 37 years old. Yadda yadda yadda.
Every bit of Rock looks too weird. But I wouldn't be surprised to find out if they used one of the producers' ugly kids as a template. Why is Bombman the size of a gundam? What was the logic of sending Bomb vs Metal? Surely one of the others would be a better selection like Iceman? Rock tanks a bomb to the face unscathed? And then bombman gets taken down by one frozen bomb? So he was definitely the wrong choice. And when Bombman fell, was that the THX sound effect I heard? Rock apologized waaaaay too much. That's something X would do and even then not that much as it was unwarranted. The resist part was cool. Crappy rendition of MM2 theme. Plasma shot had way too much smokey backdraft for hitting a door. Did Dr. Light seriously say "Hey, kid." as he tossed his robo-son a helmet? What the hell was that? Some of these are certainly silly nitpicks but the rest were kinda bad decisions. And it was unbelievably short. Nah fam, this ain't it.
ReplyDeleteI want a whole series like that not just a teaser. I hope they make it happend it was a good episode.
ReplyDeleteyou all are HATING. WAY TOO HARD!
ReplyDeletei understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but i came in expecting this to be mediocre. this BLEW me away. when they played wily 1 and the intro to mm2, i was SQUEALING!
sure, some lore isn't accurate, and sure, some story beats could be improved, and sure, the pacing is WAY too fast (esp the bombman fight) but i think as we have been deprived of mega man for so long, this is FANTASTIC. its like a tease as to what we can get.
and sure, while those "teases" have let us down, (yes, i am an optimist), but if we show positive support capcom will see it. like many others have said - this is the perfect start (to both a revitalization of rock and secret level's mega man canon).
as for the suit and character design, its FAR better than MM:FC, and is very fitting of the more realistic theme. the suit design screams MCU, and while for some its a bad thing, i think for many it's great. perhaps the only critique i have is the visor.
but overall, i was genuienly blown away by this episode and i was actually screaming when watching.
in other words, THIS IS PEAK!!!! MEGA MAN IS BACK, BABY!!!
well done, capcom. well done.
I got the impression that people didn't completely hate it the way they were expecting to. I don't think there's quite as much hating as there was before it aired.
DeleteI think I basically said the same thing twice. :B Oh well.
Delete"Peak" Rockman involves use of a controller. If this is "peak", yikes.
Delete@4:13 pm, no one wants to read your wall of text basically saying no one can have a opinion on anything. And if you think a 5 minute episode is Mega Man being back….yeah okay. I’m not seeing any new games so no he isn’t back.
Delete@1:05 PM, and shrap. everyone is entitled to their opinion. i respect urs a lot!
Deletebut remember, this is a toxic mindset and potentially the reason why capcom is so hesitant on our series. check out Rakuhouha's video(s) on it :)
and @shrap, this may not be "peak," it was an over exagerated phrase, but it's certainly a step in the right direction and a great start that left a MAJORITY of the fans (maybe not on this site, but check youtube and reddit) craving more. something that hasn't happened since 11.
Deleteyou and @1:05 pm have gotta open ur minds a little. sometimes a series needs to evolve, and the next mega man product can't be "perfect" especially when taking a new approach like a cinematic one.
but again like ealier everyone is entitled to their own opinions and i respect that! if you don't like the series, that's okay. but just DONT ruin it for others who do
It should have been longer than 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that short. I just wish Capcom would create a MegaMan animated film as what was done with Super Mario Bros. and Astro Boy. Something fun and accurate that people of all ages can enjoy. They should take note, but history shows that they probably won’t.
ReplyDeleteThat would never happen since Capcom has pretty low standards for Mega Man compared to how Nintendo is pretty strict with Mario related stuff.
Deletewell, let's hope they take note from our interest in secret level! we have to keep being optimistic now that a CLEAR high budget high quality megaman product is shown :)
Delete....rockman taisen, x9, mm12, or a full adaptation of this secret level plot capcom take my money
Astro Boy was neither fun or accurate
DeleteOkay I know we're all really down bad here and this is some serious red string on a conspiracy wall thinking but...
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else notice the things in the skyline at the end? The number "26". The number "38". The word "Nova".
26... as in 2026? 38... as in the 38th anniversary of the franchise (one year from today)? Is "Nova" a project codename? An actual working title? Just another word for hopium? The rantings and ravings of a madman?
Part of me wants to say that it's just a design decision, but also I can't help but feel like those pieces were VERY clear. They looked just a bit too crisp to be nothing.
DeleteThat's quite schizo, but it's been years since we've had anything to be schizo about. Heck yeah all aboard the Nova train.
DeleteIf you don't mind me hopping on the conspiracy theory train, "Nova" could be in reference to "Nova Strike", one of X's attacks introduced in X4 tied to the Fourth Armor and Ultimate Armor. If so, it could be hinting towards a new X series game that prominently features the Ultimate Armor.
DeleteI'm inclined to think it's nothing though. I do think they have something in the works but I doubt they're hinting at it here.
Nova? As in, Novas Aventuras de Megaman??? Princesa gang rise up!
DeleteThat's just what Princesa would say!
DeleteWelp, there it is. 5 minutes of footage to get new fans or people interested in Mega Man who previously might not have heard of him. For the fans getting excited for this, good on you, I'm glad you can stay optimistic in such terrible times to be a Mega Man fan. For me? Well, I'm a bit salty about this. We've seen this several times over, Mega Man 1's booklet, Mega Man 4's opening, First episode of Mega Man's Cartoon from the 90s, First few issues of the Archie Comics series, I'm probably missing a few others. Certainly not anything to get excited over. I have my doubts about Mega Man's positive future. There were some episodes on there that had like 15 minutes or more of footage, and we only get 5? Wow. Capcom continues to beat the dead horse, and we as a fanbase just sit there and cheer them on. But at least we'll have Mega Man merch for another 10 years while we wait for Mega Man 12 or so. woo.
ReplyDeleteAll 5 people who were gamers, on amazon, who have missed the hundreds of promos already and never heard of Rockman
Delete...
I dont buy the whole "expanding awareness" arguement anymore.
@shrap You don't really seem to understand how expanding awareness works, then. It's not exclusively just about making people aware of a franchise, sometimes it's about getting people interested who had vague awareness but never really bothered to get into it before. Additionally, there's always more people who missed previous promos and even full releases for anything, people have lives outside of paying attention to everything that comes out. Secret Level in particular is a series that aims to present video game stories to audiences that might not necessarily already play video games but that are interested in storytelling. The idea is that if they like the narratives presented in the short, it might convince them to give the game a try.
DeleteEvery single expanding awareness campaign targets different demographics. It's not about expanding awareness to people who are already in the target demographic, that would be pointless. It's about expanding awareness to people who are outside the target demographic to draw them in. People who aren't gamers, or people who are young and never heard of Mega Man before, or people who like other franchises and might not have had interest in Mega Man before getting a bit more exposed to the content, or etc.
What it boils down to is that expanding awareness campaigns are about getting people interested whether they knew about it before or not, it's not just about introducing people to the fact it exists, but also what it's like and about to give them a chance to become new fans.
I understand more than you think. You've said nothing I didn't consider. I could write an entire essay every single post if you want, but it's pointless.
Delete11:08 is right. What some folks fail to realize is that bringing Mega Man more mainstream is going to increase the likelihood that we get more Mega Man for us diehards. It is a niche franchise to begin with, so brand awareness is key.
DeleteNobody is saying the entire design or lore needs to be blown up and completely rebuilt. But a fresh take on some aspects isn't going to doom the brand. Other media over the years have offered unique takes on things, whether artwork, stories, character personalities, etc.. These are games with little or no dialogue and almost no world-building, so various artists over the years have lent their own artistic interpretations to fill in the gaps.
Another thing some fans fail to remember is that Capcom by-and-large have been pretty protective when it comes to the most important media of the franchise: The games. Despite all of the weird takes over the years, the games themselves have strayed very little from the design and formula that has always made Mega Man, Mega Man. People lose their minds over random licensed products (i.e. Fully Charged) thinking it's going to be the new face of the brand, when in reality it doesn't impact things at all (i.e. MM11).
How do I know this show was a net-positive? Read the reviews on social media from the gamers and casual fans who watched Secret Level. There's a pretty strong consensus that Mega Man was one of the best episodes and they want to see more of it. That right there is what's going to keep things somewhat hopeful for us during this drought. If you want to nitpick minor details and write this off just because it's not a new game or doesn't look like it came straight from the Rockman 1 manual, then that's your choice, but it's not a helpful one.
I'll add I personally believe we've saturated "awareness" at this point.
DeleteBelieve what you will. Whatever.
@11:08 am, do you really not understand that if Capcom wants more people interested in Mega Man then all they have to do is….you know make games? It’s such a simple solution that they don’t seem to grasp, all of these weird cameos are just pissing people off at this point.
DeleteI’ll agree that all this hype without a “destination” is a little silly. I remember a “buy our games!” section on the Amazon page for the episode and it was shilling BNLC. Which I guess is the best option, but if your best option is a collection of 20 year old GBA spinoffs, that’s still pretty poor.
Deleteas long as capcom is on an uphill after this (which they hopefully will if we show them our support and treat the standard as perfection @shrap ) we should be good. but also, @3:30 is right, we have to see a destination which will hopefully come now from secret level!
DeleteThat sure was a short video advertising a game that came out thirty-seven years ago.
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