Animelab.com: Anime Reviews: Zoids

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pennmaster

Posts: 0
Score: 2
Rank: 461

Zoids is a very looked down upon anime due to the franchise of toys and the fact that it was shown on Cartoon Network like the majority of "kiddy" animes. Zoids is actually a decent anime when dubbed, though everyone, including me hates the dubbing, but the actual words in it are switched around from the japanese original version.

For instance, in episode 58, intercept pterasaur (japanese uncut), in the dubbed, to add new elements to a "big robot" feel for a childrens' show, they added in them saying "thanks for the lift" but in the uncut they don't say anything. Zoids is actually quite different when uncut, but people judge this anime by the westernized version, hence, just another pokemon with robots.

The animation of the zoids is CG, but I think it blends well, look at other animes like Last Exile or something, is that really better, or should you think twice about calling it bad CG/traditional blending. The character animation isn't incredibly detailed, some points it is more detailed than others, it all depends on the situation in the anime, but that isn't a big issue, it fits the concept that the anime was aiming for.

Chaotic Century is mainly surrounded by political conflict, first a war, then assassination, and then conspiracy. Guardian force is sort of "afterwar" in a sense that it is a peace organization that was established by both the empire, and the newly allowed republicans (sort of stereotypical sides). New century was put there for comical relief, it is the reason that cartoon network aired it on first and continued showing the same 26 episodes over and over for a whole year because they wanted to spread the idea of zoids to carry out their deal with hasbro for advertising their westernized zoid products (right on the box it says "rotate the blasters!!").

This is all from the words of a long-time hardcore fan of the anime, but unlike others, I have insight as to what the anime is when you actually view the non-dubbed.

Contributions: Reviews: 2

Straya

Posts: 0
Score: 1
Rank: 753

To start it off, I love Zoids. I collect models, watch the series, and even play the games.

"I would like to say a reply to Desdemona, I do know that this allows you to say your opinion, but completly and totally 'putting down' the series throughout your whole review...I think your the cliche one."

Now, off to the review. Zoids is a great series! It's different, (Not all anime needs characters who talk with their eyes cloesed!) plus, it is set on a whole 'nother planet! It seems like every modern anime is on Earth! I do admit that the newest series, Zoids: Fuzors, is not keeping to the original concept of Zoids.

To bring all together, Zoids has its querks, and it has parts that nobody would think of. So, it just depends on the person who watches it.

Anime Rules...simple, right?
Contributions: Reviews: 1

Desdemona

Posts: 0
Score: 1
Rank: 661

Zoids, it seems, is one of the most over-rated anime series yet! I find it shocking to find so many people here enjoy the series.

The story is weak, to say the least. Boy finds mecha and girl. Girl turns out to be "special". Boy fights archenemy. Boy defeats arch enemy. Boy does it again in a few years.

The characters are flat, wit-less and cliche. Any attempt for deeper character development is hindered by a numbingly dull plot.

The animation is horrible, plain and simple. The zoids are awkwardly done with no hint of further refinement. The transition from CG effect is the roughest and most awkward yet.

The music is non-existence. There is no strong musical score done in this series. Except the annoying first guitar rifts.

The dub is awful. The voices lack any real emotion.

But, the most annoying aspect of the anime is character interaction. In truth, no one talks with their eyes closed. It is a good element in anime to use once and a while, but not every two seconds, like they did in Zoids.

Overall, Zoids is a dull miss that lacks any originality.

Contributions: Reviews: 1

str33t_ninj4

Posts: 0
Score: 1
Rank: 626

I am a big fan of Zoids, that I admit.

However, the Zoids Anime series ranks to nothing but average.

While I have only seen Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: Shin Seiki Zero, I have seen enough to be able to say that what plagues the Anime series is the fact that whatever was wrong with the previous installment isn't fixed in the next.

Zoids suffers from cheesy dialogue and an iffy plot (heroic yet immature kid finds a mysterious young girl holding great power and in turn experiences a lot of emotional growth: used to death). Situations can sometimes seem unrealistic, which is out of place because the show deals a lot with underground conspiracy. While the physics explanations are plausible, they're quite overdone. It's understandable, however. Zoids started with no story. To turn a bunch of high-class model kits into a groundbreaking Anime is not an easy step at all. However, my reaction to Zoids was still: They could have done better.

Now, visually, Zoids is one of the best animated shows out there. Instead of using conventional 3-D animation, the animators decided to take it another notch and use cel-shading instead. THE ZOIDS WERE NOT HAND-DRAWN.
Cel-shading is a method that makes 3-D models look as if they were still cartoons. This is normally used to the 3-D models would blend in better with two-dimensional surroundings. The same method is used in Jet Set Radio Future, Zelda: The Wind Waker, XIII, Kirby: Right Back At Ya, Megaman: NetWarriors, SD Gundam, and some others.
Cel-shading is perfectly in place here because as seen in the model kits, the armor panels show a lot of the intricate workings inside of a Zoid, and the only way to visually convey these complicated machines realistically while allowing them to merge with the hand-drawn portions of the show was to use the cel-shading method.
The drawn animations are, again, average. A bit too pastel for my taste, actually. But they're quite decent.
On the downside, some animations get quite repetitive and it shows a lot of laziness on the animators' parts. But the good vastly outweighs the bad in the visual department.

The soundtrack can be summed up in one word: snazzy.

Overall, while it's an enjoyable show, Zoids barely falls above average but can't really rank with the best of them. It'll take a real Zoids fan to appreciate this show for what it is.

[ph33r t3h NiNj4.]
Contributions: Reviews: 1

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