Zone of the Enders : Idolo (Anime)

[Ed-Epistaxis]

I've just bought the recently-released (for region 2, anyway) Zone of the Enders : Idolo anime DVD, and I thought I'd share what I thought of it with you crazy lot incase anyone else besides me loves the ZOE universe

Firstly : It's very short, and you may question spending ?20 on a 55-minute DVD. The characters are quite well designed, but for some reason it has a sort of dated feel to the animation, it seems like a few too many primary colours. However, the animation is generally quite good, although there are times when it's like watching a PowerPoint Slideshow.

So, for the first 10 minutes I sat there and thought : "This is pretty standard mecha stuff, what you'd expect from Sunrise". However, it improves so much it's just... well, incredible.

In terms of placement within the ZOE universe - it's a prequel to the first game. It's set at the time of the first Orbital Frame development, and ends a few years before ZOE starts. It does, however, contain at least one character who also appears in the game, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

It turns out that Idolo is - instead of being the first part of a series, as I originally thought - a one-off (the series hasn't been confirmed for R2 release by ADV yet). So, actually, it doesn't seem quite so stingy, because that's just how long it is. But believe me, they've crammed an extraordinary amount into those 55 minutes. Very few anime make me think "wow" at the end, but this was definately one of them, which is an amazing achievement considering the length of the film. It doesn't feel too short, it feels just right.

I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to spoil anything that happens, but I would seriously recommend anyone who is interested in the ZOE universe to pick it up. Plus, it's only ?14.99 at Play...

Go! What are you waiting for?

[JU!]

I'll do that it sounz good, the last anime to make me go wow was Evangelion. So if it's as good as that it will be cool. Currently playin JPN Anubis.

[Cacophanus]

Idolo and the consequent TV series Dolores, i whilst high in production values are a wee bit vapid (especially for mecha anime). Even though Tomino went bonkers post 1987, his stuff is still unparalleled. Depressing that.

[Ed-Epistaxis]

For the first 15-20 minutes I really did think "This is nothing special at all". Perhaps it's because it links in with a universe I like, or because I didn't expect much of the stuff that happened in the second half, but it just seemed to have a "wow" factor for me. I can imagine that the Dolores series is a bit sparse, but it's worth a go.

--Ed

[Cacophanus]

I suffered the same "wow" epiphany, but more that "wow, this is really bland and generic". Seriously, for mecha anime it is has all been done before. Damn tie-ins.

[stroppa]

the dolores series is a bit ****, I downloaded a few episodes, the main Orbital Frame, Dolores, is really annoying, and talks like a child. That really spoils it for me. Idolo is good though. Check out Fist of Mars on the GBA.