ZETMAN - Episode 12

He's back.

Well, it's now official (although it had already been pretty obvious a few episodes back): Jin vs. Seiji to end off the series. While the latter has already gotten his wish of seeing ZET in its complete glory granted, the former now seeks to reach his goal of preventing the evil, sadistic mastermind of the Players from wreaking any further havoc. The twists and turns in this fast-paced episode weren't really "shocking" given the recent happenings so I found them to be a bit plain and weak. Nonetheless, I didn't expect that Kōga would actually shoot his father and that Hanako was actually a Player (those headaches of hers were actually a sign). Looking back, all of this might have just been part of Seiji's plan, showing just how intelligent he is; it's too bad he's a villain.

In the final battle between Jin and Seiji, it'll be one that determines whether physical strength is superior to mental strength. While the physical strength of Seiji's regressed form is unknown, I'm willing to bet it is a lot weaker than ZET's. However, there's no doubt that Seiji has the psychological advantage over Jin who has just seen the mental state of those around him, whom he cares deeply about, slowly deteriorate due to his opponent's tactics. Although it's usually the case that the protagonist comes out on top, I wouldn't necessarily ignore the possibility that Seiji will end up triumphing but spare Jin's life in order to keep the opportunity to satisfy his sadistic desires in the future.

I'm not sure where the story is at in terms of the manga, but I don't think that the story could've gotten that far in only thirteen episodes. With approximately 200 chapters already published (could be more), a second season could definitely be possible. But like with all manga adaptations, it all depends on the BD/DVD sales which I, frankly, don't think ZETMAN will do so well with given the criticism about how the anime strayed from the manga, even considerably in some scenes. As a viewer who hasn't read the manga, I found ZETMAN to be entertaining overall and hope that the last episode will provide a satisfying end.