Zoids Genesis is CRIMINALLY Underrated

Now that we've reviewed Zoids Chaotic/New Century & Fuzors, we can finally shed some light on Zoids Genesis

Which is by far the most underrated and under-appreciated Zoids series out there, it's truly fantastic and I've set out to to it justice with this review.

So sit back, and enjoy the next half an hour of your life diving into Zoids Genesis!

0:00 Intro
0:40 Why is Zoids Genesis underrated?
3:50 The Story, enter, Ruuji Familon
4:41 Attack on Mirodo Village
6:06 Digald
7:44 The Ze Ruft Infiltration
9:15 Ruuji's perspective shift
12:33 The Battle & it's Concequences
14:05 Zairin & War
16:11 The People of the Sky
18:19 Jiin's Betrayal & Zairins Change
20:59 The Jiin Suppression Army
21:49 The Final Battle
24:33 The Characters
26:24 The Zoids
27:27 Animation/Art Direction
28:30 The Music
29:14 Where to watch Zoids Genesis
29:30 Fin

#Zoids #Mecha #Anime

[vancyhobbies]

Great review, its unfortunate genesis was not given more attention here in the west. I loved the zoid design and the story though simple was still quite enjoyable.

[stephencarlm.calatrava]

I remembered watching this series as a kid here in the Philippines, watching it on Cartoon Network with an English dub.

[mcdoink]

It aired in South east Asia in English dub. Cartoon Network 9-9:30 PM.

From what I read out there, it was a test that never succeeded hence it was never aired elsewhere.

[alejandrogonirovirosa]

Yesss! I waited so long for this video, and quite frankly there's so much I wanna comment on, but I feel like it would take me forever, so I'll try my best to keep it short and to the point: Absolutely loved this series and wholeheartly agree with you on everything; the opening song is a masterpiece, probably the best one in the entire Zoids franchise, characters were written logically and on point, except for Seiijuuro, he's just your average edgy swordsman; the redemption of Zairin was tastefully done, and that scene where it's revealed that the bioarmy was made of trasmutated souls was so heavy, my 14 yo couldn't believe this was coming from Zoids, a show aimed at kids for buying toys; Ruuji's development was so satisfying because it felt organic, very avatar-esque as you pointed out (funny cause I never realized how similar the shows were until you mentioned it), the characters weren't just there to fill in, but each had its role in the story and were there to make Ruuji's development happen, and oh man, the Gilvader's first anime appareance was so epic. Overall, I'm so glad that someone else appreciates this series and everything it offered, and I'm glad as well that I'm not the only who thinks Genesis is massively underrated, because quite frankly, it's objectively on par with Chaotic Century when it comes to maturity, epicness and the themes it deals with, and if it had been released on the west, it would have fixed the thrashy mess that fuzors left on the western market. I understand the reasons why it didn't happen though. And you're right, the Murasame Liger's Design is so flawless, it would probably be everyone's favorite liger design above Liger Zero had this anime gotten out of Japan, at least it's mine though. Anyway, Bravo, another banger of a video, probably my favorite one on the channel so far, now I'm really looking forward to the next videos, be it Zoids, Gundam or anything else. Cheers mate! And hopefully you have a great year ahead on YouTube!

[SSZaris]

100% right at the end bro. I never even gave Genesis a chance because of Fuzors. After hearing you speak so passionately about it though it's definitely on my watchlist

[billyclifton]

Im 26 years old now. this is my childhood favorite anime.

[empressivemagic]

Not sure if you'd believe a random comment but I live in Southeast Asia and I can confirm Genesis got a dub of the whole series here. I watched it when I was a child. Gotta say it's a bit surreal to hear how some of these names were subbed compared to the dub (Digald and Garaga instead of Digardo and Galaga, lol). I haven't watched the subbed version, but this definitely motivates me to revisit it, as a lot of the broad plot summary lines up with what I remember, especially Zairin's arc and the final battle against Jin. It felt so different from a lot of the shows I watched as a kid and I liked all the characters, so it stands out even now. I really wish it got a chance in other regions. It was my gateway to Zoids, and the reason I went back and watched Chaotic Century. Thanks for the video, it was nice to see some love for Genesis

[Alice_Haukea]

I agree with you, Zoids Genesis is indeed underrated. There isn't a whole lot I can say that you haven't already said, but I'll try...

Genesis is the first show in the franchise that actually felt like an anime, rather than a toy commercial disguised as a cartoon. Genesis marked the potential of the franchise in a lot of ways. Sure we all remember cartoon network and seeing Bit Cloud during the week, but Genesis felt like a more serious take on the franchise. I've said it many times before, but it frustrates me that Gundam got to take the adult oriented direction, while Zoids had to take the kid oriented direction. And so that is one of the reasons I really like Genesis- we saw some darker moments for a change. The backstory to Seijuro and how he accidentally killed his student was a nice darker touch. The death of Felm- Bio Ptera pilot was savage. I cannot decide if her death was warranted or not, but it was intense.
This in turn leads to one of my complaints about the show; It tried to be dark and deep a lot, but most of the times it pussied out by the end of the episode. There were many scenes where someone died, but then oh wow, nevermind they are actually fine. The episode with those transporter people who would rob Digald transports really pissed me off. It was a total filler episode that set us up for an emotional heart break, only to slap us in the face with them being perfectly fine AND they had no clue what happened either.

As you said, Genesis suffered from the same problem that Guardian Force did; a sudden ending with no real conclusion. As a friend pointed out, they could have cut a few filler episodes and actually resolved a proper conclusion.
Just like Guardian Force, Genesis also suffers from excessive creative liberty on Zoid sizes. Gil Dragon was amazing, but its not actually meant to be that size. Though in a contained universe, its cool. The problem I in turn had with it being THAT massive was how easily it was damaged in the end. The flying Bio Zoids shouldn't have even been able to scratch it.

I've always been torn on how much "slack" I should give Ryuuji. Yes he is a naive kid, but there were many times where it frustrated me just how much common sense he lacked.

One continuity error I found in the show was in regards to the Brastle Tiger's full burst attack. The Zoid isn't supposed to be able to move after using it, yet we see it move right away.

The show had lots of potential, but I Think the ultimate thing that held it back was the target audience....

And as for a little side thought, I wonder how it would play out if you took an older version of Vega who has full mastery of the Berserk Fury, and paired him off against Jiin and the Tyranno. For the sake of this, we can assume the Fury's blades are made of metal zi.




Are you going to be doing a review of Zoids Wild and/ore Wild Zero?

[taimadyami]

I watched it twice all the way through, and am currently watching it again. Every time I notice new things. Though I never really connected it to Avatar, this is one thing I see alot of similarities to that are almost deliberate.

If you've never seen or played it, I'd suggest checking out the old PS1 title Legend of Legaia. Not only does the theme of the overall world seem alike, but some of musical tones are quite close especially when you compare Rim Elm theme in Legaia to the Village theme in Genesis.
The heroes of that game even obtain special sentient beings/equipment in the form of Ra-Seru which are the only things that can truly defeat the evil corrupted Seru. The game has special trees in most major towns/cities called Genesis trees that purify the air of the evil mist and can bring prosperity to the area.

[novemberbravo]

Yanno, I've been curious about Genesis ever since I picked up the Supernova Mugen, and after watching this review, I think I'm finally gonna make time to check it out. It always makes my day whenever I see another Zoids video from you pop up on my feed; really glad to see how much the channel has grown and how well you seem to be doing! Your content, in particular the level of quality and consummate professionalism that you garnish every video with, is a huge inspiration to me now that I've *finally* bitten the bullet and actually started posting my own stuff; I feel like it gives me a standard to aspire to. As ever, looking forward to the next one, and hope you're staying safe, happy, and healthy :) All the best!

[zods_]

You're a legend for making this YouTube channel and making these videos

[lordwarryl]

It was aired on Cartoon Network on 2005 or 6 here in the Philippines then aired on local tv channel in 2007. Rarely watched it cuz i was at college it was the era of The Big Three. But most of the episodes that I've seen, it was a huge upgrade from fuzors and the plot and world building is really really good. I mostly remember the Sky city and was intrigued by the concepts of the story arc until I fall off on it. But that Murazame Liger design was so cool and Kotona... Dang~

[JadeMythriil]

Zoids in general is severely underrated.

[sanninjiraiya]

The Molga had it's greatest feats in this series so that is kind of neat

[benok]

god damn yotaka no yume (opening theme) is such a great song! also criminally underrated

[GeroniMomartinezMG]

Ok totally missed this vid, thanks for this

[bryceschilling]

I did really like Zoids Genesis. It was great. Though going from Genesis to wild it different.

[Xipsep]

Nice review to the underrated zoids series!

[markopolo]

Yep, I believe toonami aired this back in the day. So did a local channel did so in our language here in the Philippines.

[jdexcalibur]

I love this show and yeahp, we got this in the Philippines full on 💙. Also I share your criticisms about the show... something about the ending seemed unsatisfying. GENESIS would have been Zoid's return to form but.... yeah sadly.. underated :(