Zoids Genesis

Zoids Genesis gives a different feeling other than the other Zoid series. The story is well written, animation is good and character development is one of its strong points.

The main character Ruuji, a village kid and at first a bit naive but as the story goes along, his character grows to a point where in he could be a leader. Even though the story is a bit serious, there are times when you will laugh because of how other characters are shown throughout the series.

Brand new zoids are shown which gives it a bit of originality. Murasame liger's transformations are shown with detail (especially ... the background score used).

All in all, it is a great series, the story isn't always serious and the characters are amusing and unique.

Some brave soul at Tomy finally decided to put the Liger Zero to rest. The legendary white Zoid gained a fairly large Western fanbase because of Zoids: New Century and Zoids: New Century Zero, so they probably thought they were stretching it too thin to place the Liger as the main Zoid of another Zoids series (yes, I'm talking to you, Zoids: Fuzors).

I thank that brave soul for what he did; it was a fairly smart move to get a new Zoid to play the lead role. I guess at this point they weren't focused on targeting some Western audience anymore, and just wanted to ... revive a toy franchise with a new animé tie-in. And so, they introduce Zoids: Genesis.

Knowing about the post-apocalyptic plot setup alone may turn some die-hard Zoids fans away from the show; knowing that such a small set of old Zoid favorites will be returning will be disappointing for others. But I tell you that turning away from this series is a mistake.

The fresh storyline and the new Zoids themselves gives new life to a toy line that was once on the verge of stagnation. Of course, the hero-liger-enemy-dinosaur stereotype staple to the Zoids animé franchise is still present, but any ill feelings towards this stereotype is soon set aside once the plot of the animé kicks in. I personally think that the plot development for this series is by far the best out of all existing Zoids series.

But enough of that; let's move on to the specifics.

Story: 8/10 (Very Good)
For a series whose goal is to simply revive an old toy line, the story is surprisingly well-done. Enough time is spent on the main character's background, and each member gets his or her own time on the spotlight every now and then. The plot's driving force (it's the usual resistance-against-oppressive-imperial-force setup) is simple and easy to pick up.

Sound: 6/10 (Fair)
Sound for this series, in my opinion, is not exactly the best. Most of the time the music is fitting to the scene, but at other times it gets old and somewhat irritating to the ears.

Art: 9/10 (Great)
What this series lacks in sound, it makes up for in art. For an animé series of its type and time, the animation is surprisingly fluid and well-done. 3D animations are reused throughout the show, but it's reasonable. I mean, come on. Animators don't have to make entirely new sequences just to present the same attack combination striking a slightly different spot. What stands out, however, is the protagonist's Zoid's transformation sequences. Both animation and music is fitting and well-done, even if it's just for a few seconds.

Character: 7/10 (Good)
Again, the series just beats my expectations. Character development may not be the best when compared to other series, but the series tries hard to depict the pasts of all main characters--and they do it quite well.

Enjoyment: 8/10 (Very Good)
I personally love the Zoids series, and this series is a welcome addition to the existing list. I certainly had a good time watching the episodes.

Overall: 8/10 (Very Good)
The show isn't perfect--as is to be expected from a toy-line-based series. But it's this expectation that allows this show to stand out--it goes beyond what is expected from it. From what seems to be a boring toy line tie-in turns into a great mecha series with reasonably good character development, plot development and animation. It's certainly a must-watch for both new and old Zoids fans.

A fairly typical mecha show. The plot is much stronger than most of the other Zoids series, which is what makes Genesis worth watching. The removal of basically all the old Zoids may be a turn off for long time Zoids fans, but on the other hand, it's good to have a breath of new life into the series. The battles are interesting, and the animation is very good. It does use CGI-inspired graphics, but it is well polished, and the Zoids have excellent run-cycles.

One of the better mecha shows, although it does suffer from being a tad cliche and typical, a must watch ... for any Zoids fan.

This is my first review of any anime, so constructive criticism would be welcome. Also, I will try my best not to spoil anything.

Zoids Genesis, or ZG for short, has a fairly good plot, and roughly half of the characters do get developed, though that leaves the other half with little to no development or backstory *cough*Seijurou*cough*. The plot starts off smoothly, with a rather…. “mediocre” goal, however, that goal changes as the plot progresses (and the original goal is never achieved). The change in plot however, makes it seem as though there wasn’t a change in plot, because they were basically doing the same ... thing (Fighting the enemy army, Digald).
The anime starts off slowly, first couple episodes being kind of a bore. However, the later episodes get pretty intense. One let down, is that when you see someone die, you think there dead. Then at the end of the episode, or a later episode, they are perfectly fine.
The action in ZG is… what you’d expect of a Zoids anime, with the benefit of a fight in every episode, though unlike Zoids New Century there is a plot, and each fight has purpose. However, some fights have certain twists, which I aren’t “WOW THAT WAS AWESOME” worthy moments, but are enough to keep your interest.
There is a tiny bit of humour. I can name maybe 2 episodes that made me laugh (though I admit, it isn’t exactly easy to make me laugh). So some may find humour in episodes I didn’t, but, the jokes weren’t ALL that.
Towards the end however, the last 10 episodes to be specific, I was eagerly anticipating what was coming next (partly because I wanted to see what would happen next, and partly because I just wanted to add this to my ‘Completed’ list). However, there are some, “What the hell is that doing in a Zoids anime?” moments, and some even more, “What the hell just happened?” moments.
Overall the anime could be better, but it isn’t downright terrible.
Personally, because of nostalgia, and my love for Zoids when I was a child, I was generous and gave it an 8/10.
For the sake of this review, I am not going to be so generous.
6/10
Still, I encourage you, if you like(d) Zoids, watch ZG.