Original Zoids story return teased on franchise's 40th anniversary

Tuesday, February 21, 2023, saw the official Twitter account for Takara Tomy’s Zoids franchise tease a return of its original story for its 40th anniversary. While the first anime series and mainline franchise story debuted in 1999, the first model kits were launched in the West in 1982 and in Japan in 1983.

The teaser video mainly comprises footage from the first anime in the franchise, ZOIDS: Chaotic Century. The series began airing on Japanese network television on September 4, 1999 and ran until December 23, 2000.

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Zoids franchise’s tweeted promise of “he’s coming back” indicates a reboot or revival for series

Before what is likely the tease of a reboot made by the official Zoids Twitter account earlier on Tuesday, the latest franchise entry was the Wild project in 2018. This consisted of anime and manga adaptations, model kits, and two games for the Nintendo Switch home console.

The Wild anime premiered in July 2018, airing for 50 episodes. A sequel anime, titled Wild Zero, premiered in October 2019. However, it was delayed in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on animation production. The series resumed shortly after that, in June 2020.

Netflix began streaming the first half of the first season of the series in English for users in the United States of America in August 2020. The second half, which consisted of episodes 25-50, debuted on Netflix in the United States in October 2020.

While the previous working relationship may indicate that Netflix is involved in the apparent reboot of the franchise’s original anime, this is purely speculative as of this article’s writing.

Following the Wild television anime, the Wild Senki CGI anime series debuted in October 2020 on Shogakukan’s YouTube channel for their Coro Coro Comics magazine publication. The official YouTube channel of Takara Tomy, the parent company for the Zoids franchise, also hosted episodes of the original net animation series.

The Chaotic Century series follows the story of Van Flyheight, a teenage boy who discovers a mysterious girl named Fiona and an Organoid named Zeke. Van discovers that Zeke can merge with a Zoid, which can increase its fighting power. Using that skill, Van, Fiona, and Zeke set off on a quest to discover the secrets of Fiona’s past.

During their travels, they meet several characters who function as both allies and enemies. However, during their quest across the territory of the Helic Republic, a war breaks out and has the traveling group caught right in the middle of it. The series then sees the threesome balance their goal to find out about Fiona’s past with their aiding the war efforts on behalf of the Helic Republic forces.

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Follow along for more anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.