Anime Reviews:

Zeoraima

(Toshihior Hirano, 1988)

First released in the UK 1997 when the British anime boom was at its height. Ironically, 1997 was not a good year for the anime market in Britain, simply because the majority of the titles released were pretty dreadful, overpriced, or both. This one set a new low-water mark though, perversely, it manages to be so clichéd and dreadful that it turns into the anime equivalent of a road accident - you want to look away, but it's just so awful that you can't.

While sharing the same basic plot as Neon Genesis Evangelion (kid saves the Earth again), that one is a masterpiece of animation, storyline, and dubbing in comparison. Whether it's the doom-laden voiceover, or dreadful actors who can't even agree on how to pronounce the title, this is the Plan 9 of anime. If it was intended as a joke, it'd be brilliant, but sadly, I very much doubt that was the case. 2/10

Jim McLennan