The end of the world began not with a bang (well, there’s that too), but with an audience of thousands of Terminator fans rhythmically clapping in time with the familiar dun-dun-dun-dun-DUN of the franchise theme. These were the people here to get a glimpse of Terminator Zero, the new Netflix anime based on the action franchise, and one that drops, fittingly, on August 29th. The show, a new story set in Japan, is the latest example of an American franchise entering the anime realm, and based on the two episodes shown, the transition went smoothly. Showrunner Mattson Tomlin, director Masashi Kudō, and Design Coordinator Haruka Watanabe took the stage for a lively discussion about the series moderated by Khleo Thomas, while I also attended a roundtable discussion with Tomlin and Kudō prior to the panel itself. The discussion started out with the moderator asking all of them what their top 5 anime were. (Kudō said he was “actually a Disney animation fan” and included two of the company’s classics in his picks.) The panel premiered a new “NSFW” trailer for the series highlighting just how gory this new show would be.
When it was time to premiere the two episodes, Khleo revealed that Netflix had sent over both the English and Japanese versions and had the audience vote on which one they wanted to see. This being an anime convention, the crowd was immediately split, and it wasn’t long before competing cries of “Dubbed!” and “Subbed!” filled the air. Ultimately, it was decided to show it in Japanese. This seemed to satisfy the purists, up until the subtitles actually started appearing on screen. It turned out that the way they had set up the video screens in the auditorium, the subtitles were blocked by the heads of the crowd. (Those sitting in the front closest to the stage likely had a hard time reading as well, due to the angle involved.) The audience revolted, demanding it be shown in English. Others pointed out that this is what a lot of people asked for, with one particularly vocal audience member saying that they had to face the consequences of their actions. Eventually, the screen was shrunk to make the subtitles more readable, satisfying everybody. To say this was one of the more memorable moments at the con this year would be an understatement.
The discussion continued after the premiere, with Tomlin talking about how the first Terminator film “scared the shit out of him” as a kid, while Kudō was surprised at the offer to direct. In particular, Tomlin cited The Animatrix as a strong stylistic inspiration for both him and the series. (In the roundtable discussion I attended prior to the panel, Tomlin said he hoped to capture the “fuck yeah” feeling he got watching the anthology growing up.) One of the more interesting aspects of the series was how they transplanted the franchise into Japan. The idea was to utilize Japanese customs and designs, though ultimately the original Terminator designs were used to adapt the series. A big part of this was how in 1997, when the nuclear apocalypse began, the bombing of Hiroshima was still in the minds of a lot of people, with the horrors of that being history, but also at the point where it wasn’t quite there yet.
The animation in the series is great and makes full use of the medium, especially in the 1NNO robots and the Kokoro AI. The 1NNO designs were inspired by Honda’s real-life ASIMO robots, and were meant to be “cute, but creepy”, with the idea that something wasn’t right about them. The hologram for Kokoro, meanwhile, utilized a lot of anime and Japanese mythological influences, including the “three goddesses” – heart, mind, and spirit – and it looks spectacular realized onscreen. According to Tomlin, he started writing this series in 2021 when AI seemed like science fiction, but now…not so much. From his point of view, he felt he was late to the party on the technology, but at the same time is astounded and also scared. He believes we’re at a nexus point where it could be incredibly helpful….or start an apocalypse.
During our roundtable discussion, I asked whether or not shows like Terminator Zero meant the tide was turning on more Western non-comedy adult animated shows being made and accepted by audiences. Tomlin said that he has had a lot of conversations with people who still believe that cartoons are for kids and hopes that something like Terminator Zero will be a “gateway drug” into adult animation, if not watched as a result of something else. Kudō, meanwhile, said that since anime is already for adults in Japan, it was “business as usual”, which I thought was an interesting contrast. Finally, both of them said that they hope that Terminator fans, (which they admitted could be quite rabid at times) will warm up to the new series. Based on the reception at the panel of the first two episodes, I think that is a highly likely prospect. I definitely plan on checking out the rest of the series, and I hope you do too.
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