15 years ago, the Tekkoryu created eight giant robots
called Hakkeshu, as instruments for their plans of world domination. On the verge of victory, a traitor destroyed
most of the Hakkeshu and stole an unfinished model: Zeorymer of the
Heavens. Now, the Tekkoryu have repaired
their mechanized army and are hellbent on revenge and seeing their dreams of
conquest fulfilled. Only Masato Akitsu
and Miku Himuro, stand in their way, destined to pilot the Zeorymer together in
the ultimate battle for the fate of planet Earth.
Zeorymer seems like one of those edgy, late 80s mecha
titles that would fit right at home on a Blockbuster Anime shelf with a “Not
for Kids” sticker on the front cover.
Heck, the only reason I even discovered it was because I was wandering a
local store and found the complete collection in the Anime section and thought
“Well I haven’t bought anything new in a while and together it’s only like $20
so why not?”
It looks like a run of the
mill Mecha Anime during arguably the genre’s golden age of the late 80s/early
90s, complete with all that excess and extremeness fans love to see in OVAs
like this.
So, is the first episode any
good?
Zeorymers intro seems deceptively simple but not without
a couple of small “we need to address that one bit” tidbits.
An evil organization with a small squad of
giant robots going head to head with a singular enemy that was stolen from them
back in the day?
It kind of gives off
Ronin Warrior vibes with how the Hakkeshu are presented: several warriors with
their own elementally weaponized mecha.
Only meager difference is that they aren’t demons (I guess?
They mention the Underworld a few times but
not sure if they mean THAT Underworld), plus their Talpa isnt some demonized
Samurai Armored bad ass but a beautiful Empress named Yuratei.
Feels like theres some X or late 80s
obsession with the apocalypse and psychics thrown in even if that’s not the
case for the latter.
Either way, I love
the setup and atmosphere.
While the Mecha aren’t anything to write home about, I
love the scale and weight to battles.
The Hakkeshu have more in common with Pacific Rim’s Jaegers than a
Macross Valkyrie or Gundam.
They may be
able to fly and hover fast but movements are slow and heavy and every time they
move feels like an earth shattering event.
Given the apocalyptic energy being given off by the overall
presentation, it makes sense that the collateral damage is likely as high as
possible and civilian casualties be damned.
I don’t know why the Zeorymer and his fellow Mecha aren’t blowing me
away with their designs but eh, they get the job done in a spectacular debut
battle.
Overall, the first episode of Zeorymer feels of its time
and generic enough but oddly still has a fascinating charm about it; so much so
I might consider doing a full series review considering its only 4 episodes
long.
I have a feeling I’ll be saying
there’s a lot that can be mined from this premise and it shouldn’t be as short
as it is.
But as long as I have fun, it
might be worth an afternoon binge.
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