As we wrap up the year for Prime Video’s Secret Level, adult animation has been showing some signs of being a key-driver of advertising for all sorts of brand activations. It used to be T-shirts would feature The Simpsons were extensions of the brand, now upstart fashion brands look for licensing deals to bring in eyeballs so as to potentially upsell other items that may not be licensed therefore increasing profit.
Secret Level, for the first 13 episodes that we reviewed because that’s what the network gave us initially, felt more like a true anthology series that featured 13-pilots for what I think could be brand-new animated series in almost every single case. Armored Core? Pac-Man? Sign me up for all of this. Hell, Warhammer has proven that it can produce a number of animated series with the brand’s very own streaming service.
Well, now you can add Mega Man to the list of shorts that should absolutely be considered for a full series if not a feature-length film not unlike the Sonic franchise. The pilot episode for Secret Level very quickly, and I mean a quick seven minutes, establishes the tone of whatever the future could potentially hold for the franchise and does so with a slick aesthetic that could rival anything you’ve seen in theaters thus far.
As for the Playstation-branded “Playtime: Fulfillment”, remember when Sony used to release a bunch of commercials for “Play”? That’s essentially what this was, a 12-minute ad to convince you to buy Playstation. Oddly enough, the episode featured a somewhat off-putting Kratos from God of War who evidently deemed our protagonist a threat, but as a Playstation fan seeing a quick look at one of my favorite game franchises of all-time, Infamous, was a heartfelt reunion with a friend that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Moreover both Kevin and his daughter Heaven Hart were featured in the short with the latter showcasing rather impressive acting chops that I think could even make her own father blush.
Overall, because we got a 12-minute ad, I’m not as inclined to give these two episodes a continuation of the perfect score that I gave the first dirty dozen. Mega Man: Start alone would’ve carried the cross, but I already have a Playstation, what the hell else do you think I’m watching Prime Video’s shit on?