Viewtiful Joe (ビューティフル ジョー, Byūtifuru Jō) is a 2003 beat 'em up game developed by Team Viewtiful and published by Capcom for the GameCube. It was originally released as a part of the Capcom Five, under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the name Clover Studio, subtitled in Japan Aratanaru Kibō (新たなる希望, lit. "A New Hope"). The game's story concerns Joe, an avid movie-goer whose girlfriend Silvia is kidnapped during a film starring Joe's favorite superhero, Captain Blue. Joe is shortly thereafter thrust into Movieland, where Silvia is taken by the villainous group known as Jadow. After accepting a special V-Watch from Captain Blue, Joe transforms into the tokusatsu-style persona "Viewtiful Joe" and sets out to rescue her.
The gameplay of Viewtiful Joe features traditional 2D platform side-scrolling intermixed with 3D cel-shaded graphics. Abilities known as "VFX Powers" grant the player special actions for combat and puzzle-solving, such as slowing down or speeding up time. Viewtiful Joe was critically acclaimed for its unique visual style and gameplay, earning itself a number of awards from various media publications. A minor commercial success, the game spawned several sequels, with releases seen on other consoles such as the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo DS. An anime series based on the video game series of the same name. The series loosely adapts the first two titles in the series, Viewtiful Joe and Viewtiful Joe 2, while introducing several original characters and scenarios. The series, comprising fifty-one episodes, was shown every Saturday on the Japanese television station TV Tokyo from October 2, 2004, until September 24, 2005. The show was licensed by anime distributor Geneon Entertainment, with its first twenty-six episodes airing in the United States on Kids' WB. It was taken off the air when the block was moved to The CW.
Viewtiful Joe was later licensed for distribution in other parts of the world by MGM Television. The anime debuted in the United Kingdom on Jetix on July 2, 2007. Viewtiful Joe premiered on Cartoon Network Brazil on July 3, 2006, and ran again in the country's RedeTV! in HD on November 27, 2006. It aired in Mexico starting on July 4, 2006. On June 23, 2008, the show began airing on Cartoon Network in other parts of Latin America. In 2009, Viewtiful Joe became available on Crunchyroll's streaming service for its users outside Asia.
Synopsis[]
Joe, a red-headed movie buff, and Silvia, his girlfriend, are having a bit of relationship trouble. Silvia feels that Joe is taking her for-granted and wants to do something together for once, so Joe decides to take her to see an old action movie featuring his favorite hero, Captain Blue. What started out as a cute movie date takes a turn for the worst when Silvia is pulled into the movie by the leader of the evil organization, Jado.
Joe follows her into the mysterious "Movieland," and is granted a powerful device known as a V-Watch by Captain Blue himself. With it, he transforms into the action hero named "Viewtiful Joe" and goes off to rescue his girlfriend before she can be used by Jado to take over the world. It's a long road to go from average Joe to full-blown hero, but he'll give it his all to save both his girl and the world—and he'll do it in the most "view-ti-ful" way possible.
Gameplay[]
Viewtiful Joe's core gameplay is similar to a traditional side-scrolling beat 'em up. Taking control of Joe, the player is mostly limited to moving left, right, up, and down on a fixed 2D path. The game contains platforming elements, such as the ability to jump and double jump. Combat consists of fighting multiple enemies on screen at once, with the enemies appearing from all directions, including the foreground and background. Joe has the ability to punch, kick, and dodge—which he can do by leaping upward or ducking. Dodging enemies' attacks successfully temporarily dazes them, leaving them wide open for attack. The player has certain number of hit points in the form of "Life Marks" located above the VFX Gauge, which decrease whenever Joe takes damage. Health can be restored by picking up hamburgers.
Viewtiful Joe Gameplay
Viewtiful Joe features unique gameplay elements in the form of Joe's "Viewtiful Effects (VFX) Power", which is designed to emulate camera tricks seen in films. VFX Power is used in both battling enemies, and solving various puzzles. These three powers are limited by the "VFX Gauge" located at the top of the screen. Normally, the meter is full, giving the player access to Joe's super powers via his Viewtiful Joe transformation. The meter slowly empties when an ability is in use. Once it depletes, Viewtiful Joe changes to normal Joe, lowering his attack and defense and leaving him temporarily devoid of VFX Power. The VFX Gauge automatically refills over time, and can also be manually filled by picking up bottles of "VFX Juice". The first VFX Power is "Slow", which slows time, causing the player's attacks to be more powerful, increasing Joe's reflexes, and allowing him to dodge attacks more easily. The second VFX Power, "Mach Speed", allows Joe to move at a faster speed, creating multiple after-images of him when he unleashes a flurry of attacks on all enemies on the screen. It can additionally cause his attacks to envelop Joe in a temporary heat shield, rendering him immune to flame attacks and setting enemies on fire when struck. The last VFX Power, "Zoom In", causes a camera close-up of Joe, powering up his normal attacks, granting him a set of new attacks, and paralyzing all lesser foes in proximity to him. However, any damage dealt to Joe whilst zoomed in is increased too. Any two VFX Powers can be combined. The VFX Gauge can be extended by collecting a certain number of V-Films present in each stage. The bar reverts to its normal length when a new stage begins.
Defeating enemies gives the player "V-Points" in the form of small and large coins, while using special attacks gives them "V-Marks", or "Viewtifuls", which can be converted into V-Points. Viewtifuls can be quickly gained by using combos or long chains of attacks. For example, while using Slow, striking a dazed enemy sets up all other enemies on the screen for a chain reaction, causing all points accrued during the duration of Slow to be multiplied by the number of enemies struck. If used deftly, the player will accumulate a large number of Viewtifuls due to the multiplier effect called "X-Bonus". Each stage in Viewtiful Joe consists of several interconnected missions, or scenes, that the player must complete in order to advance. When completing the stage, the player is graded on the number of V-Points earned, the amount of time taken, and how much damage Joe took. V-Points can be used between stages to purchase new abilities, expendable weapons (which include the "Voomerang" and "Shocking Pink Bombs"), more health, and health-restorative items. Clearing the game on various difficulties allows players to play as different characters such as Silvia, Captain Blue and Alastor, with the PlayStation 2 version also allowing players to play as Devil May Cry's Dante.
Development[]
Viewtiful Joe was developed by the design staff "Team Viewtiful", a part of Capcom Production Studio 4. The game was announced in late 2002 as part of the Capcom Five, a line-up of five then-upcoming GameCube games to introduce new content to the console. It was directed by Capcom alumnus Hideki Kamiya, whose previous credits include the planning of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 and the direction of Devil May Cry. It was produced by Atsushi Inaba, who previously worked on the Ace Attorney series and Steel Battalion. In its earliest stages of development, Viewtiful Joe went under the working title "Red Hot Man", but the name was changed due to copyright conflicts with the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Viewtiful Joe's development team initially consisted of six people working under a twelve-month deadline. As work continued, the size of the team grew, and development ended up taking a full 21 months to complete. The game was conceived as a "staff-focused project" aimed at increasing the skill of its creators, specifically director Kamiya.
Inaba stated, "We wanted to create a challenging game with stunning visuals and fluid gameplay". As a lifelong fan of superheroes, Inaba's aim was to combine traditional Japanese tokusatsu with American comic books. The character designs created by Kumiko Suekane were inspired specifically by 1960s and 1970s Japanese-costumed tokusatsu television shows such as Kamen Rider and Ultraman. Graphically, the game adopted a 2D side-scrolling style mixed with 3D cel-shaded animation. Despite many games in the then-modern industry shying away from 2D graphical formats, Inaba said, "We have been able to breathe new life into the genre because we are using a new stylistic way that hasn't been seen before." The team chose the GameCube as its platform because of their target audience and because it lent itself well to Viewtiful Joe's gameplay.
The musical score for Viewtiful Joe was co-composed by Masakazu Sugimori and Masami Ueda. It was released alongside the score for Viewtiful Joe 2 on a double album titled Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2 Original Soundtrack in Japan on 22 December 2004 by Suleputer. A music video is played within the game featuring a rap vocal song titled "Viewtiful World" composed by D.A.I. The video features a group of people, including Inaba himself, motion captured as some of the game's characters. On 11 June 2003, Avex released the video on DVD and released the song as a single. Both the North American and Japanese releases of Viewtiful Joe feature English voice acting in order to keep a "western comic book feel to [the game]." Voice-over work in Viewtiful Joe was provided by Soundelux Design Music Group. Voice actors for the game include Dee Bradley Baker, Christina Puccelli, Gregg Berger, Mikey Kelley, Roger Rose, and Kevin Michael Richardson. Director Hideki Kamiya provides the voice for Six Machine.
A budget re-release of the game for the GameCube titled Viewtiful Joe: Revival was released in Japan in late 2003, adding a "Sweet Mode" to decrease the difficulty setting from the original game's "Kids Mode". A PlayStation 2 port of Viewtiful Joe was released by Clover Studio in 2004. It was released in Japan with the subtitle A New Hope. The release added the character Dante of Devil May Cry as an unlockable character. The PlayStation 2 version does not feature progressive scan seen in the GameCube version. The game was also re-released under Nintendo's GameCube Player's Choice label in 2004 in North America and Europe. It is said that Director Kamiya based Joe's run animation on how he got to work, and the bosses of the game are based on Capcom executives.
In a 2017 interview with Dengeki PlayStation, Kamiya expressed interest in remaking the game.
Viewtiful Joe 2 was developed by "Team Viewtiful", a part of Capcom's subsidiary Clover Studio. The game was produced by Atsushi Inaba and directed by Masaaki Yamada. Hideki Kamiya, the director of the original Viewtiful Joe, contributed to the storyline scenario of the sequel. At the time, Kamiya was signed on as director of Ōkami, but he wanted to write the story of Viewtiful Joe 2 to ensure continuity. Kumiko Suekane once again supervised the character designs, and Masami Ueda and Sayaka Morita co-composed the game's soundtrack. Suleputer released the soundtrack on a double album titled Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2 Original Soundtrack in Japan on December 22, 2004, which includes the musical scores from both games.
Development on Viewtiful Joe 2 began in the August 2003, shortly after the release of the first Viewtiful Joe on the GameCube. The game was officially announced by Capcom on April 21, 2004. Despite Inaba's statement that he does not like to create sequels, he said that he did want to create another Viewtiful Joe game to include several elements that they could not fit into the original game. Inaba also noted that the team took into account the difficulty of the first game and attempted to make Viewtiful Joe 2 accessible to both casual and hardcore gamers. The GameCube and PS2 versions were developed simultaneously and feature the same content. In early previews of the game, Silvia and Joe were shown onscreen fighting at the same time, hinting at cooperative gameplay. This feature was later dropped. When the Replay VFX Power was announced, Inaba was asked if any other VFX Powers would be included in the final game. He answered, "In terms of adding more -- there simply aren't enough buttons on the controller".
During the game's release in North America, Capcom and IGN held the "Be More Viewtiful! Sweepstakes", a contest in which entrants could win merchandise including either version of the game, a t-shirt with an "HMD" design, a skateboard, and a Viewtiful Joe 2 strategy guide by BradyGames. A desktop LCD clock was also released by Capcom during the game's North American debut. A demo of Viewtiful Joe 2 featured on North American PS2 preview discs made news when it was reported that playing the demo would cause a bug to completely erase all data on any inserted memory cards. Sony Computer Entertainment of America issued an apology and gave those affected a choice between several lesser-rated, previously released titles.
Character[]
The protagonist of this anime. Transforms into Viewtiful Joe with the cry "Henshin-a-Go-Go, Baby!" using the V-Watch given by Captain Blue. Fights against villains alongside his friends. Utilizes techniques based on the three movie traits: SLOW, MACHSPEED, and ZOOM, battling with VFX power (while the game version frequently uses SLOW and ZOOM, the anime version often employs MACHSPEED for combat). He is childhood friends and lovers with Silvia. His father, Jet, is a film engineer. Although his mother and sister are depicted in the concept art, they do not appear in the main story. He is a comrade who fought alongside Captain Blue Junior against Jado.
A movie enthusiast and hero otaku. He has a laid-back and kind-hearted personality, often prioritizing his hobbies over his girlfriend, and blindly jumps at his favorite cheeseburgers, which sometimes leads to mistakes due to his stubbornness, causing him to be scolded by Junior frequently. Despite having many flaws, he often fights positively with a cool attitude, not wasting his love for movies and heroes, aiming for the awakening of true hero spirit. Through numerous encounters, farewells, and battles, he hones his skills as a hero and showcases his awakened true hero spirit to King Blue during the final showdown. In the ultimate battle, when he lost his transformation ability against Evil King, he demonstrated his true strength as a hero.
─ THEME SONG (Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Theme of Viewtiful Joe)
|
Abilities[]
"The hero has arrived."
― Joe in Marvel vs. Capcom Game
Viewtiful Joe has the power to slow down the movie, speed it up, and to zoom into the picture, much like camera effects seen in movies. At first, he is only able to use his powers in movies; however in Viewtiful Joe 2 he demonstrated, when in the real world, that his V-Watch will respond when in front of an audience, enabling him to transform out of the movie. His problem are apparent again in Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble, when nothing happens after he attempts to transform with nobody watching. This problem is solved when Silvia points her special camcorder, The V-Cam, at Joe.
Just knowing he is being filmed inflates his already over-inflated ego to the point where he overcomes this silly handicap. Joe's arsenal also includes Voomerangs, boomerang-like blade weapon thrown from Joe's helmet; and Shocking Pink, which is a short fused bomb. To turn into his Viewtiful form, he shouts the phrase: "Henshin a Go-Go Baby!"
Joe can also use VFX powers to manipulate images. By using various VFX powers, such as “Slow,” which slows down the player's movements to make each blow more powerful, and “Mack Speed,” which speeds up the player's movements for a tremendous onslaught, the player can gain a strategic advantage, and also gain the exhilarating feeling of “charm” through self-absorbed play, which directly leads to bonuses in the game. This directly leads to bonuses in the game. In addition, the VFX gauge can be increased with items acquired during the game, and items can be purchased by collecting coins to power up props and attacks, which can be combined with VFX power to create a variety of attacks.
The VFX Power (VFXパワー) is a power to manipulates time and space using a variety of visual effects in images. One of the game's strengths is the use of this ability not only in combat, but also in solving riddles.
| SLOW（スロー） | |
| ─ Slowing down the movement of the entire screen. The motif is based on the shooting method used to emphasize weight and impact, and under certain conditions, it is possible to blow up enemies and damage them beyond. It also increases the visibility of bullets from gunshots, the player's ability to attack and damage with some tricks, and if attacked during SLOW, it activates V-Dutch, which consumes a large amount of VFX gauge to completely avoid the attack, making it the most frequently used VFX power. When used in conjunction with Mack Speed, it slightly increases Joe's movement speed. With the exception of “Battle Carnival,” it is triggered by the L-trigger in the basic setting. | |
| MACH SPEED（マックスピード） | |
| ─ Contrary to slow, the entire image moves quickly. This is the motif of the filming usage used to express speed. The player's overall movement speeds up, allowing for continuous attacks at high speed, and by continuing to attack, the player is clothed in an aura of fire, which can ignite fireproof abilities, enemies, and objects. Some attacks generate an alter ego, which can attack other enemies and other objects. The R-trigger activates the VFX power, which is used to move and solve puzzles rather than attack. In “2”, it became Joe's exclusive VFX power. | |
| ZOOM（ズーム） | |
| ─ Zoom in on the screen by pointing the jaw. The main effect is that the player's attacks become more flashy and attack power is greatly increased. It can also be used in conjunction with the VFX power mentioned above. activating ZOOM changes some techniques and movements into something else. There are many riddles using this ZOOM technique, and it will be targeted in boss fights due to its high offensive power. standing punch during ZOOM and red hot kick power-up during ZOOM, combined with SLOW is the player's strongest attack. use C stick or B button to activate and deactivate. The player can use the C-stick or the B-button to activate and deactivate. | |
| REPLAY（リプレイ） | |
| ─ A VFX power exclusive to Sylvia that appeared in “2.” Repeats three times the moment your attack (excluding flying tools) hits, triples the damage to the opponent, and causes Sylvia to be cloaked in the electric attribute. By cloaking her with the electric attribute, she can nullify the damage of electric attacks and solve the riddle of the electric attribute. It can also be used in conjunction with slow and zoom while continuing to use replay. However, if an attack is made during the activation, it will be repeated three times, causing three times more damage than usual. | |
| SPLIT（スプリット） | |
| ─ Appears in “Scratch.” Displaces the upper portion of the lower screen. It is mainly used to activate gimmicks. Since the lower screen and the upper screen are misaligned, it can also be used to move to places that cannot be reached by normal movement. | |
| SLIDE（スライド） | |
| ─ Appears in “Scratch.” Swaps the upper and lower screens. Other than that, it has the same ability as Zoom. In this work, the Double Zoom Punch is the most powerful technique. | |
| TOUCH（タッチ） | |
| ─ Appears in “Scratch.” You can defeat certain enemies and activate gimmicks by touching the lower screen. Can be used while sliding. | |
| SCRATCH（スクラッチ） | |
| ─ Appears in “Scratch.” Shake the lower screen to drop a small object on the enemy's head. | |
Video Game[]
In his first vs. Capcom fighter debut in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Viewtiful Joe is an outstanding offensive rushdown character, he also has a very small hit box which allows him to avoid some attacks that the bigger fighters cannot. Joe's primary drawback is that his moves do not have much range and thus like in TvC, Advancing Guards are one of his main weaknesses. He has slightly below average stamina and weak attack, but his outstanding aerial moves, quick movement speed and excellent projectile have made him a solid character. Sadly, Joe's moves are not as good on ground as they are in the air. Also, his Excellent Knuckle Punch command normal is a rather quick overhead, enabling Joe to pull off nasty mixups.
"All right! Let's get it on!"
― Joe in Marvel vs. Capcom Game
He had a weak defensive game in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, he's much improved in this area (though at the cost of his original Slow and Zoom Level 3 Hyper) as his Voomerang has been buffed to great measures for a great keep away game, as well as being able to zone his away into his opponent's field offensively. Also as of the UA-S version of TvC and in virtue of MVC3 as well, his Mach Speed can now be jump cancelled at the final strike like Chun-Li's Houyokusen and Dante's Prop Shredder, giving him powerful air combo setups.
Marvel VS Capcom 3 - ARTWORK
To top off, Joe can now even triple jump and double air dash, giving him more mobility options and even more air combo/aerial rave potential. Though his Red Hot Kick no longer can go forward, limiting his air options carried from TvC, but it can now be cancelled into Hypers, and speaking of Hypers, his Desperado is now a more practical Hyper combo than in the last game. His new Groovy Uppercut is also hard to punish since he can re-perform any of his air actions while falling from it.
Unlike in TvC, Joe's main air combo finisher is the same, only re-allocated to his j.S while he gains a new jumping H (The opposite happens to Zero, and then Frank in the Ultimate version). His j.S is also a great approach tool due to multiple hits.
In UMVC3, Joe's j.S has more priority and is an even more powerful aerial, and his hitbox decreases when jumping, making him more harder to air combo. His Shocking Pink on the downside and upside alike can no longer be juggled around the screen, making it a bit more safe but somewhat impractical. His ground throw range has also increased, compensating for his attack range.
Command Normals
|
Special Attacks
|
ASSIST ATTACKS
|
─ | X-FACTOR
| ||||||
| SET | Name | Type | Angle | Cross-Over | X-Factor Boosts | Damage | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| α | Voomerang | Shot | Front | Desperado | Level 1 | 120% | 120% | |
| β | Groovy Uppercut | Direct | Upward | Mach Speed | Level 2 | 140% | 130% | |
| γ | Shocking Pink | Shot | Downward | Mach Speed | Level 3 | 160% | 140% | |
His new V-Dodge move can be great for instant evasion equivalent to the KOF-style sidestep, in that it is cancellable, making Joe's punishing game more prevalent. His midair Desperado can also now OTG.
Media[]
TV Anime[]
Viewtiful Joe was produced by animation company Group TAC. The producer for the video game franchise, Atsushi Inaba, and his team gave Group TAC its character designs for the video games, as well as original character designs for the animated series. The main cast includes Tomokazu Seki, Natsuko Kuwatani, Makoto Tsumura, Mayumi Asano, Shin-ichiro Miki and Banjō Ginga.
The English version of the anime features voice acting by Jason Palmer, Philece Sampler, Mona Marshall, and Wendee Lee, among others. Bob Papenbrook, under the name John Smallberries, voiced Captain Blue for the show's first twenty-one English dubbed episodes. Papenbrook died on March 17, 2006, due to complications from a chronic lung condition, making Viewtiful Joe his final piece of work. He was replaced by Paul St. Peter for the remainder of the dub.
The U.S. broadcast began with the fifth episode, with the first three episodes not being shown until a month later. The show's pilot was localized in the United States by phuuz entertainment. A few censoring edits were made to the English dubbed version of Viewtiful Joe. In Brazil and Spain, the show was aired completely uncut. In the English version, the name of Joe's flying machine, Six Machine, was renamed in the English dub to Machine Six. There is speculation that it was renamed because its original name sounded close to the phrase "sex machine". Also, Six Majin was renamed to Robo-Six. Joe's middle finger was edited out in his henshin transformation sequence. Silvia's super hero alter ego is renamed from "Sexy Silvia" (which was also used in the games) to "Go-Go Silvia". Sprocket's jumpsuit is always zipped up completely, though it was originally unzipped (showing large amounts of cleavage) and one of her signature moves was to zip it up. This move was eliminated in the dub by cutting out the scenes, resulting in Sprocket having much less screen time than in the original.
Episodes of the series have been released on both DVD and UMD. In North America, Geneon partnered with Kids Foot Locker to promote the show by including DVDs with purchases at the shoe retailer.
Season 1[]
| Episode | Title | Original airdate | U.S. airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Just a Dude Named Joe" Transliteration: "Sono Otoko Jō! No Maki" (Japanese: その男ジョー！の巻) |
October 2, 2004 | December 16, 2005 |
| 2 | "What's-His-Name to the Rescue!" Transliteration: "Tsukame! Densetsu no Hissatsuwaza No Maki" (Japanese: つかめ！伝説の必殺技の巻) |
October 9, 2004 | December 16, 2005 |
| 3 | "Dude, Did You Say Viewtiful?" Transliteration: "Ore wa, Byūteifuru Jō! No Maki" (Japanese: オレは、ビューティフル ジョー！の巻) |
October 16, 2004 | December 16, 2005 |
| 4 | "Tutus To You, Too" Transliteration: "Shiruvia SOS! No Maki" (Japanese: シルヴィアＳＯＳ！の巻) |
October 23, 2004 | December 23, 2005 |
| 5 | "Howdy, Partner!" Transliteration: "Tōjō! Kyaputen Burū Junia No Maki" (Japanese: 登場！キャプテン ブルー ジュニアの巻) |
October 30, 2004 | November 5, 2005 |
| 6 | "Junior Sucks It Up" Transliteration: "Kamōn! Shikkusumashin No Maki" (Japanese: カモ～ン！シックスマシンの巻) |
November 6, 2004 | November 12, 2005 |
| 7 | "Attack of the Slugoon Platoon" Transliteration: "Kyōfu! Suragun Arawaru No Maki" (Japanese: 恐怖！スラグンあらわるの巻) |
November 13, 2004 | November 19, 2005 |
| 8 | "Fire on the Mountain" Transliteration: "Eh, Hīrō Shikkaku!? No Maki" (Japanese: えっ、ヒーロー失格!? の巻) |
November 20, 2004 | November 26, 2005 |
| 9 | "Roamin' Holiday" Transliteration: "Ōsōdō! Hīrō no Kyūjitsu No Maki" (Japanese: 大騒動！ヒーローの休日の巻) |
November 27, 2004 | December 3, 2005 |
| 10 | "No Kidding" Transliteration: "Sūpārobo! Guranchāruku No Maki" (Japanese: スーパーロボ！グランチャールクの巻) |
December 4, 2004 | December 10, 2005 |
| 11 | "When Pigments Fly" Transliteration: "Sekai ga Shoku o Ushinau Nichi! No Maki" (Japanese: 世界が色を失う日！の巻) |
December 11, 2004 | December 17, 2005 |
| 12 | "Dude, Where's My V-Watch?" Transliteration: "Nerawa Reta Bui Wocchi! No Maki" (Japanese: 狙われたVウォッチ！の巻) |
December 18, 2004 | January 7, 2006 |
| 13 | "The Fugitive From Beyond the Screen" Transliteration: "Jadō kara no Tōbōsha! No Maki" (Japanese: ジャドーからの逃亡者！の巻) |
December 25, 2004 | January 14, 2006 |
| 14 | "Jadow Greatest Hits Collection" Transliteration: "Jitsuroku! Jadō Kareinaru Tatakai No Maki" (Japanese: 実録！ジャドー華麗なる戦いの巻) |
January 8, 2005 | January 21, 2006 |
| 15 | "To Have and to Hold Captive" Transliteration: "Shikumareta Wedinguberu! No Maki" (Japanese: 仕組まれたウェディングベル！の巻) |
January 15, 2005 | January 28, 2006 |
| 16 | "A Fairy's Tale" Transliteration: "Sakimasse! Yōsei no Hana No Maki" (Japanese: さきまっせ！妖精の花の巻) |
January 22, 2005 | February 4, 2006 |
| 17 | "Captain Blue vs. The Squid of Inescapable Doom" Transliteration: "Kaettekita Kyaputen Burū!? No Maki" (Japanese: 帰ってきたキャプテン ブルー!? の巻) |
January 29, 2005 | February 11, 2006 |
| 18 | "V-Watch Out!" Transliteration: "Bui Wocchi Panikku! No Maki" (Japanese: Ｖ-ウオッチパニック！の巻) |
February 5, 2005 | February 18, 2006 |
| 19 | "V Is For Veggie-Burger?!" Transliteration: "Kao Woagete Aruko U ! No Maki" (Japanese: 顔をあげて歩こう！の巻) |
February 12, 2005 | February 25, 2006 |
| 20 | "Express Train to Yesterday" Transliteration: "Asobi no Jikan wa Owara Nai! No Maki" (Japanese: 遊びの時間は終らない！の巻) |
February 19, 2005 | March 4, 2006 |
| 21 | "Bianco Billy Rides Again" Transliteration: "Junia Kiki Ippatsu! No Maki" (Japanese: ジュニア危機一発！の巻) |
February 26, 2005 | March 25, 2006 |
| 22 | "Cleanliness is Next to Escape-liness" Transliteration: "Shiruvia Daidassō!? No Maki" (Japanese: シルヴィア大脱走!? の巻) |
March 5, 2005 | April 22, 2006 |
| 23 | "Crush Hour" Transliteration: "Gekitotsu ! Jō VS Arasutoru No Maki" (Japanese: 激突！ジョーＶＳアラストルの巻) |
March 12, 2005 | April 29, 2006 |
| 24 | "Hero Takes a Fall" Transliteration: "Fukkatsu! Shikkusu Majin No Maki" (Japanese: 復活！シックス魔人の巻) |
March 19, 2005 | May 6, 2006 |
| 25 | "In the Belly of the Jadow Beast" Transliteration: "Kessen! Jadō Kichi No Maki" (Japanese: 決戦！ジャドー基地の巻) |
March 26, 2005 | May 13, 2006 |
| 26 | "It All Comes Down to a Dude Named Joe" Transliteration: "Oretachi ni Ashita wa Aru! No Maki" (Japanese: 俺達に明日はある！の巻) |
April 2, 2005 | May 20, 2006 |
Season 2 (Japanese version only)[]
| Episode | Title | Original air date | U.S. air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | "The New Enemy! Gedow's Invasion" Transliteration: "Aratanaru Teki! Gedō Shūrai! No Maki" (Japanese: 新たなる敵！ゲドー襲来！の巻) |
April 9, 2005 | TBA |
| 28 | "Junior's Transformation, Henshin a Yo-Yo" Transliteration: "Junia, Henshin! No Maki" (Japanese: ジュニア、変身！の巻) |
April 16, 2005 | TBA |
| 29 | "Silvia and the Woman Who Summons Storms!" Transliteration: "Arashi o Yobu Onna Shiruvia! No Maki" (Japanese: 嵐を呼ぶ女シルヴィア！の巻) |
April 23, 2005 | TBA |
| 30 | "Wild Wild Kick!" Transliteration: "Wairudo Wairudo Kikku! No Maki" (Japanese: ワイルド・ワイルド・キック！の巻) |
April 30, 2005 | TBA |
| 31 | "The Alien Next Door" Transliteration: "Kimi no Tonari ni Uchūjin! No Maki" (Japanese: キミの隣に宇宙人！の巻) |
May 7, 2005 | TBA |
| 32 | "Fierceness! The Cannon Race" Transliteration: "Mōretsu! Kyanon Rēsu No Maki" (Japanese: モーレツ！キャノンレースの巻) |
May 14, 2005 | TBA |
| 33 | "A Lot of Heroes!" Transliteration: "Hīrō ga Ippai! No Maki" (Japanese: ヒーローがいっぱい！の巻) |
May 21, 2005 | TBA |
| 34 | "Reclaiming the Black Diamond!" Transliteration: "Burakkudaiya o Torimodose! No Maki" (Japanese: ブラックダイヤを取り戻せ！の巻) |
May 28, 2005 | TBA |
| 35 | "A Kind, Mysterious Person from Gedow?!" Transliteration: "Gedō no Yasashii Kaijin!? No Maki" (Japanese: ゲドーのやさしい怪人!? の巻) |
June 4, 2005 | TBA |
| 36 | "The Target is Joe!" Transliteration: "Tāgetto wa Jō! No Maki" (Japanese: 標的（ターゲット）はジョー！ の巻) |
June 11, 2005 | TBA |
| 37 | "Burning Metal Heart!" Transliteration: "Moe yo Metaru Hāto! No Maki" (Japanese: 燃えよメタルハート！の巻) |
June 18, 2005 | TBA |
| 38 | "Revived Black Wings!" Transliteration: "Yomigaeru Kuroi Tsubasa! No Maki" (Japanese: よみがえる黒い翼！の巻) |
June 25, 2005 | TBA |
| 39 | "Enemy is Captain Blue!" Transliteration: "Teki wa Kyaputen Burū! No Maki" (Japanese: 敵はキャプテン ブルー！の巻) |
July 2, 2005 | TBA |
| 40 | "Movieland Crumbles!" Transliteration: "Hōkai! Mūbīrando No Maki" (Japanese: 崩壊！ムービーランドの巻) |
July 9, 2005 | TBA |
| 41 | "Courageously Engraving the Earth!" Transliteration: "Daichi Nikizamu Yuuki! No Maki" (Japanese: 大地にきざむ勇気！の巻) |
July 16, 2005 | TBA |
| 42 | "Raw Hook-up! Joe VS Junior" Transliteration: "Namachūkei! Jō VS Junia No Maki" (Japanese: 生中継！ジョーVSジュニアの巻) |
July 23, 2005 | TBA |
| 43 | "Sprocket's Love for Glasses!" Transliteration: "Supuroketto wa Megane ga Osuki! No Maki" (Japanese: スプロケットはメガネがお好き！の巻) |
July 30, 2005 | TBA |
| 44 | "The Flaming Lion Returns!" Transliteration: "Honō no Shishi Ritānzu! No Maki" (Japanese: 炎の獅子リターンズ！の巻) |
August 6, 2005 | TBA |
| 45 | "Gedow's Romantic Operation!" Transliteration: "Gedō no Raburabu Daisakusen! No Maki" (Japanese: ゲドーのラブラブ大作戦！の巻) |
August 13, 2005 | TBA |
| 46 | "Rachel's Treasured Item" Transliteration: "Reicheru no Takaramono! No Maki" (Japanese: レイチェルのたからもの！の巻) |
August 20, 2005 | TBA |
| 47 | "Actual Records! Gedow's Battle is Confirmed!" Transliteration: "Gedō kara no Tōbōsha! No Maki" (Japanese: ゲドーからの逃亡者！の巻) |
August 27, 2005 | TBA |
| 48 | "Fierce Battle! Eternal Rival!" Transliteration: "Gekitō! Eien no Raibaru No Maki" (Japanese: 激闘！永遠のライバルの巻) |
September 3, 2005 | TBA |
| 49 | "Triumph! Gedow Destroyed" Transliteration: "Daishōri! Gedō Kaimetsu No Maki" (Japanese: 大勝利！ゲドー壊滅の巻) |
September 10, 2005 | TBA |
| 50 | "Exhibition! Viewtiful Film Festival" Transliteration: "Kaisai! Byūtifuru Eigasai No Maki" (Japanese: 開催！ビューティフル映画祭の巻) |
September 17, 2005 | TBA |
| 51 | "Tomorrow's Hero is You!" Transliteration: "Ashita no Hīrō wa Kimi Da! No Maki" (Japanese: 明日のヒーローはキミだ！の巻) |
September 24, 2005 | TBA |
| TRAILER |
CDs[]
The Japanese version of Viewtiful Joe features music composed by Takehiko Gokita and Yuusuke Hayashi. The show features two opening themes by the band SaGa. The song "Brighter Side" is used for the first thirty-eight episodes and the song "Spirit Awake" is used for the remaining episodes. "Brighter Side" is also used in the English version of the show. The Japanese version also features the ending theme "And You" by SaGa for the first thirty-eight episodes, and "Tougenkyou" (also known as Shangri-La Village) by Amasia Landscape for the remainder. A 36-track CD was released by Geneon on February 7, 2006, and contains the anime's music, as well as the bonus track "Viewtiful World" from the first Viewtiful Joe game.
SaGa released two CD singles of their vocal songs in Viewtiful Joe. The first one was released on March 30, 2005, and features both the Japanese and English versions of "Brighter Side" and "And You", as well as a DVD containing one music clip and the opening and ending Viewtiful Joe cinematics with the respective songs. The second single was released on August 31, 2005, and features both language versions of the songs "Spirit Awake" and "Wonder", as well as a DVD music clip of the former. In North America, a CD soundtrack was packaged with the first DVD volume.
Film books[]
Five film books for the anime were released by Capcom in early 2005. The books consist of manga-style panels of the show's storyline shown with screenshots.
| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 24, 2005 | 978-4906582440 | — | — |
| 2 | February 23, 2005 | 978-4906582501 | — | — |
| 3 | March 24, 2005 | 978-4906582518 | — | — |
| 4 | June 28, 2005 | 978-4906582815 | — | — |
| 5 | October 1, 2005 | 978-4906582938 | — | — |
Reception[]
Geneon's press release of the third North American DVD and UMD release of Viewtiful Joe in early 2006 showed that the anime was the top-ranked show in its timeslot for the ages 2–11 Nielsen ratings demographic.
Reviews of Viewtiful Joe by various media outlets mostly agreed that the show is faithful to the video games on which it is based, but complained of its animation framerates and English localization. Matt Casamassina of IGN praised the Viewtiful Joe for staying true to its source material. He states, "the episodes never stray too far from the original subject matter. As a result, anybody who played the Joe titles will have a sense of dējā vu as they watch these toons. Viewers who know the franchise's history will find no contradictions in these episodes - merely more back story, most of it entertaining." Despite his appreciation for its artwork, Casamassina was displeased with the show's lack of animation. This was concurred upon by Zac Bertschy of the Anime News Network (ANN), who was also very critical of the show's English dub, giving the first DVD volume an overall "F". Specifically, he found that the localization's attempt to be hip with a nearly constant use of slang in order to cater to younger audiences resulted in a "insultingly bad dub". Carlo Santos, also of ANN, had a similar opinion, and gave the second DVD volume an overall "D". He found fault not only in the voice acting, but the script writing as well. "Joe's vocabulary is all, like, totally, DUDE every time he opens his mouth, and when he's not hamming it up with unconvincing slang, he's spouting lines that are supposed to sound witty but aren't." Santos also noted the series as being too repetitive, but enjoyed the anime's character design, coloring, and visual style taken from the games. Buzz McClain of Video Business asserted that the show is "clearly influenced by the animation style of Hayao Miyazaki", and that its use of narrative is much more linear and easy to follow than other anime.
Reviews for Viewtiful Joe 2 were generally positive. The GameCube and PS2 versions hold GameRankings scores of 85% and 84% respectively. Metacritic currently lists the respective versions at 86 and 85 out of 100. IGN ranked it as the 89th best PlayStation 2 game. The staff felt that it was an example of a quality sequel.
Famitsu magazine gave the GameCube version of Viewtiful Joe 2 a 28 out of 40 and gave the PS2 version a 27 out of 40. IGN gave a rating of 9.0, citing the game's deep and satisfying gameplay, and that "all sequels should be this good".
During Capcom's fiscal year 2004, Viewtiful Joe 2 sold 270,000 copies in North America and 80,000 copies in Japan. The game sold poorly in United Kingdom, failing to enter the 40 top-selling games during its week of release in the region. Although the ending for Viewtiful Joe 2 suggests an immediate continuation to the plot of the series, a Viewtiful Joe 3 has not been produced. Two spin-off games (Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble and Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!) were released in 2005. Clover Studio was dissolved in 2007 and all its intellectual properties defaulted to Capcom. Many of Clover's key members including Inaba and Kamiya formed the third-party developer PlatinumGames that same year. Capcom has stated that they have no plans to continue with the Viewtiful Joe series. Kamiya has expressed interest in finishing the story of the series, however unlikely that may be.
Reviews and sales[]
Viewtiful Joe received critical acclaim upon its release. Metacritic lists the GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions of the game at 93 out of 100 and 90 out of 100, respectively. The game's graphics, gameplay, and challenge were all common areas of praise among many reviewers. IGN gave Viewtiful Joe an "Outstanding" rating, noting that the beautiful cel-shaded graphics and high-intensity action make it one of the best action games on the GameCube and PlayStation 2. Likewise, Eurogamer called it "imaginative, beautiful, engaging and above all else entertaining". Game Informer praised it as "a completely original and highly entertaining work of art". Criticisms about Viewtiful Joe have been few, but consistent among reviews. IGN complained of the game's lack of boss variety. GameSpy has concurred, noting that the bosses were too easy due to a powerful attack that the player can perform. Reviewers have also criticized the lack of progressive scan in the game's PlayStation 2 port. IGN and Eurogamer have additionally pointed out that the PlayStation 2 port suffers slowdown in later stages of the game.
In Japan, the GameCube version of Viewtiful Joe sold through its initial shipment of less than 100,000 copies during the week of its release. Preorders of the GameCube version sold out on Capcom's North American website prior to its ship date, and Viewtiful Joe debuted as the tenth best-selling game in the region. The PlayStation 2 version sold a poor 9,912 units in its first week of release in Japan. Worldwide, sales of the game reached 275,000 copies on the GameCube and 46,000 on the PlayStation 2. Sales of the game in both North America and Europe were lower than what Capcom had predicted, but due to its small budget, the game was considered by Inaba to be relatively successful commercially.
Legacy[]
Viewtiful Joe garnered a number of awards and nominations from various magazines, popular gaming websites, and video game award programs. IGN named Viewtiful Joe "GameCube Game of the Year" and "Best Action Game of 2003". At GameSpot's Best of 2003, the game was nominated for "Best Artistic Achievement in a Game", "Coolest New Character", "Best GameCube Game", "Readers' Choice Best GameCube Action Game", and "Readers' Choice GameCube Game of the Year". It was also named the fourth-best GameCube game of 2003 by GameSpy, winning the website's "Most Stylish" award for the year. Viewtiful Joe won "Most Innovative Game Design" in Nintendo Power magazine's 2003 Player's Choice Awards. It won "GameCube Game of the Year" awards for 2003 from both USA Today and GMR. The game was nominated by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for "Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year" in 2004 and was nominated for three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards including "Best Design", "Best Intro/Animation", and "Best GameCube Game". The game won "Unsung Hero Game of the Year" at the 2003 Golden Joystick Awards and "Best New Franchise" at the 2004 G-Phoria awards. Finally, it was recognized at the 4th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards as one of three "Game Innovation Spotlights".
Viewtiful Joe has been included in a number of "best games" lists in the years following its release. It was rated the 27th best game made on a Nintendo system in Nintendo Power's "Top 200 Games" list in February 2006 and the 10th best game on the GameCube in its August 2008 issue reflecting on the top 20 games for each system. Both GameSpy and the G4 television program X-Play named Viewtiful Joe the ninth best game of all time for the GameCube. In 2007, Viewtiful Joe was named the 17th best GameCube game of all time in IGN's feature reflecting on the system's long lifespan. Later in 2007, ScrewAttack listed the game at seventh on their Top 10 GameCube Games of All Time.
Viewtiful Joe was successful enough to establish a franchise, and a few other related media titles were released. Viewtiful Joe was followed by a direct sequel titled Viewtiful Joe 2—released for both the GameCube and PlayStation 2—and two spinoffs: Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble for the PSP and GameCube and Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! for the Nintendo DS. An anime adaption of the game was produced by Group TAC, airing on the Japanese television station TV Tokyo beginning in 2004 and being licensed for US distribution by Geneon Entertainment in 2005. A set of Viewtiful Joe trading figures was released by Agatsuma Entertainment in October 2005, while a series of action figures made by Jazwares was released in July 2006. V Jump published a manga series of Viewtiful Joe from November 2004.
In 2004, Capcom registered the domain name ViewtifulJoe3.com, suggesting another sequel. Shortly thereafter, the website was devoid of content. In January 2006, Atsushi Inaba expressed interest in developing a title in the series for the Wii. However, as none of Clover Studio's games proved to be an outstanding financial success, Capcom officially dissolved the subsidiary in March 2007 after the release of its final two games, Ōkami and God Hand. Its key members left to form a new company called PlatinumGames. Capcom producer Jun Takeuchi commented at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con that there have been currently no plans to continue with the series, although Viewtiful Joe has appeared as a playable character in Capcom's 2008 Wii fighting game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars and is a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
However, in 2012, PlatinumGames announced the development of The Wonderful 101, then known as Project P-100. This was the first project that reunited Kamiya and Inaba as director and producer on a title since the development of the Viewtiful Joe series. Furthermore, The Wonderful 101 uses the same tokusatsu thematics of the Viewtiful Joe series, and the two share a similar art style albeit different gameplay. This has led fans to hail The Wonderful 101 as a spiritual successor of sorts. The franchise would also later be featured in Archie Comics' Worlds Unite crossover with several other Capcom and Sega series, taking place in the Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man comics.
In Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, the fighter Rashid has an outfit based on Viewtiful Joe. It is unlocked through completing four extra battles.
External Link[]
- Viewtiful Joe ─ General Website, Wayback Machine - May 10, 2006
- TV Anime "Viewtiful Joe" Official Website
- Anime: Viewtiful Joe ─ Wikipedia JP
- Anime: Viewtiful Joe ─ Wikipedia EN
Trivia[]
to be added.