TOE Entertainment recently released its first full-length trailer for Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, the upcoming film adaptation of the popular Bioware game franchise, Dragon Age.
The film is being released next year in Japan, and will subsequently be localized for US audiences by FUNimation.
A note before you watch the trailer, for those unfamiliar with Japanese animated films: The voice acting will likely sound pretty terrible to you, but keep in mind that local audiences have come to expect a completely different style of vocal performance in animated works, especially in the matter of the yelps and arrgs that the characters emit when injured. The US film will feature American actors dubbed over the soundtrack, and it will seem much more natural.
Even with the acting in mind, however, I can’t say I’m terribly impressed. The cell-shading is nice, but the characters seem a bit wooden, the backgrounds a bit underwhelming, and the whole thing a bit too grey. It’ll be difficult to make a prediction of how good the localized version will be however until we can see a trailer with English-speaking voice actors, and less J-pop music. Playing the video on mute helps a bit, so it might have some promise.
No English language synopsis has yet been released, but from the trailer, it looks like an origin story for a violent hero, which is in keeping with the general storyline of Dragon Age: Origins, the first game in the franchise. Since the games are non-linear, there is no single plot that every player experiences, but the common thread is that each player is finding the beginnings of their chosen hero, with each race/class combination having a different prologue adventure.
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker is directed by Fumihiko Sori, and launches in Japan on February 11, 2012. US release dates have yet to be announced.
