Ask John: Is Zoids Anime?

Question:
Is “Zoids” an anime? I’m not sure because of the computer animation.

Answer:
Zoids is undoubtedly anime. It was created in Japan, by Japanese artists and broadcast for Japanese viewers without any original goal for export. The first series, Kiju Shinseiki Zoids, aired 67 episodes on Japanese television between September 4, 1999 and December 23, 2000. The 26 episode second series, Zoids Shinseiki/Zero, started up two weeks after after the first series ended.

The full CG mecha in Zoids may seem more typical of American animation like that produced by Mainframe Studios, for example, but it is actually entirely Japanese. Zoids was produced by Xebec Studios, the animators that produced Nadesico and Bakuretsu Hunter. Around the same time Xebec produced Zoids, they also experimented in CG by rendering the mecha from their Megami Kohousei (Candidate for Goddess/Pilot Candidates) TV series. Xebec is not the only Japanese studio to use CG for rendering mecha. TV Tokyo & EG Film used computer graphics to render the Swordbreaker spaceship from Lost Universe, and Gonzo Studio used computer graphics to render the mecha in their sci-fi/outer space series Vandread.