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Idolo as a tie-in does suffer from the issue that, separated from
its source, you are aware of the wider franchise it can grow with or lost
virtue from, and the inherent concern that if the rest of the multi-media
franchise is forgotten, these type of tie-ins rarely get re-released. Only months
after this was released, the 2001 animated series Zone of the Enders: Dolores,i
was already being broadcast, so there was a considerable push for adapting in
animated form the world of Zone of the Enders, a videogame released that year in
a big marketing push. Set in a future Earth and its relationship to other
colonies, which Idolo deals with
from the Martian colony, Z.O.E. as
abbreviated was sold as a killer app from Konami
for the Sony Playstation 2, a big
cultural phenomenon within itself as a videogame machine riding the height of
the original Playstation. Zone of the Enders even had Hideo Kojima as a collaborator, which would have hyped the game even in
the West when it was released. Ironically though, the legacy of this franchise
is more likely held by Zone of the
Enders: The 2nd Runner (2003), which was a much larger work in scale,
length and virtues for critics, even having animated cut scenes sourced to
studio GONZO.
Obviously, in context to this, Idolo is a tie-in meant to sell the
first game as well as expand the story with a prologue, in this case setting up
an enticing premise in its sleight original-video-animation length of fifty
minutes. That it is produced by Sunrise,
the Gundam creators and frequent
studio for robot and mecha animation, offers an enticing prospect too this
merely touches on. In the future, whilst we have colonised the
galaxy there is also unfortunately bigotry, in this case to oppression of those
humans born on Mars by Earth, who treat them as second class citizens least
when it comes to their army on Mars even beating up Martian soldiers for fun,
worse as being born on Martian gravity causes Earthlings to have an advantage
in incredible strength. What is enticing to this anime, and is a slight
spoiler, is knowledge that this is actually a prologue from the perspective of
the future antagonists of the first video game. This sets up the BAHRAM, the military
force that will invade and destroy the Jupiter colony the first game's lead
survives, setting them up from the perspective that BAHRAM are the product of
previous evils; colonial discrimination of the Earth forces sets forth those in
this story, lead character and soldier Radium and the character of Viola, one
of the more important characters herself from the first game, as those fighting
back oppression only to become a destructive force in the future of the
narrative. That in itself is really interesting, and this Idolo prologue in itself is tantalising in what you get as, whilst
none of this is subtly told, it is a context distinct to tell this narrative
from, as wishing to free themselves of the Earthlings, scientists on Mars are
covertly developing the titular Idolo, a mecha built from the mysterious
material Metatron, which presents a dangerous result both to how it influences
the pilot and when the Earth forces catch wind of this machine, wanting to
claim it for themselves.
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As a piece of a full multi-media
project, including that there is a twenty six episode television series which
runs from Idolo, set before and
after the 2001 game, Idolo does
suffer from the fact that it is a slight story, where the scenario is a prologue to a wider document. As a one-off
by itself, I credit this with doing a lot to stand out; it does not,
truthfully, have as much visual punch as one could wish for at times but
including its bleak ending, which sets up the necessary context for later
parts, it has a lot to admire. As a prologue to a larger work, it cannot go
further, but beyond this there is a lot to admire in terms of the boldness of
its story, as Radium's tale is there are someone being more controlled by the
Idolo by its special properties, and simply the entire idea of this being a
prologue to the antagonists of this franchise is something distinct, as it
forces context of how even villainous figures can be moulded by similarly villainous
acts, moral complexity something to admire when done like this and actually
succeeding in its little form. Violet in particular, without additional
context, would be left a character you wish was developed more, a figure harmed
by the evils of the Earth forces, including being a victim as a child of
"Space Radiation Sickness", causes by an Earth terrorist attack on
Mars' colonies, but who even if a mere fragment has the fascination of where
her arch is intended to go. Her emotional attachment to Radium, who brought her
into the Special Forces after she tried attacking him on the street as a
confused young woman, will become a huge emotional trajectory with the bleak
outcome of this story, which does get even some visually striking aspects and a
twisted bleakness when it involves the artificial intelligence taking
personalities and a hallucinated wedding reception. Considering what the
epilogue in the future brings up, and whom Violet comes in the franchise, a key
antagonist for the first game and the franchise, and this proves one of Idolo's best aspects.
Even in terms of production,
whilst the look and style of the show is not the most elaborate, it is solid,
and the music especially by Hikaru Nanase is a stand out from this project,
alongside "Kiss Me Sunlight" by Heart of Air as the ending theme a
little gem, the group collaborators through this franchise. Idolo
is tethered to this franchise, with its director and key screenwriter
continuing with the television series, and these adaptations are obscurer
nowadays whilst the games were well regarded. The Zone of the Enders HD Collection in 2012 preserved both games, but
it is Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner,
the sequel which continues this narrative, which clearly left a huge mark for
many, including a remaster, called The
2nd Runner M∀RS, which was released in September 2018 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation
4. This does place concern that Idolo
is forgotten among this, which is a shame as, in terms of what it was meant to
achieve, it does a commendable job. The series, which follows on with this its
own prologue, is an entirely different narrative structure in length, and has
new challenges as a long form narrative to deal with, but Idolo by itself, as the only one, would have been commendable as a one-off
tie-in worth resurrecting.
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