Zone of the Enders Complete Collection - Anime Frontier

• Media Source:Anime Frontier
• Reviewed By:Jared Elswick
• Review Date:02/05/06
• Read the original review click here

"...I'm a fan of this franchise."

"...an enjoyable series that really came as a bit of a surprise."

"...it has a lot going for it and definitely deserves more attention than it's previously garnered."

The Verdict
Audio
Offered up in English 5.1 and Japanese 2.0, I watched Idolo completley in Japanese and the TV series mostly in English. The Japanese track in Idolo was a pretty decent stereo mix, nothing fancy but it did offer up a good sense of directionality from time to time. As for the English track on the TV series, it could have been more directional, but there is a good sense of both forward and rear directionality at times, and the Japanese stereo track was basically on par with that of the Idolo release, nothing fancy but a solid stereo track nonetheless.

Video
Originally airing back in 2001, Zone of the Enders comes across surprisingly well and makes for quite the good game to series transfer. Produced by Sunrise, we get a rather high quality show even though this series and OVA are five years old at this point. The animation is crisp and fluid, looking good throughout, and its only heightened by ADV's transfer. As always, ADV delivers when it comes to the DVD transfer, as this show features a relatively clean look that isn't convoluded by much aliasing or cross coloration. Although there is some, there really isn't enough to make a stink about.

Characters
Idolo

Radium Lavans ? A member of the armed forces in the United Colonies of Mars, Radium is assigned to a new project that involves the creation and implementation of a new and incredibly powerful Orbital Frame.

Viola ? Radium?s teammate in the armed forces, she is also assigned to this new project alongside him and becomes a bit of a problem when mixed with his girlfriend.

Dolores ? Radium?s girlfriend, Dolores is involved with the Orbital Frame project he will be testing and is also a thorn in the side of Viola, and vice verse, at times.

Dolores, i

James Links ? A former LEV pilot, Jim comes into possession of a Orbital Frame named Dolores seemingly by chance, throwing his entire life, as well as the fate of Mars, into complete chaos.

Leon and Noel ? James? kids, they disowned him years ago but with the development with the Orbital Frame they were thrust into this as well and have been forced to fight alongside their father with Dolores.

Radium Lavans ? Former ?hero?, Radium has since become more of your archetypal villain and has set out to take on the Earth after the events of ZOE Idolo.

Story
Kicking off this box set is the OVA portion of the ZOE franchise, Idolo. The year is 2167 and the story begins on Mars with several teams of LEV suits trying to overrun a heavily armored hill, making for quite the troublesome maneuver which doesn?t look too good until one person, Second Lieutenant Radium Lavans begins his advance on the hill and does his best to take out the main cannon, in quite an inventive way I might add. This is just a training exercise once its all said and done, and the UNSF was watching the whole thing, and with the end of the training we get a good glimpse at the general abhorrence of Martian born humans by Earthlings, and its provided by a show of an Earthling?s superior strength to that of a Martian born human.

Putting a stop to this squabble for good, Radium and his LEV teammate Viola are reassigned to a remote base on Mars as a cover for a bigger project involving the latest weapons development involving a new Orbital Frame (a mech that is bigger and far superior the LEVs). Things then move into the way the Orbital Frame works as we see Radium undergo his training and we see how he and the frame end up bonding in a way as they interact with each other and the frame unleashes a long lasting hatred he?s had for all things Earth. Then again, there?s also the ongoing struggle between Radium and Viola and Radium and his girlfriend Dolores (who is involved with the frame project) as well as Dolores and Viola.

Moving into the meat of the set with the TV series, we?re introduced to a man named James Links who is about to transfer some unknown cargo from Mars to Earth because he?s hoping that once he reaches Earth this time around that he can reunite with his kids who disowned him long ago. However, before completion, he finds out that he?s actually carrying a new Orbital Frame by the name of Dolores that has a recording of his dead wife onboard and also plays a lullaby she used to sing. This has far reaching effects, as the Earth government is now after him and his kids as well, so he?s thrust in with his two kids once again even if they don?t want him back and they?re all on the run with Dolores in tow.

From here, the Links family continually stays on the run although they continually get into messy situations that result in someone getting captured or someone seemingly dying. That aside, Dolores keeps them all together and manages to save them on her own quite often as she is one Orbital Frame that just doesn?t seem to want to be decommissioned, even when she?s in a million little pieces.

The surprising yet unsurprising aspect that is added to this show is the fact that information eventually surfaces about the fact that James? wife Rachael may not be as dead as he thinks. Of course, he and the kids are more than willing to find out the truth and this is done fantastically, especially for a sci-fi show. Of course, the material involving Rachael is more than surprising enough to keep under wraps, and for me it?s the part afterwards that is more exciting since it begins a huge war between Mars and Earth due to a rather large breakdown of communication and a rather deep-seeded distrust on both parts.

This war, which is mostly started by Jim, Leon and Noel, eventually brings in a good twist that I could have almost seen coming but somehow didn?t. The main character of the OVA, Radium Lavans, makes his way back into the ZOE storyline to become the main antagonist this time around as he and Jim become each others antithesis as Radium is more than ready to take down the Earth by any means necessary. Of course, being that this is an anime series, it would be wrong for this to not boil down to a knock down drag out fight between Radium and Jim in their Orbital Frames, and rightly so.

Afterthoughts
After taking in the TV series and OVA in one fell swoop, I can safely say that I'm a fan of this franchise. The games aren't exactly fantastic (although Hideo Kojima had a good idea when creating them) but the overall premise of the games transitions well into anime form, making for an enjoyable series that really came as a bit of a surprise. This show plays up a great sci-fi theme that works with the mecha aspect of the show quite well. For those of you who enjoyed the story to the games, and enjoy sci-fi and or mecha anime, ZOE should be right up your alley, it has a lot going for it and definitely deserves more attention than it's previously garnered.

Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2006 (Archive on Sunday, March 05, 2006)