Terminator Zero (2024)
Director: Masashi Kudo
Studio: Production IG, Sydance Television
Starring: Yuya Uchida, Hiro Shimono, Shizuka Ishigami
Episodes: 8
Synopsis:
A resistance fighter is sent to the past to stop a scientist developing an AI to rival Skynet.
Impressions:
I want you to imagine something. A soldier from a dark future where humanity is on the brink of annihilation by the machine army of a killer AI goes back in time in a bid to avert the tragedy that destroyed civilization, but a relentless killing machine has also been sent back. Hm? That's basically every Terminator story (except for Salvation)? Well, why break from a winning formula? Hm? It hasn't really been winning after the second movie? Well, shoot...
The Terminator franchise has been through the wringer, but the idea of a Terminator anime piqued my curiosity a bit. If the opening paragraph hasn't made it clear, a lot of familiar beats get repeated, which detract from what makes this story unique, which honestly isn't a whole lot because the "unique" part of the story borrows rather heavily from I, Robot. I mean, what better way to combat a killer AI than with another AI? And why not have it designed by a misanthrope who can really sell the virtues of humanity? -_- If that wasn't enough, the kids are likely to annoy more than anything, especially Kenta. Hiro feels mostly superfluous except for a couple scenes where he's somewhat effect as a foil to the aforementioned Kenta. I did like Misaki a fair bit, but I'm sure that her being voiced by Saori Hayami is a big part of the reason for that. I did like some of the ways the Terminator plays into his role as an infiltration unit and how the writing does mostly account for the limitations on armaments available in Japan and the technology level of the 1997 setting. However, all told, for every one thing I liked, there were at least two or three things that I didn't, which resulted in a net negative experience. Though the writing falls short, I can at least praise the high production value courtesy of Production IG and proper R-rated violence to really sell the brutality of the scenario.
In the final tally, I disliked far more than I liked about this, but even so, I think it might well be the best of the worst in the pile of all the stuff that came after T2. (However, to you Sarah Connor Chronicles fans out there, I haven't seen that, so it falls outside of my assessment here.) The best I can say is take it or leave it. There is Misaki, after all.
Rating:
50/50
N.B. Something that seems fairly common with Netflix anime, the subtitles are wildly inaccurate, to the point where I'd believe they were dubtitles rather than anything resembling an accurate translation of the Japanese script. If Misaki dropping F-bombs seems out of character for her, rest assured that her Japanese dialog doesn't reflect that at all. I feel bad for viewers who want to listen to the Japanese version but don't know Japanese well enough to get by without subtitles.