What if Zone Fighter got a renewed series, and what could be explored in it?
For those of you who don't know, Zone Fighter (also called Zone the Meteor Man) was a 70's TV show about a family of aliens called the Zone family taking refuge on Earth after their homeworld of Peaceland is destroyed by an evil race of insect-like aliens called the Garogas. The family consists of Hikaru, his younger sister Hotaru and his younger brother Akira, their parents Yoichiro and Tsukiko and his grandfather Raita. When the Garoga later try to invade Earth with their various monsters they've created/taken control of (including Gigan and King Ghidorah), Hikaru and his siblings transform into superhero forms to battle the Garoga aliens while Hikaru can also transform into a giant form (Zone Fighter) to battle the various monsters. The family assist him using their weapons and technology, while Zone Fighter sometimes receives help from Godzilla against certain monsters. The show itself is considered part of the Showa era timeline - taking place between Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. James Rolfe (Angry Video Game Nerd/Cinemassacre) did a review of the episodes with Godzilla characters although got some of the show's information wrong, while you can see a detailed analysis of the show at Sci-Fi Japan.
I did have a few ideas for if the show ever rebooted, including taking it in a darker and more serious direction. Here's some of my ideas:
• Begin the series on the Zone family's planet and go into some detail about their world, their species, their powers/technology and their 'place' in their part of the universe. My idea would be that the species have taken on the role of Guardians/Peacekeepers - using their military and their elite forces (the "Meteor Warriors") to assist other worlds when needed and ensure that more hostile species are kept in check (think of an interplanetary version of the United Nations and you'll see what I mean). I would also change the name of the planet, although - taking a page from Ace Combat 5 - maybe nickname an island on the planet "The Island of Peace" (invent some history about the 'creation' of the meteor warriors or something like that) and have the Meteor Warriors be trained there.
• Explore the family's place on the planet and explore their relationships with others and each other. For example, showing Hikaru's relations to the Meteor Warriors whom he is a part of as well as showing him having a girlfriend (Torema springs to mind). Another idea would be for the family to have a Grandmother who – like Hikaru and the children's Grandfather Raita (Zone Great) – is a meteor warrior. She and Raita would be veteran meteor warriors who, in their advancing age, have become mentors to the next generation of graduates.
• When it comes to the planet's eventual destruction, my idea would be for the Garoga (who would be more insect like with six limbs, while their masks would act both as a breathing apparatus and language translator) to temporarily ally with another race (possibly the Vortaak) to not only destroy the Zone family's homeworld but to well and truly 'make an example of it' in order to strike fear into other worlds.
• The plan would involve luring a large number of Meteor Warriors away from the planet with a false emergency, where they would later be drawn into an ambush and several of their members captured. Using Vortaak technology, the Garoga will be able to transform themselves to look like the individuals they have kidnapped - keeping the originals alive but in a comatose state so that the disguised Garoga can correctly use their memories and personalities. The disguised Garoga will then infiltrate the planet and do what is necessary to take out defences, weapons and kill as many Meteor Warriors as possible simultaneously. The Garoga and Vortaak will then attack with combined fleets and their various Kaiju (including Gigan, Megalon and King Ghidorah alongside updated versions of several kaiju from the original TV series), launching attacks on cities and other areas of importance and killing the outnumbered Meteor Warriors left alive on the planet (think this (6:39-9:51) but with monsters attacking as well). After destroying all resistance, the Garoga/Vortaak will take survivors from the planet into slavery before finally using weaponized terraformers to transform the planet into a 'dead world'.
• The Zone Family would escape in their spacecraft – the Pandora Capsule – by travelling through the 4th Dimension (something they could do in the series). This thereby allows them to escape the Garoga and Vortaak without been traced. However, Raita would be injured from his fights with the monsters and the children's Grandmother eventually passing away as the result of her injuries due to Gigan pulling her onto his buzzsaw. The family would find and settle on Earth, using their technology to give them new identities and allow them to start their new lives – staying the same as the original series (Hikaru becoming a test driver, Hotaru and Akira going to school and Yoichiro creating his own toy company) while also preparing their weapons and defences such as 'Smokey' and the 'Great Raideki' Satellite.
• The series would then establish Zone Fighter's revealing to the world, he and his family's friendships with other humans like Takeru Jou and maybe show him going into battle with Godzilla at some point before later becoming a good ally to Godzilla and Earth's other 'hero' monsters (saving Godzilla's son or something like that). You could even work Goro Ibuki and Jet Jaguar into the story by having him be an employee at Yoichiro's company who discovers the Zone Family's secret and later becomes their ally, with Jet Jaguar been created using a mix of human and alien technology. Another addition would be that Hikaru's girlfriend would also return – having been captured by the Garoga and later rescued, with her providing a 'bridge' between humanity and the Zone Family to help alleviate fears that people would likely have. Hotaru (Zone Angel) would also later be able to take on a giant form of her own – similar to the original idea for the series.
• The Garoga would serve as the main alien antagonists, with it been revealed that their truce with the Vortaak didn't last long and the two empires have begun warring with each other – hence the Garoga are more focused on the war and don't have the resources available to go after the Zone Family – who in turn have prepared for the possibility of the Garoga, Vortaak or any other hostile species coming after them. However, this time the family would have other enemies – both on Earth and from Space; most notably individuals on Earth whose main concern is if the family ever went 'rogue' and turned on humanity – especially considering Zone Fighter's friendship with Godzilla and Earth's other monsters. This could easily cumilate in the setting up of a splinter-group/Cadmus style organization and provide an interesting conflict between the family and the sections of humanity who are scared/don't like anything more powerful than them/want to profit off the Zone Family's weapons and technology. You could potentially use individuals/organisations from other shows/films/comics linked to Godzilla, such as Cameron Winter (Godzilla the Animated Series), Doctor Oniyama (Godzilla, King of the Monsters - Kodansya Manga Series), Doctor Demonicus (Godzilla, King of the Monsters - Marvel) Professor Yoshiwara (Godzilla, King of the Monsters - Dark Horse), etc.
As I've said, these are mainly ideas I had for if the series ever got a reboot. Do you think the show should? Posted by DeltaSquad5 on 3 December 2016 at 20:08.
Edited by DeltaSquad5 on 28 March 2017 at 21:15. |
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