Writer Of Divisive New Mega Man Cartoon Asks Fans To Give It A Chance

I'll give it a chance... I wasn't convinced at first, but if you don't give it a chance then can't complain. Also I loved Ben 10 when I was younger and look how the Sonic Boom cartoon turned out, even though people weren't convinced at first.

Yay Megaman.

"Just because our collective approach doesn't match your ideas is not an attack on you."

You wouldn't think that looking at Federation Force

We just love our original Mega Man story and hold it dear to our hearts. I may give it a chance and enjoy it, but its not gonna be a complete home run unless its the real Mega Man.

You've always gotta keep an open mind for these things. If the show does well, a game will follow...probably...

Even if something is not to your taste it's not a personal attack on you. I love that this dude has said this. It's kind of something you have to put up with these days. Having the inclination to say this in such a succinct way is very cool of him!

Mega Man Boom. Can't wait to see what the other characters look like. I'll of course give it a shot, because I'd have no right to complain if I didn't. I might wind up even liking the show, for all I know.

If I would've written off every Transformers cartoon whose art style I didn't like when first shown, I would've missed a lot of great story lines. I think that could also be the case with this Mega Man cartoon. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

Internet people and life-long fans seem to forget the point here, what is this animation made for.
For the sake of "modernity", in order to bring a new public (larger, younger) to the franchise. So a new game would harvest the benefits. The show is definitely not for the persons already acquainted with the games.
Also, did anyone here really like the Donkey Kong Country CGI show, despite its game look-alike design? You can't made a good show of a platformer, simply because a show needs to tell a story while the platformer only needs an excuse of a story to start the "hostilities". Look at Sonic (the first series was ugly and vain, the second one with better visuals did try to create a story but didn't ring like the game because of it) or Mario too.
Is the french cartoon Sonic BOOM that good? o_o (only stumbled upon an episode once)

If this works, I'm all for it. My only fear is that the next Rockman game (finally!) will be either not a Rockman game (but another genre spin-off of the franchise, like the multimedia boom they tried to make with the .EXE games) or using this horrible "style".

I don't mind to use another character than the original Rock to play a Rockman game. What I actually want is a Rockman gun platformer like the original series and its sequels (X, Zero, ZX). Of course, something effectively building up on those game basis would be even greater, but at this point where the series is basically dead, I would gladly take a well-made game with no innovation.

Yeah yeah, sure thing Joe. Let's see how it turns out. Can't stop it from coming now anyway.

It would look fine if they fixed the eyes tbh.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with something being directed at a completely different audience. But you can't expect long-time fans to not feel SOMETHING when they've been faced with two cancellations and a six-year drought, only to be shown something that's not directly intended for them. Especially when they've been begging Capcom to throw them a bone (no, re-releases don't count).

I'm willing to give the show a chance. And for all we know, it could be the best Megaman rendition ever. Man of Action has proven that they're skilled with action shows.

But there's no denying that this all could've been a bit better handled. At the very least, proof that "our" Megaman isn't dead. Even Sega confirmed Boom was an alternate series and not a replacement/reboot shortly after the initial reveal.

Nah. The stories and characters might turn out to be great but it would be too expensive to replace all the tvs I would punch the screen out of when seeing that character design.

Nope, not happening. And why should i ?
First and foremost, im not the target audience for this.
Not by a long shot. It doesn't look like MegaMan, it doesn't have the same plot it doesn't even have the same characters.

Second, you approached fans...for what exactly ? What was it that you took form the input you've got ? The name for the show and the protagonists primary color ?
Again, it isn't even remotely close to any other MegaMan series out there.
And trust me, if said fans can stomach Battle Networks "Hey, your sentient program pal is actually your dead, digitized brother" as a plot twist while not liking the premise of your new show...there might actually be an issue with the audience you're trying to reach here.

Add to that the general state of the franchise as a whole.
Several cancellations, complete denial of its existence from its creators, the most lousy 30th anniversary i've ever seen and no word on it ever coming back as a game.
You see, a cartoon is well and good, but you know what said fans actually asked for for decades now ?
New games and anime based on said games. A cartoon spin off that has nothing but the name in common with the source material wasn't really on anyone's list.

So no, i won't give it a chance. I don't want to and i don't need to.

@DTFaux absolutely, mega man has never been my jam but I can understand some of the frustration when fans (whose interest and money formed the foundation of the franchise) get multiple games cancelled and then when something MM related does finally get released its "not for them" and they should "just ignore it".

Game fans can be the hardest to please, and don't understand how things change with different generations. We've become a very whiney bunch on the internet.

Joe Kelly is an awesome writer. Give him a chance, guys.

@Whopper744
I was about to write just that. This is the creative team of Man Of Action for crying out loud! Remember the Teen Titans show? Not the crappy new one, but the old cool one. Yep, Man Of Action.
And remember Deadpool's first, almost-humorless comic book appearance?

Now, who do you think turned that into this?

See the name "Kelly" at the bottom of this Amazing Fantasy #15 parody? Yup. Joe Kelly was the one to thank for turning another nineties' gun-toting comic book antihero into the lovable Merc With A Mouth we have today.
Not to mention the guy did his homework when referencing Capcom games... back in the nineties.

They've got this!

"Just because our collective approach doesn't match your ideas is not an attack on you."

This is something the internet desperately needs to learn!

I also give it a chance!

They need money, obviously they'll ask you to watch. I have zero faith it can be any good. Even if the plot has some consistency, it's hard to get over the art direction, it just doesn't match the character. All previous Capcom attempts on Mega Man art style were successful and pretty good, regardless if the games didn't live up to expectations. EXE, Command Mission, Zero, Star Force, X, X8, Legends, ZX. You may hate the games but the art style was always consistent.

I'm not raging at the cartoon because it obviously isn't out yet. I just think that singular shot of Mega Man is, again, a cheap-looking image that resembles what you can make on any of these Flash-based avatar makers online.

@c1pher_c0mplet
That's more or less the animesque art style Man Of Action shows often employ. See Ben 10 or Ultimate Spider-Man.

I don't doubt that the writing will be awesome. As mentioned above by some of you. But it's just the look of the show that I'm worried about. I'm sorry but whoever came up with Mega Man's design for this show needs to take a second look or something. Anyone would have a strong opinion if they saw that version of megaman, even if they weren't comparing it to other iterations of the Blue Bomber.

@AlexSora89

But Ben 10 looked way better than this... sure, it was blocky and simplistic like this is to a point, but I swear it looked better. It's mostly just that face... everything else looks fine. Maybe it's just the angle? I can't put my finger on it exactly, but something's off. Either way, I don't recall ever being as repulsed by anything else Man of Action has made...

Okay, but who abbreviates 'before' as 'b4' since they were like...12? :/ Like, even on all forms of social media, no one uses that acronym... T_T

I will give it a chance, but I'm going to set my expectations very low.

@EmmatheBest You only have 120 characters, including spaces, to write with on Twitter. That's not a lot of letters. I hate using shorthand, but when you need the space you have to put your pride to the side.

I'm really confused what the issue is here. I can easily tell that that is supposed to be Mega Man. It's not even like he went through all that drastic of a redesign. Why are people up in arms about this? There is literally nothing but one picture of one character on a white background. To me, the art style reminds me a bit of that short lived Iron Man cartoon, which was pretty well liked before it was shut down by Disney. I just don't get why anyone has a problem with it already. It seems like petulant whining.Reserve judgement at least until we get a friggen' trailer!

To be fair, I don't think I'd be interested on a Mega Man cartoon even if it featured the original character design, so that doesn't bother me that much (even though I hate the design).

It will be a problem, however, when an actual game is released focusing on the new design and story. I hate to think that we may finally get a new entry in the franchise, only to see it ruined by a focus on the cartoon storyline instead of gameplay, for example, and I'm pretty sure that's gonna happen if the series is successful.

@Rei you shouldn't say the spin-offs like .EXE aren't Rockman games, they very much are, all the key elements that make Mega Man stand out among other platformers are represented in the RPG games in an appropriate form, the setting is still the future that has progressed through technological advancements, you still control a blue character with a helmet and an arm cannon, you still take the weapons of your defeated opponents and use them to exploit the weaknesses of other enemies, Your enemies themselves are still virtually just like you only with elemental powers(Classic MM is a blank Robot Master who battles elemental Robot Masters, .EXE is a blank Net Navi who battles elemental Net Navis, Star Force Mega Man, is a blank EM wave being who battles elemental EM wave beings. etc.)
The games themselves still emphasize things the Mega Man platformers emphasize, like pattern recognition, weapon stealing, finding health upgrades(like MMX), Stages themed after a boss that include obstacles and enemies that also follow the theme, tight reflexes are also needed especially when battling the secret bosses, and the use of special weapons to create a style of non-linear combat was also something the games emphasized.

My point is the RPGs were very much Mega Man, and I'm not just saying this, developer Interviews and commentary from the complete works books have long revealed this, although I can see the similarities in design simply by playing the games.

I also forgot to mention they literally have some of the most creative game design I've ever seen in a video game, seriously the battle system in both .EXE and Star Force are incredible, they have a ton of depth, yet remain easily accessible(Star Force especially.) I've love another game in those series' Maybe not immediately, Mega Man needs to get back to form first, but later on definitely.

The difference between those games and this new Mega Man is that those games knew what they wanted to be, an alternate take on Mega Man with more of a collection RPG/TCG atmosphere, they still remember the sources they based the new universes on(lots of nods to older characters, elements and even mechanics.) and pulled off what they were trying to do with flying colors.

You don't gotta like the RPG games, but saying they aren't Mega Man just seems inaccurate.

Anyways, this cartoon sounds like it wants to be strictly classic Mega Man, but not as we know the Classic Mega Man which almost kills the point, it sounds way too much like the old Dreamwave Mega Man comic which wasn't very good.

I'll give it a chance though, I was never against it, and I don't actually hate the design or mind that Mega Man was redesigned in the first place, after all when you've seen so many iterations of the character it doesn't exactly come off as a surprise to see another take on the blue hero, I just hope the art style doesn't stay this ugly looking.

No.

If it's anything like Ben 10 Omniverse it'll be junk.

@Philo
Does anyone remember this?

Sure, this gif might not be the perfect example to prove my point, but what had that game in common with the Mega Man animated show? If you recall correctly, "Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode I" was, the day of its reveal, judged and criticized after six seconds of footage alone.
Remember, we know nothing else about the show, and yet we're at its creative team's throats already.
Just to pick one thing I should be worried about, here's the first released image of the 2017 reboot of DuckTales:

But guess what? I'm not worried at all. Sure, the art style is a little too closer to the new Mickey Mouse shorts than it is to the classic DuckTales show, and both voice actors for Scrooge (Alan Young in the original dub and the late Gigi Angelillo as his Italian voice) have passed away, but that won't stop my love for the Disney ducks and I'm still looking forward to that. Let's see - different outfits and general look for the nephews? Check. Scrooge wearing red like in the comics, as opposed to the original show's blue? Check. Donald in the cast? Check. Webby going from a tag-along spoiled girly girl to sharing the other guys' enthusiasm? Check. And, most importantly, helmed by Gravity Falls storyboard artist and animator Dana Terrace? Check, check, and check, where do I sign up?!
See, people, we have to put faith into new shows, especially during what seems to be (Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Steven Universe... the list goes on, and on, and on) a new renaissance for a medium I love just as much as I love videogames. If I can be enthusiastic about rebooting a show I love as much as DuckTales, I think there's hope for just about anyone.

@AlexSora89 though Ben 10 and Ultimate Spider-Man looks great... This, at first glance, not so much. It looks like half cel-shaded, half CG something. Or It could be just the pose they chose to show of this MegaMan.

But like I said to some friends and even here, I don't mind the story set up, it's Man of Action, so I know it will be at the very least watchable. I do like the fact they they are shaking the plot up a bit. And it might actually look good in motion, much like how TMNT (2012) almost instantly became my favorite iteration of the Turtles after initially bemoaning the art work and finding out it was CG. But I feel like with MM they didn't choose the best of a first image. It's really off putting to me, and that's really my only criticism on the matter. Just because I express my opinion, doesn't make me or anyone else whiney.

On the other hand, I am aching for a new mainline MegaMan game whether it's traditional MM, X or ZX... But that's a whole separate issue that has nothing to do with the cartoon.

@Trinexx if I'm being honest, I LOVED the EXE design, it rivals X as my favorite in my mind.

@AlexSora89 wait, what? There's a new Duck Tales cartoon coming? I thought they were just doing a comic. I'm all aboard that if true!

@3MonthBeef Haha. That sounds about right. I always try to stay down the middle on these things. I guess that would be either slightly pessimistic or cautiously optimistic.

If they change the design on Mega Man, I'm in for a shot. That character model is just too ugly to bear, though.

I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. It's like Transformers prime. If I had judged it based on a single still image of Optimus with lips and 3 kids following around, I would have though it a disaster. Yet it ended up being one of my favourite Transformer animated series, maybe even better than victory or master force.

EDIT: Also, I rather have a Megaman cartoon/series even if it sucks, than no cartoon at all.

I'll give it a chance, but the likelihood that I'll like it is low. It's Megaman's redesign that bothers me more than anything. It's such a drastic change, I can't forget about it... The show itself has a good chance of being successful though. Sonic Boom is going strong, so Megaman could do the same.

uh, He can have his chance when I see him animate, but that art style isn't doing anything for me right now.
surprise me, please, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

@Sir_JBizzle
You better believe it, the Duck gang is making a comeback in style, dude! And with no "No Donald" rule this time around - Webby aside, this looks dead-set to bring Don Rosa's comics to life!
As for Mega Man... eh, who knows. Think of it like this - what if the Archie Comics version of Mega Man used this art style? The story was so valid that in the end it would have mattered very little.

Writers are the backbone of the story, and it's a fact. Let's hope the writing will fool us into thinking the cartoon is bringing the games to life more than the art style will do!

I'm totally open-minded about the new Megaman interpretation. How much I like or dislike it will depend a lot more on the quality of the show overall than a first impression of the character design.

To be honest, the only thing that looks really bad to me in that key visual is his mouth. Everything else looks okay.

I think people should really give it a chance! There is nothing wrong with modernizing something if its done really well, and besides, who knows, if this show proves succesfull maybe it will be incentive for capcom to bring out new mega man games...

The art looks bad, I only currently feel that about it nothing on the plot; OST; etc, also I think the cannon might be on the wrong arm.

We've seen a lot of weird video game story adaptations over the years, so naturally we may be hesitant to trust another, but when you consider some of the story changes the MegaMan franchise has already been through since the original NES games, the concept for this show doesn't seem unreasonable.

That said, I believe this concept has been done several times already: High school boy turns into a hero.
While it still has potential to be good, I fear it'll likely reuse a lot of the same cartoon tropes established by previous shows with the same style and become ultimately annoying. If the writer is good, that may not be the case, but we'll have to wait and see.

All that aside, this show isn't actually being made for us existing fans of the franchise, but for the new kids who likely don't even know what MegaMan is. Though this may not be inline with the traditional MegaMan story, this new style is one that's seen a bit of success on TV now, so Capcom is opting to use it to try to keep the name relevant.

If you feel like this is defiling the character, and you only want to accept the original 8-bit version, that's perfectly fine and understandable. Capcom will likely keep rereleasing the old games for any future consoles and for every anniversary.

If you haven't tried reading the MegaMan comic book series by Archie, ignoring the odd crossovers, I personally highly recommend it. It stays very true to the original story. Very cannon.

If you're looking for a new MegaMan game, your best bet is Mighty No. 9 which (for anyone who doesn't know still) is being developed by former MegaMan writer, Keiji Inafune. The gameplay and story are both very similar to the original MegaMan, and, in my opinion, the game seems, overall, quite promising. (Pardoning some recent, weird advertising.)

I welcome any comments and debates on this.

And here is what I wrote in response to his comments:

"Well, you can spraff as much as you want, but let's be honest here, that design is pretty ****, objectively speaking."

This is what I had prepared should he respond and tell me I'm being unfairly harsh and judgemental or whatever:

"Hey, I’m a simple man: When I see a turd, I call it a turd. Will this turd animate well? Who the **** cares; it’s a turd! Clear enough?"

Yes, I'm pleased with myself. lol

@Kirk
Fair enough.

fine I'll give it a chance but that artwork is still gross.............

I'll give it a chance. The design itself isn't bad, but his face bothers me the most. It looks like a child on DeviantArt drew it trying to be edgy. I've seen a lot of fan art, specifically artwork that combines this new look with the style of MegaMan you see in Smash 4 and it looks great.

Knowing that Kelly was in on this actually gives me hope.

[EDIT]
To add some thoughts, I feel like most of the anger and hatred regarding this design is toward Capcom in general. They're heading down the same doomed path Konami is by ignoring the fans' pleas for something that could fall near and dear to our hearts like the original games did. Fans are explicitly saying what they want, but we continue to be ignored, even though we literally are begging for them to take our money. It just seems ridiculous, you know?

It won't be long until they start doing something similar to Monster Hunter. Then they're really gonna crumble. It just stings seeing the big companies that brought us so much joy as kids getting so overinflated with themselves that they eventually implode and become no more. I'm still mourning Konami and their newfound Pachinko ways because that most likely means we'll never get the Bloodbourne-like Castlevania that we all want, or even a legitimate new Castlevania game at all.

I really hope the cartoon takes off, and I really hope MegaMan is renewed and made great again, and god I hope that new design isn't the final iteration because while his armor design is neat, his face looks awful in my opinion.

You know, if they took a Ben 10 approach on this it might be cool. I mean the reason I see this working in Megaman is because every reincarnation is different, with their own lives, story, powers, ect. Its not like their doing what the original Megaman cartoon did and basing it off the original, their making a new story so they don't upset fans by ruining the original. And I don't see anything wrong with that, its similar to the Sonic series. Their are many different versions of Sonic, such as Sonic series 1(The goofy series), Sonic the hedgehog/Underground, Sonic X, and Sonic Boom. not including the different game worlds as well. So I'm not gonna judge it basewd on Megamans past, but rather if it turns out to be a good series by itself. If it brings back what was loved about Danny Phantom, or Ben 10, then I am up for it. The creator/ or rather writer seems to know what hes doing. He truly respects the fans and hes very careful with what he touch's in the series and how he words himself when he speaks to us. But if it ends up being a new Teen Titans go or Power Puff Girls reboot......................I give up on it

Well it'll be cancelled soon anyways, so whatever.

The writing I'm sure will be fine, it's the Mega Man design I dislike.
And therefore, I probably won't go out of my way to locate the show to watch it.

He's pretty rude to not respect people's opinions. I'd say most people were jumping to conclusions... if not for the fact that we already have a synopsis that says this is going to be a generic piece of trash with writing we've seen a million times now (and in some cases, done better).

If this is what's supposed to appeal to kids, then i'm very fearful for the future of the entertainment industry. Tolerance has become a crutch to excuse writers from being creative.

Thinking about it, there were a lot of ridiculous episodes in the original cartoon. But those were highly and hilariously entertaing one offs.Yet it still stayed true to the general gist of the story.

The speech the creators are making sound an awful lot like the one the people who made the Jem and the Holograms in name only movie and that was a disaster for Completely Gutting the source material.

I know Mega Man suffers from simple story syndrome, but I feel this is the same situation with them gutting the Source Material in favor of what they want.

I don't see it as an attack on fans,I just don't view the idea all that favorably.

@Rei
There was a DK cartoon? I didn't know that.

Super Mario cartoons did well enough
So did Kirby Right Back at ya!
The original Mega Man cartoon was cheesy but entertaining.

And even though people don't like em, I love Captain N and The Legend of Zelda.

@AlexSora89

A new Duck Tales? Yay I loved that show!

@3MonthBeef Nailed it!

Character design aside, you're going to get backlash taking an established property and changing major elements of the story. I take it they wanted to make Mega Man a school boy so he'd be more relateable. Sometimes, with these adaptations, it seems like they make changes just because they can.

As for the character design, I'll just say it looks lazy to me, as most cartoon stuff I've seen has for many years now. It's my opinion that production value has dropped mostly, with some exceptions. But I don't think it's worth getting worked up over either. For example, the new Voltron is coming. I love Voltron. I think the character designs for the new one are all wrong creating a dissonance for me. I will not be watching it(I'm not on Netflix, so it would cost me money to watch it). I'll go watch my Go Lion DVDs instead. It's been a while anyway. Now, please excuse me, I have some Galaxy Rangers to watch.

@Tempestryke
Yes, finally! Hopefully we'll see a second Disney renaissance (not the movie Disney Renaissance, I mean the TV one)... rebooted Goof Troop? Rebooted Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers? Sign me up!

@3DiddyKong I first wanted to place the word "regular" next to Rockman but I thought it would be missinterpreted as "original 8bits" Rockman game while I was talking about genre.

@Tempestryke I never liked those series, despite how much I loved the games. I still think today this kind of game isn't made to be adapted in a story medium. (I know Looney tunes and co. haven't a storyline, maybe this type of show should be used for those games adaptations) Anyway, it is only a promotional thing, no need to worry about the series potential qualities or flaws. As videogame fans, we should wish it a good reception who will reflect on the sale numbers for games of the brand.
Donkey Kong was popular enough here to be the host of a youth program on the national main public broadcasting channel. The animation itself might be not very well known because it was a french/canadian coproduction (from 1995 or 1996, I think):
https://youtu.be/Xh3GE9wmWOI

@sdelfin Where did you see the new Voltron announcement and its designs? Has it anything to do with the original makers?

@Assassinated
No, it's not mega man, it's a different story completely with the mega man name.

You want to make a mega man show? Then it's about a boy robot named rock.

You want to make a show about a kid named aki with a strange sidekick that comes out of his head and goes to school, you make a show not called mega man.

This just seems like they had an idea that didn't fly, so they use mega man to push it through.

Oh, so your issue is about the story? You're actually the first comment I saw that was specifically addressing the story, rather than general displeasure, or complaining about the artstyle. But again, all we have to go by is a tiny blurb. Does the name being Rock or Aki really make that much of a difference? Mega Man games are hardly known for their in depth stories. Absolutely nothing I've seen so far (which, mind you, is practically nothing) is unreasonable to me for a Mega Man reboot.

@AlexSora89
Yes! Tale Spin, Gummy Bears and Gargoyles too!

@Rei
Fair enough

@Tempestryke
Except Gargoyles is a Greg Weisman show, and that man is cursed when the words "third season" come up. Check out a Weisman show, ANY Weisman show, and you'll start seeing coincidences here and there.

I think it's best to not judge it too harshly, based on one image. But, uh... the eyes could need some changing, to be honest.

@Assassinated

Considering that his canonical name is Rock/Rock Man/Mega Man, yeah it does.

@Rei I don't know to what degree, if at all, any of the original Voltron producers are involved. I don't think the art is bad, just wrong for the kind of show I think it should be. Also, the little bit of comedy they showed also seems to be the wrong tone as well, in my opinion. Search for Netflix Voltron and you'll see whatever trailer or trailers they have released.

@AlexSora89 Hey may be a great writer but sadly the art is painful to look at so they shouldn't ask any audience to suffer through it in order to watch it.

@lethal01
Again, this is the first official released photograph - the finished product may be worse or better, we know literally nothing about it.

@Yorumi
Well, MegaMan Volnutt isn't the same Megaman as the original, but when the third game was cancelled, fans cried foul.
And yes, I know this analogy is a low blow.

@Uzuki Right, I forgot about that awful character limit. AKA, the reason I don't use Twitter and never will. @_@