OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Zone Of Enders: Idolo

While the video game series managed to find its nook in the early 2000s, the two anime tie-ins didn't fare as well. The original game installment had an OVA one-shot titled Idolo prequel that was followed by the Zone Of Enders: Delores, I anime TV series which takes place just prior and after the first game. Idolo was the lead-in to a multi-media franchise with hopes of becoming the next great mecha series for the new millennium, however with limp animation, delusional characters, and a giant robot design that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "cockpit", it didn't gain much traction.

Set in 2167, a human colony had been established some time Mars for some time. The Martian colony wants gain independence from Earth, but all humans born on Mars are physically weaker than humans for Earth, similar to the Warlords Of Mars books. The mecha pilot Radium is with the Earth/Mars allied forces but is secretly helping the Martian military test a new robot with a cockpit literally sticking out from the model's groin area making it look like the mecha is very excited to meet you. Radium becomes the pilot for the Orbital Frame mecha called Idolo which slowly begins to rise his aggression mostly because of a new element used in the machine's design. Radium and his fellow pilot Viola are both set to test the mecha, but it only seems to respond to Radium's control. The Earth forces get wind of the Martians plot, and they attack the testing base during which Radium's fiance Dolores is kidnapped along with the head scientist. Radium chases after them in the Orbital Frame with the Martian military planning on killing him for going rogue and so the mecha won't end up under Earth's control. Our rescuer fails to save Dolores and ends up getting blasted by Viola and the other Martian mecha, although it appears that some trait of Dolores might have ended up in the Orbit Frame's programming. The epilogue shoots ahead to five years later where Viola is helping the resistance forces fight Earth's forces on the moons of Jupiter.

Zone Of Enders: Idolo has an unmotivated plot with a stale cast and fails to get anyone prepped for a hack-and-slash video game with its total downer ending. This was released in English through ADV Films at first on his own and then as part of a collected edition with the TV series, but its short runtime of only 55 minutes doesn't justify getting the singular OVA volume.