Heroic Age

This series is inspired by elements and characters from Greek mythology. Age in particular has similarities to Hercules because of the Twelve Labors assigned to him by the Golden tribe and his seemingly herculean abilities. The names of the characters like Deianira and Iolaus, as well as the spaceship Argonaut, have connections with Hercules too.

At the start of the series, it is explained that the universe was ruled by the Golden tribe. Before they left the galaxy, they passed on their knowledge to the younger tribes. The following tribes answered their call: Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and later on the Iron tribe or the humans.

The Silver tribe saw humans as a threat and so they decided to annihilate them. The humans were forced out of earth and are now scattered across the galaxy.

In the later episodes, the origin of the Nodos was explained. The Heroic tribe waged war within themselves. They destroyed each other until only five were left. They were punished by the Golden tribe by letting them serve the other tribes.

In wasn't very clear from the start why the humans needed a savior but it was explained later on in the next few episodes as it became apparent that they were fighting against the Silver tribe.

They eventually found this savior, a Nodos, in a ruined planet called Oron. The innocent and child-like Age was raised by the Golden tribe and was already told of his labors. He meets the talented princess Deianira (spelled as Dhianeila in romaji). She uses her psychic and telepathic abilities to aid her crew in their journey.

The people were skeptical of Age at first but when they saw how he and Bellcross (Age's Nodos) were like in battle, they started to trust him.

Throughout their journey, they were repeatedly attacked and pursued by the Silver tribe. The Bronze tribe was also utilized during the battles. Age manages to defeat the enemies even when he had to face another Nodos.

Bellcross

Age first encountered Karukinos (and his Nodos Lernaea) which resulted in the latter's defeat. The Nodos also had contracts to fulfill. It wasn't explained in the first half of the episodes what these were and what the tasks were for. The other Nodos are the following: Mehitaka (Nodos is Arutemia), Lekti (Nodos is Erymanthos) and Yuti (Nodos is Cerberus). Each one has a special ability unique from the others. They will later find out what their 'true powers' are in the final episodes.

The other characters will also influence some of the events that will take place during the battles. Deianira's brothers made some decisions that caused the death of a planet and will further strengthen the resolve of the Silver tribe to destroy the humans. The nature of the Silver tribe will be revealed bit by bit. The viewer has to take note of the exchanges between Purome and Lekti while they try to make sense of the labors. It will be revealed later what labors were assigned to each of the four Nodos opposing Age and Bellcross.

The humans decided to officially fight against the Silver tribe. They managed to take the Bronze tribe's home. Later on, Deianira decides to talk with the Silver tribe, hoping that some sort of compromise will be reached. Purome was impressed with her talents and the extent of her knowledge. She decided to share her memories of the Golden tribe's home planet in hopes that the princess will use these to find the Elysium and gain the knowledge of the Golden tribe. The battles between the two tribes temporarily stopped.

Viewers will also witness more battles among the Nodos. In the last two episodes, Cerberus' mental chaos peaks and so the other four had to stop her. It was at this point that Lekti realized what role each one of them has to take. This discovery opened a path that will take them to where the Golden tribe has gone.

The ending shows Deianira and Age reunited once again.

This 26-episode series won't disappoint if you're looking for fight scenes with less talk and more action. They don't have the usual chants and lengthy transformations scenes like most series with characters that needed to change costumes before a battle. The Nodos don't have lengthy and boring conversations as well when they're fighting. Those two points has already made this anime more than mediocre to me.

Admittedly though, Age and Deianira are almost god-like. They're almost flawless and everyone seems to end up liking them. Maybe if they had some sort of weakness, it would have made the series more interesting. But then Deianira's near-perfect personality was balanced by the appearance of her brothers and her reluctance to take action in the middle of the series.

I like the Greek elements in this series, although besides Age, they don't resemble the original myths at all except the names. I liked the ending because it showed that Age's power has limits after all. Like Hercules, the ending was a bit tragic but it showed his dedication and determination to fulfill what was needed to be done.

I kinda felt sorry for the Bronze tribe too because it seemed like they were being used.

The story and the characters didn't touch me but I'm still giving this a 9 out of 10 rating for the following reasons:
1. The story was built up nicely. The tensions between the tribes and the mystery surrounding the labors given to the Nodos led up to an exciting conclusion.

2. The fight scenes, although not the best I've seen so far, are better than most series. I've already mentioned earlier that they're not too big on names. Also, they didn't dwell too much on the technical stuff and didn't try to explain everything in the end. They still left a few more mysteries even when the series was over.