Kashmius

Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV is a five episode short(special sixth episode limited to the special editions) that is supposed to be a treat for those like me who are anticipating the grand game. Now I have waited a decade for this beautiful game so seeing an animation short is pretty sweet. While I would like a full blown 25+ episode anime made for this game, I can see why this exists and its purpose. It's there to present the fans of the series who have been long anticipating this game to connect with the characters and build on them. The animation short does just that.It represents each character nicely. I find it to really deliver on that aspect. A prequel of sorts that tells the story from a more character-based perspective. This is really important as if we are going to be experiencing this game we would love to know more about these characters and who they are. The four characters have an episode of their own and each episode also shows their connections with each other. In particular, the episodes dedicated to characters other than Noctis always come back to showing their connection with Noctis. Story-wise, it does what it does. It tells the character's background story as an overhead of what is to come in the future. This requires them taking flashbacks to past moments in the lives of these characters, ultimately achieving the goal to present us with details on who they were before the present. And it is all done in a very sweet way. It certainly feels like "an anime." It's Final Fantasy XV in anime form. Characters all feel alive to me now after watching this. The art is gloriously beautiful. Honestly, I prefer the art in this to any of the stuff we have coming from the more established anime titles now(anime like Sword Art Online and Shingeki no Kyojin). It's just magnificent. Colors and lighting are just so flexible and vibrant. The vast detail in the scenes(especially the fight scenes) is perhaps where the animation and art is the best. Any music related to Square is an automatic 10/10. For anything related to Final Fantasy XV, it's beyond that. The music for this game was spectacular to begin with. Carrying over to the animated series just takes it even further. If there's one thing good about Final Fantasy XV, it's the music(although I love everything about it). The music is orchestrated divinely. Yoko Shimomura deserves a lot of credit for it. Overall, I have to say I extremely enjoyed it, as I do with anything related to Final Fantasy XV. If you are someone anticipating this game or are a newcomer to the franchise I recommend checking this out because it really lets you know the characters are alive. They have personalities and we have information as to who they are. It's not something you would watch if you are treating it like some seasonal anime, it's more like something for the fans to watch and understand. The characters won't have to be a worry for me while playing this beautiful game. The animated short, for me, did a really good job at actually getting to know Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio.

ArchStanton

I have to admit, given Final Fantasy's bad record of anime/3D animation adaptations I wasn't particularly excited about these shorts. But when I heard the minor buzz that they were actually better than they had any right to be I decided to give them a shot. And I'm glad I did. While Kingsglaive shows off the effects and action that Final Fantasy XV is capable of these shorts focus more on the characters. And that gives them a tremendous advantage. Each episode is focused on a different character, apart from episode one which establishes the basics of their relationships. These shorts are only about fifteenminutes long so they don't have time to show us too much and instead focus on one aspect of their personalities. The focus at all times is on their relationship with Noctis. Episode 2 shows how Prompto and Noctis became friends despite his being a filthy peasant, episode 3 shows how Gladio came to respect Noctis despite his being a bit of a spoiled brat, and episode 4 is about Ignis' attempts to educate/understand Noctis. Episode 5 tells how Noctis' mother(?) died and a bit about why he's so detatched. These are all told through flashbacks set up by events on their roadtrip. The series as a whole is bookended by an attack that happens in the first episode and is resolved in the final one. I enjoyed all of these and especially appreciated how the characters were actually allowed to experience real change throughout the series. It's not overly long or complicated, and it barely has any overarching plot, but it works well at humanizing these characters. The series is basically just an advertisement for the game (they're available for free online) and as such they do their job well. If this level of quality is what Final Fantasy XV is like I'm game.