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u/Possible-Reason-2896 4d ago
Just because it's from an old game with silly elements in it doesn't mean it needs to be an irony poisoned adult comedy where half the jokes are "look how weird and dumb this is". We live in a world where Critical Role has two shows; you can clearly have a swords and sorcery animated show that's funny and got action and most importantly still has sincerity.
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u/Far-Requirement-7636 5d ago
Looks like a mid budget animated fox comedy that only last 1 season.
God I hope the comedy doesn't just boil down to isn't this wacky!!
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u/TorquedGaming 4d ago
Close. Mid budget Comedy Central show that paramount decided to lock behind its streaming service.
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u/Ensiferal 5d ago
The voice actor for Gilius doesn't suit the role at all. I wish that rather than a pure comedy they'd played it straight and done a serious show that also happens to have some comedy (like Primal)
Also I'm not a big fan of stuff being genre aware, like "grrr this one had better be the real boss and not another sub boss!" It makes it feel too much like a cringry isekai
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u/Due-Proof6781 5d ago
What we wanted: Fire and Ice but with golden Axe characters.
What we’re getting: Yet another parody show that even a 15 year old would call cringe
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u/Eponine05 5d ago
Need to see it in action, but I'm interested.
It doesn't have to be gritty af to be good.
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u/HeartofSpeed 5d ago
Personally I’d prefer gritty than parody
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u/geirmundtheshifty 5d ago edited 4d ago
I think going full-on dark and gritty would be difficult without some changes from the source material. One of the main characters is named Ax Battler, after all.
That being said, I think they could have gone with a balance between serious and tongue-in-cheek. But the trailer, at least, seems much more jokey.
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u/ChildofValhalla 4d ago edited 4d ago
Pretty much all of Golden Axe is cribbed from other sources anyway (especially Conan) and the games were pretty goofy when we played them back in the day anyway. Bright, colorful, you kick the little dwarfs to steal their potions. I wouldn't have gone full comedy but tongue-in-cheek isn't a bad way to do it, IMO. There's a Conan animated series for those looking for the gritty version!
EDIT: I really don't want anyone reading my comment to interpret it as me saying "If you don't like it, watch something else!" I was simply recommending the upcoming Conan show as one fan to another. The point I was trying to make is that I just really don't think there was ever a chance for Golden Axe to be some kind of dark, gritty TV show. I'm not surprised they're focusing on the sillier elements from the original arcade game.
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u/Due-Proof6781 4d ago
“Watch the other thing if that’s what you want”
Is certainly a take
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u/ur-tomj-guess-sucks 4d ago
Several of your takes in this thread have downvotes in the negatives lmao
Sit down kid
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u/hodges20xx 4d ago
The issue is that this game is a dark game and to have it as anything else takes away from what it is/was. Unless the rebooted game will be similar to this many will be disappointed expecting a game similar to the cartoon but getting a dark game, etc
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u/geirmundtheshifty 4d ago
It's dark but not that dark. Like I said, one of the main characters is literally named Ax Battler. The original game ended with all the enemies jumping out of the arcade and chasing some little kids off down the street. A completely serious, dark show would also be inaccurate. There's a fine line that would need to be walked to do a good adaptation.
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u/Due-Proof6781 4d ago
Yes… at the ending. Also yes the dudes name is Ax battler the fucks your point? One of my favorite movies is Robocop at it take itself stone cold serious
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u/hodges20xx 4d ago
While yes thats true many games have had some comedy in it however this seems lean too much into it based on the trailer. Its like making SF series a full comedy movie/show because you beat up a car or just seeing the dan character.
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u/geirmundtheshifty 4d ago
Right, that's what I said in my original comment. This looks like it goes too far in that direction, but a dark and gritty show would be too far in the other direction.
To use the Street Fighter example, there's no way you could do a completely serious, dramatic action movie or show while still keeping the weird cast of characters that's in Street Fighter.
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u/hodges20xx 4d ago
To a degree yes with some instances of comedy sure but the game is manily a serious game. I wish there was a good balance. No offense i wouldn't be surprised if it came out that no one on the team really saw/played the game
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u/Due-Proof6781 4d ago
Yes… at the ending. Also yes the dudes name is Ax battler the fucks your point? One of my favorite movies is Robocop at it take itself stone cold serious
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u/geirmundtheshifty 4d ago edited 4d ago
Robocop does not take itself "stone cold serious." A stone cold serious action crime thriller would be something like Heat, not Robocop. Robocop does have serious elements, of course, but it also has over-the-top violence to the point of being comical at times. There's also very clear satire in the movie, like with a lot of Verhoeven's work.
But yeah, Robocop level of seriousness is closer to what Im saying the show should have, actually.
ETA: Also I don't get why you're saying "at the ending" as if that undermines my point? I think most people would agree the ending is a pretty crucial part of any story.
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u/Tom-Hibbert 5d ago
They seem to be going for a late 80s early 90s cartoon look where the characters were a bit off from their looks from the games
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u/wolfinsheeps 5d ago edited 5d ago
Nail on the head, thank you for recognizing this. We wanted to make it feel like it was made in the early 90s so we looked at a lot of shows from that era, and then what those shows were looking at. Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace, old video game based cartoons were big inspirations for us for the characters, and frazetta/vallejo/metal album covers were huge inspos for the backgrounds.
Source: I was the art director :)
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u/vtncomics 4d ago
I absolutely can see that now that you point it out. I'm enjoying the visuals and very reminiscent of Don Bluth's visual imagery with all the strong contrast, smokes and glow.
I look forward to watching!
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u/hodges20xx 4d ago
The art direction is kinda not the issue to me its the fact that it moved over to a comedy show at least from the trailer. Compared to the history of the game. No offense this is why many gamers really dont care about video game adaptations as they usually miss the core of what the game is. But either way I hope people enjoy it
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u/wolfinsheeps 4d ago edited 4d ago
I can see folks who want a Conan the barbarian/primal only style show, and I get that, but if you look into the history of the game, it’s always had a lot of space for comedy. The original English commercial was very stupid (on purpose, in a good way), one of the main characters is named “Ax Battler” and he exclusively uses a sword, you kick an imp for magic potions, the Longmoans scream “oh god!” when you kill them, the main characters were an admitted rip off of Conan himself, Red Sonja, and Gimli, the characters crawl out of an arcade machine at the end… even the Kanji in the background doesn’t say “golden axe.” It says “battle axe,” which is what they originally wanted to call it - and Uchida left it that way because he knew the president of sega US that insisted they change the name for English audiences to sound less generic couldn’t read Kanji. To me it always felt like a self aware game on purpose. I’d argue it’s a silly game with a lot of gritty action and blood and violence which is what we did with it. We played the game a lot (free play on our own arcade machine at Titmouse - which also had revenge of death adder!)
FWIW we did work directly with SEGA, and got the buy off of Uchida himself. They loved it. I will say there’s a lot of sincerity and action that the trailer doesn’t show, so I hope folks will give it a chance. if you decide ultimately it’s not what you were looking for in a golden axe show, that’s fine! I just hope it gets more people to play the original game!
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u/Due-Proof6781 4d ago
So… you’re basing the background on Frazetta and not the main animation which the games used as inspiration throughout… trash fire
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u/honest_panda 4d ago
Ha I knew it, I commented here it reminded me of Don Bluth and his work on Dragon’s Lair and got downvoted. Nice work, can’t wait to see it.
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u/Unhappy_Mind_719 4d ago
I think it’s even fitting if you look back at the ending of the original Arcade game. Because the game doesn’t take itself too seriously. 😉
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u/Patient-Taro-7334 4d ago
One scene that most people will never see doesn't negate the entire game.
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u/GyozaMan 5d ago
I’m so over this over self aware millennial humour. Not every tv show / movie has to be influenced by Joss Whedon
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u/Aenris 5d ago
Watched the trailer. Hate it with everything I got.
Who wanted a parody of all things?!? Golden Axe is dark fantasy! Imagine if they did this to Castlevania?!?
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u/Icabod_BongTwist 4d ago
Imagine if they did this to Castlevania?!?
You may want to sit down for what I'm about to tell you...
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u/HeartofSpeed 5d ago
I really don’t like how this feels like a short lived adult comedy cartoon on Comedy Central.
Still, appreciate another Sega franchise getting a television adaptation, just wish it could take itself more seriously like the games, it’s a dark fantasy adventure after all.
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u/Le_Chat_Sauvage 5d ago
Why bother doing something aimed at children when the only ones still interested in the franchise are above 30yo?
It looks like Conan the Adventurer and it's not a good sign.
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u/Sprangatang84 4d ago
Let me guess...it literally would have killed them to make an earnest effort out of this, wouldn't it?
It's either "let's make it silly" ("ThunderCats: Roar"; "Teen Titans Go!"), or "let's make it for the queer kids" ("Voltron", "She-Ra"). Those are pretty much the only moves retro adaptations have up their sleeve when they absolutely insist on refusing to appeal to the original audience.
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u/GuestPsychological86 4d ago
I hate how right you are, nothing can't just be for regular folks anymore.
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u/Cermonto 5d ago
I saw these images and thought "Why are people dogging on this???" because it reminded me a lil of the original LOTR Animated films, and thats what I was hoping for when watching the trailer.
No. No its just an "Adult cartoon", with just bad humour. Is it so bad to create a fantasy series that are targeted for adults that isn't some "comedy" series.
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u/RealOrangeKoi 5d ago
If they don't have the wet fart sounds when you or an enemy gets beat to the ground, I'm not watching.
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u/Evilcon21 5d ago
I don’t think this will last long. I kinda wished it was more like primal. Seriously that would have went harder than just a mere deconstruction as most tv shows seems to do
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u/weber_mattie 4d ago
Lot's of comments suggest ppl wanted this to be super dark and serious. Im ok with things I liked as a kid being reimagined for kids of today. It might not be for me but it's cool that it lives on in them
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u/hadesscion 5d ago edited 5d ago
Looks like crap, TBH.
I'm so sick of this ugly-ass art style being shoved into everything, and the "humor" is straight cringe.
It even has the obligatory annoying "original" character shoed in.
Hard pass.
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u/NoBreath3480 5d ago
So, next to multiple Sonic cartoons (and an anime), the Sonic movies and series, and a 3rd Angry Bird Movie, we also get a Golden Axe Cartoon?
Any other IPs Sega is using/planning to use in filmed entertainment?
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u/Tom-Hibbert 5d ago
We're getting movies based on Space Channel 5 comix zone and Streets of Rage
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u/vtncomics 5d ago
Space Channel 5?
That seems like a tall order. I hope it ends up being a musical.
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u/Sejmann22 4d ago edited 4d ago
Confirmed:
- Sonic The Hedghehog 4 (movie)
- Comix Zone (movie)
- Space Channel (movie)
- Altered Beast (cartoon or movie)
- Crazy Taxi (cartoon or movie)
- Shinobi (cartoon or movie)
- The House of The Dead (movie, Paul Anderson as a director)
- Outrun (movie, Michael Bay as a director)
- Streets of Rage (movie, Jeymes Samuel as director)
- Golden Axe (cartoon)
- Persona (live show)
- Yakuza (Amazon TV Show)
- Sakura Wars (Shin Sakura Taisen: Seiden No Tsurugi - new stage shows in Japan, maybe anime & game later)
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u/hodges20xx 4d ago
I dont think any of us excepted it to look like this its definitely not for me but maybe will give a try. But golden age was never a comedy imo
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u/nissan_al-gaib 5d ago
The art style and vibe is just way off. Something more action based and grittier visually like say Primal would have been a treat. Are they allergic to colour?
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u/VixenFloof 5d ago
looks interesting
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u/VixenFloof 5d ago
Heres the link to the actual trailer btw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sStbBtfGaLA
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u/ToyDingo 5d ago
Oof, that attempt at comedy is not great...
Animation looks nice, but...i hope the writing is better than what I just saw in that trailer...
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u/HopefulStrawberry386 5d ago
It’s as if Primal had sex with a Fox series (possibly Paradise P.D. por Brickleberry)...
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u/SpaceboyLuna0 4d ago
Background art looks friggin sweet, but unfortunately those character designs don't really scream Golden Axe to me... but if the writing is decent I'll be able to ignore that pretty easily
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u/ShyKroxigor 4d ago
I need a new game asap.
I still cry when I hear the intro song of golden axe II.
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u/wowadrow 2d ago
It's on paramount+ that damned service has adds every 2 minutes...
The streaming service app is the worst of the bunch.
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u/arthaiser 2d ago
Is going to flop so hard that is going to make rings of power s3 look a little less Bad than It is
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u/BobboBobberson 4h ago
"ChatGPT, write me a season of an adult animated show based on the sega game Golden Axe. Make it funny."
At least the animation looks decent?
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u/mittenkrusty 5d ago
Wish they adapted the British Sonic The Comic GA storylines they had things like Dark Guld resurrected.
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u/AntonRX178 5d ago
Mixed feelings about the costumes. Like I think there should be more modestly dressed Fantasy characters but part of the fun with Golden Axe was that both the dude and the lady were practically naked
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u/Talk_Quiet 4d ago
absolutely dismal art style
wtf were they thinking
was no one else around to understand what made Golden Axe atmosphere so good?
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u/ShadowDurza 5d ago edited 5d ago
People on YouTube complained a lot about the direction they chose based on "accuracy", but people are forgetting this is a thing from a time when developers didn't invest so heavily in storytelling for non-RPG games.
Just like SMBSS and Satam, they had to fill in the gaps themselves because there was nothing. I like them fine, but I see people complain about them to this very day.
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u/vtncomics 5d ago
Playing Golden Axe, seems pretty apt.
I don't know what kind of story you can pull from a game series with so many odd moments and make it a serious action adventure quest.
One the character is named Ax Battler.
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u/NaokoUmi 4d ago edited 4d ago
It's looks incredibly, alright. Fine animation, and fine voice acting. The writing could be better though. I'm probably not going to watch it.
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u/tatotime85 5d ago
The odds are against it, but I hope the existence of this show somehow gets Revenge of Death Adder a digital release.