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Mass Effect: Paragon Lost Anime Film's Teaser Posted

posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Funimation, T.O, I.G partner for prequel to BioWare's Mass Effect 3 RPG

The Japanese studio T.O Entertainment began streaming a teaser video for the anime film Mass Effect: Paragon Lost based on BioWare's Mass Effect science-fiction role-playing game franchise on Tuesday. The 110-second video features character sketches, background art, and other production images. Funimation used some of the same designs to preview the project at the SXSW 2012 festival earlier this month.

The game developer Electronic Arts and its subsidiary BioWare, the North American distributor FUNimation Entertainment, and the anime studio Production I.G are partnering with T.O Entertainment to produce the film. Funimation previously worked with BioWare and Japan's T.O Entertainment to create an anime film based on BioWare's Dragon Age action RPG franchise.

The film will serve as a prequel to the Mass Effect 3 role-playing game, which Electronic Arts released on the PC and PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles earlier this month. BioWare released the first game for the Xbox 360 on November 20, 2007, with a PC version that followed on May 28, 2008. The Mass Effect 2 sequel was released for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 consoles last year.

The first Mass Effect game is set in the year 2183, when humans explore the galaxy and has made contact with alien species. The player controls the protagonist, a human soldier named Commander Shepard, whose skills and appearance are customizable. Throughout the game, Shepard works to save organic life from a threat known as the Reapers, a machine race which sows destruction throughout the galaxy.

According to Funimation, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost "follows the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega. Vega leads an elite Special Forces squad into battle against a mysterious alien threat known as The Collectors. Stationed at a colony in a remote star system, Vega and his soldiers must protect the civilians from a ruthless invasion determined to capture the population for unknown purposes."

The Funimation representative Justin Rojas noted at SXSW 2012 that a tentative release date has been slated for this fall.

Update: [i]Mass Effect 2[/i] was released in Japan last year, but first released in North America in 2010.


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