The evening after the rise of “The Full Moon”, the sixteenth episode of Helluva Boss, the date announcement trailer for Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, otherwise known as the “Danger” trailer was discovered like a relic in a raided tomb. Almost a year ago, we were quite thrilled by the grittiness of the announcement trailer. Previously this year, we re-experienced the trilogy of the iconic archaeologist’s adventures and she made a special guest appearance in Hero Wars Alliance. This Autumn, we will finally see her strive for survival and discoveries in a highly anticipated anime series divided into two seasons, starting with the first one. In the meantime, Gundam knows how Ms. Croft felt when she made a special guest appearance in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Call of Duty: Warzone 2. And Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile near the time the teaser trailer pumped up the hype. Without further ado, I shall bear even more intensity with you as we take a closer look into the potential of the first season of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft beyond the days of the mostly tarnishing censorship spell being cast by 4kids Entertainment. Yes, I am still rather overjoyed over an unintended prediction of mine from 2019 coming true.
You are darn right this is a legend, “Danger” Trailer!
There is a variety of dangerous, yet adventurous quests Lara will go on throughout her journey, making the upcoming series seem highly faithful to what made the games praiseworthy in terms of gameplay and female empowerment in the first place. This begins with a shot of Ms. Croft looking at the view of a temple followed by an intense moment of her sprinting across a trail of rocks in a pit of lava. There is also a scene of her sky diving, quite like how Barbie does in the opening cutscene of Secret Agent Barbie and her crouching in what appears to be her stealth outfit, which is a vague reminder of Metal Gear Solid to me for some reason. The series will take place after the events of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, meaning that Ms. Croft will show that she has toughened up even more, leading to some classic Tomb Raider vibes, but chances are that she will express a few signs of Survivor’s guilt, quite like how Alice Liddell does, along with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of her family perishing in a house fire in Alice: Madness Returns.
And yes, this outfit is also a vague reminder of Sly Cooper due to its colour palette.
Remember this moment from the teaser trailer? You can tell that the tone and setting in Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft will be quite the opposite of the comedic aspects and colourful underworld surrealism of Helluva Boss. No worries if you would prefer more light-hearted scenarios in anime though…or both.
Aside from our English heroine confronting her destiny after a thief stole an artefact from Croft Manor, there appear to be some supporting characters. There is a middle-aged male character who seems to be a mentor, much like how Conrad Roth was before his death in the first game in the Survivor timeline. He tells her that danger is her friend, providing some similar method of encouragement that Roth did as he told her that she is a Croft. The group of folks she runs towards across a sinking pathway appear to be a group of travellers…or survivors, including who appears to be Jonah Maiava, another close friend of Lara’s who appeared in the reboot and became quite an important character ever since. He is later seen sliding across some gravel before taking a leap of fate over spike rocks with her. Who knows when a new incarnation of Zip from the other two timelines will make his debut? It would be vital that the supporting roles provide some significance throughout Lara’s journey. After all, identifying aspects of overall character development and how effective a supporting character’s purpose and personality are would be a lot more rational and constructive than crying “Woke!” at certain aspects of them, right?
I guess danger is also Bomberman’s friend.
That looks like fun! Do I get a turn?
I cannot get over how outstanding the animation is, especially how it enriches the action scenes shown throughout the date announcement trailer by the power of talent from Powerhouse Animation, considering it is an anime series, of course. The vibrance of the exterior of temple at the beginning of the “Danger” is quite comparable to the setting in the plays starring Kung Fu Peach in Princess Peach: Showtime!. There are quite a lot of effects that enhance the liveliness and realism, such as the bubbles from Lara’s fall into what appears to be a murky river and the shine on the edge of her rifle in another scene. The peril is present, but there are no moments of blood and gore apart from a few marks on Croft’s arms and elegant face, which adds to the speculation of the anime series sticking to the standards of the Japanese version of Shadow of the Tomb Raider regarding violent and gruesome content. As previously mentioned, there is a small variety of outfits for Ms. Croft to wear, depending on the task aside from her main attire adapted from Shadow of the Tomb Raider. But as much as we adore the advanced artistry of anime, please show some support and compassion for all the animators who were affected by the troubling working conditions at certain anime studios in Japan.
Ooh la la! Here is some concept art for a formal dress Lara will wear at a fancy party scene from Legendary Pictures, the company that produced the series with the cooperation of Crystal Dynamics! I am not sure about wearing trainers with it unless it is for a certain stunt to be pulled. Speaking of female video game characters in different outfits, I still stand by how a DLC pack for Princess Peach: Showtime! can consist of some new pink variants of the costume Peach wears to save Sparkle Theatre.
Once again, Lara’s character design in Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft reminds me of Korra from The Legend of Korra. I strongly believe that she will be the brains, brawn and beauty in the first and second seasons of her own anime series.
The first season of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is set to premiere on Netflix on the 10th of this October after over three years of all the hype for it. The second season of the anime could be part of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Tomb Raider franchise if it were to premiere in 2026, but who knows exactly when it will be marketed and released after the overall reception of the first season in late 2024? The same is felt about the second season of Hazbin Hotel on Prime Video. In the meantime, we sinners dare to go on an apology tour in the VivziePop circles of Hell in the next episode of Helluva Boss later this month. Furthermore, I bid you a Happy Pride Month in honour of equality and letting love be love as we stand with the LGBTQIA+ community, including the simmers who can relate to their own sims in same-sex relationships to a certain extent in their own copies of The Sims 2, The Sims 3 and The Sims 4.
It can be argued that Lara could be aroace due to her lack of sexual and romantic interest in the games, despite that one love interest she had in her second live-action movie and the likeliness of her and Sam crushing on one another in the near future of the Survivor timeline, but whether she is asexual or not, I shall root for her throughout the first season of her own anime series. You go, girl!
