Zetman - 6 | Anime Aura

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And I thought that grandpa Amagi was the best villain in the series.

There was a considerable amount of goodness in this episode:

Jin struggling for the first time
Kouga being more dependable and the debut of Alphas
Haitani's reappearance
The completion of ZET
Some romance

So let's explore.

It was good to see Jin finally squirm and struggle, seeing as so far he's been so calm and collected whenever lives have been at stake; so far when we've seen him rescue a family from a burning building in episode 2 and when he saved Hanako in episode 4, he did so without looking the least bit worried and that made him seem too strong and even less human. This opportunity allowed him to question himself, something that's always good when dealing with character development, but as an added bonus it revealed that he actually learned something from grandpa Amagi (the value of protecting loved ones), who up until now has been more of a behind-the-scenes villain than someone who's aiming to help his loved ones and clean up the problem he created.

Jin's lack of powers this episode also contributed to more exciting fight scenes, probably more-so than what we've seen so far due to the fact that whenever he turned into ZET his enemies were taken out almost instantaneously but also because it gave opportunity for Kouga to finally shine and establish himself as an actual hero rather than a background character. His arrival wasn't so impressive and his introduction consisting of the phrase "I am Justice" is almost cringe-worthy but I gotta say it made me laugh and like him even more because he still displays those idealistic views which haven't changed after the events of the previous episode; had he become more of a serious character, who has abandoned his ideals because of some traumatising events, I would have disliked him more for falling into such an obvious and over-used clich . That being said, I wasn't expecting Hayami to propose to him the same question that Jirou had in the previous episode about the most efficient way to carry out justice but that did allow Hayami's role to gain more importance to the series and to Kouga's character development, all the while allowing Kouga to show that he has actually learned something from the previous incidents and that he has decided to be more pro-active (though that might have been aided by Jin's care for Konoha).

The highlight of the episode, was probably Haitani's appearance which led to Jin's full awakening as ZET, showing how powerful it is by ripping up the jacket which is mend to blend in with his body when he transforms (presumably "Red ZET's" power was beyond anyone's expectations) - may I add the scene in which he's transforming, the music creates a feel of a very heroic moment and maybe a slight tribute to Iron Man but I can't be sure about that. ZET's completion would have been a happy moment for grandpa Amagi and of course Jin but because of Haitani's involvement we're still left guessing as to what his true intentions are and why he has such an interest in Jin. So far you can only guess that he's planning on taking over EVOL and becoming the main boss of the series (based on the opening sequence) but there still seems to be more to the story and that's what has made him into a very interesting character. That and the fact that we saw Jirou again, with what looked like an infant player with great sensing abilities, you get the feeling that there will be a fight between there two groups (ZET and Haitani vs Jirou and Alphas). Having the transformation right at the end of the episode was done in a style very suitable to an action series like this, making us wait yet another week to see the new powers of ZET.

A few other things that should be of note for this episode was the romance and Konoha being told the origin of the Players. The latter didn't seem like a big deal but seeing Kouga (as Alphas) so confused makes it appear as a more important detail that could be brought up in future episodes, the former on the other hand played a more significant role in the episode. Jin saving Konoha was moment where he showed that he truly cared for he for the first time and the scene where Hanako is talking to her self, saying that she wants to stay with him right before having what I assume are hallucinations, displayed her dependence on Jin. Whether more romance is planned is yet to be seen but I am slightly interested in how the romantic events will unfold and am happy that it's not playing a huge role in Zetman.

Really good episode from Zetman this week, and next we get to see Zet and Aplhas working in unison and hopefully displaying more of their newly acquired powers.