The long-anticipated anime Terminator Zero just released a second trailer today. Less than an hour after its release, the trailer has over 50,000 views on Netflix’s official YouTube page.
According to Comicbook.com, Terminator Zero will release all eight episodes on August 29, 2024, or Judgement Day, exclusively on Netflix as a Netflix original anime. The creator of the show Mattson Tomlin (Project Power, The Batman Part 2), from Skydance Productions, will work alongside Production I.G’s Masashi Kudo (Bleach) as the director and animator of this project.
In an interview with Tudum, Tomlin explains what partaking in an anime adaptation of the Terminator franchise means to him.
“Anyone who knows my writing knows I believe in taking big swings and going for the heart. I’m honored that Netflix and Skydance have allowed me to approach Terminator in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations, and has real guts,” Tomlin said according to the Tudum.
In a separate interview with Denofgeek News, Kudo expresses his excitement to adapt a Terminator story taking place in Japan.
“The fact that the story is taking place in Japan and has a different storyline from the original John Connor and Sarah Connor plot seemed like the perfect way to expand the franchise into a new art form like anime. What I found appealing was how changing the medium allowed for different storytelling approaches and the opportunity to offer new surprises to long-time fans of the franchise. I also wanted to bring a Japanese perspective when it comes to the horror of nuclear weapons,” said Kudo, according to denofgeek.com.
The synopsis of Terminator Zero is as follows:
“A war between humans and a mass army of robots breaks after the AI known as Skynet gains self-awareness to begin eliminating the human race. Eiko, a soldier from 2022, is sent back in time in 1997, to protect the fate of humanity. She is tasked to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee, who is working on a new AI system that can challenge Skynet’s forces. As Malcolm comes closer to developing his creation, he is hunted down by the Terminator from the future.”