In 2013, a survivor was born. Eleven years later, her legend shall be marked a dozen days before a black hedgehog’s side of a familiar story will be told. Boy! There is quite a lot to take in from the fourth official Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft trailer, but the amount of extra “Tomb Raider anime” cred it has to offer is certainly the top bread of the sandwich when it comes to marketing the first season of the series! As simmers got artistic and wholesome with the new Artistic Studio and Storybook Nursery kits for The Sims 4 and the Powerpuff Girls kicked butt before bedtime in the third season of MultiVersus as a rehash of their playabilities in Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion and Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL, some of our tomb raiders have unravelled the last source of potential in the fourth and final Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft trailer and pointed out a few references here and there. Now, it is my turn, but not for a fluffy unicorn to win at a rigged carnival game.
This poster was revealed on the day before the opening of a new exhibition in honour of Barbie’s 65th anniversary in Milan, Italy. Moreover, the trailer was released after the reveals of a duet of Barbie dolls based on Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in honour of Batman’s 85th anniversary and the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection. Let us begin as the hype for the third episode of The Amazing Digital Circus is also on.
One sign of Lara becoming more and more like her classic counterpart is a moment of her standing outside of a temple in what resembled her attire in Tomb Raider Legend followed by a long shot of her claiming a rope horizontally across an incomplete bridge. Much to my bewilderment and deep sympathy for her, she will face a certain aspect of her childhood as there appears to be a photograph of her as a child, along with a flashback of something treacherous and nightmarish that occurred at that time and a moment of Present Day Lara placing her hand on Child Lara’s shoulder. Too bad there are some characters who do not seem to learn a darn thing after they face the consequences, such as Bloo from Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, but at least I strongly believe that some further character development for Ms. Croft would be cherished. Additionally, at some point after I watch the teaser and trailer for the second season of her legend, I believe that she will harden back into the type of woman who would yell, “Stop following me, you bloody freak!” at the stalkerish muffin from that Special K Bar advert that aired back in 2009 and shoot it to death. Well, at least that is what I would assume. Remember, her eyes are above her nose, not above her tummy.
No, Lara! Please do not shoot the reader! It was bad enough I had to tell Mordecai not to when I was reviewing the Lackadaisy pilot!
In all seriousness though, the confronting vision as a representation of Lara’s Survivor’s guilt vaguely reminds me of the hallucination Blitzo has in “Truth Seekers”, the sixth episode of the first season of Helluva Boss.
Aside from some expansions on previously revealed and discussed moments, more of the first season of Lara’s adventure consists of:
- A safe she opens with a dagger that contains some jewellery and bars of gold
- An abandoned workplace she enters with Jonah
- A statue that awakens as she shines her torch at it
- A fierce moment of her firing a sword with the end of a rope
- A monstrous cat-like being confronting her and Jonah, along with more beasts that must have been summoned from the power of an artefact or something
- Dodge an attack in a previously mentioned outfit that seems to be based on her Legend attire
- Another corpse she slowly backs away from
Of course, Lara is not the only dame to wield weaponry as a new character (who will be mentioned later) is seen about to make her mark with a pistol in her hand. As previously mentioned, these intense moments of peril and the relief from seeing Lara survive each of them are faithfulness to what made the Tomb Raider franchise immaculate. Furthermore, I shall root for her throughout the first season of a new legend and I must firmly state that we ought to treat her with respect and refrain from viewing her as an object as if she is in a weird crossover with the trio from Totally Spies!.
Within Ms. Croft’s adventurousness and the empathy we have had for her after her undeniable character development in the first game of the reboot, there is no doubt that she works hard as an archaeologist, no matter which timeline we tune into. And yes, there are many other female characters to praise for their diligences and relatabilities, such as Frankie from Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, Vaggie from Hazbin Hotel and Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.
Better not let a Niffler find out about this! Who could die a hero and who lived long enough to become a villain? There is more of Jonah Maiava being a competent sidekick, as well as a fan favourite.
Apart from searching in another abandoned location with the leading lady, a new ally asks why everything is so dramatic to her in a cynical manner, but fist bumps her in another scene. There is something peculiar about this new so-called “mentor” of Lara’s as it turns out that he will set her up for a life-risking task, which is, unfortunately, a minor spoiler that has slightly spoiled the build-up of his character before the premiere of the first season for me. Nonetheless, I am still interested in his potential as a new antagonist since he appears to be leading an army in what looks like an abandoned factory and fuses two gems together to brainwash passengers on a train and I deeply appreciate some honesty. Do not get me started on the shot of him holding a dagger to Lara’s neck! Speaking of antagonists, there appear to be more, such as a trio of men who seem to be thugs, a red-eyed woman yelling “Get her!” and a bloodthirsty tiger. Wait a minute! Is the guy who brings Lara her long overdue twin pistols Zip?! Both Ms. Croft’s allies and her foes are sure to provide some competence throughout her animated journey.
I think this guy is the next King Magnifico. I would not be surprised if he is the thief who stole an artefact from Croft Manor.
Welcome back, Zip ol’ buddy! If this is you, that is. Again, do not stalk an ex-girlfriend of yours, okay?
Despite how impressed I am at the vibrance of the animation, there are some anatomy errors in some scenes. For example, Lara’s arms look rather unnaturally short in the scene where a new character warns her not to make the same mistakes he made in the second teaser. Nonetheless, I sense that anime-inspired style could influence future projects and I can imagine the recently confirmed animated series in development based on the companion novel by Stephenie Meyer known as “Midnight Sun” consisting of similar visuals for a retelling of how Isabella Marie Swan fell in love with Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Moreover, more magnificently done backgrounds in the fourth trailer include:
- An underwater palette featuring a swarm of sharks
- Another temple Lara encountered during sunset
- An ancient ruins where a golden path glows (possibly for a pair of ruby slippers)
As the polar opposite of Barbie Dream Besties and Barbie Doll Adventures in terms of vibes, palettes and specific visual styles, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft has those “Western anime” aesthetics that provide not only a little individuality for Ms. Croft’s new legend but also faithfulness to why a survivor was born to harden into the angel-faced archaeologist we have adored since the second half of the ‘90s.
As previously mentioned, this shot screams “Tomb Raider Legend!”. The mesmerising visuals flow pretty well with what sounds like the series’ theme song that drones on throughout the final trailer like a wind chime in the Autumn breeze. I do not doubt that the second season will be encased in the same art quality.
Exceptional effects include many examples of lighting effects from light beaming through holes in doors and windows to the ray of Lara’s torch, the auras of what appear to be a red stone and green stone being fused and the glowing of these fierce yellow eyes that are comparable to the spiralling eyes of Striker from Helluva Boss.
Ever since the series’ confirmation, our fellow tomb raiders have been looking forward to a legend being marked. Chances are some of them will prefer Revisioned: Tomb Raider for understandable reasons, but in a chronological format, the first season of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is likely to be praised for bringing the angel-faced archaeologist into an anime-inspired light and the second one is sure to lead us to a satisfying conclusion of the Survivor timeline. The first season will premiere on Netflix just before Eddie Brock and his loyal symbiote flee from their worlds as a new threat commences in Venom: The Last Dance and the second season of Squid Game is set to suspensefully premiere on Netflix this Boxing Day. In the meantime, a crossover event in Overwatch 2 awaits World of Warcraft players right now, the second chapter of Deadpool Team-Up Volume 3 will be released in a few days and hazbeans are hopeful for the fourth minisode of Helluva Shorts that will rise from the depths of development near the end of this month. Sometime after the reception of the first season of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, there will still be hope for the best possible outcome of the upcoming live-action series developed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Amazon Prime.
If only a revival of Flappy Bird would not apparently be associated with NFTs. At least there are competent projects that are not associated with them or artificial intelligence that could destroy reputation. We may miss the nine seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, but there are creations in the 2020s worthy of endorsements, such as Wednesday, Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. Too bad The Sims 5 will not be one of them after all, but we are still curious about the upcoming film based on the franchise.
By the way, is it weird that I can imagine Ms. Croft writing her own history and archaeology blog in her free time?
