Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

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Desghidorah
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by Desghidorah »

Odd idea? Toho has been pushing for Godzilla and company to get more spotlight in other series and media. It's why we got all the mobile games we do now, why they get the greenlight for as many tie-ins as GvK got, and why we have things like Snow Godzilla showing up in the Shinkalion movie.

So a Zone Fighter reboot would probably stand a pretty good chance at having Toho monsters appear in it. That said, one thing they could do to differ it up some is take the route the SSS Gridman and a few other Toku reboots have done. Making it in animation and instead focus on storyline and a slightly older audience than gimmicks. Or at the last balance it out. It would probably work pretty good as a mini-series.
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by LegendZilla »

I just came across this interesting article courtesy of user DeltaSquad5 on Gojipedia on how they would handle a reboot :
DeltaSquad5 wrote:After reading and commenting on Cdrzillafanon's forum post about what you would do if you could continue the showa era films (see my second answer), I begun to question 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 Garoga. 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?[/list]
Last edited by LegendZilla on Mon Jan 10, 2022 9:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Legion1979
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by Legion1979 »

Its clear that's everyone only wants Zone Fighter to be rebooted because they think it will automatically lead to more Godzilla appearances.

This series is pretty awful and people only give a crap about it because of a handful of episodes with Toho monsters. Can't the past be left in the past? Does everything have to be a thought exercise 'round here?

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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by GigaBowserG »

Legion1979 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 2:48 pm Its clear that's everyone only wants Zone Fighter to be rebooted because they think it will automatically lead to more Godzilla appearances.
I'd unironically love to see a revival of Zone Fighter just for the character. Discount Ultraman or not, he's a pretty wacky dude with a ton of strange and unique abilities that would be fun to see explored even further. Perhaps his series isn't much in the way of quality, but why should that matter for anything? If you live by that logic, Megalon and JJ should never see the light of day again given their movie's reputation.

If people want to see a ZF revival just to see Godzilla in a TV show, however... just ask for a Godzilla TV show :lol:
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

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Legion1979 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 2:48 pm Its clear that's everyone only wants Zone Fighter to be rebooted because they think it will automatically lead to more Godzilla appearances.

This series is pretty awful and people only give a crap about it because of a handful of episodes with Toho monsters. Can't the past be left in the past? Does everything have to be a thought exercise 'round here?
Would it be better if let's say they were to re-introduce Zone Fighter, first do it in a Godzilla film or TV show and gave him his own spinoff afterwards?

*Edit*

Expanding on GigaBowser's post, I guess that Gamera didn't deserve a second chance in the 90's either.
Last edited by LegendZilla on Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by Dinoskell »

I don't really need Godzilla in it, but I want King Ghidorah in a reboot.

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LegendZilla
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by LegendZilla »

Here's an idea for something that could happen in a reboot : If Godzilla shows up in a Zone Fighter reboot, maybe the Garoga could use Godzilla cells to create more powerful Terro-beasts.

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Kaijuboi
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by Kaijuboi »

what if instead of using popular godzilla monsters instead they use underrated toho creatures like varan, orga, etc

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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by MaxRebo320 »

No, because as others have stated, the original show is pretty awful (The production values are solid, but even compared to other Ultraman-lite shows from the same time, it falls flat). The premise would need some serious reworking to the point where a reboot might as well be its own thing.

But I certainly wouldn't be against Zone Fighter and some of the show's lore returning in an anime, comic or (as unlikely as this is) film.
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

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Kaijuboi wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 10:30 am what if instead of using popular godzilla monsters instead they use underrated toho creatures like varan, orga, etc
This supports my theory that the only reason fans want a Zone Fighter reboot is because they want it to be a vessel for more Godzilla appearances.

I'd imagine a lot of the fandom wouldn't know how to process a ZF reboot that DIDN'T include Godzilla.

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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by LegendZilla »

Bigdog wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 5:58 am Since the show is extremely generic and apparently I missed nothing beyond the token crossovers posted on YouTube? Any reboot would instantly overshadow the original in terms of writing, characterization, effects ,etc. The main difference is it'd need an entirely new mythos that would basically negate the point of rebooting it. I doubt Toho would allow their kaiju to be used on the show beyond power-ups like Ginga or Geed.
I think A good way to look at rebooting Zone Fighter would be like how they rebooted the original 1975 Tekkaman into Tekkaman Blade.

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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by Gojira1604 »

Yes. :Gigan: :KingGhidorah64: :JetJaguar:

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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by LegendZilla »

^I know a lot of skeptics see rebooting Zone Fighter as just a ploy to have more Godzilla. On top of that, many claim that the original 1973 series was nothing but a discount Ultraman and I don't blame you.

So here's my suggestion as how to handle a Zone Fighter reboot. I know I may have gone over these steps before but repeating myself here and there won't hurt anyone : First, I will introduce him in a piece of Godzilla media. If his inclusion is well-received, I will give the character his own spinoff show. As for Godzilla's inclusion, I will maybe treat it like how Luke Skywalker appeared in The Mandalorian. Make it happen once every season of the show. In addition to Godzilla, maybe other more lesser Toho kaiju could be given a second chance to shine. For example, I know we just got Jet Jaguar back in SP, but maybe he could be just one of many guest stars in a ZF reboot instead of just Godzilla. Other kaiju that could be used again include Megalon and maybe even King Kong (after he goes PD).

I also imagine that the whole premise of the series is going to need a heavy revamp, but not to the point of being unrecognizable. At least enough to help it further differencate from Ultraman. Like I said, it would be akin to the difference between both Tekkaman and Tekkaman Blade. With the right writer and or director, we could have a very interesting and unique modernization.
Last edited by LegendZilla on Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by Cookson »

Zone Fighter would be a perfect character for Singular Point honestly. A Jet Jaguar/Zone Fighter team up sounds pretty fun.
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Re: Should Zone Fighter be Rebooted?

Post by LegendZilla »

Cookson wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2022 6:32 am Zone Fighter would be a perfect character for Singular Point honestly. A Jet Jaguar/Zone Fighter team up sounds pretty fun.
Agreed. If they did reboot Zone Fighter, should the show deal with the hardships of living as a refugee for him and his siblings.

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