Episode 49 (S2E19) - Halo Franchise Discussion

Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular!

In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney break down the Halo franchise, with specific focus on three pieces: the short film Halo Landfall, the animated anthology Halo Legends, and the new Paramount+ streaming show, Halo. It's part of our October/Halloween Festivities where we're taking a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon and delving into times our franchise's creators have "put on a costume" and worked on other shows and movies. In this case, it's Daisuke Nishio, director of a segment on Halo Legends (Odd One Out) and Dragon Ball.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney say hello to Halloween
• We discuss our introductions through Halo, whether that be playing Halo 2 in college, or just gaming in general, and if we've experience other Halo media outside the games prior to this episode.
• Breaking down the origins of Halo from creative studio Bungie with Halo: Combat Evolved and through Halo Infinite
• Discussion of the lore of Halo, discussing the Covenant, the Flood, Forerunners, humanity's place in the universe, Halo's importance in the franchise, and who the Master Chief is.
• We talk about Daisuke Nishio, and give a biography, from his birth in Miyoshi City in Hiroshima in 1959 to current day, covering his entry into Toei, working with directors who also worked on Sailor Moon, Digimon, and Dr. Slump.
• Discussing Nishio's strengths as a director and looking at some interviews he gave talking about how he approaches production, as well as his work on Gegege no Kitaro
• Introduction some of the mythology in order to contextualize the franchise for listeners including a history of the Forerunners, what the Halo installations are, what the Ark is and its function, and breaking down the races of the Covenant
• Talking about how the Prophets, Drones, Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, Elites and Brutes all work together (or don't) to begin what they call the Great Journey
• The role of a special Elite known as the Arbiter
• Who the Master Chief is
• An introduction to the AI Cortana
• A discussion of Neill Blomkamp's short film Halo Landfall with special assistance from Weta Workshop.
• A discussion of Halo Legends, first discussing its role in the Halo franchise as Microsoft's first attempt to expand the franchise beyond the confines of the Xbox under the newly created 343 Industries banner when Microsoft acquired the IP from Bungie
• Talking through each entry in the anthology
• Origins, by Studio 4C directed by Hideki Futamura (Akira, Gundam, Vampire Hunter D, The Animatrix)
• The Duel, from Production IG and directed by Hiroshi Yamazaki (Ghost in the Shell)
• Homecoming from Bee Train directed by Koji Sawai (Parasyte, Ranma 1/2)
• Odd One Out from Toei and directed by Daisuke Nishio
• Prototype from Bones (Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, My Hero Academia) and directed by Tomoki Kyoda (Rebuild of Evangelion, Eureka Seven)
• The Babysitter from Studio 4C and directed by Toshiyuki Kanno (Dragon Ball)
• The Package from Casio Entertainment and directed by Shinji Aramaki (Ultraman)
• Discussing the Halo series on Paramount+ with showrunners Kyle Killen and Steven Kane, who worked on The Beaver, Netflix's Death Note, The Closer, Alias, and Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as Amazon's Jack Ryan show
• Some of the creation history behind the series including originally thinking it would be helmed by Rupert Wyatt and Steven Spielberg
• ...and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise....or in this case, the Halo trans-media franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event!

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