Zone of the Enders: Idolo

Having gone into the Christmas season watching mostly series, I was finding myself a little pressured to get through a lot of anime in a short time. I decided today that I was going to take it easy and back off of trying to get through some of the series that I had started. After about 30 minutes of looking up titles that I thought might be easy to get through, I finally decided on Zone of the Enders: Idolo.

At first I was a little wary about starting this OVA because I haven't played the games on PS2. After sitting through this show for the last 55 minutes though I can say that I am glad I decided to pick it up.

The story is based around a war that is being waged between Earth and Mars, where the inhabitants of Mars have inferior physical strength to humans. The protagonist in the story, Radium, ends up being placed on a special mission to test the Idolo weapon. Radium builds a bond with Idolo and finds himself being altered mentally causing him to act very violent and erratic. The focal point of the story lies around the fact that a weak martian has the ability to control such a strong power in Idolo that could change the course of the war for Mars.

A huge  bonus for me when watching this was the fact that there are tonnes of mechs in it. Being a huge mecha fan, I am usually happy with anything that has robots in it. On this front, ZOE: Idolo delivered. The animation and music elements were utilized effectively as well. I tended to find the music used in the background fit the scene and mood very well. The animation style had enough color to not make me feel depressed as I was watching, but also not so much that I couldn't take the show seriously. The detail in the art was very well done with the mechs. The design of characters was nothing ground breaking but still good enough that it didn't detract from the show.

After reading up a little more on Zone of the Enders: Idolo and how it ties into the sequel series and games, I can honestly say that I do feel there was enough presented in the story that I don't feel lost if I move into the games or series. While I won't spoil the story for those who haven't played the game or seen this OVA, ZOE: Idolo sets the ground work to explain the story of Viola, who is the protagonist in the game and series.

To find out how Radium fits into all of this, you will have to watch the OVA. A review of the series will be posted as soon as we have had a chance to check it out. I do recommend watching the OVA and stay tuned for the follow up review on the series.