TV Review: Terminator Zero (2014)

Terminator Zero (2024) written and developed by Mattson Tomlin based on the movies by James Cameron

Japanese scientist Malcolm Lee is racing to complete an artificial intelligence in 1997. He needs it to go online by August 29 so that it can prevent Skynet from wiping out most of humanity. The only problem is he is unsure if the AI, which he names Kokoro, will be on the side of humanity when it connects to the internet. If that is not enough problems, in 2025 both Skynet and the human resistance send back individuals to 1997 Japan. Skynet's Terminator is programmed to stop Kokoro from going online; Eiko, a human female, will defend Malcolm and his three children, who could easily be used to blackmail Malcolm into shutting down his project. The drama plays out in typical Terminator fashion.

This anime series follows the typical story beats of a Terminator tale and throws in the occasional line from the original movies. Children are in peril but also help in the fight. Even benign technology can pose a threat. The main characters slowly get more and more injured but still keep going. Police get completely overwhelmed by a threat they underestimate. A lot of familiar material comes up in the eight episodes.

At one point, a character waxes philosophical about the many people who constitute a resistance that Skynet would have to come back and terminate to secure their victory. Of course, if Skynet succeeded that would generate a paradox, a complication that this series tries to deal with. Before Eiko goes to 1997, she has a conversation with "The Prophet," a leader of the human resistance. The Prophet explains that every time someone goes back in time, the trip generates a new timeline in which events can turn out differently. Eiko immediately asks the obvious question, why bother going back if it can't save the people who sent her back since they are stuck on the original timeline? The Prophet says that Eiko should be able to figure out the obvious answer for herself. Readers of my blog are probably aware that poorly executed time travel stories are a pet peeve of mine. This theory falls into that category, because I immediately thought that if you send two beings to the past, don't they each generate different timelines and not wind up in same place as intended? The writers are caught in a quandary, because they can't really change the past without vitiating the reason to send someone into the past. So the alternate timeline theory has to cover that. But then you aren't helping the people you intended to help, making a hash out of your story. Ugh.

Mildly recommended--this has the typical R-rated violence throughout (not something that hasn't been in anime or Terminator stories before) and another storyline in the Terminator universe that is interesting enough until you think about it. Too bad you can't avoid thinking about it because the characters discuss it explicitly.

As of publishing this (November 2024), the show is only available on Netflix.