Zillion (anime)

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Zillion


caption =
ja_name = 赤い光弾ジリオン
ja_name_trans = Akai Kōdan Jirion
genre = Adventure, Science fictionInfobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Akira Watanabe
studio = Tatsunoko Production (Production I.G), Victor Entertainment
network = flagicon|Japan NTV
first = April 12 1987
last = December 13 1987
episodes = 31

"Zillion", full title Nihongo|"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. [cite news | url =http://journal.mycom.co.jp/articles/2007/12/28/ig/index.html | title =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 | publisher = mycom.co.jp | date = 2007-12-28 | accessdate = 2008-06-20 | language=Japanese] [cite news | url =http://codezine.jp/careerup/article/aid/2110.aspx | title =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 | publisher = CodeZine | date = 2008-02-08 | accessdate = 2008-06-20 | language=Japanese] Five of the 31 episodes were dubbed into English and released on VHS in the United States by Streamline Pictures.

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.

Adaptations

Two video games have been spawned with the story loosely based on the series with Zillion and Zillion II. An OVA movie titled 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 released on individual VHS tapes by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures line. They featured dub-only, "Macek-ized" translations. The entire series was released, unofficially, on DVD in Brazil, as that country received the series on television as well as the games.

Characters

{|class="wikitable"! width=30%|Name! width=35%|Japanese Voiced by! width=35%|US Voiced by
-
Champ || Kazuhiko Inoue || Kerrigan Mahan
-
J.J. || Toshihiko Seki || Doug Stone
-
Apple || Yuko Mizutani || Barbara Goodson
-
Amy || Chieko Honda || Wendee Lee
-

List of episodes

#Codename J.J.
#Attack the enemy of the high skies
#0.1 Second Chance!
#Trap of the shapeless ninja squadron
#Apple order violation!?
#Take off, Tricharger
#Struggle till death! J.J. v.s. Ricks
#Strike the oceanfloor base!
#Stolen Zillion
#Flames! Ricks' counterattack
#Birth of new zillion!
#Attack! Triple shoot
#Angry shutter chance
#Nightingale of the battlefield
#Life Or Death!? Confrontation of fate - Part. 1
#Life Or Death!? Confrontation of fate - Part. 2
#Tears! Let's search J.J.
#The beautiful Noza's challenge
#Match! Let's throw the coin
#Kick with a broken heart
#Clash! The sniper
#Great victory from a lie!
#Terror! Demon's bio weapon
#Great adventure! Warrior Opa-Opa
#Gentle fugitive Apple
#Revenge demon ninja!
#Extraordinary Rebel Ricks
#Mystery!? Zillion power
#Heroic! Ricks dies!?
#Planet Maris on the corner!
#Last shoot for victory

Music

; Opening :
*"Pure Stone" by Risa Yuuki

; Closing :
*"Push!" by Risa Yuuki

ega'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.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 the minor characters of the anime, had its own line of games, the Fantasy Zone series (which are still being made to this day through the Sega Ages range) and even became one of Sega's mascots throughout the 80's.

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.

References

External links

* [http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/constantine/286/index.html Zillion Shrine]
* [http://www.krltplps.com/zillion/zillion.html The Domain of Krltplps]
* [http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Battlefield/1711/zillion/zillion.html The Only English Zillion Page On The Web]
*