Anime Review: Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation Steam Edition

Idea Factory International recently released the Hypderdimension Neptunia: The Animation on Steam. They did so in form of two compilation episodes that cover the entire series, and and the brand new Summer Vacation OVA that has never been released in the West. The first Episode Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Hi☆Light: Crystal of Light covers the saga of the Goddesses battle survive the grandest plan the evil Arfoire has ever schemed! They will also have to face a new enemy more dangerous than any before. The second episode Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Hi☆Light: The Blazing Bifrost tells the story of two visitors from another dimension and the rise of the new nation! Last but not least Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Neptune’s Summer Vacation is about Neptune being lazy, big shocker! Neptune gathers the other Goddesses and their sisters and decides to go on vacation. While they are there, the sisters stumble into another dimension, happens a lot in this franchise, and there they run into someone with a very familiar face.

I’ve seen this anime many times since its release back in 2013 and I was pretty curious as to how they were going to cram the entire series into two around 100 minutes episodes. I got my answer pretty quickly, these are cut together like you basic anime recap movie. They do go into more detail than most of those do, but by me comparing the two you can get a general idea how this was done. I feel like they a good job of keep the story and flow for the most part, but there I have on big issue with this. Putting last two parts of the anime and the end of the 1st episode was jarring. They were referring to events and showing characters that hadn’t been introduced for a first time viewer. I feel like this would be confusing for someone if this was the first time they had seen the series. I kind of understand why they did it this way because it does make more sense to end the other episodes with the OVA since they are all about Plutia and Peashy. First time viewers that bought the entire bundle if you get a bit confused at the end of the first episode just stop and watch the 2nd then one go back. This will clear up any questions you may have.

If you own the series already or are checking it out for the first time all Neptunia fans should definitely get the new Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation: Neptune’s Summer Vacation OVA. This is a fantastic episode and we get to see the cute sisters in action. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them since they have been MIA for the last two game releases. The Neptune and Nepgear fans get some special treatment in form of a new transformation scene as well. It’s a bit pricey at $14.99, but you can snag up the bundle that includes episodes 1 and 2 for around $40. This bundle also includes a total eight of opening and closing songs from the Hyperdimenison Neptunia game series.

Re-watching this series of compilation episodes showed me just how well this series has held up over past 7 years. The animation still looks good for the most part. There were a few parts were I could tell they cut corners, but none of these hurt the experience. The English dub has been dumped for these compilation episodes and they have been given some brand new sub titles courtesy of Idea Factory International. I feel these do a better in keeping with the series tone than the ones found on the Blu-Ray release by Funimation. Traditional and Simplified Chinese subtitles are also available. I’m sure the dub fans might be a bit let down here, but for me this is one of those franchises I enjoy both voice casts so it wasn’t an issue for me.

I think one of the most underrated aspects of Hyperdimension Neptuina: The Animation has always been the soundtrack. The opening and closing songs are all top quality, and the many insert songs series fans have known and loved for years already make this a fantastic OST. It’s the instrumental tracks I’ve always felt never got the love they deserved. Tracks such as “Launch”, “Tune” and many others really help drive home the emotion of the fight scenes as well as the series more somber moments.

At the end of the day I can’t help but feel this is a bit pricey at the $40.45 price tag for the bundle. I’m not saying its bad quality or there isn’t enough content here. I just think it would be a more attractive package if the price were a bit lower. These maybe compilation episodes, but they cover all the major parts of the series without leaving anything major out. I did have a bit of an issue in the way they cut some of this together, but it nothing mixing the watch order a bit can’t fix. If you’re a hardcore series fan you will likely want to jump in on this ASAP. This will give you a different look at something you already know and love with a brand new OVA as a cherry on top. Newcomers will find a lot to enjoy here as well, this is actually a good place to jump into the franchise since the anime doesn’t really follow the games you can get a basic idea of what to expect from them without spoiling much of anything.