Dota: Dragon's Blood Did One Thing Right

I'm going to tell you right off the bat that I found Dota: Dragon's Blood to be quite mediocre; almost unworthy of a review. What determined me to go ahead with it is one thing I'll talk about in the second part of this critique. For now, let's briefly see what this Dota anime/animation is about.

In the beginning, there was Defense of the Ancients, a Warcraft III mod that allowed a maximum of 10 players on its map to fight in a team versus team scenario. Using spell and weapon attacks, each player controlled a hero and the winner would be the team who'd first destroy the others base.

Launched in 2003 and created by an individual who went by the nickname of Icefrog this DOTA map became a huge hit. I am also guilty of spending countless hours in Internet Cafés for a DOTA sesh with the boys.

A bit of early 2000s history

Years go by and the game is still popular, to the extent that it gave birth to the concept of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, or MOBA for short. And to the new wave of modern games that simulated this genre. The most notable example has to be League of Legends (2009). Then, in 2013, game factory Valve took the original creator of the DOTA map under its wing and launched Dota 2.

More years go by and Dota 2 is still incredibly popular as one of the most played multiplayer games. So much so that it broke the 11 million active users per month. Given that popularity can only mean huge financial potential we now also have a TV show on Netflix based on the successful franchise.

A combination of Asian animation, anime, and American animation, of Western type, Dota: Dragon's Blood annoys me specifically with this mix that doesn't go well together. Because some scenes are gorgeous (like the intro). But they are then followed by some scenes and animations that made me ponder if I'm still watching the same thing.

The anime side of things was done by Studio Mir. Known for the very good The Legend of Korra (the continuation of the extremely good Avatar: The Last Airbender). And some other stuff I have not seen. But the American side of things was done by Kaiju Boulevard, a studio that has nada under its belt. Maybe that explains it...

So although the potential to be great was there and it's laudable they managed to put together a coherent narrative from the game concept explained earlier, I think they failed on many other aspects.

Reasons to NOT watch Dota

The dialog is plain stupid most of the time, lacking substance and heavily relying on lines such as "Fuck!" delivered out of nowhere, perhaps just to be edgy for the sake of being edgy.

The voice acting is either good (like the actor doing The Invoker) or very bad. One such example is the voice of the so-called female antagonist; whose combination of Irish, Scottish, and whatever the Hell else comes out of her mouth I profoundly dislike.

The script has some serious issues too. I didn't get the feeling that I knew whose allegiance lay where, or what anyone wants to actually do. Some scenes were also very expedited towards the next, which didn't help at all, making me even more confused. Maybe those who are into the lore of Dota understood it better.

My recommendation is you only watch this if you're a Dota player or just want to be in the know-how with all things gaming-related. Otherwise, you won't find anything great here. And if you're new to anime this might completely spoil your taste for it. And that would be a big loss for you because there are a couple of anime films that should not be missed, ever.

Let me exemplify a few movies first. The amazing original version of Ghost in the Shell from 1995 (Kôkaku kidôtai, original name). One of the inspiration points for The Matrix (1999) mind you. Its 2004 sequel Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (known as just Inosensu in Japan) is a great one too. These two were also transposed on film in 2017 with the release of Ghost in the Shell movie starring Scarlett Johansson. Which I thought was good.

The actual great ones

Or the masterpieces of Hayao Miyazaki, of which I have seen only two: Princess Mononoke from 1997 (Mononoke-hime) and Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro) from 2004.

The DOTA game being the popular game that it is will surely make fans watch the TV show. And herein lies its greatest strength. It might have opened the appetite for more anime shows. Some people might also be at their first time watching an anime and this can only mean two things. They will want more of it or they won't.

Finally! This is where I wanted to land my opening argument. A Netflix animation recommendation that you have to watch because it's so darn good! Alongside the titles mentioned earlier of course... Castlevania is its name and it's also based on previously released video games.

Castlevania is brutal, mature, bloody, and philosophical. It delivers great dialogue and animation, religion and daemons, priests and swords, magic, atmosphere, vampires, and, spoiler alert, Dracula. It is similarly transposed from video games to TV and it's the only thing you need to watch after Dota. As a palate cleanser at least!

Indeed I was most motivated to write this long-winded Dota review in the hopes that I will get the chance to mention Castlevania, a lesser-known entry into the genre. Keep an eye out for the upcoming Castlevania: Nocturne too, the spin-off series that has fans extremely excited. Myself included!