Episode 6: Look How Far We’ve Come

Summary:

Seiji Haitani plants the Angel’s Ring fragment into Jin, and activates the red Zetman. Alphasz’s justice is questioned when he takes on the Insect brothers.

Impressions:
This episode was the “Alphasz” story, where the “justice that Kouga hold so dear is questioned. I think this the studio’s attempt to bridge the gap left by avoiding what people refer to as “the mansion scene” in the manga.

Essentially, Kouga leaps into battle with the mentality that what he does is right, that he should defeat the insect brothers. But the issue is that he hesitates. Unlike Jin who is confident in his answers on what to do, who to save, Kouga struggles at every turn with the decisions presented to him. Save two people, and both’s safety is guaranteed, or save three, and risk everyone dying together? Kouga is still premature in his thinking, and he is constantly thrown for a loop in battle as others question his ideals.

I’d agree that Kouga’s heart is in the right place. “The mansion scene” I mentioned earlier was one of the things I was pretty sure was going to be cut from the anime, and I was correct. The mansion scene in the manga involves the one of the characters manipulating Kouga into impossible decisions, resulting in his fangirls trapped in a mansion together, where most of them are raped, maimed, killed, or terrified beyond the limits of their mind.

My Little Pony, the manga is not.

Anyways. The Amagi Corporation was content to watch in the background, since they’re pretty useless in battle, but I’m annoyed that they don’t care that Zetman and Alphasz are going at it with all their might, and there are human lives at stake (in this case, Seizou’s grand-daughter).

If I had to explain it, this is the a question of the extreme. Kouga’s extreme is his kind heart, but lack of mental capacity to fully understand the consequences and effects of his actions; Seizou’s desire to crush the Players and bring forth the ultimate ZET; Jin’s drive to become the demon that will protect all.

Episode 7: Justice is Best Served Cold

Summary:
Insect ass-kicking, part 2. Jin and Kouga win…for now?

Impressions:

Jin’s red form was what the Amagi Corporation has been waiting for all this time, and they got what they wanted. A SHOW FOR ALL!! As usual, the Amagi Corporation attempts to sit in the background…and Seizou still doeesn’t care much about anything other than that his weapon is developing well.

It was a given that Jin and Alphasz were going to team up to defeat the enemies in this episode, it’s 8 episodes in the making, but it felt understated. Perhaps because the battle dragged out for so long that the battle just felt half-baked, or that the senseless violence had hit a peak that it had nowhere else to go.

The constant reminder that Jin is human is the fact that he seems to revert back to normal at the worst possible time. At the end of the battle, Kouga has to hold Jin up, since he comes back from “red” to “white Zetman, and then back to human. Seiji Haitami is up to something by putting that fragment into Jin, and I suspect its long term effects are not good.

I’m just frustrated with the lack of development in the characters. The fights bring forward the personalities of Jin and Kouga, and place them in extreme situations where they make life-altering decisions in split-seconds, but there’s too much emphasis on the horror and violence. Both amplify the danger that the characters are in, and help the viewer better understand the mindsets and motivations of each person.

That’s the one thing I always liked about ZETMAN- that each character was well written. While a lot of other anime are willing to go with tried-and-true character types, like the class nerd, the tsundere, the extrovert, Zetman builds “real” characters that could possibly exist in real life. XD
AND WHAT IS WITH THIS GRATUTITIOUS NUDITY. NO NIPPLES DOES NOT MEAN IT’S OK, DAMMIT.

Apologies for the crazy delay in posts. >_< With being forced off the internet for a while, being on antibiotics, and Anime North, I’ll try my best not to have something like this happen again. Until next time!