Thursday Night, Kinda Bored

Ever forgotten about something you really liked? Just had it slip your mind one day, only to suddenly recall it later in all it's glory? I had just this happen to me recently, when I realised I had forgotten about something that had been very enjoyable many months ago. No I'm not talking about this blog (stupid), I'm talking about possibly the best series based on unlicensed use of copyrighted material. I'm talking about:
For the uninformed, Dead Fantasy is a 5 part (at the moment) series of web videos that pits characters from Final Fantasy against ones from Dead or Alive. But don't let the premise fool you, this isn't just some stupid internet video that exists for the purpose of fanservice. No, DF is a very skilfully created story full of technical skill and good choreography that exists for the purpose of fanservice.

But I don't want to just gush about how awesome I think DF is; I want to talk about an element of the series that I only noticed upon rewatching it. It could be my imagination but it seems to that the creator Monty Oum put alot of thought into how the series would unfold. Okay I can't articulate exactly what I mean so I'll give a quick summary to hopefully demonstrate what I mean.

Part 1 starts off comparatively tamely with only 3 fighters. It establishes the capabilities of some of the cast and the general tone of the series. A couple more fighters jump in and the whole thing is a fun few minutes, the perfect intro to pull in new viewers.

Part 2 is much like Part 1 only...more. We see some interesting team combos, and to keep things fresh there is either a change in the environment or a new character ever couple minutes. Part 2 demonstrates that the action of DF is diverse and flexible, not just girls whaling on each other. It ends with all fighters being teleported away in pairs, with the promise that we 'haven't seen anything yet'.

Part 3 goes in the opposite direction to Part 2; it's a 1 on 1 within a single building. It is also one of my favourite fight scenes in any visual media and the one of the reasons for this blog post. Part 3 is a fast-paced, well choreographed duel that shows that DF isn't just mindless spectacle but has some thought behind what happens. The episode ends with one character getting bloodied (a shocking first) and then a short scene setting up Part 4 as well as hinting that there may actually be some sort of plot.

Part 4 has a much different tone and style to Part 3 (and 5 but I'll get to that). It's full of colour and explosions, lulling the viewer into thinking that Part 3 was just the odd one out, and that everything is just fun and superficial.

Part 5 follows on from Part 3 and is intent to shock the viewer. Not only there bloody, but now there is death (presumably), with faceless ninjas getting sliced up. There is also more plot, indicating that there's a reason to what's happening.

And that's all there currently is (Parts 6, 7 and 8 are all under development). As I was attempting to communicate above, I like to think that the way Monty Oum has paced the Parts is intentional. That he has a good story in mind and is telling it in a way to avoid alienating viewers. It's a lot easier to get people to watch a cool 4 minute fight than a video that is the beginnings of a story featuring game characters and multiple worlds.

So....here's a cool 4 minute fight.