# Zero Tester

Zero Tester (ゼロテスター, Zerotesutā) is a mecha anime series produced by Crystal Art Studio (later renamed as Studio Nue) and Tohokushinsha and animated by Soeisha (later renamed as Nippon Sunrise).
It consists of 66 episodes and was originally broadcast on Fuji TV. The first 39 episodes tells the attempted invasion of the earth by Armanoid aliens, while the remaining 27 episodes, with the series retitled Zero Tester: Save the Earth! (Chikyu o Mamotte!), are about an attack by Gallos aliens.
According to Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy's The Anime Encyclopedia, it was "an early gathering of many of anime's future greats, particularly for the Gundam series".

## Production

The first directorial work by Ryosuke Takahashi. In response to the failure of Hazedon in the previous year, the second work of Soeisha changed the project content from marine adventure to science fiction.
"Thunderbird was a Japanese copyright's" Tohokushinsha planning as a concept of "Japanese-made Thunderbird" is, was produced as the No. 2 work of creation Utsusha a subsidiary. In contrast to "Hazedon," which failed in terms of audience rating, this work succeeded in terms of audience rating.
Initially, the Zero Tester was also in a scenario that eventually led to battle in the incident investigation and rescue mission, but the battle color was strengthened by repeated route changes.
At the end of the next announcement, the line "Let's charge this channel again next week" was always included.
The credit for the mechanical design "John Dedowa", is actually a fictitious person. In reality Studio Nue, which was known as Crystal Art Studio at the time, was behind the designs.

## Cast

* Akira Kamiya as Shin Fubuki
* Iemasa Kayumi as Moebius
* Kiyoshi Kawakubo as Dr. Tachibana
* Noriko Ohara as Hiroshi
* Ryūsei Nakao as Gou Araishi
* Taichirō Hirokawa as Tsutomu Kenmotsu
* Yōko Asagami as Lisa

## Characters
### Earth side (main characters)
#### Snowstorm/Blizzard Shin (吹雪 シン/ふぶき シン)

Voice - Akira Kamiya (神谷明)
Tester No. 1, Mark 1 pilot. He is called "Fubuki" in the play but is rarely referred to by name.

#### Araishi/Storm Go (荒石 ゴー/あらし ゴー)

Voice - Tomoharu Takeo (竹尾智晴) (Now known as Ryusei Nakao (中尾隆聖))
Tester No. 1, Mark 2 pilot. In the play he is called "Arashi" but is rarely referred to by name. In episode 49, it is revealed that he is from Jupiter's space colony and he lost his mother in an accident when he was a boy.

#### Lisa (リサ)

Voice - Yoko Asagami (麻上洋子) (Now known as Ichiryusai Harumi (一龍斎春水))
Tester No. 1, Mark 3 female pilot.

### Earth side (others)
#### Yang (ヤン)

Voice - Shun Yashiro ( 八代駿)
A technician dedicated to the tester corps. He invents and develops various items used by the tester corps.

#### Hiroshi (ヒロシ)

Voice - Noriko Ohara (小原乃梨子)
Son of Dr. Tachibana.

#### Tsutomu Kenmochi (剣持勉)

Voice - Taichiro Hirokawa (広川太一郎)

#### Dr. Tachibana (タチバナ博士)

Voice - Kiyoshi Kawakubo (川久保潔)
The best brain on earth and the chief executive officer of the tester corps.

#### Dr. Gao (ガオ博士)

Voice - Kosei Tomita (富田耕生)
A friend of Dr. Tachibana. The developer of Crusher 7, the battle robot in episode 50.

#### Kazemaki (風巻)

Voice - Ryoichi Tanaka (田中亮一)
A male member who was appointed as a Mark 3 pilot in place of Lisa in episode 54. Severely injured during the battle with Dragon Garros.

#### Ann (アン)

Voice - Mitsuyo Tobe (戸部光代)
Appeared in episode 60. Crew of a space surveillance ship. Died in the line of duty due to an attack by Specter Garos.

#### Joe Kelly (ジョー・ケリー)

Voice - Rokuro Naya (納谷六朗)
Appeared in Episode 64. Built by Kuronuma Dr. (actually Amanoido). He has enough fighting power to defeat the Zoomers alone. He carried a bomb activated by Kuronuma.

## Broadcast list

| Episode Number | On-air date | Episode Title | Writer | Conte | Director | Appearing enemy mecha | Guest Voice |
| 1 | 1973 October 1 | The birth of Zero Tester | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | Armanoid Tank |
| 2 | October 8 | Hit the hurricane top! | Haruya Yamazaki | | Kazuo Nakamura | Hurricane top |
| 3 | October 15 | Pit of the Universe | Satoshi Inoue | | Kazuo Nakamura | Planetary Fortress, Bomb Robot |
| 4 | October 22 | SOS First Planet Base | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | Armanoid Robot |
| 5 | October 29 | Horror Human Remodeling Machine | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | Golem |
| 6 | November 5 | Dispatch Tester No. 3! | Haruya Yamazaki | | Kazuo Nakamura | Submarine Bethbias |
| 7 | November 12 | Blow up the underground power plant! | Satoshi Inoue | | Kazuo Nakamura | Armanoid bats |
| 8 | November 19 | Antarctic Operation | Hino Takamoto | | Kazuo Nakamura | Whale-class submarine |
| 9 | November 26 | Fubuki! Zero life support | String Goro | | Kazuo Nakamura | King (Pharaoh) Robot (Voice: Hisayoshi Yoshizawa), Prince Robot (Voice: Akira Kamiya) |
| 10 | December 3 | The Earth Burns | Haruya Yamazaki | | Kazuo Nakamura | Machine Bird |
| 11 | December 10 | Protect the laser car! | Satoshi Inoue | | Kazuo Nakamura | Monster Butterfly |
| 12 | December 17 | Hit the Space Fortress! | Ryosuke Takahashi | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 13 | December 24 | Armanoid Gifts | Yu Yamamoto * 1 | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 14 | December 31 | Mobius's Counterattack | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 15 | 1974 January 7 | Close call! Three people aimed at | Haruya Yamazaki | | Kazuo Nakamura | Lightning laser |
| 16 | January 14 | Scoop the Sun! | Satoshi Inoue | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 17 | January 21 | Aimed Undersea City | Yu Yamamoto | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 18 | January 28 | Space Jellyfish Polyp | Haruya Yamazaki | | Kazuo Nakamura | Polyp |
| 19 | February 4 | Yousei Silver Bronco | Satoshi Inoue | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 20 | February 11 | Crazy Artificial Sun | Kenichi Matsuzaki Masaaki Sakurai | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 21 | February 18 | The tanker spacecraft that was taken over | Gengoro | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 22 | February 25 | Fear of 10,000 km / s | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 23 | March 4 | Shoot down the planetary machine | Yu Yamamoto | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 24 | March 11 | A space ghost appeared !! | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | Monster |
| 25 | March 18 | Break through the spider web barrier | Satoshi Inoue | | Kazuo Nakamura | Arabella |
| 26 | March 25 | Monster Brain Mad | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | Mad |
| 27 | April 1 | Secret Tester Machine Z-1 | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 28 | April 8 | The artificial island was intimidated! | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 29 | April 15 | Dr. Tachibana's Uragiri? | Haruya Yamazaki | | Kazuo Nakamura | Ladybugs Rocket |
| 30 | April 22 | Fierce fight! Confrontation with Dekuninger | Yu Yamamoto | | Kazuo Nakamura | Dekuninger |
| 31 | April 29 | Strong enemy! Robot Great Fortress | String Goro | | Kazuo Nakamura | Dinosaur Robot Fortress |
| 32 | May 6 | Remodeled Barghis Counterattack | Fuyunori Gobu | | Kazuo Nakamura | Remodeled Barghis |
| 33 | May 13 | Armanoid Deep Sea Trap | Yu Yamamoto | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 34 | May 20 | Captain Desperate Counterattack | String Goro | | Kazuo Nakamura | Centipede Tank |
| 35 | May 27 | Appearance! Mecha Plant Dyler | Yoshiaki Yoshida | | Kazuo Nakamura | Iron-eating Mushroom, Dyler |
| 36 | June 3 | Cryonic Humans! | String Goro | | Kazuo Nakamura | Temperature Sensing Robot |
| 37 | June 10 | Target is Zero Tester | Yu Yamamoto | | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 38 | June 17 | Zero Robot Appears | Yoshiaki Yoshida | | Kazuo Nakamura | Phantom Fish Submarine |
| 39 | June 24 | The End of the Strong Enemy Bargis | Fuyunori Gobu | Noboru Ishiguro | Kazuo Nakamura | King Squid Gander |
| 40 | July 1 | Garos Seven People Appeared | Fuyunori Gobu | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Yoshiyuki Tomino | (Credit) It has not been) | Garos Seven People, Decoy Robot |
| 41 | July 8 | Invasion of Animal Garos | Gengoro | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | | (Credit) It has not been) | Animal Garos (Voice: Kiyoshi Kobayashi) |
| 42 | July 15 | I'm here! Dinosaur Army | Ryosuke Takahashi | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Yoshiyuki Tomino | (Credit) It has not been) | Dinosaur Garos (Voice: Shozo Iizuka) |
| 43 | July 22 | Intense! Ashlanger | Yu Yamamoto | Seiji Okuda | Yuichiro Yokoyama | (Credit) It has not been) | Warrior Garos Ashlanger (Voice: Kenji Utsumi), Iron buffalo |
| 44 | July 29 | Ambush of Fire Garos | Yu Yamamoto | Noboru Ishiguro | Kazunori Tanahashi | (Credit) It has not been) | Fire Garos (Voice: Shojiro Kihara) |
| 45 | August 5 | Challenge of Esper Garos | Soji Yoshikawa | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | | (Credit) It has not been) | Esper Garos (Voice: Ikuo Nishikawa) |
| 46 | August 12 | Yokai Gamagaros | Yoshiaki Yoshida | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | (Credit) It has not been) | Gamagaros (Voice: Junpei Takiguchi) |
| 47 | August 19 | Three-stage deformed Garos | String Goro | Hisashi Sakaguchi | Yuichiro Yokoyama | (Credit) It has not been) | Transformed Garos (Voice: Reizo Nomoto) |
| 48 | August 26 | Fear of Mecha Ants | Yu Yamamoto | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Yoshiyuki Tomino | (Credit) It has not been) | Black Demon (Voice: Shozo Iizuka) |
| 49 | September 2 | Zero Flight of Trials | Soji Yoshikawa | Noboru Ishiguro | Kazunori Tanahashi | (Credit) It has not been) | Armageddon (Voice: Yoshihisa Kamo) |
| 50 | September 9 | Advance! Crusher 7 | Yu Yamamoto | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | (Credit) It has not been) | Super Garos (voice: Mikio Terashima) |
| 51 | September 16 | Transparent Garos Trap | Yu Yamamoto | Seiji Okuda | Yuichiro Yokoyama | (Credit) It has not been) | Transparent Garos (Voice: Kenji Utsumi) |
| 52 | September 23 | Three Stars Launch | Yoshiaki Yoshida | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Yoshiyuki Tomino | (Credit) It has not been) | Magmagaros (Voice: Shozo Iizuka) |
| 53 | September 30 | Unit 2 Fortress Plan | Yu Yamamoto | | Kazunori Tanahashi | Nobuyoshi Sasakado | Hydragaros |
| 54 | October 7 | Deep Sea Zero Charge | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Dragon Garos (Voice: Reizo Nomoto) |
| 55 | October 14 | Shoot the Garos Bullet Train | Yu Yamamoto | | Yuichiro Yokoyama | Kazuo Nakamura | |
| 56 | October 21 | Phantom Zero Tester | Yu Yamamoto | | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Introductory Garos (Voice: Teiji Omiya) |
| 57 | October 28 | Underground Garos Sasoligula | Gengoro | | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Kazuo Nakamura | Underground Garos Sasoligula (Voice: Uncredited) |
| 58 | November 4 | Transform Zero Buggy! | Soji Yoshikawa | | Kazunori Tanahashi | Nobuyoshi Sasakado | Bagindagaros (Voice: Toshihiko Kojima * 2) |
| 59 | November 11 | Escape the Bomb Island | Yoshiaki Yoshida | | Yuichiro Yokoyama | Saburo Sakamoto | Bomb Garos (Voice: Masashi Amenomori) |
| 60 | November 18 | Devil's Specter Garos | Kazuo Terada | | Kazuo Terada | Kazuo Nakamura | Specter Garos (Voice: Shozo Iizuka) |
| 61 | November 25 | The Secret of Yuki Shonen Robot | Soji Yoshikawa | | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Bison Garos (Voice: Rei Nomoto) three) |
| 62 | December 2 | SOS! Robot Tournament | Masaaki Sakurai | | Yoshiyuki Tomino | (Credit) It has not been) | Driller Garos (voice: Shozo Iizuka) |
| 63 | December 9 | Laughter of Hell Garos | Yu Yamamoto | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Yuichiro Yokoyama | Nobuyoshi Sasakado | Hell Garos (voice: Mikio Terashima) |
| 64 | December 16 | Horror Cyborg Plan | Soji Yoshikawa | | Kazuo Terada | Saburo Sakamoto | Zoomer (Voice: Reizo Nomoto) |
| 65 | December 23 | Armanoid Star Approaching | Yu Yamamoto | | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Bangers |
| 66 | December 30 | The end of the Armanoid star | Fuyunori Gobu | | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Nobuyoshi Sasakado | Armanoid star, multi-warhead nuclear missile |