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[Bree]

Broken Saints is a bit of an odd beast. A sort of mish-mash of graphic novel, flash animation, and philosophyfest, it originally began all the way back in 2001. Just two years ago, I came across it- I'm not entirely certain how, a sort of dream-like haze shrouds the memory- and immediately dove in. If you haven't yet experienced Broken Saints, you'll want to, and I'm gonna tell you why.

As a nerd who is still recovering from an extreme case of 'weaboo'- the last bits of this horrendous disease having been eradicated many years ago, before they could take root- I have a terrible confession to make: I have never seen Evangelion.



Yes, 'tis the sad truth. I have heard many good things about the show, but unfortunately my time has been devoured by my many other hobbies. I really don't watch that much TV at all, really, save for the nightly news, and I still have the first season of Lost waiting patiently by my DVD player- I never made it further than Disc 3 (another geekly sin).



The reason I bring this up is that many of the qualities I have heard attributed to Evangelion- crazy plot, the juxtaposition of religion and science, the giant robot fights- I could easily apply to Broken Saints. Well, except for the giant robots.



Broken Saints does just fine without the giant robots, though, and more than makes up for it. The story is a tad difficult for me to describe, partly because it's been quite a while since I completed it, but also because it becomes increasingly complex. The story begins with four people from vastly different parts of the globe sharing a hallucination proclaiming the end of the world. As more layers of the story are unveiled, so are further mysteries to complicate matters. Unlike Lost (based on what I have heard about it), it does answer most of its questions in an entertaining fashion, so as not to disappoint viewers or leave them hanging.



As I mentioned earlier, Broken Saints is a mish-mash of various artistic media. The images are digitally painted drawings animated in Flash, but they move very little. Captions and word bubbles pop up frequently, but the only voices are the ones you imagine (unless you pick up the DVD, but that's another story), although there are sound effects and musical themes used to great effect. It's what some have described as a "living graphic novel", which suits me just fine. The writing is splendid, as is the artwork. Although the DVD does have nicer production values (better art, voice acting, etc.) I still prefer the original Flash rendition of the tale- hey, I'm cheap.



If you're looking for something different to read over the summer, this is as perfect as you can get. The episodes range in size, but do grow longer as the story progresses- the 24th chapter and the final installment adds up to 82 minutes total- though the chapters are sub-divided into parts that can be enjoyed in small doses. I would highly recommend Broken Saints to anyone who likes a good story, or is interested in new ways of telling them.

So, here is the website for the original Flash series-

http://bs.brokensaints.com

And enjoy.

[Melly]

Watched the first chapter. Intriguing, and I like the writing, though it could use a bit of better art.

I'll be watching the others in time.

[William Broom]

Rented the first DVD a long time ago. Thought it was pretty terrible. The art wasn't good enough for a real comic (I refuse to call anything a graphic novel unless it's Persepolis) and the animation certainly wasn't up to the standards of even Newgrounds. And the voices. Oh, god, the voices. The memories still tear at my eardrums like the sound of Cthulhu shifting in his eternal sleep.

The writing was average, very melodramatic, but I'm sure the voice actors contributed a lot to that. Am I right in thinking you can get it free off the internets without voices? If so I will probably give it another try. I mean, it's free.

[Melly]

Yeah, I don't see it as selling material either, and I can see how voices could ruin it. When it's just text you can imagine proper voices and acting yourself and it helps a lot.

And yes, the art is not very polished, but it does the job.

I've watched the first chapter through the internet and I think you can watch the whole thing there.

[Bree]

I'll be honest; I have not watched the DVDs, since I feared (and rightly so, I guess) that they would only take away from the experience for me. The animation is really simple, and so is the art; if I was going to defend the Flash series (again, can't really say anything about the DVD), I'd say that it was just three guys working on this apart from their normal jobs, with no funds whatsoever.

Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, of course. As much as I loved Persepolis, I still consider The Watchmen my fave graphic novel of all time. Has anyone seen the Persepolis movie, by any chance? That looks so good, but my city won't show any film that's remotely quirky.

[William Broom]

Down here in Australia, the Persepolis movie doesn't even come out until August  .

[fish]

i havent seen an animated film as beautiful, touching and stirring as persopolis since ever.

when i first saw it in theaters about 6 months ago, i saw it again in theaters the next week, which is something i never do.

i couldn't last much more than 5 minutes into this broken saints thing.



the art sucks.

[Melly]

Has anyone seen the Persepolis movie, by any chance? That looks so good, but my city won't show any film that's remotely quirky.

And that's why you have THE INTERNET.

[Sar]

i couldn't last much more than 5 minutes into this broken saints thing.

the art sucks.

Huh. I had the exact same experience, only substituting 'art' with 'writing'. Maybe it gets better later on, but the opening felt like a mid-teen occulto-wank-fest. Like Evangelion, without the shiny giant 'robots'. :/

[fish]

atleast EVA had a giant robot lose its mind and eat the fuck out of an another robot.

[Melly]

atleast EVA had a giant robot lose its mind and eat the fuck out of an another robot.

High point of the series.

[Don Andy]

I kind of feel the need to get into Evangelion now.

[shinygerbil]

'Salright. The music is pretty awesome, for the most part, and the ANGELs are awesome too.

[Melly]

But you'll either find the ending of the series to be the most horrible end to any series or artistically genius. Most probably the first option.

Of course, then you get to watch the movie...

Myep...

[Bree]

Aren't they remaking Evangelion into a series of movies? Should I even bother with the TV show, and just wait for those?

Also, I rewatched the first episode again- I'm beginning to think it's not quite as good as I remember. Curse you, nostalgia!!

[William Broom]

Yeah, if you're an EVA noob then you might as well just wait till the new movie series comes out. Personally I thought EVA was pretty good when it was just about giant robots eating each other. Once it got into the oh-so-artistic final episode, it was just a great big circlejerk.

[Daniel Benmergui]

Personally I thought EVA was pretty good when it was just about giant robots eating each other. Once it got into the oh-so-artistic final episode, it was just a great big circlejerk.

I enjoyed the drama ending. I was relieved to have an ending without final boss mecha fighting.

[Melly]

Personally I thought EVA was pretty good when it was just about giant robots eating each other. Once it got into the oh-so-artistic final episode, it was just a great big circlejerk.

I enjoyed the drama ending. I was relieved to have an ending without final boss mecha fighting.

How about the ending to the movie?

EVERYBODY DIES!

[William Broom]

Personally I thought EVA was pretty good when it was just about giant robots eating each other. Once it got into the oh-so-artistic final episode, it was just a great big circlejerk.

I enjoyed the drama ending. I was relieved to have an ending without final boss mecha fighting.

How about the ending to the movie?

EVERYBODY DIES!

I never saw the movie, but it doesn't really surprise me.

[Sar]

Is this the part where I say "Don't bother, watch RahXephon instead, it's like someone rewrote Evangelion and did it properly this time" and then get mobbed by Eva fans?