Reception
Critical reception of Zaion: I Wish You Were Here was mixed. "On the surface, it may appear to be merely another sci-fi mecha action show", Patrick King of Anime Fringe wrote. However, Zaion introduced apocalyptic themes similar those found in Michael Crichton's novel Andromeda Strain and the film 28 Days Later. According to King, the real story of Zaion occurs when Yuuji and Ai develop their relationship, and "we begin to think less of the nanomachine technology and viral invasion of the planet and focus more upon the potential love between these two lonely people, trapped in a labyrinth devoid of an exit". The series was produced with high audio and visual qualities and was designed with "plausible technical details". King also praised the fitting soundtrack, which was composed by Kenji Kawai and incorporated the sounds of progressive rock. On the contrary, Jason Bustard of THEM Anime rated the series one out of five stars and accused Gonzo of attempting to "rip off Power Rangers as a last resort". He also pointed out the seemingly oblivious general population of the world in Zaion that are not at all concerned about the invasion. "If they were trying for some sort of grand social statement here, they succeeded instead in making the vast majority of Japan simply look stupid", Bustard charged.
Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network also rated Zaion below average. Although he criticized the series as a "woefully undercooked and dull bit of science fiction claptrap", he also admitted that it "wouldn't be quite so miserable if the design wasn't as poorly handled as it is". Gonzo, which was known for incorporating experimental animation into its productions, mismanaged the show's 3D computer animation and produced a result that "could have been rendered many years ago in some ancient MS-DOS modeling program". Despite his criticisms, Bertschy called the soundtrack "a truck stop of pleasure on the highway of pain" and praised the professional English-language dub released by ADV Films. Mania.com's Chris Beveridge noted that character development between Yuuji and Ai was not consistent. "Yuuji comes across as little more than a blank sheet for the most part with just the scribble of 'angst' on him", Beveridge observed. Overall, Gonzo's experimentation with computer animation "look highly fake and out of place".
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