On August 29, Netflix released the anime series 'Terminator Zero'. The new project changed the location and main characters but preserved the spirit of the legendary film universe. We tell you how Japanese animation lubricated the rusty mechanism of...

The last 'Terminator' with the subtitle 'Dark Fate' came out five years ago and clearly showed that audiences are no longer willing to mass-watch a gray-haired Arnold Schwarzenegger uttering famous meme phrases in an action movie with a budget of nearly 200 million. Neither the returning Linda Hamilton, nor James Cameron as screenwriter and producer, nor a fresh fem-perspective on the masculine franchise saved the situation. So the planned sequels had to be abandoned (thank God). 

However, while Cameron himself is pondering another reboot, Skydance Productions, which owns the rights, has made a third attempt in ten years to breathe life into this world ruled by soulless machines. By joining forces with studio Production I.G, which gave viewers 'Ghost in the Shell' and 'Haikyuu!!', the producers managed to assemble a team that created something tolerable, and that, excuse me, hasn't happened in about fifteen years, since the series 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'. 

What's the plot?

Japan, 1997. Widowed scientist Malcolm Lee creates an artificial intelligence named Kokoro, which is supposed to prevent its overseas counterpart Skynet from starting the genocide of humanity. It turns out the man often has nightmares where he clearly sees the nuclear apocalypse organized by the supercomputer. Malcolm spends almost all his time at work talking (about important things) with Kokoro, trying to understand if she will help people and whether she can be connected to the network.

In the future, specifically in 2022, nothing good is happening either (as if we didn't know). The remnants of the human resistance are fiercely fighting the machines but suffering defeat after defeat. However, a female soldier named Eiko manages to obtain information that Skynet, using a time machine, decides to send a killer cyborg into the past. Its goal is to reach the scientist at any cost, and if necessary, through his children. Now Eiko must also get into the device, travel back in time, and stop the Terminator from completing its mission. Coincidentally, at that very moment, Malcolm's children — Kenta, Hiro, and Reika — have just escaped the supervision of their nanny Misaki, and now they are in serious danger. 

And the evil Terminator kills enemies

Netflix released the series 'Terminator Zero' very symbolically on August 29 (though it was leaked a few weeks before the official premiere). It is on this day, according to canon, that Skynet launched nuclear missiles, and the plot of the anime revolves around this date. True, neither the Connor family nor the killer cyborg with the appearance of a pumped-up Austrian are present in the project. Although parallels with the films are still evident. For example, Eiko strongly resembles the heroine of Mackenzie Davis, and several scenes even directly reference the legendary duology. 

The spirit of James Cameron's franchise was preserved by screenwriter and showrunner Mattson Tomlin and the Japanese studio. And this despite the fact that the setting moved to the Land of the Rising Sun, and all the characters are unfamiliar to the viewer (even though the archetypes are recognizable). Even the Terminator was rolled back to the T-800 model and given a different appearance (specifically here, a cross-eyed maniac). However, thanks to the change of scenery, the project managed to present a fresh perspective on the series. Yes, another time travel created a new alternate timeline in the universe, but the story looks quite decent, especially against the backdrop of several outright bad reboots. 

The anime format also fits the franchise quite well. Blood and body horror elements look extremely appropriate on screen. And the script's immersion in the Japanese context is pleasing, with advertisements for the first PlayStation, references to the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and difficulties with firearm availability (the cyborg even upgrades itself and builds a crossbow into its arm). If only the Japanese were responsible for the text and direction of the series, it would be a song, but overall it's not bad. Moreover, the threat of nuclear apocalypse is even more dramatic for the Land of the Rising Sun (and from the USA, what irony) than for any other country.

I had a strange dream: Electronic Babylon

'Terminator Zero' feels a bit uneven, but nevertheless the narrative flows from episode to episode, resembling a feature-length anime rather than a series divided into episodes. Action scenes and brutal battles are interspersed with philosophical dialogues between Malcolm and Kokoro in a spherical room projecting various frightening and mesmerizing images. 

The questions discussed by the scientist and the artificial intelligence, embodied in three color forms (mind, heart, and soul), are sometimes tiresome. These conversations, intended to provide food for thought, fill the runtime well but lead to nothing but doubts about an ever-warring and killing humanity. To be honest, it would be better if each dialogue were three minutes shorter, but the anime would have an opening and ending. 

Moreover, according to the plot, Eiko, who arrived from the future, behaves absolutely piggishly. She doesn't care about people's deaths, doesn't care about the children's feelings, doesn't care about anything except her goal. Of course, Judgment Day is at stake, but such behavior really makes one think: 'How then are people different from soulless Terminators, and do they deserve salvation?' I wouldn't want to admit Skynet is right. 

However, behind the philosophical subtext of the series, there is still not the strongest story. All characters cannot be developed in eight episodes, and some of them are too secondary. Also, the project did not avoid a couple of twists, albeit quite obvious ones. The animation looks decent (it's a sin to complain about Production I.G), but there are some unpleasant 3D scenes. However, the musical component of 'Terminator' is definitely in order. Based on the combination of these factors, we can conclude that Skydance Productions has finally managed to release something quite acceptable based on the iconic film universe. 

What's the bottom line?

If we place 'Terminator Zero' alongside other anime based on popular Western universes, the series will take a worthy place. True, the competition there is not the most overwhelming. 'Suicide Squad ISEKAI' and 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' are clearly not even worth considering seriously, and 'The Animatrix' is still out of reach. It will have to compete only with the first season of 'Visions' based on 'Star Wars', and even then, a couple of episodes there are so good that the cyborg is clearly not a favorite.

Evgeny Belousov

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Open material

In general, this whole theme of collaboration between the West and anime still looks like purely soulless commerce. Hollywood producers are trying to capture at least part of a large audience, and Japanese studios, in the spirit of a local anthropomorphic hedgehog, collect coins in a bag that will obviously help in creating other projects. Given the decent result of 'Terminator', we can assume there will be a continuation (Tomlin openly stated that he still has something to tell). And even though the series doesn't provide fundamentally new reflections, it is quite capable of prompting the thought of heaping compliments on ChatGPT for safety.