Homecoming

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Homecoming is one of the seven short films comprising the anime adaptation of the Halo universe, Halo Legends. Homecoming focuses on the tragedies involving the SPARTAN-II conscription in 2517, and the supersoldiers coming to terms with their origins.

Frank O'Connor has stated that the segment has a very dark story despite the ironically cute and pleasant poster art. On the 21st of January, Spike's GTTV aired a short clip from Homecoming.

Plot Summary

Homecoming follows Daisy-023 who, after years of manipulation, escaped the Spartan training facility on Reach. The story is told in a non-linear fashion, jumping back and forth between Daisy's past escape from the facility and her present involvement in a battle against the Covenant.

Like all Spartan-IIs, Daisy was abducted as a child and placed into the training and augmentation program. A few weeks after the augmentations, she and four other Spartans held their trainers at gunpoint, before being granted permission to leave by Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of the Spartan-II project. The Spartans escaped Reach and went their separate ways, with Daisy returning to her home planet of Sargasso.

Upon arrival, she found that the UNSC was already searching for her. She eluded their patrols and found her home, where she encountered a wheelchair-bound girl whose appearance was nearly identical to hers. It was then that a Hornet approached, with Halsey on board. Halsey explained via COM that the abducted Spartans were replaced with flash-clones, to cover up the kidnappings. Halsey unsuccessfully attempted to convince Daisy to return to the training program; instead, the confused Spartan drew her weapon and aimed it at the clone. She hesitated for a while, and lowered the weapon. As she began to leave, the clone called out to her, and give her a small teddy bear on a chain. Daisy returned to UNSC custody, and the clone died soon after.

Later, during the Harvest Campaign in the Human-Covenant War, Daisy-023 assisted several Marines that had been pinned down by enemy fire. As she assisted the Marines in reaching an evacuation point, she encountered Ralph-303, a fellow escapee who was now working as a Marine. As the evacuation Pelican dropship landed and the Marines boarded the vessel, Daisy was impaled by Needler rounds. She unsuccessfully attempted to provide covering fire using a pistol; the Pelican was completely destroyed with Fuel Rod Gun fire, killing everyone aboard. Daisy died soon after from the Needler rounds.

Her body was later found by John-117, who placed Daisy's teddy bear chain in her hands and closed her eyes.

Development

Joseph Chou was inspired by Eric Nylund's novel Halo: The Fall of Reach which detailed the background of the Spartans. After discussing story ideas with Shinji Aramaki they decided to create a story about a group of Spartans that escape and ultimately one who faces their self. The story was taken to Production I.G for development where it was presented to director Koji Sawai who had worked for Production I.G in the past including work with Mamoru Oshii. Ishikawa chose Sawai for his known ability to portray females in a very strong way.

Sawai, who is presently a director for Bee Train Productions, along with his friend Koichi Mashimo brought in their own team of artists including long time writing collaborator Hiroyuki Kawasaki. Sawai hoped to bring the studio’s own unique style and flavor to the Halo Universe in the time allowed.

While all promotional materials cited Production I.G as the producer of Homecoming, the official video release credits Bee Train to the principal animation work, with studio head Mashimo acting as the executive producer.

In their audio commentary Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou mentioned the anime style is strikingly contrast to the story. While the story is quite dark the color pallet is very bright and traditional anime style.

Appearances

Characters Daisy-023 John-117 Joseph-122 Ralph-303 Catherine Halsey Sergeant Hauser Organizations Covenant Empire Office of Naval Intelligence SPARTAN-II Program United Nations Space Command UNSC Marine Corps Species Human Sangheili Unggoy Yanme'e Kig-Yar

Locations Reach Sargasso Harvest Vehicles AV-14 Attack VTOL Dropship 77-Troop Carrier M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle Weapons United Nations Space Command MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System M41 Vulcan Light Anti-Aircraft Gun M6C Personal Defense Weapon System M90 Close Assault Weapon System Sniper Rifle System 99C-S2 Anti-Matériel Covenant Empire Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade

Trivia

• How Daisy holstered her M6 sidearm would be physically impossible, since the handle and trigger guard occupy the center portion of the weapon, yet the holster appears rectangular, with no slit at the back for the handle. The fact that the rear iron sights are visible prove that the handle was not exposed at the opening. The holster itself appears to be suited for pistols with a design similar to those of modern-day pistols, with the handle closer to the hammer.