Apocalypse Zero — BrandWiki

Apocalypse Zero

type	ova
director	Toshiki Hirano
producer	Hiroshi Kato Shin'ichi Hirai Shirō Sasaki
writer	Akiyoshi Sakai
music	Takashi Kudō
studio	Ashi Productions
first	October 23, 1996
last	December 18, 1996 (cancelled)
runtime	45 minutes (each)
episodes	2 (10 were planned)

Apocalypse Zero, known in Japan as Encouragement of Resolve (覚悟のススメ), is a manga series written and illustrated by Takayuki Yamaguchi. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion from July 1994 to August 1996.

The manga was adapted into a two episode original video animation in 1996, animated by Ashi Productions and produced by Big West (advertising agency), Victor Entertainment and Tomy.

Plot

Kakugo and Harara are brothers trained by their father, Oboro, to slay monsters that have begun roaming the streets of a post-apocalyptic, 21st century Tokyo following a devastatingly, powerful earthquake. To aid them in their quest, Oboro entrusts his two sons with Fortified Armor Shells (強化外骨格), cyborg exoskeletons forged using the souls of deceased warriors by their grandfather, a former scientist of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, Shiro Hagakure. However, Harara becomes possessed by a mysterious evil from deep within his armor, mutating his body as well as filling him with a desire to destroy all of mankind to help cleanse the Earth of contamination. Some years later, Kakugo moves to "Reverse Cross High School", located in one of the ruined districts of Tokyo near the castle from which Harara commands their demon army. It is now up to Kakugo to defeat his evil sibling and put a stop to their wicked legions.

Characters

Main

Kakugo Hagakure (葉隠覚悟)
The main protagonist of the series, owner of the Fortified Armor Shell known as Zero (零(ぜろ)). Unlike Harara, Kakugo stuck to his duty to protect innocent citizens in trouble. This leads to several encounters with a large number of monsters which inhabit the city until finally he comes face-to-face with Harara himself. Kakugo is a stern and humorless, yet compassionate and honorable person, wearing glasses and a white uniform inspired by the regimental uniforms worn by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Kakugo is a master of the Zero Defense Form (零式防衛術) of martial arts and has eight steel balls embedded in his body, which he can absorb into himself to coat his skin in metal or eject from his body to use as weapons. His signature technique is Impact (因果) (lit. "cause and effect"), which is a counter move that redirects all of the energy of an opponent's attack back to them. Zero is mentioned to be the prototype for all other Fortified Armor Shells and is inhabited by the vengeful souls of the 3000 Japanese soldiers sacrificed to create it. The spirits within Zero form a collective consciousness, manifesting as a mass of grimacing skulls, and are able to communicate with Kakugo and advise him in battle.
His armored form resembles a red-eyed tokusatsu superhero with a long scarf similar to the Kamen Rider series.
Capcom artist Kinu Nishimura had said that Kakugo was the main inspiration for Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness protagonist, Jin Saotome.
Kiyotaka Ishimaru from the Danganronpa franchise bears resemblance to Kakugo.

Harara Hagakure (葉隠散)
Kakugo's older brother and the main antagonist of the series. Harara possesses the Fortified Armor Shell Kasumi (霞(かすみ)). Bonding with Kasumi caused his body to assume a hermaphroditic form and drove him to insanity, killing his father Oboro in combat and defeating Kakugo. Believing humanity responsible for the death of the environment, he has become determined to destroy all humans with the aid of beings known as Tactical Fiends. Like his brother, Harara has multiple steel balls embedded in his body which he can absorb to coat his body in metal and increase his strength. His signature technique, Spiral (螺旋), draws energy from the Earth into a strike that can force an opponent's internal organs to violently erupt from their body. The Fortified Armor Shell Kasumi has a feminine form and is inhabited by the malicious spirit of Mei Inukai, whose endless hatred for humanity after her infant son was sacrificed during Kasumi's creation drives Harara's desire to exterminate humanity.
After Kakugo defeats the Tactical Fiend Eikichi, Harara directly possesses Eikichi's body in an attempt to finally destroy Kakugo. In the ensuing battle, Kakugo manages to emerge victorious over his sibling, leaving Harara in a coma for most of the manga.

Reverse Cross High School

Tsumiko Horie (堀江罪子)
A girl who goes to the same high school as Kakugo. Although frequently called unattractive and chubby, Horie is a kind and bold girl who falls in love with Kakugo after witnessing him destroy the city's monsters. She is later kidnapped by Chidokuro and turned into a Tactical Fiend, thus forcing Kakugo to fight against her, until he kisses her, which results in her turning back to her normal self. Series creator, Takayuki Yamaguchi named her after Mitsuko Horie (whom he's a fan of), in fact, her name is actually an anagram for "Mitsuko". Horie herself would later go on to voice Tsumiko in the OVA.

Hiroshi Haoka (覇岡大)
A feared delinquent at the school, he's a childhood friend to Horie and resents anyone who goes after her. Haoka initially dislikes Kakugo, but eventually comes to respect him. In the OVA, he is injured by Eikichi after managing to carry the case containing Kakugo's Zero armor to the battle, but reappears alive during the finale.

Ponta Takada (高田ぽん太)
One of Haoka's friends, usually seen with Pyonsuke. He is attacked by Dogumakuro's Flower, but is saved by Kakugo. He's very good at drawing, as shown in Volume 4 where he drew a rough sketch of Chidokuro when the school guards asked him to identify Horie's captor.

Harara's lieutenants

Tomohisa (知久)
Voiced by: Yuzuru Fujimoto (Japanese)
Harara's adviser. He later gains the ability to transform into a winged lion.

Kagenari (影成)
Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata (Japanese); Terrence Stone (English)
An executive at Harara's fortress. He is responsible for reporting the threat of Kakugo to him. He also stores the Kasumi armor inside his body.

Bolt (ボルト)
Harara's Security Chief. Originally an elderly human who tried to defeat Harara, he was turned into a samurai armor-clad demon. He later dons the Fortified Armor Shell Shin (震 (しん)), empowered by the souls of 400 of Harara's defeated soldiers, to fight Kakugo.

Rai (ライ)
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese);

Harara's Tactical Fiends

Hamuko (破夢子)
A large, obese monster with clown-like features and the first Tactical Fiend Kakugo encounters. She enjoys killing females outright and consuming the men with them. She also wears the faces of her most recent victim as a pasty. Although initially attempting to simply subdue her, Kakugo finally kills her after disabling her powers.

Dogumakuro (毒魔愚郎)
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese); Derek Stephen Prince (English)
The third Tactical Fiend encountered (second in the OVA), Dogumakuro is a mutant rock star capable of electrocuting his opponents with his tongue. He can also deploy a microphone from his groin that emits powerful music waves. Kakugo manages to overcome his techniques and defeats him by shattering his skull and evaporating his body.

Eikichi (永吉)
An elderly Tactical Fiend who is sent to attack Kakugo. He can solidify his saliva and form weapons with it, and his penis is a dragon head with the same skill. Though he manages to gain the upper hand against the unarmored Kakugo, he is quickly defeated once Kakugo gains his Zero Armor. His body is then possessed by Harara, though since he has already died by this point, rigor mortis sets in, allowing Kakugo to gain the upper hand and defeat him, incapacitating Harara.

Others

Oboro Hagakure (葉隠朧)
The father of Kakugo and Harara who was responsible for their training. After Harara is driven to insanity by bonding with Kasumi, he demands to fight his father. Oboro dons his own Fortified Armor Shell, Hyō (雹(ひょう)), and is killed in the ensuing duel.

Shiro Hagakure (葉隠四郎)
The grandfather of Kakugo and Harara, who created the Fortified Armor Shells and the Tactical Fiend technology for Japan to win the Pacific War, causing thousands of deaths through his brutal and inhumane experiments. He was said to be executed by the Japanese government to cover up his experiments, but he secretly survived thanks to his science.

Mei Inukai (犬養冥)
A nurse working for Shiro Hagakure, wife to a Japanese Imperial soldier named Shinobu Inukai. Both of them were murdered to use their son Tamataro for the creation of the Kasumi armor, but Mei's grudge reached the armor and infused it with hate towards humanity. It was only dissipated after Kakugo destroys the armor and Tsumiko redeems Tamataro's spirit through her love.