Jin Kanzaki is poor, but he lives a happy life with his grandfather. Together with his friends Kouga and Konoha, he makes a passable living by helping out people for a fee. Meanwhile, the police are searching for a vicious serial killer, nicknamed the Wind Killer, who's been on the loose for a decade now - but when the killer pays a 'visit' to the shanty-town where Jin lives, killing most of the residents, it marks a turning point in Jin's life... So, within a few minutes of watching this episode, I sent a little tweet: Zetman, ep1: Anyone else get Guyver vibes from that, or is it just me..? Illogicalzen Not just you, there are Guyver vibes coming out of the walls in that show. Robert88UK kind of. Except Zetman seems to take itself more seriously than Guyver gokuffy No, it's not just you. I think the Guyver vibes are deliberate. jrd_84 Yup, definitely. As well as some of those lovely, gory, trashy 80's OVA's. Not just me, then. Zetman is harking back to a different era of anime, when MangaUK played on the violence and gore and "fifteening" a dub was standard practice. To be honest, it's not an era (or a style of show) that I usually get much out of, but I'm nothing if not open minded, and this episode does a good job of laying out Zetman's stall and giving the basis of the story that the series is going to work with. We know what Jin and those like him were created for; we can see that they've created their own little society, in a way, with rules of engagement; and we can see that there are some who would use them for their own gain. So far, so normal - which I would call more of a curse than a blessing. THE GOOD: Doing a good job of world-creating, so far, and in giving Jin motivation to become the show's Warrior for Justice. THE BAD: Could very easily fall into the trap of being a by-the-number 'ultraviolence' show, although I can't hold that against it yet. There's enough here to work with to let the show find its own voice, and I hope that it does - but it could equally fall into a rut of comparatively pointless battles and whatnot. We'll have to see - but for now I'm happy enough to keep watching and see how it plays out... Zetman is simulcast by Viz Anime (US only).
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