This killer Secret of Mana animation could have been a cutscene in the remake

Or an intro

We’re in an era where folks can learn trades in their spare time, post it on the internet and leverage it into a job. We’ve seen this time and time again with properties like Zelda, and now Secret of Mana is entering the fray.

Created by Benoit Tranchet from a pocket of “free time” from August 2018 to December 2019 (with music by Mariano Frumento and sound design by Oliver Smith), the minute and a half animation centers around the three heroes of the classic JRPG: Boy, Girl and Sprite, also known as Randi, Primm and Popoi.

Using all of the tools they’ve acquired during their journey, they prepare for the final battle, with a few classic audio/visual callbacks to the game. It’s short and sweet, and the animation feels like a mix between Bird Studios’ work on the Chrono Trigger re-release FMVs and the stylings of Genndy Tartakovsky. It’s wonderful, and would have easily fit in as an intro or cutscene in the recent remake.

In case you’re curious, the logo at the end showcases both the Japanese (Seiken Densetsu 2) and English titles. As a reminder, Seiken Densetsu 3, also known as Trials of Mana, was just released worldwide on PC, PS4 and Switch. This series is still very much relevant, and Tranchet picked ꩲa perfect time to honor it.