Zoids

Zoids consists of two series. Chaotic Century and The Guardian Force, essentially it's all one series. The series takes place on the Planet Zi, where living machines called Zoids live. There are wild ones, and ones controlled by humans. There are two major powers on the planet Zi, the Republic and Guylos Empire. Though the war they fought is over, the peace is tenuous and could give way to war at any moment. The story follows Van who lives in a village. He goes out one day and gets chased by bandits into some ancient ruins. The he findsa organoid, and names it Zeke. Zeke reviews a Shield Liger and defeat the bandits. They go back into the ruins and discover Fiona a ancient Zoidian who has lost her memory. The group on a adventure searching for t he Zoid Eve, through bandits, merc's, and war. STORY: The story is great, it's light, but there are dark undertones. I guess the company did it to attract younger viewers. The violence is toned done, though you see cities being destroyed, and Zoids being destroyed so you know what's happening and doesn't take anything away from the story. ART: The animation is great done by XEBEC, the same people who did Love Hina, Elemental Gelade, and Buso Renkin, which were all pretty good series. SOUND: The one flaw I found in this series was the soundtrack. It lacked depth and feel. Was it still good, yes. It just didn't to the series justice. CHARACTERS: The characters in this series were great. You could feel their pain and see their suffering and joy. The just captivated you and brought you in. The best characters were the two main ones Van and Fiona and their story was just wonderful. OVERALL: Zoids is 24th favorite anime series out of about 250 series/OVA/movies I've seen. It's a great series, not quite a classic, but still great. A series everyone should watch.

Note - This review may be a little biased. I will start off by saying that Zoids was a big part of my childhood. I grew with this as my favorite TV show, played Zoids Battle Legends for the GameCube, and even had a toy Redhorn (my brother had a toy Liger, he somehow convinced me to get a stupid Redhorn). All of this being said, my review may be somewhat biased. Story 9/10 Zoids (Chaotic Century/Gaurdian Force are the two halves that make up this series of zoids) takes place on planet Zi, where large robot animals called zoids, which are generally used for combat by humanslive. It follows Van, who dreams of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a legendary zoid pilot. He discovers the organoid who he names Zeke, and the girl Fiona, and he sets out with Fiona to help her uncover her past and find the mysterious Zoid Eve. Zoid meets Irvine and Moonbay who accompany him on most of his journey as they overcome various pitfalls on the way to learning about Fiona's past. Art 8/10 I thought the art/character designs were well done. I think the biggest issue that many people will have with zoids is the mediocre CG used in the fight sequences with the zoids. Because I grew up watching this as a kid I was used to this and always thought it was the coolest thing, but to a person seeing it for the first time today, they probably would think its pretty terrible at some points. Sound 8/10 The dub themes are pretty bad in my opinion, the original themes are decent. The soundtrack is solid and does a good job setting the mood. Characters 9/10 Van is a pretty typical character - he starts out weak, but determined, and he eventually becomes great. Fiona is quirky. I found the characters of zoids to be quite enjoyable. Enjoyment 9/10 I always loved zoids since I was a kid and even in re-watching this series again this year I was still able to enjoy it. Overall 9/10 If you are into mecha anime, Zoids is definitely worth a try.

*NOTE: This review contains some minor spoilers, but I will do my best to keep it brief, concise, and to the point* STORY: In the first half of the series, Van Flyheight is a zoid pilot who comes across a mysterious type of zoid known as an Organoid who he names Zeke, as well as a young girl named Fiona in pods found in mysterious ruins. Upon finding the two, Van finds himself the center of attention of bandits and soldiers alike who are after the Organoid's strange powers. Van and Fiona come across other characters and find themselves in the middle of a war, andhave to do what they can to help bring peace to land and end this war. Zoids does a relatively decent job of keeping tone shifts frequent without overexaggerating it, often having serious moments albeit with light-hearted comedy when the mood needs to be brought up. The flow of the story feels natural, and feels neither rushed or slow. It has a nice, even pace that the viewer can easily enjoy. 9/10 ART: The art direction that Zoids took was aesthetically pleasing all around. Characters were detailed enough that they didn't stick out too much, but also were not too detailed to the extent that they distracted from the environment. It felt as though environments and characters had about the same effort put into them, so that neither were too distracting. Obviously, the Zoids were what the majority of the focus was put on, most likely being what most of the budget was used for. The zoids were rendered with high quality, and it shows. If anything in particular needed the most focus in terms of art, it was definitely the Zoids, and it shows. That being said, the only real flaw I can see with them is that some animations were clearly recycled throughout the series, but it's not incredibly noticeable so it isn't really that big of an issue. 9/10 SOUND: As much as I personally enjoy the soundtrack, I do have some issues with it; the main problem I have is that the soundtrack can often times sound a little repetitive while other times is a little too scarce. There's nothing wrong with having certain audio tracks be more common than others, but eventually it gets to the point where some tracks sound as though they're heard in almost every episode. I felt that there could have been a little more variety in certain places, and that occasionally, certain tracks did not fully fit the mood. Yet in other situations, the soundtrack did its job very well, helping in creating the particular mood of a scene. I felt that the type of music used did fit the overall environment of the show, using both fast paced action-themed music for fighting, and softer, more melodic music for scenes involving development of characters. 7.5/10 CHARACTER: In Zoids, the characters can really be hit or miss. Some aren't as fleshed out as others, but the main cast is fleshed out enough that the viewer cares about them and wants to see them succeed. Van Flyheight is the most developed character by far, as the second half of the series, Guardian Forces, focuses on how much Van has matured since the first half of the series (there is a small time skip in between), and they really emphasize just how much he's changed, going from often being a jokester kind of character to a more serious character who cares about protecting those dear to him. The show also does a nice job in creating sympathy for certain characters who start off as villains but have a change of heart as the series progresses. Unfortunately, while Zoids does a great job in developing the main protagonists, the show falls a bit short in terms of the main antagonists, who sadly fall into the usual trope of being evil for the sake of being evil. That being said, they are not part of the main focus of development to begin with, and while it would be nice to see them developed more, at the very least the main and supporting cast have enough development to keep the viewer caring for them. 8.5/10 ENJOYMENT: The biggest part of enjoyment typically comes from watching the Zoid battles throughout the series. They have a mix of fast paced action and often strategic ways of fighting, appealing to more than just one audience with the way the battles are handled. There is drama involved, but it is not shoved in the viewer's face. There is a nice, even pacing between the fighting and story elements, so neither feels overdone. Light hearted moments in the show are welcome when they are as the action and serious tone will bring characters back to reality. The show has a nice, enjoyable pace from start to finish, introducing slight changes in the second half so as not to be repetitive. 9.5/10 OVERALL: Zoids: Chaotic Century/Guardian Force gives off the feeling of being along for an adventure. It develops its characters enough to make the viewer care for them, and want to see them get to the end of their journey. You follow them along, and through thick and thin, they keep fighting, and the journey goes through various types of drama and has an adventurous feel. A lot of the series is about the maturity of Van as a character too, and you see him grow from a young boy to a man who fights for what he believes in. You also see the evolution of how the likes of Fiona and several other characters develop throughout the series, and by the end, their relationships feel genuine. The characters feel like those who can be related to by the viewer. It has all the feelings of an adventure, from humble beginnings to the maturity one gains from it. Final Score: 10/10 : Would recommend to any anime fan.

The original, and one of the best Zoids anime. With plenty of plot, this is one of the most well-developed plots of any Zoids series, with perhaps Genesis being second. The voice acting is sometimes a bit sub-par, but the rest of the series is very enjoyable. It's fairly cartoon-ey in nature, but that adds to the quality of the series. Mecha sizes can vary massively, the scale of Zoids is very inconsistent, but this is one of the few limitations of the series. Overall the animation is very good, especially considering this series is the first Zoids series to be produced.

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