Apocalypse Zero
Entry updated 22 September 2025. Tagged: TV.
Japanese Original Video Animation (OVA) (1996; original title Kakugo no Susume; vt Encouragement of Resolve). Ashi Productions. Based on the Manga by Takayuki Yamaguchi. Directed by Toshiki Hirano. Written by Akiyoshi Sakai. Voice cast includes Takeshi Aono, Megumi Ogata, Hidekatsu Shibata and Kōichi Yamadera. Two 40-minute episodes. Colour.
After Earth suffers three years of seismic activity (see Disaster) at the beginning of the twenty-first century (see Near Future), millions die, whilst "peace and order were virtually erased": the result is a Post-Holocaust world where radioactivity has created Mutants, for instance giant bears whose acid blood melts flesh. To protect humanity from "demons in human form", Oboro Hagakure (Shibata) trains his sons, Kakugo (Yamadera) and Harara (Ogata), in "Zero Form Martial Arts" (effectively, Superpowers), then presents them with the "Fortified Armor Shell", two sets of Powered Armour. One is called Kasumi (for Kakugo), the other Zero (for Harara); they are sentient – indeed, they contain flesh – and merge with their wearers. Though Kakugo is relatively unaffected, Harara changes, killing Oboro (and, he believes, Kakugo), becoming female (see Transgender SF) – though still referred to with male pronouns – and no longer considering themself human. Harara plans "to create a Utopia on this dying planet with everything in harmony", to be achieved by the eradication of Ecology-destroying humanity.
Hara had survived and attends school in a ruined, depopulated Tokyo; though pretending to be mild-mannered, he transforms into Zero to destroy any creature that attacks his fellow pupils; even without Zero he is formidable, with implants able to sheathe his body in metal. In another part of the City his brother, now called "Human Demon Harara", lives in a castle-like structure and directs the Monsters – named Tactical Evils – whom Kakugo fights. OVA 2 is dominated by a prolonged battle with Tactical Evil Eikichi (Aono), an old man whose penis is the head and neck of a dragon. Eikichi is beaten, but Harara uses Technology to achieve an Identity Transfer from afar, their powers also being conveyed. However, because Eikichi had been mortally wounded, Harara is weakened, resulting in his defeat by Kakugo. The OVA's penultimate scene is the surviving Tactical Evils staring at Harara's body, which seems to be in a coma.
Though ten OVAs had been planned, only two were made before the series was cancelled. This presumably explains the inconclusive ending and why some important backstory from the manga is omitted, such as the Kasumi Fortified Armor Shell being possessed by the angry spirit of a mother whose daughter was one of many sacrificed as part of the suit's manufacture, causing Harara's transformation and hatred of humanity. The suits had been made by Imperial Japan's military, with the participation of Shiro Ishii, the director of the notorious Unit 731 before and during World War Two (see Torture). However, these more serious elements are not part of the Anime, which focuses on the grotesque imagery that dominates the manga, with over-the-top monsters –often sexualized, though in very different ways (see Fan Service; Sex) – and considerable gore. Nonetheless, thanks to the cartoony nature of the monsters and violence, the Horror is often overwhelmed by the absurdity. Providing the viewer leaves their finer sensibilities at the door, this is an enjoyable OVA series. [SP]
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