Mass Effect: Paragon Lost

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is an anime produced by BioWare, FUNimation, T.O Entertainment and Production I.G based on the popular video game trilogy, Mass Effect.

Mass Effect was a very interesting science fiction video game. It's strengths were its immersive storytelling, excellent dialogue system and memorable characters. Of course, it went to shit at the third installment which, as I have already accepted, is the ultimate fate of any beloved video game series. Nothing good lasts forever but that's another topic.

It's a trend nowadays for popular video games to get its own anime spin-offs. Anime still has the "cool" factor so why not make one to appeal to the fanbase? Halo, for example had its own anime after it proved popular. Same with Devil May Cry. In fact, if you go back further, I guess Street Fighter would count. Some games come with their own anime tie-in beforehand even if it turns out they're not even that good and kind of suck!

The anime stars James Vega, everyone's favorite meathead from the third game. I'm just gonna admit right now that I didn't like James Vega in the game and in fact, found him obnoxious. But again, that's another topic. I must admit, my view of the character has improved greatly after watching this but no spoilers.

The story begins in a human colony called Fehl Prime which is under attack by the Blood Pack mercenaries. James Vega and his squad of Alliance Marines are deployed to give aid to the colonists.

The Good

The music in the anime is very good. It's sounds just like the music in-game which is no surprise since it was composed by the same people. It really captures the feel of the Mass Effect series and fits in with the action as well.

The voice acting is pretty good too. Freddy Prinze Jr. reprises role as James Vega. Some important characters from the game who make cameos are even voiced by their respective actors. The side characters are well done, I guess, but the voice acting is not the problem...

The story sticks to a theme which is the importance of the decisions we make. I appreciate this as choices and decisions were very important in the game as well. At least some people who made this knew what they were doing.

If you're a fan of the game then there's plenty of things here to keep you happy aside from the cameos. The events about halfway through in should bring out familiar feelings so fanservice is a check.

The ending is pretty good. Let's just say there aren't any cop-out bullshit ending in this show. If this is some kind of stealth commentary on the ME3 endings, I'm not sure.

The Bad

The voice acting is OK, the dialogue however, is atrocious. Seriously, it's very bad. At one point, an Alliance pilot yells, "Get off our lawn you dirty space turtles!" while doing a strafing run on a bunch of Krogan. I mean, really? It gets worse. 

The characters are all cheap, exaggerated stock anime personality types and are not likable. I know that an hour and a half isn't enough to make deep and compelling characters but could they have at least not made them stupid? The bad dialogue doesn't help endear them to us. Many times they drop crude jokes and say awkward things. 

The animation gets pretty bad at certain points. Characters look off-model  with James' height and size alternating compared to other characters at times. Things seem to flow weirdly and seems "wonky". While I can't put my finger on it, I can tell when something's wrong

Too many stupid things happen. If you've played the games, especially the second one, a lot of things here don't make a lick of sense and may actually contradict the lore. While I won't spoil it, let's just say it cheapens the big twist in the second game. Even if you haven't played the game a lot of the characters act stupid especially the biotic "soldier". People are reckless, people seem to act without thinking things through, etc.

There's a depressing lack of Turians in this anime.

Final Thoughts

ME:PL isn't really that good. Despite being set in a universe that's rich and expansive, it seem like some generic action storyline. I honestly do not understand why they chose to show us this crap with James Vega. Of all the possible stories, why do one with this guy of all people? Why not a story about Garrus while he was  known as "Archangel" in Omega? Even if you don't know who Garrus is, that would have been an interesting story in its own right. Why not a story about Liara, a character who's been there since the start? Why not Wrex or Mordin or Tali or any of the other more popular and interesting characters in the series. Why this galoot?  I would rather watch a two hour show of Zaeed doing nothing but reminiscing old war stories and talking to his gun like a senile old man than this.

There's stuff to keep fans interested but it's not presented very well aside from the cameos and voice work. For those "nitpicky" about the source material and lore, there is a lot to nitpick. The art quality is bad at times.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you're that big of a fan that you feel compelled to "might as well" watch it.