******CYBERNETIC SPOILERS!******

I need to preface this column with an admission; I’m not the greatest fan of Japanese anime. Yes, I do enjoy some films of Hayao Miyazaki (“Spirited Away”) and other random anime here and there, but by and large, it’s not a genre I’m especially drawn to.  However, I have been a fan of “The Terminator” since I first saw the film on CED videodisc back in 1985. My sister had seen it months before at a drive-in movie and swore to its fright factor, so I was curious to see what she was so excited about. That scrappy, $6 million sci-fi horror flick was incredible. 

Writer/director James Cameron and his producer (and then-wife) Gale Anne Hurd pulled off a minor miracle of low-budget filmmaking with their story of a relentless, seemingly unstoppable skin-covered robot (Arnold Schwarzenegger) on a singleminded quest to kill a waitress from Los Angeles (Linda Hamilton) whose son is destined to lead a future revolt against humanity’s machine overlords.  She is aided by an understandably paranoid soldier from the future (Michael Biehn), who is also destined to be the child’s father.  Full circle. 

Over the years, I’ve seen the Terminator franchise go through many ups and downs, with its last ‘up’ being the two-season “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2007-2009); a highly underrated show that was much better than the messy, unfocused Terminator sequels that followed (yeah, I’m looking at you, “Salvation,” “GeniSys” and “Dark Fate”). The franchise has gone on a similar trajectory to the once-brilliant “ALIEN” series, which never fully recovered after its dismal third entry in 1992.  Seems like two great movies and a promising if prematurely-cancelled TV show were the best things the “Terminator” series had up its flesh-coated sleeve.

Now, 40 years after the theatrical debut of the first film, “Terminator Zero” (2024) has dropped an eight episode first season on Netflix. Written and produced by American Mattson Tomlin, this Japanese anime spin on the Terminator series is exactly the fresh blood the series needed to regenerate, after the last few dismal reboots. 

Terminator Zero

Completely ignoring the overdone characters of Sarah and John Connor, this alternate reality goes back to the franchise’s earlier timeline, with Judgment Day once again occurring on August 29th, 1997 (see: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”); but this time Skynet faces competition from a rival artificial intelligence self-named Kokoro. 

Kokoro has been created by a mysterious scientist named Malcolm Lee (Yuuda Uchida), a workaholic widower who lives in Tokyo with his three young children; Kenta (Hiro Shimono), Hiro (Shizuka Ishigami) and daughter Reika (Miyuki Sato). The children are looked after by their equally enigmatic nanny named Misaki (Saori Hayami), who shares a unique relationship with her “employer,” Malcolm.

In the alternate ‘future-past’ of 2022, a lone resistance fighter named Eiko (Toa Yukinari) is sent back to 1997 Tokyo to stop Malcolm Lee from bringing Kokoro online and allying itself with the rogue artificial intelligence in the US known as Skynet, which is already preparing to initiate Judgment Day in a few hours (shades of 1969’s “Colossus: The Forbin Project”).  

Meanwhile, a T-800 model Terminator (Yasuhiro Mamiya) is also sent back in time to 1997 Tokyo on a similar mission to stop Kokoro from going online, as it poses a potentially greater threat to Skynet than the future human resistance; with the aid of Kokoro’s army of “1NNO” robots; which are being used all the over the city for a variety of commercial and domestic purposes. 

Note: The immediate question I had at this point in the story was how 1997 Tokyo, with its cathode-ray TVs and other clunky 1990s technology, somehow had advanced robotics and AI as well. These questions are answered later on in the story, and viewer patience is rewarded.

The final few episodes see the Terminator and Eiko violently clashing in their overlapping quests to stop Malcolm from using Kokoro.  Along the way, we also learn the truth behind Malcolm, Misaki and Eiko’s real identities, and their connection to Judgment Day and the future of humanity. 

Note: The English dubbed version of “Terminator Zero” has a high-caliber voice cast, including actors Timothy Olyphant and Rosario Dawson.  However, I prefer original-language versions of movies and TV shows whenever possible.  Even if I don’t speak the language (and I don’t speak Japanese), I prefer hearing the intended ‘flavor’ of a given movie or TV show, so I watched “Terminator Zero” in Japanese with English subtitles. To that end, I’m crediting the original Japanese voice talent in their respective roles.

“Model 101”

Note: Each episode of the series has titled as a Terminator model number.  For brevity, I’ve used Netflix’s own episode synopses (in quotes), with my own notes/observations as well.

In 1997, a haunted scientist brushes his family aside for an all-consuming project. In 2022, a renegade fighter named Aiko battles a powerful robot for vital data.

Note: The first episode is interesting, but hardly indicative of the series that follows. With its robotic toy cat and workaholic distant parent, the 1997 sequence has a few cliches I’ve seen in other anime, but there are also enough interesting questions raised that made me continue watching. Patience with this eight-episode series is rewarded…

“Model 102”

Eiko and the Terminator arrive in 1997 with identical missions: find Dr. Malcolm Lee. Meanwhile, Lee’s three children sneak out of their apartment.

Note: Like Kyle Reese’s arrival in the 20th century from the first film, Eiko’s arrival in 1997 is just as brutal and even deadly (see: her hijacking of a truck, and her later confrontation with the police, which alarms young Reika). Eiko is not opposed to seriously injuring or even killing obstacles in the way of her mission to stop Malcolm from bringing Kokoro online; a goal she shares with the T-800 Terminator.

“Model 103”

Malcolm confides in Kokoro about his recurring nightmare. The three children continue their underground trek, unaware of looming danger.

Note: The underground abandoned shops beneath Tokyo provide a suitably creepy, almost post-apocalyptic setting for the boys’ pursuit of their runaway sister.  In some ways, it reminded me of the ancestral ghost village from Miyasaki’s 2001 anime classic, “Spirited Away.”

“Model 104”

As a desperate Eiko attempts to elude the police, Misaki’s mysterious past comes into focus. Malcolm wrestles with the nature of fate.

Note: The rampage on the police station is, of course, a direct callback to the original Terminator’s bloody rampage of an L.A. police station from the first film; made even more harrowing with children at stake.  Despite the animation format, the blood and horror give the action very high stakes.  For those who might be put off by the Japanese anime format, one must remember that Japanese anime is not congruent to American cartoons, which are generally geared towards younger children.  In Japan, anime is appreciated by all age groups; it’s simply another means of storytelling. There’s even adult anime (not exactly a shocker, I know), which services all kinds of erotica and fetishes. To each their own, I say.

“Model 105”

Malcolm brings Kokoro online. The boys disagree about Misaki’s motivations. Eiko realizes she’s entering unknown territory.

Note: The fear of two rival artificial intelligences becoming allies in a quest to subjugate their human creators was also the story of 1970’s “Colossus: The Forbin Project,” which, in some ways, almost feels like a prequel to “The Terminator.” Lacking the action quotient of “The Terminator,” “Colossus” is, nevertheless, an underrated and thought-provoking sci-fi film well worth checking out.

“Model 106”

The Prophet debates the paradox of time travel with Eiko. Malcolm shares a painful memory with Kokoro as the children hope to reunite at Cat Town.

Note: Note: Episode six hits the pause button on the story’s forward momentum just a bit to show a few flashbacks, which include a fascinating older woman from the alternate-2022 called “The Prophet” (Mari Yokoo), who offers some philosophical advice on the nature of time travel to Eiko before her trip to 1997. She also delivers a few of my favorite lines of the series.

“Model 107”

Malcolm recalls past efforts to thwart the machines – and his desire to build a god. With Kenta captured, the Terminator prepares for the endgame.

Note: Episode 7 also hits the pause button, but its to answer a few nagging questions regarding the origins of Malcolm, Misaki and even Eiko.  If you’re up for a few spoilers? Malcolm was born after Judgment Day, so he’s very familiar with the horrors to come, after he time-travels back to 1983 (with the aid of forged documents), where he meets his future-late wife.  Malcolm also created cyborg ‘nanny’ Misaki as a prototypical AI countermeasure to Skynet, and later as a guardian to his children (he also programmed her to forget she’s a robot).  Eiko was chosen for her mission because she is Malcolm’s future mother, and the grandmother to his children (!!), whom she’s currently defending. That last one really made my jaw drop.

“Model 108”

Kenta wrestles with a brutal choice and the Terminator reveals a shocking truth as the future of humankind hangs in the balance.

Note: The season finale wraps things up in a very satisfying way; successfully turning these core characters into a family. With Malcolm’s sacrifice, the widower’s parental role falls to cyborg nanny Misaki and the kids’ warrior ‘grandmother’ Eiko, who is young enough and strong enough in this time to defend them against the ongoing danger of Skynet.  Whether “Terminator Zero” returns for a second season is still up in the air (no official word from Netflix or Skydance as of this writing), but if this is the end for this fascinating corner of the “Terminator” multiverse? It ends well. 

The End.

Summing It Up

I was intrigued at how the change of culture from 1980s-1990s Los Angeles to 1997 Tokyo made such a difference in “Terminator Zero.” For example, Japanese citizens are unable to acquire firearms as easily as their American counterparts. This forces the Terminator and Eiko to use more inventive means, such as overpowering police for their guns and the Terminator itself grafting a crossbow into its arm, using nails as ammunition. However, this is not some watered-down, Saturday morning cartoon of the Terminator; there’s nudity (even if nipples aren’t seen), lots of bloody corpses, grisly mutilations, and even a few f-bombs and other colorful metaphors dropped for a pinch more salt here and there. Make no mistake; despite its animated format, this is not a Terminator show for the whole family.

Unlike other Terminator movies, the long conversations between Kokoro and her/its human creator Malcolm cover much deeper, more existentialist ground—delving into areas such as free will, and humanity’s innately hostile nature, which our AI progeny have sadly adopted.  We never saw T2’s Miles Dyson having any kind of dialogue with his creations, and it’s these fascinating philosophical exchanges between Malcolm and Kokoro that take this series into all new territory. Despite the ticking clocks of Judgment Day and the 1NNOs’ violent uprising, the comparison of both human and artificial intelligence has lots more room to breathe in this series.

Despite the onslaught of terminator and 1NNO robots, the series’ focus remains on Malcolm, his children, his ‘mother’ Eiko, and his dual creations, Misaki and Kokoro (who are in effect, mother and daughter). It’s that close-knit ‘family’ of characters (cybernetic and human) that drives the narrative. Yes, there are a few callbacks to the Terminator movies sprinkled here and there (the police station assault, for example), but new material is plentiful, and more than compelling enough to make “Terminator Zero” feel fresh again.

Reaching far beyond the limited story of the John and Sarah Connor clan, the “Terminator Zero” is not some rehash of old Terminator ideas. “Terminator Zero” takes those older ideas as a nucleus to tell an all-new story which greatly expands upon the Terminator mythology—taking it into new and exciting territory (the “unknown future”). The end of the first season changes this Terminator universe. It is no longer a simple shoot ‘em up between humans and robots; it’s about coexistence.  As “The Prophet” says to Eiko (“Model 106”); “No one knows what will happen, child. That is the f***ing point. There is no such thing as fate.”  

After forty years of increasingly tiresome and repetitive sequels, I thought the “Terminator” franchise exhausted its fuel supply several sequels ago, but in changing the series’ perspective with all-new characters, writer/producer Mattson Tomlin has given the franchise fresh blood.  Don’t let the anime format scare you. This is the best “Terminator” offering I’ve seen since “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”

Where to Watch

Currently “Terminator Zero” is available to stream exclusively on Netflix in the United States.