The WEIRD Mega Man Cartoon That Time Forgot…

when it comes to Mega Man I've always had a  weird relationship with it for the original   run of Mega Man games I was never truly a fan of  the gameplay I don't think they're bad at all just   really not for me pretty much the same for the X  Series 2 but when the 2000s came around and a new   relaunch of the franchise or at least a massive  offshoot was heading this way I really found   myself enjoying what it had to offer from a brand  new game series called Battle Network that would   have more pokemon-esque elements to it to a manga  that brought a lot of fun to these characters to   an anime that really solidified a click between  me and the Mega Man franchise unlike anything   before this new vision for Mega Man was a complete  overhaul while the original Mega Man would stick   around throughout the years since this there was  just such a specific moment in time from the early   2000s up until about 2010 that this new version  of Mega Man was everything Capcom really wanted   something more than just a video game they wanted  what Pokemon had what other franchises like that   specifically had which was everything tackling  every bit of entertainment not just the gaming   or animation side but toys and merch being a  major factor that plays into it all today as   someone who was swept into the Mega Man Madness  at the time I wanted to relive my experiences   with you all through this era from the Mega Man  NT Warrior anime the manga and even the Battle   Network video games with a bunch of extras in  between who are you I'm Mega Man nice to meet you it certainly was an ERA to behold the start of the  2000s really sparked so much competition or more   so Burger kinging a McDonald's in terms of seeing  what Pokemon is doing and trying to follow it as   much as possible but just being a tad different  not as far as let me copy your homework I'll   just change a few answers necessarily it really  relied on how much effort the company behind the   property was willing to put in enter in Capcom  a company that has had some major ups and some   major Downs throughout its company's history  but now it was time to really shake things up   in the new millennium sitting on a bunch of  ips they looked at this one specifically and   said yeah we can do something with this Mega Man  was a massive game franchise very much known for   its action-platform and gameplay and endless  amount of sequels or soccer but nothing would   prepare Mega Man fans for what was next it was  time for Mega Man to get a Mega makeover and I   personally think it's pretty Sleek there's just  something so 21st century about it and I was in   on every every single front pretty much the game  would change there would be external add-ons to   explore and for my animation loving self and  Anime that fits right in next to the quote   unquote competitors it wanted to be around  Mega Man NT Warrior or rockman.exe in Japan   would be part of this major refresh with Mega  Man having had an anime adaptation beforehand   in the 90s that tried tying itself to what the  video games were back then so the new one did so   as well our main protagonist being Lan voiced by  Brad Swale and Alex the duck yes his name is Lan   and the story is about digital avatars in the  internet and of course Mega Man or megaman.exe   voiced by Andrew Francis would both be the main  protagonist of the Battle Network games as well   since it is the digital Age We quickly get into  what the heck is happening Lan in the human   world along with his friends have these digital  devices called pets that let them be connected   or Jack into the internet through various ports  giving their digital avatars or better known as   net navies access to the world wide web and they  battle their net navies against each other where   through their pets they can pop in some battle  chips that give their Navi some extra power-ups   to enhance the battle finding a way right off the  bat to be like hey we're kind of like that other   thing you like so you know give us a try and I  don't blame them or anyone for that matter for   attempting to find a way for this to work within  their properties especially at this time this also   gives us that duality of real world issues and  digital ones we meet Mega Man after Lan mopes   around from not having a special or powerful net  Navi like all of his friends and Rivals seem to   have well that is until his father who isn't  around sends him a chip that turns out to be   his new net and heavy Mega Man himself ready and  eager to be lands Navi and we get right into the   action from there as we learn about the grander  world of the widening web his oven in the kitchen   catches fire but won't stay out when he tries to  extinguish it as we find out that it's a computer   or digital virus in inside the appliance causing  a problem and so apparently land can jack into   anything sending Mega Man in to fight off these  viruses which are just these extremely adorable   little guys I love them as in the background a  great threat looms a big concern of the rising   in popularity internet and how accessible it was  for anyone was viruses among many other things but   man we literally used LimeWire we infected the  heck out of our PCS just to crank that Soldier   Boy it was one of the times of all time so having  a story focusing around the internet with those   who use it for fun and interconnectivity through  exploration and battles and those who seek to use   it in evil ways like the main big bad of the  series being Dr Wily voiced by Paul Dobson who   formed World 3 or www I see what they did there  him and his underlings have bad intentions planned   of course and our main protagonists will have  to end up stopping it luckily Lan and Mega Man   aren't the only ones we focus on in the show  we meet plenty of others who are both good   bad rivalish and random to join in on the fighting  back or just getting in the way from melu voiced   by Brittany Wilson and her Navi role voiced by  Lenore Zan to chud voiced by Bill Switzer and   his classic companion netnavi of protoman voiced  by David K there are plenty of characters to go   over that really build this show into a really  cool premise an immersive story that coming back   to has been nothing but a warm returning feeling  this would also be great at giving some shine to   the video games specifically hey you like these  characters in the show why wouldn't you like them   in the video game a series of video games for  that matter that tell a grander story thanks   to the sheer volume of them offering a lot of  really fun and unique gameplay let's take a peek   into the world of the video games as a whole new  Mega Man Vibe was a Full Assault on every medium Mad Mad Mad Monkey summer continues  with Mega Man and team Warrior during this great reset of the Mega Man World it  heavily affected the gaming side of things which   only makes sense of course but here completely  changing the Mega Man formula into a real-time   tactical role-playing series now comparatively to  the original games this was a massive change and   for many out there this series wasn't their cup  of tea for me however I absolutely loved it to   me the gameplay for the series clicked a lot more  so than the original games but this new series it   was following the formula of Pokemon having Capcom  shift Focus heavily to the Game Boy Advance with   the first game coming out in March of 2001 in  Japan and the American release hitting shelves on   Halloween of that same year first thing you see is  hey why is Mega Man in the background of the box   art who is this kid with the not Naruto headband  but you know if you'd eventually watch the show   you can just find that out one of the main focuses  of this generation of Mega Man media was the   Collectibles phase of everything else on the rise  especially card game based properties regardless   if this series focused more or less on a card  game which I will speak on later in this video   but they had another collectible asset something  that will materialize into merchandise eventually   but for the games instead of collectible cards  or traditional monster taming aspects you would   collect battle chips that have some functions  similar to both kg and affune really wanted   to nail down a new relatable setting giving us a  real world versus the digital world setting where   the human user would Jack into the net every time  yelling and Jack in as we enter into Mega man.exe   as a vessel or net Navi into the net world yeah  maybe Jack in wasn't as hip as it was trying to   sound and when looking back at it yeah plug-in  probably would have been a better option it could   have worked better but you know who am I to say it  was trying to really bring in that 2000s internet   attitude that really defined us if you weren't  there then you can never truly understand ooh   not me gatekeeping and aesthetic most iconically  in the game was the 3x6 battle grid gameplay when   battling as Mega Man taking down your enemies  I always found just the visual of this so neat   and pretty straightforward because of making  it bold colorful and simple these computer   viruses you faced off against are pretty cool in  design as well you move around and try and land   your attacks to reduce their life points down to  zero so then they will be defeated through the   connected pet device that the human Lan has you  could insert Battleship upgrades that can Aid you   in battle from special abilities to upgrades or  restoring health or just directly affecting the   viruses When developing this game and what it  could be even before the decision to head into   the collectible RPG World Capcom came up with  this being some sort of horror game and maybe   that's why this ketchup hallway death gag was  a thing but wanting to literally have the kind   of fun you get from a Pokemon game game director  Masahiro yasuma saw this as a great time to really   refresh the series in an effort to reach more of  a new audience and a way into the expansion of   the property into all the other mediums because  of that something cool they added to the game   in development was a connectivity feature that  allowed you to connect with another person via   A Link cable and battle for fun or battle for some  real Stakes where you can put chips on the line or   you can just you know trade them while this new  style of game ended up with some positive reviews   for the most part there was a major disconnect  with some of the older fans of the franchise   who either weren't into the overall new look and  story of Mega Man and or not into the gameplay   style being completely different since then with  the original style of Mega Man making more of a   comeback Beyond this we can really just look at  this as a spin-off series that just took up all of   Mega Man's time until his older style eventually  returned after the first game came out the sequel   would come out in that same year of 2001 in Japan  as the US would receive the sequel in June of the   following year the main difference here is that  the second game has some new features and Concepts   that change up the base formula which for the most  part was the same it looks the same it essentially   plays the same just a few new things it wouldn't  be until the next game that things would really   change as now it would be time to really go after  the Pokemon mark Market having two versions of   what is basically the same game release with a  blue version featuring Mega Man on the cover and   a white version also featuring Mega Man on the  cover yeah it's just Mega Man twice but there   are some net navies specific to each version  but really this is nothing more than a cover   vanity the games themselves though do really get  an upgrade here some graphical upgrades changing   of how power-ups work and can be used as well  as a good virus breeding system and then chip   labeling that mainly relates back to the whole  blue or white thing and we can all just admit   that it was only to duplicate the multiple version  strategy just with less differences it doesn't   mean the games are bad the Japanese release was  in December of 2002 with the US release dropping   in June of 2003. the Dual version releases though  wouldn't stop there with the next games being Red   Sun and blue moon probably before the beer I don't  know I don't drink beer but with each having Mega   Man on the cover again were there any differences  more than just version exclusive navies well yes   there were just with different chips and so so  really just pretty much small differences once   again but the games would continue to evolve  and offer new gameplay mechanics as well as a   multiple playthrough story and an emotion window  that determines the mood or current state of Mega   Man specifically because of all the new features  that affect the battling and the strategies coming   out in the tail end of December and 2003 for  Japan with a June 2004 release for the US Mega   Man Battle Network 5 would eventually come out  with two versions in Japan first with a December   release for one version at the end of 2004 and a  February release for the other one in 2005 both   for the Game Boy Advance still with the US release  of Team Colonel and team protoman in June of 2005.   at this point with yearly releases though the  fatigue set in and the constant small changes   and different versions gimmick was starting to  get old with critics and some fans as well which   made us all for sure want to buy a third version  of the game the first one to be released on the   Nintendo DS Mega Man 5 Battle Network double team  DS that was a mouthful this released a few months   later in 2005 with the US getting it in November  where it would feature some small upgrades from   the Game Boy versions of the game with some  additional content as well and while that's   really cool at this point with the series where  do you even take it you'd probably want to evolve   it and keep it going on the Nintendo DS from here  and use the power of that system to help grow the   franchise but on a basic level sure you can just  keep coming up with new stories and tweaks here   and there but if we look at the landscape of where  this new version of Mega Man is is it starting to   hit a stale point on every single front that it's  at well maybe not quite one final entry into the   Mega Man Battle Network series would hit in Japan  by November of 2005 and in the US by June of 2006   but this time back on the Game Boy rather than  going forward onto the Nintendo DS which I felt   caught a lot of people off guard and a lot of  people to just totally miss the release of it   in general again releasing with two versions side  Beast Gregor and cybeast Falls are and the final   big difference is right there in the title of the  games these side beasts are being reawakened by   the bad guys and you have to stop them it was the  finale to the main line of the spin-off series   with the main problem being the lack of innovation  finally biting themselves in the foot I think I   just mixed up two sayings into one but I'm leaving  it in there you go aside from the story it was   just hard to see the series not only stay stagnant  but regress in some ways so while this game series   would fade away from this point the rest of  this new take on Mega Man Would as well but   now all these years later a full re-release and  upgraded versions of every Battle Network game is   coming out called Mega Man Battle Network Legacy  Collection and I cannot wait to dive back fully   into each title to at least have them on current  enough consoles to make them more accessible and   easier to get to than ever it will be released in  the US on April 14 2023. Oh weird that's today as   this video goes up it's funny how that happens  anyway let's touch back on the show for now kiss WB digging in deeper the anime was something I found  extremely entertaining it was the perfect amount   of fun internet action and corny dialogue while  this was still a Capcom property enhancer of sorts   the show had a lot of heart behind it with the  full-on intensity to make something that doesn't   disappoint fans but builds something unique that  really gets into a friendship that transcends both   the electronic and real world something that would  be full of emotion and can be a bridge directly to   the games it was all in favor of gaining new fans  for the franchise while trying not to alienate   the Legacy fans not wanting to betray them or have  them feeling that way so just picture it the anime   is coming to the States this Mega stuff Saturday  morning on Kids WB was coming up on May 17 2003   and a preview of the show was played sandwiched  between Jackie Chan Adventures and Pokemon Master   Quest so yeah people were surely watching to also  promote the upcoming anime they had a sweepstakes   that had a bunch of prizes like Game Boy advances  and all of the currently released Mega Man Battle   Network games with over 200 prizes dispersed out  on June 23 2003 the show would officially premiere   on Kids WB and it was exactly what it needed to  be a perfect Saturday morning cartoon that brought   you along on these Grand adventures with a group  of friends and Rivals mixed in with a devious and   evil plot Lan himself is a headstrong character  with a bit of hopefulness and Charisma thrown in   for good measure as his relationship with Mega Man  evolves throughout the show to just be the classic   perfect protagonists with Mega Man specifically  being the Goody Two-Shoes Fighter for Justice   character that is able to adapt well to changes  when it comes to powers and abilities with a big   heart and bigger Blaster there's a reason why the  show is called Mega Man and not Mega land yet you   know what I'm sorry for that one melu is pretty  important to the show as well she's as sweet as   she is feisty dishing out her care for land but  prone to explode into a rage if necessary she's   a great friend and is built to be something  more than that possibly as the series would go   on she's overall pretty likable and I think roll  is a really cool character offering a fun vibe   and a perfect duo in comparison to Lan and Mega  Man all the characters we meet along the way are   really cool for the most part and add a lot to the  overall experience as we too meet quite the amount   of people with both small and large roles both  inside and outside of the digital world there's   Dex and he's the definition of Hey where's my hug  energy especially over melu and him and Lan are   seen as Rivals he is voiced by Tony Sampson with  his trusty net Navy being gutsman voiced by Scott   McNeil there's also yayamano voiced by Jocelyn  lowen with her net Navi being Glide voiced by   Ted Cole she's rich and manipulative and what more  do you expect when you see this little demon here   we support it just in general the characters are  all really fun to see interact with each other   and then bringing on the elements of their navies  all being so cool and unique that I just loved the   time spent both in and out of the internet here  the animation in the show looks great and the   action scenes were all engaging always finding a  fun way to play with the visuals to represent the   connections between the humans and the Navies  the show wasn't afraid to get a bit complex at   times with its story and characters offering a  nice balance of fun and some lighter moments but   more gravitas in more serious moments it felt  nicely directed allowing for some really solid   pacing not one time feeling like something was  going on for too long I feel something that did   hurt the show was how kids WB would play episodes  out of order making it harder to keep up with the   storyline progressing and it was just weirder that  it was a show that initially was performing so   well for them but for just as quick as it came  it felt like it was starting to disappear with   this slow bleed out of episodes to eventually  have the rest left dropped so randomly and that   strategy didn't Bode too well for the rest of  the series viz media did what they could while   producing the series with the the animation not  being their only Avenue with it but I'll get to   that in a second it became clear that we weren't  going to get a clean run of the show not seeing   everything in its full entirety which is a shame  the show was for sure a lot bigger in Japan having   more to continue with the story and even a movie  that was tied into a double feature with Duel   Masters well I wish that continued here and the  series ran for longer than it did I still think   for what we did get was pretty special and enough  of a reason to sell you on checking out the other   aspects of Mega Man this era aside from just the  show it did have censorship issues but anything   at this time especially was going through that  and it never was anything that really ruined the   experience it's just weird that with the success  it supposedly had why were there so many episodes   that played out of order why did the support  of bringing the show over stop because lack   of Interest possibly it was a time of too much of  a good thing rather than focus on doing the best   parts of things great stuff like the quality of  the game started to suffer in terms of improving   them it became quantity over quality the show  just kind of became this Expendable thing in the   mix there at least for the US's concern and all of  the merchandise associated with the property would   follow suit over the following years and make a  disappearance was it time to cut their losses or   was it time to try something new with Mega Man  again because it also wasn't the last anime the   US would see for Mega Man as we would then get  Mega Man Star Force which would take place 200   years in the future from the NT Warrior series and  while maintaining a somewhat similar look to the   previous show it definitely was a lot different  but as far as the show those are my thoughts on   it and I feel that time going by has just made the  show a whole lot more fun thanks to my Nostalgia   for this era having extremely fond memories of it  all but there are still some other moving parts   to this series before it would all come to an end  and this era of Mega Man would be over there's a   few more things to take a look at Mega Man's Mega  villain week beginning Monday afternoon at 3 30.   Mega Man NT Warrior coming in May something I  haven't touched on yet would be the manga series   I myself still have my original several volumes  here but never finished collecting the series as   the series would officially end at volume 13. but  I absolutely love them for what I had no clue why   I never got the rest of the series but I'm just  so weirdly nostalgic for the artwork in this manga   I probably will go on and finish collecting the  rest of the series here at some point but beyond   that the other super big part of the market for  this new Mega Man series was the merchandise   specifically all of the toys that came out first  of all we all somehow had this right I can't   recall ever asking for this for my birthday or a  holiday or even when or how I actually received   it but I feel like everyone I knew had one of  these and I still have mine this Mega Man Mega   Buster cannon that has two modes with Blaster  and sword features it's honestly pretty sick   there were an abundance of action figures from  these really cool smaller sized ones but having   such cool poses than some mid-sized ones and even  Deluxe ones and everyone had this Mega Man action   figure I swear but also as memorable was this  the advanced p-e-t which could be used with all   of those battle chips that have net navies in them  where you can battle them against computer viruses   and more Mattel would bring products like this  as much as they could outside of Japan but in   general the majority of merchandise stayed in  Japan one other aspect that was brought to the   United States thanks to decipher was the Mega Man  NT Warrior trading card game which surprisingly   I never really looked into as a kid especially  with how much I liked every other aspect of this   new Mega Man but hey what can you do now while not  being exactly the same as the Japanese version of   this card game the cards look like your standard  anime card game the booster boxes look cool but   it never really was a massive hit it had a total  of three sets and it ended in 2005. Mega Man NT   Warrior as a show was a really fun way to enjoy  the property Kids WB have stated just how well   the show was for performing for them that it  beat out all these other competitors within   its demographic which again kind of confuses me  but thanks to the other fronts of this new Mega   Man seemingly coming to an end from the games to  the manga the show suffered a similar fate despite   how much viewership it apparently had honestly  Capcom really came swinging hard with a bunch of   avenues ready to go it may already seem like a lot  just from the anime to the merch to the manga to   the games but even in saying that we only covered  on a base level the main six games in the Battle   Network series not even touching on the other  games that came out in this era as well that tied   into everything first they also wanted to take  things from the handheld to the console with a   Japanese release in March of 2003 in a US release  in June of 2003 Mega Man Network transmission   dropped on the GameCube trying to be this bridge  between the original style of Mega Man games and   this new style of them having a lot of the core  original elements of action and platforming yet   still having a role-playing and strategy aspect  that makes the new games very fun well I really   love the look and feel of this game personally it  didn't fare as well on the review side of things   from the critics it definitely was a bit clunky  in terms of some of the game mechanics and some   of the enemies would be taking some cheap shots at  you but it was pretty ambitious and a smart move   to try and develop something that sits in between  both of the gameplay Styles now heading back to   the Game Boy Advance there was a spin-off of the  spin-off called Mega Man Battleship challenge it   dropped in Japan on both the Game Boy Advance  and wonder Swan color in August of 2003 and hit   the US in March of 2004 and what would set it  apart from the Battle Network games is that if   the Battle Network games could be seen like the  mainline Pokemon games then Battleship challenge   can be seen as the Pokemon trading card game game  this turns the battleship aspect directly into a   card game deck building concept as you enter  into a tournament there was a lot of Mega Man   in a little amount of time and this isn't even  considering the stuff that I didn't see at the   time like the Japanese only video games for the  series Under The rockman.exe Branding or whatever   aspects of the anime never made their way over  here if anything this was all a bold decision   from Capcom essentially Reinventing the character  and molding them into something familiar enough   but in almost every aspect completely new I feel  this iteration really helped me get into Mega Man   and it's the version I connect with the most  I had a lot of fun playing the games growing   up and I'm going to have a lot of fun with them  now thanks to this re-release coming out I very   much enjoyed the manga growing up and I plan on  finishing it purchasing the rest of the volumes   I don't have and of course the anime I think is  fantastic it's just extremely charming and it has   all the makings of what the franchise is similar  to it have and it captured my interest greatly   while after this re-release I highly expect  to not hear anything coming from the Battle   Network era for quite some time or ever again  for that matter it was still a lot of fun to   look back on it all and relive every bit of it  as an adult and I still have this Blaster what   do I even do with this thing let me know your  your thoughts on everything from this era of   Mega Man in the comments below thanks so much for  watching like And subscribe later seconds please

Channel: Jordan Fringe

Views: 204,182

Keywords:

Id: i5zwT6bzv2o

Length: 26min 14sec (1574 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 14 2023