More than a trailer, less than an intro.

Asproject37 said, and I'll trust that reviewer in the info provided, this OVA is meant as a sort of promo for the upcoming game calledKing of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2. It is by far not a bad trailer, but if you're even a slightest bit familiar by the KOF-games, this is something you might consider watching.

Animation[/u]: Production I.G. cannot hold up the quality.

The above production company should be attracting people like a madman, but after having seen this, I think it might be a bit overrated again. At times the animation looks really high quality, but at other times the animation seems to drop a few notches and due to the HQ parts, you notice those MQ parts really well. If you do a good job, do it good in all parts, otherwise the mediocre parts look really bad.

A little personal sidenote: Ryo kind of looked like Kei from GANTZ, which was really odd to see in 3D CG. Everything looked 3D CG and I'm never really happy with that because people look ... dull. There is really little emotion in them and this OVA suffers a bit from that too.

Fighting scenes

Great visuals on the good fighting scenes and those looked pretty awesome to me, generally a disliker of the action-genre. The moves were smooth, the actions fluid, and despite a few slipups, this gave me a good idea of what a good action scene should look like.

Sound: Good music, good SFX.

I was impressed by the good music and the excellent SFX which surrounded this OVA. The music was well-chosen -except for the song in episode 2, which was totally misplaced- and felt like really good music as well. The ED-song was also a song I think I recognized from the hit-charts, but again that song fits the series really well.

The voices were good, but the dialogues were sometimes bad ... but that could also be because of Shinsen-Subs' bad translation/editing. I wouldn't count that out, especially since they have the habit of mistranslating/bad editing anyway.

Story[/u]: It's a promo, people.

Saying that, the OVA really doesn't give much away. There are a few hints as to what happens, but no actual revelations, or explanations. They're mostly shots, or scenes from a bigger part, with a little explanation/continuation at the end (after the song) in text. Being not an expert at the KOF-universe, it didn't really make sense to me, except when the name Terry Bogard came up. The scenes/shots they showed did show some promising moves and action scenes, so if they would ever consider making a TV-series of it, I think it would be a pretty good actionseries. I doubt the story would be of any high quality, but hey - we don't watch it because of that ;)

The ending also says 'To be continued in KOF: Maximum Impact 2', so don't expect any conclusion in this little show.

Characters[/u]: Fine moves.

As I said, I'm not an expert when it comes to KOF, but I did notice that the fighting scenes are made damn well. Great visuals and although the characters didn't look that great due to the overusage of CG, I still can't say anything about the characters. The episodes are too short to give anything but a little snapshot of who they are. But for the people who know the games, this should be at least a nice reunion :)

Value & Enjoyment

Seeing how it has nothing as a story, the only value this might have is the first watch before playing the game. Perhaps a little later as well, but I don't think by itself the series deserves to be kept around. Only if you're a true fan or own the game this is anything worthwhile, but for the regular watcher, this is not really anything you keep around for watching often than just once.

Which doesn't mean the series is bad. The dark atmosphere is really well done, the fighting scenes are close to eyecandy and they're short enough to watch at anytime, anyplace. A recommendation-title for anyone who was still hesitating to buy that game

King of Fighters is an anime that is spawned from a game, kind of like Gungrave or Street Fighter. In that alone there lies a problem, because most of the anime lack depth because of their gaming roots. Despite its high-profile production team (Production I.G.), this series continues that trend.

Animation
If this show excels in one major area then it would be animation. The animation is very crisp and fluid, with excellent colors and smooth fight scenes. You will recognize all of your favorite characters if you are a KOF fan. They definately kept the look and feel of the game.

Sound
Pretty nice, with voices that are fairly well suited to the characters. The music was nothing special though, very uneventful. The sound effects are well-done though, with cool sounding fire-punches and hits you can feel. The sound was definately a big plus.

Story
The problem with a very short series like this, is that the story never really has time to develop. It pretty much counts on you being a fan and knowing the general idea of what is occuring. If you have no experience with the game, then you will likely have no idea what is going on. It does have some interesting ideas to it though, centering around a renegade robot that is destroying a city and the problems of a father passed down to his sons.

Character
This show has cool characters because they come from such a great medium. The King of Fighters world has characters ranging from martial arts masters to full on robots. Each character has a cool trick or two and a neat fighting style. The problem they have though, is that they lack depth. You really have no idea of their connections and their history. It relies again soley on you have game experience.

Value
For how short each episode is, they usually pack in a cool fight scene. You might wanna watch them again just because of how short they are, but they aren't exactly the most memorable episodes you have ever seen. If you have played the game though, then definately pick these up. You will get a kick out of seeing your favorite characters in an anime.

Enjoyment
Overall, I did like the series. I haven't finished it yet, but there is only one episode left. I have played the games before, so I really the fan-fare. Even if you haven't played the games, give this one a shot. The series is so short, that you can't help not checking it out.

TKOF: Another Day is a collection of four very short (10 min.) unconnected films staring a select few nominal characters from the various video games in the series "The King of Fighters".

The films are made as such as that when you are dropped into the start of the movie you could quite easily imagine a larger story around them. As it is, these four shorts feel like they could (and 'should' in my opinion) be part of a bigger story.
Seen for what they are, the shorts actually do a good job of "cutting" the story so that what you see on-screen has sufficient enough of a plot and meaning to not make the action feel completely hollow.

If you are a fan of the games you will satisfied by the fact that the stories all diverge into a nicely animated and particularly well choreographed fight scene where these principal characters get to use some of their flagship moves and special abilities.
The characters themselves are beautiful renditions of their game counter parts and seem to have all the details and moves you would expect from them, if you know the game.

You have to see it in context, which is that these are only very short films
I have seen people criticise the story?! For the fact that these are 10 minute long and not connected - the amount story they do sprinkle into the action is actually very commendable.
What is impressive in this regard, is the way they manage to make you feel like you've entered the scene during a much bigger story but you actually catch the gist of the back-story in a matter of seconds. You almost feel like you've been dropped into the middle of a film which you know the plot of.

For those who don't know the fighting game the four films still give you a nice quick insight into a couple of a few prominent players character, though the lack of any context and links to the main characters might make these short films a lot less entertaining.

The music is pretty contemporary and pleasantly fitting to each scene. I felt it was well chosen, though it might be a matter of taste to a lot of people.

It actually makes me quite sad that this never evolved to more because these four short films are actually one of the better examples of a successful game-to-Anime rendition.
If you are a fan of the actual fighting game I would presume that alone seeing some of your favourite characters in action will be fun enough, especially asProduction iG managed to stay pretty true to the games.

The action is satisfying with nice art and well executed animations. As for the story... well for a 10 minute short it's all it has to be. At worst it's sufficient enough of a background to give the on-screen action some meaning and plot and at best it makes you yearn for more in a greater coherent package, like it did for me.

Thoroughly entertaining action shorts based on the King Of Fighters.


Pro:
+ Nice art
+ Good animation
+ Characters reflect their in-game counterparts
Contra:
- Too short / makes you want a full series/OVA/film
- Maybe not as interesting to someone who doesn't follow the games and knows the characters

I'm really writing this review less as a review but more so as a clarification. It seems commonly mistaken that the 4 ten minute anime series were created as some sort of "series", however, this is NOT the case. Another Day was created by SNK as a sort of promo for the coming game King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2, and of course, as a sort of treat for long term king of fighters fans. The storys in the ten minute long episodes fill certain plot holes, and really aren't meant to hold any value themselves. Thus, this anime is highly NOT reccomended if you have never touched KOF in your life, but if you are vaguely familiar with the KOF universe, then i highly reccomend it.

Onto the actual review... To be honest, if people didn't mistake this for a failed attempt at a complete series, I'd actually be glad that SNK didn't make a full series out of this. After all, has there been a single anime series based off a fighting game been succesful? SNK thus got one of the best studios and brewed out 4 10 minute long high budget animes. The animation in this series is astounding, and gives a nice sample of what the KOF characters would fight like in an actual fight . It's hard to rate the story and characters as another day is really not meant to be a stand alone series. Regardless, I have to say the characters and stories are portrayed adequately, though not quite "perfect" if that's even possible in a 10 minute long episode.

Ok, let's try it another way.

*SPOILER*

Ash Crimson hunts for Kyo's head, while Yagami tries to stop him.
Alba & Soiree try to defend South Town.
Terry & Rock just live their own lives, when Geese's ghost comes for them.
K' meanings are unknown... as usual.

*End of SPOILER*

That would be very nice if there were some time for the story to be told. 13-series TV version would be VERY nice, especially with such graphics, such amount of characters and ways to move the story.
In four ten-minute episodes we only see a couple of recognizable characters, 1 fight per episode and A LOT of questions. Is this a commercial that make us buy KOF: Maximum Impact 2? Where are kyokugen clan members? Why the hell does K' appear so little?
All of these questions remain unanswered.
Technical part of KOF anime is pretty sweet, even english ending song (It made top in my playlist =)), but still story part of it is very weak.
Best quick watch anime for KOF fans, no questions. But does anybody other wants to watch this? I highly doubt.