The first in a set of posts comparing other franchises to the Star Fox universe in hopes of finding something that would satisfy us Star Fox fans in absence of an actual Star Fox anime.

Today's franchise is the Firefly series, topped off with the series-ending movie Serenity. Firefly was a rather unusual space western drama, wherein the viewer follows the misadventures of the captain (Malcolm Reynolds) and the crew of the Serenity. They exist as outcasts, misfits, and mercenaries, taking on jobs and slipping their way around the grip of the Alliance, the ruling body of humanity's new solar system. Every character has a past and a reason to be there. The drama in this space western comes from the various motivations, conflicts of interest, and history of these characters, each of which is interesting. At the same time, the characters don't take themselves too seriously, and there are jokes and humorous moments all over the place, in spite of the plot's serious nature and the tragedy some of these characters have gone through. For some of them, this apathetic attitude is a coping mechanism.

Similar to Star Fox, space travel is common and we focus on a small band of people within a larger universe. These people bring unique skills to the table to accomplish missions. Unlike Star Fox, however, the missions range from questionably legal to highly illegal, with the well-meaning but ultimately authoritarian central government, the Alliance, frequently trying to stop our anti-heroes. There is a larger, underlying plot throughout the episodes (and explored deeply in the movie). It deals with the semi-psychic yet neurotic River Tam, her relationship to the Alliance's experiments, and the Reavers.

Instead of a pessimistic or optimistic future, the Firefly series has a decidedly "meh" view of the future. The same basic struggles happen. There are huge cities and small hamlets, criminals and police, earnest religion and government conspiracies, stereotypes and families. The main differences are...

• Humanity has moved to a new solar system with dozens of planets and moons to colonize
• At some point in the past America and China merged to become the dominate people of the entire galaxy
• There is a lot of space travel
• A group of highly aggressive pain zombies (Reavers) attack randomly from deep space

That last one might seem out of the ordinary and dark, but in the show and movie, these things are just another daily problem to deal with in the life of a post-Sol galaxy.

The setting is relatively strange, but in a good way. Characters use English and Chinese. The culture of the show frequently mixes stereotypical American western tropes with Chinese influences. It is probably THE best example of a Western in space. Horses, six shooters, outlaws, the misfit with the heart of gold, and other Western tropes are on full display.

Ship to ship combat is relatively rare, unlike Star Fox. For almost the entire show, they spend most of their time attempting to avoid combat and sneak around. Any combat seen is usually on the ground or within the ship with the individuals involved. The spaceship Serenity is not a combat ship, after all. It's a heavily modified cargo ship. In fact, other than a few last minute modifications, I don't think the ship even has guns mounted externally. However, in the movie, there is a lot more spaceship combat, but not in the way you're probably thinking. I personally think it's one of the most clever spaceship fight scenes ever made, but I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it.

In 2002, Firefly premiered on Fox. Due to some weird decisions by executives at Fox, the show actually aired episodes completely out of order. Due to that and several other problems, the show got cancelled within a few months of running. It had a very short run of only 14 episodes, three of which never even aired on TV, but were instead released when the DVD was produced. It would later be picked up by Sci-Fi for rebroadcasting, where it gained a cult following very quickly. It seems the network didn't know what they had and cancelled it too early (which incidentally was similar to how the original Star Trek gained popularity: in reruns). A few years later in 2005, they tried to drum up popularity with the movie Serenity, which answered a lot of series questions but also left room to continue the series. Unfortunately, though, the movie didn't do as well as was hoped (though it did do pretty well) and the series was put on semi-permanent vacation.

Firefly and Serenity have a good sized following, with their fandom being collectively known as Browncoats. Joss Whedon, the writer and director of the series, went on to be a fantastically successful movie writer and director. He wrote and directed both The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, both of which are among the highest grossing movies of all time. What's next for Firefly? Who knows? In today's culture of remaking literally everything, even if it doesn't need it (I'm looking at you 2016 Ghostbusters), it's very possible to get a sequel or remake at some point in the coming years. Joss seems open to the idea, though he and the others who could make that happen are now very busy with other projects.

If you want to watch Firefly and Serenity, though you can get it on DVD and Blu-ray, they are both cheaper to buy as digital HD downloads through Amazon or iTunes for only $12.99 (the movie Serenity is only $9.99 on iTunes, but $13.99 digitally from Amazon).

I'm guessing at least some of you have watched this series. What did you think? Is this a good series to compare to Star Fox? Why or why not? I personally found out about the movie first from a friend of mine who was a fan, and then watched the TV show afterward. The movie is one of my all time favorites. The show was good too, though I haven't watched it very many times.

Let's get this out of the way first: The 77th Annual Nintendo Investor Meeting Official Transcript sheds some light on what I previously reported as Miyamoto planning a Star Fox anime. What they were actually saying is that they currently do have a Star Fox anime short (Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins), and that they were "interested in more actively pursuing the development of these kinds of videos" in the future. So, not totally wrong. Yes, they aren't saying they're actively planning a Star Fox anime, but they are also saying they want to continue to create new animations, and distribute existing animations, based on Nintendo IP.

If you look back, you'll find that Nintendo actually has a ton of animated projects beyond commercials and promo footage:

• The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - A Mario cartoon with live-action interstitials
• Captain N: The Game Master - A weird animated show in which Kevin Keene is sucked into Videoland to fight the video game villians
• The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 - Another Mario cartoon based on Super Mario Bros. 3
• Super Mario World - ANOTHER Mario cartoon based on Super Mario World
• Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! - A Japanese only Mario anime movie
• Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros. - Another Japan-only Mario anime OVA
• The Legend of Zelda - TV series featuring the now-famous "Well! Excuuuuuuse me, Princess!", and also probably the reason why Link never talks anymore
• Kirby: Right Back at Ya! - The Kirby anime that was actually pretty popular across the board, and included scenes that allowed us to discover that Kirby actually has a pocket universe inside his stomach
• Donkey Kong Country - A hilariously weird 3D animated Donkey Kong Country show, complete with really creepy musical numbers
• F-Zero: GP Legend - A proper anime of the F-Zero series, complete with this amazing FALCON PUNCH!!!
• Pokémon - The animated juggernaut with over 1000 animated episodes and over 20 animated movies
• Yoshi Wooly World Animated Shorts - Used to promote the game
• Pikmin Animated Shorts - Used to promote the game
• Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem - Believe it or not, there was an anime OVA for Fire Emblem
• And, of course, Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins - Used to promote the launch of Star Fox Zero
• Did I miss any? I probably did.

Nintendo has had some hits and misses when it comes to animations, but I feel confident in saying they have plenty of experience to make quality animation if they so choose. Star Fox is a little more serious as a story than the likes of Mario (and even Pokémon), but they showed some real promise with The Battle Begins. I think that what they did there was nearly perfect: a serious conflict (Andross tries to kidnap General Pepper!) with some crazy action, all mixed in with a few good jokes and gags.

Another interesting thing about the Star Fox series, as a potential animated IP, is that unlike so much of media today, Star Fox, like other IPs from the 80's and 90's portrays the future optimistically. Not that it's a utopia, but rather, the future is bright and hopeful with protagonists rising to meet new technological challenges at a galactic scale. This is different from a pessimistic view of the future, where everything is post-apocalyptic, or full of zombies, or simply slowly dying for lack of resources. It is also different from what I call the "meh" future, where things are the same as now, with all the same sort of basic problems and issues, but with space ships.

In some ways, Star Fox is a hold-over from an earlier time. The original script for the games wouldn't hold up today at all, and you can be certain it would have been a bit more pessimistic if today's typical game designer had anything to say about it. The games have changed so little in terms of story, that the spirit of the 80's and 90's still holds over into this series' narrative.

What do you guys think about a Star Fox anime? What should it include? What should it avoid? Where should they take it from here? Do you want a different graphical style? If so, what kind?

This is Part 1 of a week-long discussion on Star Fox as an animated IP. The next parts will focus on TV and movie series that capture a bit of the Star Fox spirit in the absence of an actual Star Fox anime. Thanks to Ayano and Mr. Brownstone for pointing out the correct translations of the report.

A bit old, but if you like Counter Strike: Source, and you want some Star Fox mods, TechKnow's Star Fox Mod on Gamebanana should do the trick. It includes Brawl Leon, Brawl Wolf, Melee Fox, Assault Falco, Assault Fox, and a modified low-poly CharleyFox Adventures Krystal (the same basic model originally made available in Unreal Tournament 2k4).

PacificTradingPost is a website by a gentleman who obtained autographed photos and prints from various actors, developers, and writers by going conventions or contacting personalities directly. He makes these signed prints available for sale. Turns out he knows how to contact a LOT of the Star Fox voice actors and actresses.

As you can see on the Star Fox series page, he has about a dozen different autographed prints for sale, including the signatures of:

• Ben Cullum - Falco (Star Fox Adventures)
• Bill Johns - Falco (Star Fox 64)
• Dave White - ROB64, General Pepper, Pigma, Attack Carrier Captain (Star Fox 64)
• Estelle Ellis - Krystal (Star Fox Adventures)
• John Silke - General Scales (Star Fox Adventures)
• Lyssa Browne - Slippy (Star Fox 64)
• Mike West - Fox McCloud (Star Fox 64)
• Rick May - Peppy (Star Fox 64)
• Steve Malpass - Fox McCloud (Star Fox Adventures)

Estelle Ellis specifically signed three Krystal prints:

• Star Fox Adventures Poster Print - £40, or about $52
• Krystal Dinosaur Planet Print - £40, or about $52 (Note: she didn't actually voice this version of Krystal.)
• Krystal Promo Wallpaper Print - SOLD, sorry

There are a couple other sold Star Fox prints listed on the Rareware Page. If you are interested in any of these prints, you can contact the PacificTradingPost via email at pjwoodhouse4000@yahoo.co.uk. He ships internationally and accepts Paypal.

As with the Arwing and Fox McCloud rigs, SAB64 has made more Star Fox models available for use in MMD. There's the Fully Rigged Falco model from Brawl, and the Landmaster Rig which has animations for the treads and wheels. I presume it also has bones for other movements, such as adjusting the cannon. The Landmaster Rig is also a modified version of the Landmaster found in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Downloads for both of them are found on the gallery pages.

Nintendo is celebrating the announcement of Star Fox 2 for the SNES Classic and the 20th anniversary of Star Fox 64 by hosting an... odd sale on Star Fox games. Rather than simply putting the games on sale, you have to spend MyNintendo points to get some percent off the price. Never seen anything like this before. Oh well, if you have the coins and don't have the games, here's a way to save a bit of money on the three most recent Star Fox games in the series. The offer lasts until December 1st, 2017. Here's the original announcement.

• Star Fox Zero - 30% off for 110 points
• Star Fox 64 3D - 30% off for 90 points
• Star Fox Command (Wii U) - 40% off for 30 points

Via GoNintendo.

SchattenKitsune666 is at it again. Having discovered GreyFireFox's Rig, and having a need for a similarly modeled Fox rig for Fox and Krystal duets, he decided to start with the ripped 3D meshes from Star Fox Adventures (detailed here), and improve them from there. At this point, he's got very basic rigs for both Fox and Krystal. Krystal has tail physics and full-body fur. He still has a long way to go, but I hope to see more soon from him. Also, amusingly, SchattenKitsune666 has an interesting solution to the potential wardrobe malfunction problems with Krystal's loincloth.

I don't always find speedpaintings and speeddrawings when they come out because I'm primarily looking on YouTube. For example, this speedcolor of a Krystal commission by artofmatthew was posted on Instagram almost a year ago. In this quick video, the artist colors the already-drawn Krystal sketch.

Update: Whoops! Looks like I had already posted about this. The video had been placed on YouTube after all. Sorry about that!

Once again, sorry for the delays. Still having a hard time getting back in the swing of things. This time my air conditioner went out here in Texas. It was over 90 degrees inside, at night.

Quick, funny video animation from TheIronGauntlet. I think I need a Krystal plushie now.

Thanks to Mr. Brownstone for the heads up.

Modder ShadowSnake has taken on the huge task of converting the high poly LittleDragon Krystal rig to work as a Smash 4 playable character. He is going to use Palutena (the game's lone staff user) as the base character, so Krystal should have her staff. Other features will include a modded height to make her as tall as Fox and Falco, rigged facial expressions, moving eyes, a voice pack, and a rigged tail (hooked to the dress bones of Palutena). ShadowSnake is also considering her Star Fox Assault jumpsuit as an alt skin. If this gets completed, it will be one of the most impressive mods for any character in Super Smash Bros Wii U!

The mod is at approximately at the 20% mark. You can read more and follow progress on the GameBanana Listing.

ShadowSnake himself emailed me with the announcement, so I hope we'll see more from him in the future. Speaking of emails, there are currently 632 in my inbox. I got some very cool emails from some of you while I was away and will be responding to them soon. Sorry for the delay.