As part of a collaboration with another Substack writer, I agreed to watch this series and here’s my review of the series for the podcast and this publication. If you’re curious to read the guest review they wrote you can read it here! - https://cafemanga.substack.com/p/terminator-zero-a-guest-review
The Basics
This anime series was specifically produced for Netflix. The project is a collaboration between Production I.G. (Japan) and Skydance Television (US). The showrunner is Mattson Tomlin and directed by Masashi Kudo.
Mattson did an interview with The Hollywood Report, where he discusses the process of working on this show. (You can read here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/terminator-zero-mattson-tomlin-batman-1235987299/) I find it particularly interesting that there were a lot of script re-writes because of the dubbing process. The other interesting thing is that one of his other projects he’s working on is the pilot for a potential Game of Thrones prequel about Aegon the Conqueror. However that’s not for this publication, but really for my other publication/podcast.
Thus far there are only 8 episodes to this series which were all released same day on August 29. They’re like your typical anime series where the episodes are just under 25 minutes long.
The Premise
Like a lot of the stories in the Terminator franchise, you have two connected stories happening. You have a story in the future when once again the humans are barely hanging on against Skynet. Then you have a plot set in the past which where a big part of the action takes place.
In the dark future, you have a Terminator (voiced by Timothy Olyphant) sent back in time on a mission to chance the past for Skynet’s benefit. A member of the human resistance Eiko (voice by House of the Dragon actress Sonoya Mizuno), is sent to thwart the Terminator. Who are they after? That’s where the past timeline comes in.
In 1997, you have a workaholic widower named Malcolm Lee who is obsessed with completing a major object: Kokoro, an advanced AI to rival Skynet. In between his urgent goal of finishing Kokoro, there’s the family drama happening where his work turned into a distant father to his three children: Kenta, Reika, and Hiro. The three kids are left to the care of their kind housekeeper, Misaki.
The series follows the race to get to Malcolm and Kokoro. Who will get to them first, the Terminator or Eiko.
General Thoughts
I have to confess that personally speaking I had mixed feelings about this series. I’m also going to openly admit that if it wasn’t for the fact I agreed to do a collaboration, I might not have even watched this series. At least not at this point in time. I’m not really a fan of the Terminator franchise. I liked the original Cameron movies, but that’s about it.
My genuine opinion is that I think the extensive movies and spin-offs are just excuses to milk the cash cow. Maybe I’m part of the minority that thinks Judgment Day was good enough and it should have ended there. I could get into a long rant about why I think Hollywood has lost its ability to be truly creative at this point, but that is not what this publication or this review is about.
Already this isn’t a good sign as to whether I was going to like this anime or not. The bar is pretty low. I just took a deep breath and watched for the sake of this collaboration. Overall there were things I did like about it and things I didn’t like about it. I’ll get more into details in the podcast in the spoiler talk at the end of the episode. But here’s the non-spoiler things.
I think the animation is top notch. It’s not too surprising considering this is the same studio that did the Ghost in the Shell movies, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Haikyu!!! Though they do that annoying trend of including the really strange CGI work that is very off putting visually. I also appreciate some of the philosophical questions that get brought up like whether or not humanity really is worth saving.
What I didn’t like? This mostly stems from my general dislike of spin-offs and sequels that nobody asked for. I just found the plot of this anime basically repeats the formula from every other Terminator movie and tv show. I especially found Malcolm a frustrating character and not a character I could find much sympathy with until episode 7 & 8. He came across as a “mad scientist” archetype. He appears to be a character obsessed with their work and particular goals that he neglects the people in his life. Also like Victor Frankenstein, he makes assumptions about how things will be once his project is completed.
Overall I would say that if you’re a Terminator fan or just enjoy action stories of that type, you’ll enjoy the series. If your feelings about the franchise is similar to mind, then feel free to skip if you don’t want to watch it.
Have you watched this series? What did you think? Leave a comment below!
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