Zegapain

Title:Zegapain
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: Original Concept - ITOU Takehiko
R1 License - Bandai (Defunct)
When Kyo Sogoru saw a girl on the jumping platform of the high school swimming pool, he thought only about finding a new member for the swim team. With a new member, he might just have a chance of saving the swim team from being disbanded by the student council. But Misaki Shizuno has other extracurricular activities in mind for Kyo and draws him into another world (or place or time) to enlist his help in piloting a giant robot against an opponent whom she calls the enemy. The experience leaves Kyo shaken and wondering – if Misaki’s world is an illusion, then what is the reality of his world, and what if both worlds are false?

26 TV Episodes
Animation by Dentsu, Sunrise & TV Tokyo
Episode Details 
1
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 8 6 8 8 8 8 Ggultra2764 [series:1363#1552]
It's kind of hard for me to summarize what Zegapain is all about without spilling out major spoilers regarding the true premise of the series. The series takes its time to slowly explore the true nature of its world and all is not what it seems regarding characters and settings within Zegapain. This premise leads the characters of the series to have their views and doubts over how they perceive their unique circumstances, especially in Kyo's case when he learns the shocking details surrounding the so-called game that he thinks he is involved with. The developments with the premise lead to a good number of character-driven moments focused on the bonds between different characters in the show, both friendly and romantic, as things progress throughout Zegapain's run. The only ripple with the whole thing is that the major villains seen in the show get limited development and play either the typical megalomaniac or "thinking they are better than humanity" archetypes done to death in enough conventional titles.

Visuals are of standard quality with a good amount of details and bright color tones for characters and scenery, though the CG-animated mechas stick out like a sore thumb and look a bit rough in their quality. Animation wasn't too impressive either thanks to the rough work of the CG-rendered mecha and a number of animation shortcuts prominent such as the use of speed stripes and some still shots.

Overall, Zegapain offered a solid number of plot twists, buildup and character focus in its focus on how Kyo and other characters dealt with the unique circumstances they deal with within the title's world. While having some flaws, it's still a good mecha title to look into. I'm quite surprised at how under the radar this series was as I wasn't even aware of its existence until I learned of Bandai Entertainment's plans to ditch the American anime industry.

Last updated Sunday, November 04 2012. Created Sunday, November 04 2012.
Unevaluated Forbin [series:1363#1573]
Actually JC I enjoyed this series a lot. After you find out about the truth of the world, it gets very interesting.

It also has a fairly powerful ending.

Last updated Friday, August 14 2009. Created Friday, August 14 2009.
Unevaluated Jan-Chan [series:1363#967]
(having seen upto episode 6, here is what I can share)

Ok, yet another of those teenager-gets-to-pilot-a-giant-robot type-of-series. This one is OK; the plot is fair, the special effects are good, but that is the most I can say about it. It might be easiest to say that I am not very impressed. Personally, I think that Sousei no Aquarion (TV) is a better series which offers a similar fare.

Update - August '09. In May of '09, Bandai released the R1 boxed set for this series and by Aug '09, it was discontinued. Not a good sign if a new series gets discontinued and buried in six months.

Last updated Friday, August 14 2009. Created Sunday, June 04 2006.

Other Sites
NameURL
Official Japanese Series Web Site http://www.zegapain.net/

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