History Anime / KaiketsuZorro

* AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe: Whether Zorro seemingly kills a villain with his sword slashes (like he did with two of the three assassins in "The Order To Kill Zorro" or with [[spoiler: Commander Raymond]] in the final episode) or just incapacitates them will vary depending which episode you watch or what the plot requires.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Unlike several other versions of Zorro, this one has blond hair.

''Kaiketsu Zorro'' (literally "Extraordinary Zorro," released in English as ''The Legend of Zorro'') is a 1996 anime series based on the popular ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'' franchise. It was created through the collaborative work of Japanese studios Creator/AshiProductions and Creator/{{Toho}} and Italian distributor Creator/MondoTV. The series was broadcast on Creator/{{NHK}} in Japan.

* WhipItGood: As per tradition, Zorro uses a whip to disarm villains and to swing from one place to another.

* ZorroMark: You don't say!

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Lolita recounts how, when they were children, Diego saved her from a group of bullies who frightened her with a snake on a stick. They've carried a torch for each other ever since, but throughout the series Lolita is absolutely dismayed that Diego has (supposedly) stopped being the kind, brave boy with a strong sense of justice who she'd grown up admiring and loving, instead becoming a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob following his time in Spain.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: Diego is often assumed to be a lazy good-for-nothing who's just coasting on his family's wealth. He himself perpetuates that assumption by lazing around on the lawn at home instead of helping out with the household chores.

Diego is soon joined in his efforts by Bernard, a young servant boy who Diego had rescued from death years earlier and who has managed to deduce Diego's dual identity, and together they thwart the corrupt practices of the Army and the viciousness of local criminals, with Bernard donning a version of the Zorro costume and calling himself "Little Zorro" on occasion. As in most versions of the character, Diego must also [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob act like a coward in order to avert any suspicion of him being Zorro]], although this tactic earns him the disapproval of his father, as well as the disdain of his childhood sweetheart Lolita--[[LovesMyAlterEgo who ironically falls in love with Zorro]].

Diego is soon joined in his efforts by Bernard, a young servant boy who Diego had rescued from death years earlier and who has managed to deduce Diego's dual identity, and together they thwart the corrupt practices of the Army and the viciousness of local criminals, with Bernard donning a version of the Zorro costume and calling himself "Little Zorro" on occasion. As in most versions of the character, Diego must also act like a coward in order to avert any suspicion of him being Zorro, although this tactic earns him the disapproval of his father, as well as the disdain of his childhood sweetheart Lolita--who ironically falls in love with Zorro.

* ProfessionalKiller: Several of these are hired over the course of the series to kill Zorro. A trio of them show up in "The Order to Kill Zorro," consisting of a MasterSwordsman, a ColdSniper who uses a crossbow, and a KnifeNut who also [[MasterPoisoner uses poison darts]].

* AdultFear:
** The third episode pretty much runs on this. First an escaped arsonist burns down a building on Lolita's parents' property. Then Lolita vanishes after an argument with her parents, and no one can find her. Even worse, the reason she's vanished is because she was kidnapped by [[StalkerWithACrush Lieutenant Gabriel]], in an attempt to "persuade" her to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe accept his proposal of marriage]].
** Bernard's involvement with Zorro can invoke a lot of this. Over the course of the series, he's been taken hostage, shot at, threatened by armed men twice his size, trapped in a house loaded with highly lethal booby-traps...the list goes on, and that's even ''with'' Zorro making an active effort to keep him away from the most dangerous situations.

* PragmaticVillainy: For all his villainy, Raymond knows when to ''not'' press his luck. In one episode, he's gung-ho about getting an inventor's mechanical expertise for his own use, but when he finds out the woman's family was given protection by the Spanish monarchy itself--she bears the monarchy's crest as proof of this--he warns Gabriel to leave the woman alone. Of course Gabriel, having been humiliated earlier by a knight-themed robot the woman had built, doesn't listen. (It bears mentioning that, after giving Gabriel the order to leave the woman be, Raymond doesn't show up again for the rest of the episode.)

''Kaiketsu Zorro'' (literally "Extraordinary Zorro," released in English as ''The Legend of Zorro'') is a 1996 anime series based on the popular ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'' franchise. It was created through the collaborative work of Japanese studio Creator/AshiProductions and Italian distributor Mondo TV, and aired on the Japanese NHK network.

''Kaiketsu Zorro'' (literally "Extraordinary Zorro," released in English as ''The Legend of Zorro'') is a 1996 anime series based on the popular ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'' franchise. It was created through the collaborative work of Japanese studio Production Reed (Ashi Productions at the time) and Italian distributor Mondo TV, and aired on the Japanese NHK network.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Whenever Zorro is shown sustaining an injury (as he does with surprising regularity), Diego will have bandages covering the wound in a later scene.
** The plot of Episode 5 revolves around a cargo containing some barrels filled with poison that sank off the coast several years before. By the time the episode takes place, the barrels have inevitably begun to degrade, releasing their contents into the ocean and killing the local wildlife.
** In episode 17, an injured Zorro is being chased by dogs trained to attack any man dressed in black. Lolita snatches up Zorro's sword and tries to defend him when one of the dogs catches up to him. However, since she hasn't been trained to fight, the gesture proves more foolhardy than effective; the dog just bowls her over and keeps going.
*** Zorro outright collapses from the exertion of his escape and the strain of his untreated injuries shortly after this. Though he's up bright and early the next morning to settle things with Gabriel, he elects to sit on a chair and threaten the lieutenant with a pistol because he isn't recovered enough for a physical fight yet. Even after standing up, he moves around as little as possible.

** SecretSecretKeeper: In "Too Many Borros," [[spoiler:the property heiress]] recognizes Diego's voice when he's dressed as Zorro, having spent a good amount of time with Diego throughout the episode before that encounter with Zorro, but keeps mum about the discovery; Diego himself never realizes that the character figured him out. Later, in "The Sword of Justice Forever," [[spoiler:Don Alejandro]] admits to having known for quite some time about Diego's dual identity, graduating to regular SecretKeeper status after the revelation.

* RealityEnsues:

* FauxAffablyEvil: Though he's more likely to bully his way into getting what he wants, Gabriel is capable of acting charming when the mood strikes him.

* LovesMyAlterEgo: Lolita is disappointed in her childhood sweetheart Diego, seeing him as lazy, cowardly, and selfish...but she's in love with Zorro, who's brave, strong, and a champion of the people. Too bad for her she doesn't know they're the same person.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Both Raymond and Kapital act as this throughout the series. And while Raymond did ultimately have the final say in all matters over Kapital, Kapital still acted independently on his own as a villain and hired his own professional assassins to go after Zorro just enough that he doesn't fit the bill of being purely a minion to Raymond.

** "Cornered" focuses on Tackle, the Vega family's hunting dog, proving his worth after having been mis-blamed for several fiascos at the start of the episode.

** In episode 17, an injured Zorro is being chased by dogs trained to attack any man dressed in black. Lolita snatches up Zorro's sword and tries to defend him when one of the dogs catches up to him, but since she hasn't been trained to fight, the dog just bowls her over and keeps going.
*** The exertion of Zorro's escape from the dogs and his untreated injuries combine to sap his strength, until by the time Lolita manages to help him, he's on the verge of collapse. When he confronts Gabriel the next morning, Zorro resorts to threatening the lieutenant with a pistol because he hasn't recovered enough to handle the physical exertion of a fight yet. He also sits on a chair for the first part of their confrontation and moves around as little as possible after standing up, presumably to avoid putting undue strain on his wounds.

* RuleofCool: Fuels many of Zorro's stunts, such as the oft-reused segment where he parries blows from and then disarms ''four'' soldiers at the same time. Viento also benefits greatly from this.