

Zaion: I Wish You Were Here
i -wish you were here- ~あなたがここにいてほしい~
In the future, a meteor crashes into Earth and brings with it a virulent form of life. This virus is known as M34 and attacks humans, turning them into vicious monsters. Most of the human population is wiped out, thus government agencies are formed to fight the virus. One of the groups, NOA, inserts nanomachines into the bodies of its soldiers; these machines allow them to transform and fight off the infected. Unfortunately, the virus mutates and becomes too strong for NOA to handle. Now the fate of the world rests in the hands of 16-year-old girl with the power to defeat the virus. (Source: AniDB)
In the future, a meteor crashes into Earth and brings with it a virulent form of life. This virus is known as M34 and attacks humans, turning them into vicious monsters. Most of the human population is wiped out, thus government agencies are formed to fight the virus. One of the groups, NOA, inserts nanomachines into the bodies of its soldiers; these machines allow them to transform and fight off the infected. Unfortunately, the virus mutates and becomes too strong for NOA to handle. Now the fate of the world rests in the hands of 16-year-old girl with the power to defeat the virus. (Source: AniDB)
torgon02
November 6, 2009
Zaion is an exercise in lack of thought. Not defective thought like some animes, no half-baked explanations of convienient plot twists, but a nearly complete lack of interest on the part of the writers. The second half begins to redeem the show but it's already too late. Mediocre story, stale characters, and glaring holes in logic have done their damage. The Setting: At some point in the past (at least 1 year ago tho no time frame is given) a meteor fell to earth releasing an alien virus that causes the infected to turn into rampaging mutant monsters, infecting anyone they touch. There is no cureso the only way to deal with an outbreak is to seal the area and kill all the infected. A secret organization called C.U.R.E. is responcible for containing outbreaks and keeping the whole thing secret from the world. Their dedication is aparent by the way no one seems to care how it all turns out. The operators for their remote assult robots act like it's a boring videogame ("Finally I'm dead, now I can get a coffee"), the nanite-infused NOA soldiers are given no equipment and are left to kill hoards of mutants barehanded (sure they have superstrength and armor but give the poor guys a grenade or 2 at least), and not only does no one seem to bother using any kind of tactics but in the end when they start, they get arrested for it (for disobaying orders, yes. but still). Story: 4 All of this is meant to be backdrop for the mild romantic story of Yuuji, a NOA soldier, and Ai, C.U.R.E.'s new superweapon (who creates a 40' hologram that hugs things to death. how this is supposed to be the ultimate weapon to combat a virus is anybodies guess). It starts off poor, as no character has any personality until the second half, but gets more interesting toward the end. Sound: 5 Nothing good or bad worth mentioning Art: 4 Nothing spectacular but nothing too bad either. Except the CG robots. They're as generic as possible to make things easier on the animators and were very poorly meshed into otherwise hand drawn fight scenes. Mostly they don't even move except to walk forward until the big fight in the 3rd episode. They barely move while getting jumped and smacked around by guyver-esque mutants while then fall over at the wrong time in weird directions like someone's poorly done greenscreen fight. Character: 3 One of the worst parts of this show. All the characters and completely lifeless until the second half. After which point most of them die as soon as their personallities finally come out. Even the 2 mains only stand out because they are the focus of the story. If not for that, they wouldn't even be memorable. Enjoyment: 5 For the first half I found myself with nothign better to do than pick though all the strange logic that presented itself. But once the story began to come together and the characters started to gain personallity, I found I began to like the show. Zaion does finally manage to leave that pleasent feeling from the happy ending (though the ending itself presents another hole in logic if you're already thinking about such things) Overall: 5 Not very good, but some will like it anyway. And it's short enough to watch in one sitting.
Greenfox
January 7, 2009
Zaion is a basically a story about a meteorite which landed on Earth containing an alien virus that has begun infecting humans. So basically this is very similar to the Resident Evil theme. The story must also take place in the future because they have warriors using nano-technology and mecha-type machines to fight against these mutated humans. They also decided to stick in a bit of romance which is basically a love at first site ordeal. Overall, the series is worth watching considering it's only 4 episodes and can be watched whileyou're waiting for your ongoing anime to be posted. Unfortunately, I can't help having a sense that I was robbed. This could have been a really good series if they wanted to make it a 12-13 episode series and started from the beginning. However, this story takes place after people have been infected and people have already been created to destroy the infected beings. Seeing as it was only a 4 episode series they could only hint upon different things that could have happened. Plus, how things came to be are never explained in detail and it seems like the plot was rushed. Considering the anime was only 4 episodes I thought they did a pretty good job with character development and the character art suited my taste. Plus the sound fit in well and I enjoyed it......still I'm bummed it was only 4 episodes. To all those who enjoy an action anime I suggest you watch it. And to those who don't, it's only 4 episodes.....you might as well watch it too
AatihoNora
March 19, 2022
I: Wish You Were Here is a story about an alien virus pandemic that is turning humans into monsters and our main protagonists are in the team that is fighting against them. The anime was pretty short and with much-needed progress The anime had a very basic plot that had no originality whatsoever and on top of that, the story was poorly written. The use of CGI was horrific but looking at the time it was released the Japanese media was still struggling with the concept of CGI. Putting aside CGI the art itself was pretty fine. The characters were written by amateurs from what canbe seen in the anime. They are not only really basic but with no intention of trying at any point. The dialogues were also horrendously boring and forgetful right away. Many will disagree on different things looking at the era it was released but still the writing of the plot and story don't have that standard as these are done with creativity and the anime seriously lacks it. Even if it was a full 1-cour story it would have been a disappointment the romance was forced and random, the characters were merely existing with nothing likable about them and the plot was dead and superficial In the end, I would say it was nothing but a failed prototype with an abundance of mistakes and amateur writing. I would not recommend this to anyone at all.
trevb0t
October 10, 2014
I will begin by saying that, while the review may sound scathing, this mini-series has some things going for it. If you enjoy the super-suite type mecha stuff in the vein of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, it's graciously short, and ultimately may be worth watching for you. The plot isn't really the issue. It's another take on something we've seen time and time again, and for that get's a mediocre score. It didn't try to reach anything new, didn't overstep its boundaries, and didn't use any lame explanations to try to change the game from similar stories that preceded it. The main issue I had isthe cheap, quick animation and art style that so many 90's/early 2000's anime series suffer from. This show feels pumped out, robotic, and just like there wasn't much effort put into it. The characters are all takes on popular anime cliches too. The helpless girl, imprisoned and weaponized; the ace pilot who's angry at the corporation that forces him to fight, etc. Surprisingly enough for as lazily as the show was done, whoever put the soundtrack together did a surprisingly great job. Even in parts where poor character exchanges would've normally had me saying "Oh god, get on with it." The soundtrack managed to make me second guess my nonchalance and almost want to feel what they are failing to bring across emotionally through rushed dialogue. Not bad. Just not original. If you're in desperate need of some kids in cyber-suites killing inhuman monsters, then check this one out. If you're looking for something new, great, or visually stirring, pass right by this one.
SgtSalamander
September 5, 2024
Zaion: I Wish You Were Here is a a somewhat generic, passingly entertaining sci-fi anime built upon a fun concept. Put simply, it is an almost stereotypical example of anime in 2001. Beginning with the story, it's alright. The idea of a mysterious space virus turning people into monsters is cool, and the idea of fighting them with nanobot-enhanced tokusatsu-style supersoldiers is fun, if a little out there. Furthermore, the concept of a psychic girl's powers only really working due to a special connection (and often proximity) with the love of her life provides an interesting opportunity for conflict, andcalls back to the title. The story, in short, has a lot of potential baked into its core ideas, and could have been a lot of fun, if not strictly good. As it stands, however, it ends up just being okay. Yeah, supersoldiers and giant monsters are fun, but the anime doesn't bring anything particularly notable to the table that could take it to the next level, be it in terms of story or animation. Also, there are quite a few plotholes that are left completely unresolved. Namely, this space virus that turns people into hulking monsters and has the ability to mush together the infected to create what are essentially Kaiju, is being dealt with in secret by a shadowy international organization. This is to say, nobody has noticed that this is happening yet. You're telling me entire hospitals are being exploded by flesh monsters and people are disappearing by the thousands, and not a single civilian has been able to figure it out yet? Beyond this, characters also just completely disappear from the narrative as soon as they no longer matter, and the decisions of the shadowy international organization make little strategic sense, abusing their greatest resources for no real reason and seemingly pursuing whatever course of action would lead to the greatest loss of human life. All of this is framed by the constant backdrop of the world's most incompetent scientists, unable to make basic connections between data points, and leaving biohazardous material just laying around while they go take naps or get snacks. Insane. If you can just focus on the fights and the brooding 2000s atmosphere, then it's a fine time, but be forewarned that these things are hard to ignore. Revisiting that title, by the way, the "Zaion" part doesn't really make any sense, because as far as I can tell nobody says that word anywhere in the show, and it appears exactly zero times onscreen. Baffling. Moving on, the art walks the line between high and low quality. Still shots of characters are actually pretty good, with thick linework, good contrast, and interesting angles. There is also a smart, reserved use of color throughout, giving the whole show a kind of mysterious, forlorn quality. However, there are many problems here, as well. The animation isn't always the smoothest, or the most consistent, with obvious shortcuts taken throughout, presumably to spare the budget. These include long, panning still shots, jarring jump cuts from one scene to the next, and some genuinely awful CG, though that last point is to be expected, especially from the early 2000s. The sound has a pretty weird kind of character to it, though in this way it is the perfect fit for this anime. The soundtrack is this bizarre blend of synthesizer organ and electric guitar, tossing in random techno elements throughout. It's not good or bad, but it is so strange that I really can't think of anywhere else it could call home other than Zaion: I Wish You Were Here. The sounds of life and voice work, meanwhile, are generally unremarkable. The characters are, tentatively, the strongest aspect of the show, though that's not to say they're necessarily good. They just feel like they have a lot of agency within the story, and fill their roles in ways which lead to interesting conflicts. They still suffer from the bizarre decision making that was mentioned before, but that's more of a problem on the part of the secondary cast. This aspect earns its spot simply because there's no huge flaw that drags it down when compared to the other aspects. Of the characters, the best among them are Yuuji and Ai, Yuuji as a decisive action-oriented protagonist who tends to make more sane decisions than other characters, and Ai for being written in such a way that's actually engaging and rooted in the central conflict of the plot. Overall, Zaion: I Wish You Were Here is a janky early 2000s mess with a ton of flaws, and while it can't be called good by any stretch of the imagination, it is still, on some level, enjoyable in its own way. Maybe it's the early 2000s aesthetics, maybe it's the big monster fights, or maybe it's the latent potential of the main conflict, but this anime, for all its flaws, didn't feel like a slog to get through. It feels like one of those throwaway Saturday morning cartoons that'd air just to take up time in the slot. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again, but if it were theoretically on TV on a lazy day I don't know if I'd change the channel right away. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide whether or not this would be worth your time, because the question of whether it's good or bad isn't really worth asking.
Ранг
#10807
Популярность
#6820
Участники
11,360
В избранном
16
Эпизоды
4