Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation

Hyperdimension Neptunia is a Japanese anime TV series produced by David Production based on the same video game series. Funimation acquired the rights to the series and dubbed it in English before distributing it in North America.

Hyperdimension introduces us to the mythical realm of Gamindustri, divided into four countries: Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. The four Goddesses oversee the four states.

For many years, these countries have been fighting for Shares, the source of the Goddesses' power. Fearing that the struggle would destroy their countries' strength ineffectively, the Goddesses formed a Friendship Treaty prohibiting them from seizing the Shares by force.

The Goddesses and their younger sisters entered a new phase in their relationship as a result of the covenant. It started a new, exciting age marked by shared laughter, disagreements, and teamwork.

After being involved in Console Violence for a while, this series pulls us into the mix at the momentous signing of a Friendship Pact, which prevents war between the countries in an attempt to win Shares.

Each country has its own CPU, a guardian deity known as Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert, who protects their separate populations. In terms of plot, this allows each character to join the fray as an ally, highlighting each CPU's personality and eccentricities and making you wonder how the countries manage to function at times.

The plot of Hyperdimension Neptunia is similar to that of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, although it is told in reverse. Instead of being flung into Neptune's world, Plutia and Peashy are tossed into Plutia's universe.

With all of its references and characters, the story is hilarious. You don't have to have been present during the 7th generation console war to get all the jokes. Even still, several of them nailed it without being entirely immersed in the video game.

Neptune's haphazard behavior, Noire's tsundere, Blanc's kuudere appeal, and Vert's references will all win you over.

Various enemies emerge throughout the series, with most getting very little screen time compared to their roles in the original games. Even the anime's most serious attempt at drama with a certain young girl falls flat owing to how it is handled. Thankfully, the humor of the series was carried over into the anime in all of its incarnations.

The Neptunia series is noted for being a parody of many aspects of the gaming industry, and the large number of jokes aimed at games is present in both the anime and the games. Characters will freely refer to well-known games and will frequently quote phrases from them.

If you're a gamer, you'll find plenty of jokes and gags here to keep you entertained, particularly regarding the R18 Island and how unexplained rays of light are mocked or Arfoire buying an eggplant farm to attempt and exploit a novel vulnerability in Neptune.

While the series doesn't go anywhere profound or meaningful, it's still a lot of fun for fans. It helps that the characters themselves are adorable with their personality from the games translating nicely to the animation medium.

Although this detracts from the action scenes and sometimes detracts from the drama, some of the best moments in the anime come from the females teasing one other or joking around somehow. At the same time, newbies will be confused by the anime adaptation haphazardly selecting major events from Mk2 and Victory with little explanation.

Here’s an overview of the main characters from Hyperdimension Neptunia. Neptune is The protagonist of Hyperdimension Neptunia, Planeptune's CPU, and Sega Neptune's representation. She is fantastic as Neptune and one of the cast's funniest members. However, given how far she goes for Peashy, she could be the most caring cast member.

However, when she transforms into Purple Heart, her personality matures, becoming more serious and leader-like, often leading the CPUs on missions. Purple Heart is likewise a strong-willed character who rarely, if ever, backs down in a fight until she is forced to.

Nepgear is Neptune's younger sister, Planeptune's CPU contender, and Sega Game Gear's representative. Nepgear is slightly younger than Neptune, but only marginally. She's a little sassy, but she's dedicated to her career and her friends. I have a strong liking for her.

Noire is the goddess of Lastation, and she is the symbol of the Playstation 3, which was initially released in November 2006. She is hardworking and pleasant (albeit she is antagonistic to Neptune). Still, she tries too hard at times, forcing Neptune to paint her as the "friendless" character a few times in the program (even the other dimension's Noire mentions this near the end of the OVA).

As a character, Noire is a solid performer. She can be rather amusing when she is made fun of for being severe, which causes people to avoid her. Though she grows to accept her sister's abilities and herself, she doesn't appear to reveal any other aspects of her personality, which I would have loved to see, given how much there is to do with this character. But, hey, that's life.

Blanc is the goddess of the Lowee nation and represents the Wii, which was released in November 2006 as well. Though she is usually timid and keeps her emotions bottled up, she is prone to violent outbursts. Don't irritate her or cause her distress since you will get what you deserve.

This is particularly true in her goddess form White Heart, where she is louder and crasser, with minimal emotional range. She is also a hard worker who, because she prefers to debate things alone, comes up with various initiatives for her country on her own.

Vert is the goddess of the Leanbox country and the Xbox 360, which was released in November 2005. Apart from becoming more laid-back, her personality does not change while she is Green Heart.

She is the most physically endowed of the CPUs (which results in many breast bounce gags that are truly humorous every time), and she is well-liked by her peers. When it comes to gaming, though, she goes all out and can be highly competitive. She is a die-hard yaoi fan, as several posters depicting two men exchanging sparks can be found around her home.

David Production is behind the animation for this series, and overall, the animation for this series keeps the vibrant colors that make the games so enticing—seeing the colors be as bright and emotional as they are, whether from landscapes or the characters themselves, puts me in a better mood. The animation is likewise excellent, with characters often remaining on model and battle scenes being fluid and lively.

When it comes to putting together an English dub for a property with an English voice cast in other formats, it's usually a toss-up whether the publisher will try to bring in the original voices.

Funimation has managed to get almost all of the original voice actors to reprise their roles in the English dub for the series, while the Japanese version retains all of the same voice actors from the games. The series contains numerous gaming references in the dialogue, and the cast lends a hand in delivering these and other gags.

The background music is okayish, with a few tracks sounding like they were pulled from the games. However, I must say that a couple of vocal songs were directly taken from either the opening themes or cutscenes in the games. These songs work wonders for the series, especially for fans who will appreciate the use of familiar music.

The opening theme, "Dimension Tripper!!!" is sung by Nao, who also sings most of the series' music and is very spot on!

Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation does a decent job of portraying a few of the high-impact moments in the lives of the Goddesses of Gamindustri, especially considering that most main-line JRPGs are at least 40+ hours long. With a running time of approximately 3.5 hours or so, but given the circumstances, that's not a deal-breaker.

So if you've been itching to return to Gamindustri but haven't had the time to dive into one of the Re:Births or 2016 release Megadimension Neptunia VII for the Nintendo Switch, Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation should fill the gap. You will have a good time watching Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation.