Terminator Zero on Netflix: Time War Goes Anime

The iconic Terminator franchise is revving up for a new adventure. This time in the electrifying world of anime. Terminator Zero is set to premiere on Netflix on August 29th 2024.

Any Terminator fan knows this is being released on Judgement Day! August 29th! Nicely done Netflix!

Listen. And understand. This franchise is still out there. It can’t be bargained with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever.

The plot seems very interesting – “In Japan, Malcolm Lee has been developing another AI system that is intended to compete with Skynet. As Judgment Day approaches in 1997, Lee finds himself and his three children pursued by an unknown robot assassin, and a mysterious soldier from the year 2022 has been sent to protect him.”

Reminder that Skynet is also paranoid about rivals. There’s a reason that it actually rejected the T-1000 project until there was no other option, and also made sure every one of her robot soldiers had learning disabled.

In a deleted scene in T2 the T-800 explains that his CPU is set to “Read-Only” so he is limited on how much he can learn and change his capacity to develop his own personality. Sara opens up his skull cap and changes it to “Write-mode” allowing for greater autonomy.

Sara makes a comment about how Skynet doesn’t want him to become too smart, signifying Skynet’s paranoia about possible rogue AIs. In this scene Sara also tries to smash his CPU while he is shut down but John stops her and convinces her to keep him.

Terminator Zero on Netflix: Time War Goes Anime

I was kind of hoping they would go for a 1980s-1990s anime art style to pay homage to the series’ origins, but this looks great regardless of that. I’m looking forward to it. Netflix does animation really well.

Author’s Note:

Is it me or have y’all noticed lately that a lot of mainstream American products are now making their own “animes” to now draw that specific audience in by labeling their show an “anime”?

I’m LOVING this. As someone who grew up with the original 2 movies I desperately want to see a great original Terminator story.

A future where humanity fate hangs in the balance. Will a new breed of heroes rise to challenge Skynets reign of terror. Terminator Zero is set to answer that question in a visually stunning and action-packed anime adventure.