Zoids: Chaotic Century

Zoids: Chaotic Century

Zoids: Chaotic Century DVD Volume 1
ゾイド -ZOIDS-
(Zoido)
Genre Adventure, Comedy, Mecha
Anime television series
Directed by Takao Kato
Produced by Hiroshi Morotomi & Toshihiro Nakazawa
Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Kazuhisa Sakaguchi, Kenichi Araki, Keiichi Hasegawa & Katsuhiko Koide
Music by Robert Etoll & Shinsuke Sugiuchi
Studio Xebec
Network MBS, TBS
English network
Original run September 4, 1999 – December 23, 2000
Episodes 67

Zoids: Chaotic Century, simply titled Zoids (ゾイド -ZOIDS- Zoido) in Japan, is the first of four anime series based on the Zoids range of mecha model kits produced by TOMY. It is loosely adapted from the manga series Kiiju Shinseiki Zoido, which was created by Michiro Ueyama and published in CoroCoro Comic. The series was animated by XEBEC, and aired from September 4, 1999 to December 23, 2000 on TBS Network. Although the first series to be produced for the franchise in Japan, Chaotic Century was the second series to be dubbed and aired in Western nations, following Zoids: New Century. In August 2013 a Blu-ray box set of the series was released in Japan, it optionally came with a limited edition Blade Liger.

Series background

Zoids: Chaotic Century is set in the far reaches of the Milky Way, on the planet Zi. On Zi, there are metallic life-forms known as Zoids, which possess powerful fighting capabilities. Throughout the recent history of the series, Zoids have been used as weapons in an ongoing war between the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire.

The setting of Chaotic Century is a few years after the most recent war between the Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire. The two nations are currently observing a ceasefire, although ambushes and minor assaults are initiated by both sides, and tensions are high after it is revealed that one or both sides may have access to the ancient technology of the Ancient Zoidians.

The series follows the story of Van Flyheight, a teenage boy who discovers a mysterious girl named Fiona (Fine in the Japanese version), and an Organoid named Zeke (Sieg). Van discovers that Zeke has the ability to merge with a Zoid, increasing its fighting power, and with that skill, Van and Fiona set off to discover the secrets of Fiona's past. During their travel, they meet up with a transporter named Moonbay, and a mercenary named Irvine, who initially thwarts their progress, but eventually begins traveling with them. As they travel across the Helic Republic, a new war breaks out, with the group of travelers being caught in the middle of it.

Differences between the storylines

Although there are many similarities between Chaotic Century and the 'New Battle Story' accompanying the New Japanese Release, the two storylines are considered to be inherently different, and are believed to occur in alternate continuities. Listed below are the main differences.

Plot

Prior to the series there was war between the Guylos Empire and the Helic Republic which ended in a ceasefire. Not much is stated about the war other than that Van's father fought and died in it. The series starts with Van being chased by a group of bandit Zoid pilots and ends discovering the organoid Zeke in some ruins. Zeke revives an abandoned Shield Liger, which Van uses to fight off the bandits. After that, he discovers Fiona in the ruins that he found Zeke in, and finds that she has no memory of who she is. When Van returns to his village, the gang bandits return and try to take Zeke from Van. To keep his village safe from them, he leaves with Fiona. During that time in some more ruins Van hears Fiona speak of something called Zoid Eve and decides to help her find it in hopes that it help her get her memory back. Shortly afterwards, he meets Irvine. Initially, Van and Irvine are enemies because of Irvine's desire to take Zeke, but end up traveling together when they meet with traveler Moonbay, and Van ends having to stay with Moonbay because she blew up her cargo to help him.

Later, the four end up at one the Republic's army bases, and end up having to help stop an invasion by the Empire orchestrated by Prozen. After that, Van, Fiona, Irvine and Moonbay preferred to stay out of the war. However, Van ends up getting involved somewhat when he meets the Guylos ace pilot Raven, whom he quickly holds a grudge against after seeing Raven's brutal nature, but proves no match for him their first battle. Van later challenges Raven again, loses, and Zeke suffers near-fatal damage, but Van manages to save him. During this time the Imperial army is marching farther and farther in Republican territory but are eventually stopped by the Republic's Gojulas. Van and the others eventually reach the Republic's capital in hopes of finding information about Zoid Eve, but only end up getting caught up in the Empire's assault on the city. During the battle Van is finally able to defeat Raven.

The war is stopped when the Empire's crown prince Rudolph orders a ceasefire, but Prozen refuses to give up on conquering the Republic, and so attempts to assassinate the prince, but his attempt is foiled by the bandits Rosso and Viola who kidnap the prince in attempt to gain money. During this time, Prozen finds the remainants of legends about the Death Saurer, attempts to clone it, and also creates the Geno Saurer for Raven to use. Raven uses the Geno Saurer to destroy Van's Shield Liger, but was unaware that Zeke and Fiona revived the Shield Liger as the Blade Liger. During this time it's revealed that Fiona is actually an ancient Zoidian that existed before humans came to the planet Zi. Rudolf joins Van and his friends who try to take him to the Empire's capital Guygalos to stop Prozen from taking over the Empire and restarting the war. During this time, parts of Imperial army loyal to Prozen and some that were manipulated into fighting them try to stop them. Eventually, Van faces Raven again and after an extremely difficult battle destroys the Geno Saurer. He does this by using one of the Blade Liger's blades(the other was snapped off during the battle) along with his shield which disperses the charged particles. However, Raven survives thanks to his organoid Shadow. Although Rudolph is returned to the capital, Prozen attempts to use the cloned Death Saurer to take control, which goes on a rampage and almost destroys the capital and joint forces the Empire and Republic that are powerless to stop it, but Van is able to destroy the Death Saurer using the same technique used before with Raven's Genosaurer and appears to kill Prozen in the process. Rudolph is then crowned the emperor and peace finally starts to settle between the Empire and Republic, but Van and Fiona don't take part in celebration and instead leave to find Zoid Eve.

Two years after the Death Saurer's defeat, Van is shown to be part of the Helic army. On a trip home he meets up with Fiona, and the two decide to try to find the Zoid Eve again. Over the course of their adventure, the two meet up with old friends, along with new ones. Old rivals reappear, new rivals emerge, and there is a plot to restore Zoidians to power, even though all humans have to die for it.

Characters

(All characters are referred to by their names in the English dub)

Zoids

Main Zoids

The central Zoids are those of the main characters. They are as followed;

Helic Zoids

The Helic Republic uses a wide selection of Zoids for combat use. Most of the time, the Helic Zoids are normally underpowered, but are either faster than Guylos Zoids or used by the masses. The most commonly seen Helic Zoids: the Godos, Gordos, Gojulas, Command Wolves, Storm Sworders, Shield Ligers, Pteras, Gustavs, Gunsnipers, and Guysacks. A few Guysacks and Godos are seen using mining equipment and used for civilian purposes. Although never shown in use by the Republic the Dibison is also a Helic Republic zoid stated when Lieutenant Thomas Schubaltz explained to Van that he got his Dibison through the Arms Exchange between the Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire.

Guylos Zoids

The Guylos Empire uses a smaller selection of Zoids for combat. Whereas the Helic Zoids are faster, the Guylos Zoids are stronger. The most commonly seen Zoids of the Guylos forces are; Red Horns, Dark Horns, Sabre Fangs, Molgas, Redlers, Black Redlers, Whale Kings, Rev Raptors, Gustavs, and Iron Kongs.

Organoids

Organoids are a special type of Zoid left over from the time of the Ancient Zoidians. They usually look like small Tyrannosaurs, (albeit many with added features like wings, spikes, etc.), and are around the size of a small horse. Organoids are unique to Chaotic Century and Guardian Force, and do not appear in any other series (though they appear in some games). Organoids have the ability to fuse with other Zoids, either healing them, making them more powerful, evolving them, etc. They also have the memories of their Zoidian partners stored inside of them. Only four organoids appear in the series: Zeke, Shadow, Ambient, and Specular.

Episodes

Theme songs

Opening
  1. Wild Flowers by Ramar
Ending
  1. Song for... by Dear
  2. Chase by Develop=Frame
  3. Into Yourself by Transtic Nerve
  4. Your Song by Earth

References

    External links

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