Anime Review: Cosmo Warrior Zero

Review Cosmo Warrior ZeroWritten by Warpshadowrating good

After a war an peace treaty was signed between humanity and the machine men. The fragile peace is being threatened by pirates especially Captain Harlock. In order to avoid a war the Terrestrial government gives the job of hunting down Harlock to Warius Zero and the crew of the Kariyu. This won’t be an easy mission for not only is Harlock a slippery and formidable foe but the Kariyu is crewed by not only humans but machine men as well and tensions run high on the ship.

Cosmo Warrior Zero is first and foremost a Leiji Matsumoto story. What that usually means is that it is a story with stoic star ship captains piloting archaic looking star ships with much ado about honor and philosophy and the meaning of being human. Cosmo Warrior Zero does the same but with two important shifts in story. First is Warrius Zero himself; he is a man ultimately bound to the system whereas the other characters are rebels. The second is the treatment of the machine men as this is perhaps the first time that they have been portrayed in a sympathetic light even though the basic concepts behind them are unchanged. It is sad that this show was done with very crude computer animation which probably ruined it for many viewers. Also the Leijiverse as it is called is something of an acquired taste and Cosmo Warrior Zero is probably not the best introduction to it. If this is your type of story on the other hand you are welcome to it.