User reviews

I rarely watch anime but being a Terminator fan who was displeased with the movies released after Terminator 2, I decided to give this adaptation a chance. And I found it surprisingly good, considering that James Cameron wasn't involved at all. It may even help revitalize the series.

The story takes place in Tokyo, Japan during an alternate 1997. A scientist named Malcolm Lee has created an AI named Kokoro to combat Skynet. The plot is more or less from "The Terminator" in 1984. Dr. Lee plays the stand in for John Connor while a soldier sent from the future named Eiko is a stand in for Kyle Reese sent back through time as she tries to protect Dr. And his children. Afterwards, a T-800 model Terminator follows her to thwart her efforts, kill the Lee family, and disable Kokoro. Although no indication is given to whether or not this universe has any ties to that of T1 or T2. John Connor is never even mentioned. I suppose only time will tell.

The story was great and well-paced with time travel-based twists and surprises that keep you hooked. And the series didn't entirely focus on the typical nail-biting action or horror of the movies. Unlike the films after T2, the characters are fleshed out and interesting. Plus, there's some truly heartwarming moments between Malcolm, his children, and their mysterious housekeeper, Misaki. Even after she is eventually revealed to be a robot, she still feels genuine affection for the boys and defends them against the T-800. And we got to witness Dr. Lee engaging in philosophical and moral debates with Kokoro on whether humankind is worth saving or not.

This series returns at least partially to the horror roots of the franchise. Here, the T-800 is very much like the one from T1, being a cunning, unstoppable, and ruthless killing machine that mimics voices to trick its targets, take on disguises, and even circumvents Japan's extremely strict gun control laws by building a built-in nail crossbow hidden inside it's arm. The commencement of Judgement Day and Kokoro turning Japan into a police state and using 1NNOs as troops are also frightening.

The soundtrack was extensive and well made. It succesfully captured the spirit of the films, especially with low ominious percussion during encounters with the T-800, similiar to Brad Fiedel's compositions in T1 and T2.

I found the large number of call-backs to the source material to be charming, and any true Terminator fan will notice them, such as the T-800 disguising himself as a motorcycle cop like the T-1000, re-enacting the police station massacre from T1, and an HK rolling over a field of human skulls in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The creators of this series did their homework.

So, after binge watching this in two days, I can confidently say that while this certainly isn't as great as the first two film installments, or the Sarah Connor Chronicles, it's still an improvement over the last few films and worth watching for both fans of the franchise and anime fans in general. I'm hoping it gets greenlit for a second season.

I have been buzzing for this for 6 months, and I hoped it wouldn't be another case of having my hopes dashed. It wasn't. This was really really good. I watched it in one go, 4 hour binge, and at points I did wonder if I could watch it serialised. But that maybe says more about binge culture than it does the show. There were some good twists and turns, a tense atmosphere and well developed characters. Loved this, I want more already. There was more existential naval gazing than I'd usually put up with, butI enjoyed this more than I usually would. I enjoyed the Japanese setting, and the artwork felt rich to me.

The problem for the real, die hard, fans of Terminator is that no instalment has ever made us feel the emotion that both T1 and T2 gave us. Every film since, even with Arnold involved, has lacked something. It's almost like the writers/directors never understood what made those films so popular and important in the first place. They cheapened the films with silly comedic moments, they removed human connection, they stopped exploring SkyNet and the future wars. They turned John Conner into a robot!! (Awful).

This latest instalment is set at the same time as T2 and is a refreshing take on the development of the technologies, it explores the flaws of humanity, it keeps the horror element that was so well done in T1 whilst exploring the connections that was perfectly done in T2.

Will we ever get back to the heights of T2? No, we won't, Arnold was too pivotal in those films and Hollywood wasted his involvement in further films with weak scripts. However, this show, albeit animated will give you something, it will stir those dying embers of a loved story, even if just for a moment.

Terminator Zero takes the franchise in a bold new direction, breaking away from the live-action roots with a distinct anime style. While it doesn't match the historical impact of Terminator 1 and 2, this adaptation offers a visually striking and violent new approach. The opening scenes grab attention immediately, setting a tone that feels both fresh and familiar to fans of the original films.

The Japanese-inspired animation combined with an exceptional soundtrack creates a gripping atmosphere, though the switch to anime may take some getting used to for those expecting the dark, gritty realism of past entries. Still, this experiment manages to breathe new life into the Terminator saga, offering something exciting and intense without betraying the franchise's core spirit. It's not a return to form, but a daring new chapter.

As we know, Terminator movies have been declining over time but this series gave hope to its fans. The story is very creative and imaginative and the new characters are interesting. I think the best thing of the series is the the struggle of ideals because it always makes you question who the real hero is. The animation was very good although the cgi was a little questionable. The only part of the series I didn't like was the ending of the show because it was a little confusing and the main character is not so great; she's just ok.

In summary, this show was good but it could be have been better if it had twelve or even ten episodes.

The Terminator saga has seen many glories but also many defeats and in recent years we say that it did not go great, but the courage to bring a content anime is not everyone but in this case came out an excellent product. The anime tells a story quite original with some hints from past films with also some nice memorial quote, the soundtrack always gets in the head with some quotes, the action scenes are masterfully managed and above all (not a little thing) It does not bore, but let's go into more detail. As for the plot is very smooth despite often in TV series or anime there are episodes we say boring, in this case there are, Every episode has a twist that is small or big but each episode reveals something and it's what I think many TV series today lack. It's an original plot with some very nice references to previous films with the last 2 episodes that are from "out of your mind", continuous twists and turns and a not excessive violence but there is. As for the soundtrack is very nice and honestly sometimes even goosebumps especially in the final fight against the machine with those strong sounds and decided when the car sferrava the blow, really very well done soundtrack. It is a anime that does not bore and that manages to entertain all the time, there is only one thing I regret and that is the fact that (at least here in Italy) of this anime is not talked about, and it's a shame because it would really make the fans of a saga so happy that is not going well anyway. I highly recommend the view to fans of Terminator and anime.

Yes, anime is not for everyone but this series is palatable even for non-anime watchers. The plot runs alongside the OG Terminator timeline and jumps back & forth between 1997 and 2022. There are no shortage of plot twists and unexpected turns which keeps it interesting but don't get it twisted; despite being animated, this is not the stereotypical cutesy cartoony playful Sailor Moon Hello Kitty style that anime is often is known for.

The visuals get very dark and graphic (considering the franchise) so consider yourself warned. But I guarantee it's definitely refreshing in terms of suspense and new plot content for the Terminator franchise. Binge it!

For the hundredth time, we get a new entry in the Terminator series where a Terminator and a human go back in time to screw with the past.

It's kind of hard to understand what makes studios think it's such a good idea to rehash to the same plot elements over and over. The second movie was the only one that twisted the formula successfully, perhaps because you can only do it twice before it starts getting old. Terminator 3 is proof of that.

Despite its flaws, and it had quite a few, Terminator 3 freed the series from repeating the same plot line over and over again. It said, "Hey, guys, this whole 'change the past' thing isn't going to work. Time to try something different."

Early on in Zero, we're teased with scenes from the future. You're tempted to think that maybe this time it will be different and have its own plot, one that isn't a rehash of the first film. The characters look different, and nobody is talking about John Connor, Kyle Reese, etc. Maybe this Japanese entry, freed from the burdens of American movies, will be its own thing and not rehash T1 and T2.

The first few scenes are full of gore and action, but it quickly tuns into a situation where the perfect killing machine reverts into an incompetent dumbass when faced with a named character. I was willing to forgive this idiocy because the art was pretty good, but it just kept on repeating. This terminator is about as imposing and scary as my elderly cat. It can't shoot straight, it can't engage in hand-to-hand combat, and it can't outrun or outplan children.

Then, the terminator and a resistance fighter are sent to the past. Again? Really? But, as usual, there are a bunch of twists, much like Genisys, the fifth movie. I really don't think Genisys is a good template for your Terminator anime, but this follows quite a few of the same beats, including directly plagiarizing iconic scenes from T1 and T2 while putting a minor spin on them.

As if that weren't bad enough, Zero introduced some of the most annoying children ever seen in any Terminator entry. Forget about John Connor as a 10 year old, these kids are infinitely worse, and there's no reason for them to exist except that this is anime, and all anime needs to have annoying kids.

Like Genisys, there are a bunch of plot twists at the end. Surprisingly, Zero kind of pulls them off, even if the twists are obvious. It's a nice blend of worldbuilding and halfway intelligent dialogue that was constantly missing from previous episodes. Once you get past all the filler, boring soliloquies and monologues, the children arguing, and their nanny chasing after them, you get some reasonably good episodes.

I sat through it all, so you can, too. The art is pretty good, but the plot and English dialogue are both disappointing until later. It's also full of filler involving annoying children, and the Terminator is a dumbass easily outsmarted by children, and he can't shoot straight. If you can sit through all that, though, you'll be rewarded with a couple episodes that almost make it worthwhile and add a bit of interesting lore to the Terminator franchise.

There's some heavy plot armor for the main female antagonist at times, but ultimately a badass ride. It feels more like a horror story in certain moments, and the other AI storyline is cool. The main Terminator is badass. The animation and storytelling is stellar. A fresh take on the Terminator franchise, and it doesn't disappoint. This one really makes you think about artificial intelligence and it's possibilities for the future. The fact it could be our end or our savior one day has always intrigued me. I definitely hope Mattson Tomlin does another season. It's one of the coolest shows to come out this year, in my opinion.

I enjoyed this anime series. Fans of the Terminator lore will find a lot to appreciate here. I was hoping Eiko would be a more developed character as her intro was so awesome... but she unfortunately ended up being more one-note. I will say though, this series has one of the best explanations on time travel that I've ever heard from a sci-fi property. It does away with the whole premise of time travel in the mainstream Terminator franchise; where there is one timeline and going back to the past can change the events of the future. Instead, this series takes, I think, a more MCU approach in which every travel to the past creates a new timeline, one where the future is uncertain. I would be interested in a sequel.

I thought that it was a pretty good watch. A solid story, really fun and interesting concepts to help it stand apart from previous entries, and great action and music. But there were two issues that really hampered its chances of being great rather than just good. Those two were the characters and the over reliance on franchise familiarity. With how the story is structured, it is meant to be character driven. But to be honest, the characters are insanely boring with how reigned in the performances of the voice cast are and a lack of delving deeper into their emotional beats outside of surface level stuff. And to make up for that, they end up using way too many of the old shticks of the franchise to where they just come off as cheap imitations that waste time where it could be used to improve upon the story and characters. A solid watch for sure in the Terminator franchise, but certainly not outstanding by any means.

Like a lot of people, I've been a big fan of the Terminator franchise since the original. That said, aside from the sequel immediately after, each entry has been more disappointing than the last. With the exception of one or two games that still received mixed reviews, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and maybe Dark Fate, they have all been pretty bad. But fans are fans for a reason. We'll take anything we can get, even if much of it is uninspired trash. Experiencing the world that captured us time and time again is worth it.

So when Terminator Zero popped up as an option I thought, "Oh, Production I. G. we can at least see some cool animation." Outside of that, I was expecting instantly forgettable garbage once again. The starting half of the show had me firmly believe this was indeed the case. A non-augmented, human warrior that seemed nearly as indestructible as her mechanical counterpart. Children acting like children, until the plot demanded they be wise beyond their years. Concepts and ideas that we've seen repeated ad nauseam firmly on display once more. Even much of the action scenes themselves which I really felt should have been the saving grace for a middling sort of show like this didn't really impress. Much of it was kind of slow, and the visual spectacle that may have excused everything else was really nowhere to be found.

Then at a certain point, all the dots started pulling together. The pacing really could have used this a little earlier on but it still happened and was totally worth it. Philosophical discussions about free will, choice, and virtues of humanity were suddenly at play. Theoretical concepts of time travel made an appearance, and intriguing curve balls about a separate future that's yet to happen but at the same time already has open-endedly inserted itself into the story to be further explored in coming episodes. Combine the above with some standard cyberpunk tropes such as whether machines have souls and a smooth blend of the canon, "No fate but what we make for ourselves" philosophy from Judgment Day-- suddenly I'm excited for season 2.

The show isn't without flaws and takes its time getting there but has the foundation to be a good series. I hope it eventually makes the list as something worth suggesting to everyone, not just fans of the franchise.

So far I'm roughly halfway through the first season and I have to say , wow , the animation Is amazing and the overall tone of the show is truly dark and it's meant to be viewed in that sense , because that is what the future truly beholds for this world judgement day , it's a completely new take on the terminator franchise and no previous entries are related in any sense , rather just the theme and direction of the future is heading towards , I am truly enjoying it so far and you can see right away this is going to be something special , if your a fan of anime and if your a fan of the terminator franchise before it took on a different direction after terminator 2 you will truly enjoy this show. It's not some fantasy overall happy tone anime , it's dark , ominous and the terminator has this hunter feel to it, inhuman and lifeless void of any empathy and true to its one objective ... termination. Give it a chance and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as me , if not more.

As a Terminator 1/2 purist I approve, and I don't really like anime that much, with the exception of Studio Ghibli movies and not much else.

Almost every movie, spin off, tv series etc. After T1-2 has been basically an unsuccessful attempt to try and replicate the stories of the first two movies or try and expand them completely missing the point of the original movies.

This one was able to be faithful in some way to what was James Cameroon's initial idea starting from the nightmares that inspired him to create the Terminator which in my opinion in its deepest meaning represent the core of the first two films.

I also liked the idea of the Japanese production, Judgment Day is something that happened for the whole world therefore this mini series coexists very well in the world of Terminator.

It's not perfect, there are little things that I liked less and would have done differently but it's the best thing in the Terminator "franchise" that happened after T1/2, it is also sufficiently dark and violent as it needs to be.

Refreshingly brilliant take on the often recycled Terminator story trope. Loved the animation style, the character dynamics (there is a lot of conflict, but not bloated. It serves the story well) and the gradual world building rollout. Without giving anything away, this is based probably after Terminator 2 in the overall timeline. Skynet is still the enemy, but the perspective is very different. If you've ever wondered what the rest of the world was doing during Skynet's takeover, then this will quench some of that thirst. Not sure if they are intentional, but there are some tribute sequences to the 1984 original, which I really enjoyed. Loved the surprisingly emotional ending, which actually felt like an ending. There is room for further storytelling, but works just as well if they leave it here. Is a lot more enjoyable if you've seen the James Cameron originals for context, but still highly recommended, even if you haven't.

While repeating many of the same mistakes as the other sequels, I don't want to write it off completely as a failure since it's ending does manage to explore somewhat new territory. However it takes way too long to get to that new stuff and everything else is just kinda underwhelming.

The main character Malcolm while being framed as this incredible intellectual more often comes across as a complete idiot as he needs basic philosophical concepts explained to him by an A. I. He is also pretty unlikable as he will overdramatically worry about his children's safety but do fvck all to actually help them. The other characters, while having their moments, aren't all that noteworthy either and are moreso devices to deliver mediocre melodrama to drag out the series' runtime. When it comes to the titular Terminator, this has to be the most incompetent one in the series to date with it failing numerous opportunities to capture and kill its targets. The animation is decent, being in the same style as Production I. G.'s other anime "Psycho-Pass" but can come across as a bit inadequate in a few moments.

Overall while it did build up to something interesting, the journey there needed a lot of streamlining. Perhaps if this had been an animated movie instead of a show they could have cut down on the drama and channeled the budget into fewer, but better thought out action scenes and more visually impressive animation. I'm giving this a 7 since there is potential to build off the ideas in this and make a truly great Terminator sequel if all the right lessons are taken from it, and to be honest I did enjoy more than I disliked, but realistically this probably deserves a 6/10.

Terminator Zero panders to the American audience by supplying an animated show with a lot of familiar traits. Cool action sequences, feelings of hampered dread (because we all know what to expect now), a strong female lead and a ruthless "male" robotic killer (oh boy where have we seen THAT before).

It just seems like such a derivative that there's nothing new or special about it. Sure it's got a lot of parts to keep it fun, but where's the substance? And the dialogue seems so phoned-in. I feel like this could have been something great.

There are a lot of cheesy, corny, predictable lines. But, the show also tries to take on a Japanese culture spin to it, and it plays out kinda cool.

In 1997 Tokyo, AI developer Malcolm Lee is finalizing Kokoro, designed to rival Skynet. On the eve of Judgment Day, he and his children are hunted by a mysterious robot assassin, while a soldier from 2022 arrives to protect them.

Written by Mattson Tomlin and directed by Masashi Kudo, Terminator Zero adopts the visual aesthetics of Seoul Station and Ghost in the Shell. The top-tier voice cast, including Rosario Dawson and Timothy Olyphant, adds depth to the tense, action-packed story that echoes many Terminator themes.

Tomlin and Kudo deliver an entertaining anime take on the franchise, blending the isolated horror of a lone infiltrator that echoes James Cameron's gritty T-800, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, while also introducing new, compelling characters. Tomlin includes a few twists of sorts and the fresh narrative injects new elements that really pay off.

It stands out by capturing the tone of the original Terminator while offering a sleek visual style. Unlike Blade Runner: Black Lotus, it avoids over-reliance on CGI, focusing instead on sharp, dynamic animation that feels true to the franchise.

Overall, while it sets up a potential second series, it's an exciting and entertaining addition for fans of both anime and The Terminator.

I felt it was overall a pretty good watch. The storyline has a few nice twists and turns I didn't see coming yet enhance the Terminator mytho's rather then take away from it. I liked that it took place in an alternative 1997. Its characters are alright, the scientist was probably the most interesting of the bunch followed by the Misaki later. The story they carried pretty much made the Series good for me.

The action, although pretty dynamic, gets pretty ridiculous at times when the unstoppable Terminator always has to miss or take a few seconds to actually kill its target, or wait... just long enough for someone else to intervene and save the day. But, I guess they needed flashy fight scenes to sell this, not intense ones. Ah well.