When watching episode one of BattleClaw the animation immediately reminded me of Chaotic. The characters and backgrounds are flat with minimal shading and move like paper figures. It really fits this type of show and looks pretty snazzy. Not to mention the non-character, non-background effects which are amazingly fluent and clean.
The characters all look like you'd expect them to. They fit their personalities really well and it's easy to tell who the characters will shape up to be. You've got Tyee, the protagonist. He's got the usual messy hair and generic features. Not to mention the fact that, just a few minutes into the episode, he's established as a sort of "Chosen One". Someone who's just naturally talented at the game the show is based around.
Next up is Shan Shan. She's the only female character on the team. She'll either end up being just as good as Tyee or fall somewhere in the middle. She's the first person to meet our main character and introduce him to the group we'll be following during the show.
Duppy is our heavy-set tech guy. He helps mentor Tyee, teaching him the basics, and sits out during the debut match, providing tactical support and cheers on the main character. He'll probably shape up to be my favorite character.
Lastly is Hao-Lan he's our rival. He's cold and even mean to Tyee in the beginning and doesn't even warm up to him at the end of the episode. He has spiky dark hair and a brash, cocky attitude. Shan Shan describes him best, with "He loves the game, and himself."
The show itself is pretty entertaining with a nice opening theme. It follows Tyee on his mission to become a great Clawfighter in a game called, you guessed it, Battle Claw. The game is basically Pokemon meets Chaotic. The players are set in an arena with an empty claw. There they hunt "Jinlins", small creatures, which they temporarily capture in their claw and combine to create a stronger battle monster. They then pit their battle monsters against the opposing team.
Episode 1 is fantastic and worth the time if you like these kinds of shows. They even already started laying the ground work for a bigger story while still managing to introduce the characters and the base rules for the game. I'd definitely recommend it.
BattleClaw is a new series with new episodes coming out every Friday. Be sure to check out their Youtube Channel! You can find a link to Episode 1 at the end of the trailer as well as a character bio for Tyee. Both of them are unlisted though, so I didn’t want to post a direct link. Apologies.
