Zone of the Enders Dolores, i

Publisher
ADV
Director
Tetsuya Watanabe
Production
Sunrise, TV Tokyo, VAP
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2001

Zone of the Enders Dolores, i series overview

By John Huxley
23rd May 04

I approached this as a fan of the original game, which most likely led to my high expectations of the series. In hindsight, it was foolish of me to expect great things from ZOE Dolores. I enjoyed the game for its intuitive control system and fun game mechanics, not the dire story or whiney characters. So, it was to my surprise that ZOE Dolores succeeds where the game fails: it delivers an enjoyable story, agreeable characters and a mech that has a personality beyond the heartless computer of the original game.

And boy, WHAT a personality! If, like me, you were expecting a typical mech anime, forget it. Early on, the orbital frame (the game & anime's terminology for the advanced mecha) Dolores is discovered by James Links, a washed-out drunken cargo hauler. Convinced that James is her destined 'uncle', she does everything she can to help him and his offspring, Noel and Leon escape the various government agencies and make their way to Mars, where they hope to find some answers.

The moment you hear Dolores speak to James, you'll forget all about your preconceptions of ZOE. By all accounts Dolores is a young girl trapped inside the body of a giant pink orbital frame. She acts like a girl, speaks like a girl and even dances like one, too. She's playful, she treats friends kindly and she doesn't like to fight. Quite different from the game, wouldn't you agree?

Although there are anime with mecha that are technically more alive than Dolores, there has never (to my knowledge) been an anime where the mecha can be considered one of the strongest characters amongst the cast. And this really is true with Dolores. For a 50-foot hunk of metal she's adorably cute, so much so that she is able to integrate with and become an adopted member of the dysfunctional Links family. And despite her obvious physical differences, she is probably the most 'normal' member of the family.

James may look like a tough guy, but he's really a softy at heart. He loves his children, he loves his wife and he's starting to love Dolores. Yet his good intentions can sometimes get the better of him. He's always trying to impress his children, following word-for-word a guide book to good parenting that he carries around everywhere he goes. It rarely works out for poor James, his offspring just don't see him as a regular father.

Noel and Leon remember how James let their mother walk out on them to leave for a job in Mars. They have never forgiven him since the news of their mother's death five years ago, and Leon refuses to even talk to him. When circumstance throws them together, this obviously unstable relationship slowly develops. And although Dolores is a stranger to the family, it is pretty obvious that she will be the key that brings them together again. More than anything else, the relationship between these five characters (not forgetting Pete, the cat) is the reason that ZOE Dolores works so well. Alone each character would struggle to hold your interest for very long; but together, as a family unit, they help bring familiarity to an alien situation.

Fugitives as they are, the Links family don't stick around to admire the scenery. Not that it's particularly pretty, ZOE Dolores isn't the nicest looking of shows, but I do appreciate the variety of the many locations. The character artwork is nicely drawn with plenty of detail, even if the subjects aren't the cutest around. My only real problem with the artistic side of things is the animation for the orbital frame. Inspired by the game, Dolores looks every bit as good as her digital counterparts, albeit with a groovy pink colour scheme. But herein lies the problem: the mecha were designed for games, not cel animation, and it shows. Where videogames render animations in real time, each frame of the cel animation must be drawn, inked and coloured by hand. The offshoot of this is choppy animation, especially when the action reaches the kind of speeds of which Dolores is capable.

For now, let's forget about the animation, because that's not what ZOE Dolores is all about. Besides, almost all the action scenes help develop the story, or at least lend a little more tension and excitement to the proceedings. And the story itself is as gripping and as enjoyable as any fight scene. To differentiate itself from the likes of Gundam Wing, ZOE Dolores does not focus on the warring capabilities of mecha, but the rather more humane struggle of an average family caught up in the turmoil of potential war. If the characters were not so likeable this would surely backfire. Yet the strong cast and humourous scripts tie the whole thing together and make it work.

ZOE Dolores is a series that transcends its videogame routes to become a good anime in its own right. If you're familiar with the game, all the better, but you won't be missing out on much if you haven't. It may not be the greatest series in history of anime, and while no one particular element is outstanding, it's still a good show if you're looking for some mech action that won't bore you silly.

-- John Huxley 23rd May 04

Zone of the Enders Dolores, i Images