Zoids: New Century
A mecha tournament series set long after Chaotic Century.
Zoids: New Century, also known as Zoids: New Century Slash Zero, is an anime television series created in 2001 by Shogakukan, Inc. It is the second Zoids series based on the mecha models produced by TOMY and was the first Zoids series to receive an English dub. Originally released in Western nations as Zoids, it was later rebranded as Zoids: New Century by Viz Media.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Adventure
- Comedy
- Mecha
Facts from the source article.
Series background
New Century Zero takes place long after Zoids: Chaotic Century, with Zoids no longer used for warfare. Instead, the combative natures of Zoids and humans are channeled into battle competitions run by the Zoid Battle Commission, a powerful organization with armed Zoids, orbital platforms, and orbital weapons. It is unclear whether the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire still exist; the final battle on a rusted Ultrasaurus, possibly the same one from Chaotic Century, may suggest neither remained. The series follows the Blitz Team, particularly Bit Cloud and the Liger Zero, as they rise through competitions while avoiding the criminal Backdraft Group.
Characters
Bit Cloud, voiced by Takahiro Sakurai in Japanese and by Richard Ian Cox or Peter von Gomm in English, was a junk dealer who joins the Blitz Team after damaging one of their Zoids during a match. He becomes the only person able to pilot the rare Liger Zero owned by the team's manager. Bit makes friends and rivals with pilots including Harry Champ, Jack Cisco, Leon Toros, and Vega Obscura, and treats the Liger Zero as a friend rather than a machine. He often argues with Leena Toros over trivial matters. The Liger Zero was initially thought useless as no one could pilot it, but after befriending Bit it proves adept at close combat with its superheated Strike Laser Claw attack. It is equipped with the CAS (Changing Armor System, also called Conversion in parts of the dub) allowing it to switch among three armors: the Liger Zero Jager with ion boosters for speed, the Liger Zero Schneider with blades for close combat, and the Liger Zero Panzer with heavy armor and missiles. The Liger Zero is one of the Ultimate X Zoids, with an integrated Organoid system that lets it learn and adapt, predicting enemy attacks faster than regular Zoids. Leena Toros, the manager's daughter, is a loud and bubbly sixteen-year-old who pilots the De-bison and later the Gunsniper. She is notoriously trigger-happy in combat, bordering on psychotic, and has a short temper, often comically assaulting Bit. She is the target of Harry Champ's advances but does not reciprocate, using him to get back at Bit, such as in episode 3 when she used Harry after Bit finished off one of her targets. In the original Japanese version, her name is Rinon Toros.
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