Anime Review - Zone of Enders: 2167 Idolo [OVA]

After much nagging from the voices in the back of my head (that is to say Mike), I decided to give Z.O.E. 2167 Idolo a try. The Z.O.E. is a franchise created by Hideo Kojima originally for the PS2, it had one sequal and one side-story game on the GBA and spawned a 26 episode anime along with this OVA that I’m currently reviewing for you.

"Always the Colony wall.."

The story of Idolo tells a far to similiar one if you have ever seen for example Gundam and that is that of colonialism and desire for independance, two very popular themes undoubtedly as it is a story also rooted in our own history. Infact the theme of independance is one that many of us individuals (that would be loners) carry close to our hearts. In Z.O.E. mankind have expanded beyond Mars all the way out to Jupiter so naturally they are viewed as lesser beings to the master race of humans born on Earth. The reason for the form of racism and bullying that takes place is because of their physical differences as martians are more slender compared to the phyiscal imposing earthborn.

The story follows the character called Radium Lavans as he is introduced as the test pilot to the Orbital Frame Idolo, Mars’ hope in gaining independance from the oppressive grasp of Earth. His seiyu is Takehito Koyasu who is known for his deep, smooth and if I may say so, slightly sexy voice. He is wellknown amongst Mecha-fans as he provided the voice for Zechs Merquise in Gundam Wing, Mwu La Flaga in Gundam Seed, Shu Shirakawa in Super Robot Wars, Shigeru Aoba in Neon Genesis Evangelion and just for the sake of mentioning it Yosho in Tenchi Muyo. Radium is together with a very beautiful blonde / gray haired woman named Dolores. Her seiyu is Houko Kuwashima known as her role as Kagura from Azumanga Daioh, Flay Allster, Natarle Badgiruel and Stella Louisser and even young Rey Za Burrel from Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny respectively, Sango in Inuyasha, Mei Ling from Metal Gear Solid and Kristeva from Ergo Proxy. She also did the voice as Mordred from Fate/Stay Night. Then there’s also Viola, Radium’s partner and secret admirerer. This red headed martian harbors a strong hatered for earthlings and views Radium as her personal saviour in life. She is voiced by Chiharu Tezuka who is perhaps best known as Reika Yamamoto in Serial Experiments Lain. She also provides the voice for Karen Jordan in AD Police.

Dolores does not have a lot of screentime so we don’t get to see much of character development from her but she already feels like a very established character from the start. She is the classical girlfriend who supports her lover in his decisions and provides emotional stability. She is a solid character but I still would had liked to see more scenes with her. Viola's character just ends up being undeveloped throughout it all even though they do bring up a short scene of her background but she still feels very uncared for as they obviously did not have the necessary timeframe to fit that into the OVA as they obviously put the whole focus on Radium and Idolo.

We’re initially introduced to Radium as something of a hotheaded daredevil as he pulls of an rather impressive stunt during a training mission, something his superior doesn't really approve of. We do get to see a rather fast paced character development from him as he starts out very anti-Earth but towards the end seem to be more at peace with everything. I fear I can’t say so much more than that without spoiling the story. There is this one thing he says that I really like as I feel it's very relateable, probably for a lot of people;

”Is it our fault that we were born on this planet and our constitutions are different?”

"HADOOOKEN!"

You can’t really talk about Radium without talking about IDOLO, the first prototype Orbital Frame. It’s built using the new rare metal called ”Metatron” which possesses unknown powers almost making Idolo appear sentient, especially later in the OVA as it seems to become an extension of Radium himself. We see a growing change in Radium as he appears to become more insane and hungry with power the more he pilots Idolo over the course of time. Idolo itself eventually starts pulling out moves that not even it’s creators knew it could do!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of mecha amongst other things and Z.O.E. 2167 Idolo certainly manages to deliver on that point. It provides an interesting slightly dramatic story that brought me to tears, somewhat decent mech design and expected animation quality for that period of time. Nothing to fancy but still pretty. I liked it and I certainly recommend it to anyone to pick it up if you’re into mecha or drama.