Zillion (anime)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Zillion
Zillion Anime.jpg
赤い光弾ジリオン
(Akai Kōdan Jirion)
Genre Adventure, Science fiction
TV anime
Director Akira Watanabe
Studio Tatsunoko & Production I.G
Network Japan NTV
Original run April 12, 1987 – December 13, 1987
Episodes 31
Anime and Manga Portal

Zillion, full title Red Photon Zillion (赤い光弾ジリオン Akai Kōdan Jirion?), is a Japanese anime television series that ran from April 12, 1987 to December 13, 1987 on Nippon Television in Japan and was produced by Tatsunoko Production and Sega. After the production of the anime, Tatsunoko Production and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, the producer of Zillion, established Production I.G to obstruct the dispersing of the excellent staffs of Tatsunoko branch which had done actual production. Therefore, Zillion is considered to be Production I.G's first work.[1][2] Five of the 31 episodes were dubbed into English and released on VHS in the United States by Streamline Pictures. This anime was featured in the music video for Michael and Janet Jackson's collaboration Scream[citation needed].

Contents

[edit] Plot

The story takes place on the planet Maris in the year 2387. Around this time, the Nozas started to genocidally kill all humans in order to lay eggs and reproduce on the planet. Three mysterious guns dubbed the "Zillion Weapon System" appear and three teens (JJ, Champ, and Apple) are chosen to wield them as the White Knights in order to fight back against the Nozas.

[edit] Adaptations

Two video games have been spawned with the story loosely based on the series with Zillion and Zillion II. An original video animation (OVA) movie titled Zillion: Burning Night has also been released after the success of the TV series. It also left a legacy of becoming the first anime to inspire a video game hardware namely Sega Master System's Light Phaser. Despite the cult success of the video games, the Zillion anime received a very brief release in the early 1990s in the United States. The first 5 episodes and the Burning Night OVA were dubbed and released on VHS by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures line. The entire series was released, unofficially, on DVD in Brazil, as that country received the series on television as well as the games.

[edit] Characters

Name Japanese Voiced by US Voiced by
Champ Kazuhiko Inoue Kerrigan Mahan
J.J. Toshihiko Seki Doug Stone
Apple Yuko Mizutani Barbara Goodson
Amy Chieko Honda Wendee Lee

[edit] List of episodes

  1. my name is J.J.
  2. Attack the enemy of the high skies
  3. 0.1 Second Chance!
  4. Trap of the shapeless ninja squadron
  5. Apple order violation!?
  6. Take off, Tricharger
  7. Struggle till death! J.J. v.s. Ricks
  8. Strike the oceanfloor base!
  9. Stolen Zillion
  10. Flames! Ricks' counterattack
  11. Birth of new zillion!
  12. Attack! Triple shoot
  13. Angry shutter chance
  14. Nightingale of the battlefield
  15. Life Or Death!? Confrontation of fate - Part. 1
  16. Life Or Death!? Confrontation of fate - Part. 2
  17. Tears! Let's search J.J.
  18. The beautiful Noza's challenge
  19. Match! Let's throw the coin
  20. Kick with a broken heart
  21. Clash! The sniper
  22. Great victory from a lie!
  23. Terror! Demon's bio weapon
  24. Great adventure! Warrior Opa-Opa
  25. Gentle fugitive Apple
  26. Revenge demon ninja!
  27. Extraordinary Rebel Ricks
  28. Mystery!? Zillion power
  29. Heroic! Ricks dies!?
  30. Planet Maris on the corner!
  31. Last shoot for victory

[edit] Music

Opening 
Closing 

[edit] Sega's Involvement

Two games were made based on the series, both by Sega for the Sega Master System: Zillion, an action game similar in play style to Metroid and Impossible Mission and a Sequel, Zillion II: The Triformation, which was a faster paced game involving a powered armor mecha which transformed into a motorcycle.

A Zillion-based light gun.

The Light Phasers wielded by the characters looked the same as the Sega Master System's light gun. A separate Q-Zar-like toy line also by Sega was also released in stores of Toys R Us; it was also released in Brazil by Tec Toy.

Opa-opa, one of Sega's early mascot characters (debuting in the 1985 arcade game Fantasy Zone) was a frequent minor character on the show. His frequent involvement with the show led many to believe that Fantasy Zone was actually a spin off series based on the character, but in reality Opa Opa was around 2 years prior to the anime, and was a guest character from the start. The fact that he appears so frequently on the show is simply a testament to the character's popularity in Japan at the time.

This is mainly due to the sponsorship of Sega in the beginning of the series. However, later in the series, Sega stopped sponsoring the show and the Light Phasers (though self-contradictory with the earlier plot which says the Guns cannot be modified or changed) were changed to newer versions that do not look like Sega's own light phaser that was supplied with the Master System.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "石川社長が20年を語る 「プロダクション I.G 創立20周年記念展」開催中" (in Japanese). mycom.co.jp. 2007-12-28. http://journal.mycom.co.jp/articles/2007/12/28/ig/index.html. Retrieved 2008-06-20. 
  2. ^ "第25回 株式会社プロダクション I.G代表取締役社長 石川光久-その２-悔しさから独立、フリーに" (in Japanese). CodeZine. 2008-02-08. http://codezine.jp/careerup/article/aid/2110.aspx. Retrieved 2008-06-20. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zillion_(anime)"