Terminator Zero, the first anime series in the franchise (created by Mattson Tomlin) has received rave reviews from audiences and critics, leaving it tied with James Cameron’s original movie as the best rated Terminator installment. Taking the franchise overseas, Terminator Zero is set in Japan, and jumps between 1997 (days before Judgment Day) and 2022, in which the human race has been decimated by Skynet. Fans were equally nervous and optimistic when Netflix’s anime series was announced, as the franchise has been in a steady downturn for some years now. But Terminator Zero could be the lifeline the franchise has long needed.
So far, Terminator Zero has received near perfect reviews from critics, with the anime sitting at a flawless 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. While the divide between critics and audiences has grown in recent years, Terminator Zero appears to be a unanimous hit, with a strong 88% audience score. This is still subject to change, as the show was only recently released, on August 29.
Terminator Zero holds the same perfect critics’ score as James Cameron’s franchise-spawning original movie, The Terminator. Even the audience scores are narrowly close, with The Terminator holding a slightly stronger score of 89%. While The Terminator is a beloved sci-fi classic, its sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, is still widely considered to be the best movie in the franchise. However, the critics’ aggregate seems to disagree, as Terminator 2 holds a 91% rating. So, as always, take all this with a grain of salt.
Terminator Zero’s Story Is Uniquely Japanese
Bouncing between Judgment Day (August 29, 1997) and a decimated 2022, Terminator Zero follows Malcolm Lee, a scientist developing a new Artificial Intelligence which can rival Skynet’s. As the sinister technology sends a T-800 back from the future to kill Lee, the surviving resistance fighters send their own warrior, Eiko, to protect Malcolm Lee and save the next timeline.
While the new anime examines the universal storytelling trope of man vs machine, its approach to the subject explores a uniquely Japanese perspective on technology and Judgment Day. Directed by Masashi Kudō (Bleach), Terminator Zero is the first entry in the franchise to actually depict Judgment Day — which was only briefly shown in the famous dream sequence from Terminator 2. For Kudō, it was important that the moment was imbued with Japan’s personal history with nuclear weapons, stemming from World War II. The director said:
“So in terms of nuclear [war], the [horror] and the danger of nuclear weapons if you live in Japan, it’s something that we all are aware of. It’s a huge topic here in Japan. And personally, if you go to the Hiroshima museum, the Atomic Bomb Museum, you really feel that. And I went there when I was still very young, and I could still remember it. And so, I wanted to make sure I was able to depict how dangerous and horrific a nuclear weapon can be to humans, and I wanted to make sure I captured that in the visuals.”
As well as incredible artwork, animated by Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell), Terminator Zero also features an impressive voice cast. The English-language cast features Timothy Olyphant (T-800), Rosario Dawson (Kokoro), André Holland (Malcolm), Ann Dowd (The Prophet), and Sonoya Mizuno (Eiko).
All 8 episodes of
Terminator Zero
are streaming on Netflix.
