In the future, a Resistance fighter shuts down a terminator. In the present, Malcolm Lee (Holland), works flat out to develop an AI that will compete with Skynet. Judgment Day is at hand.

To get the canon in the room out of the way first, the series treats every previous movie as canon. In fact, there’s a hint in this opening episode that Malcolm, voiced with typical warmth and conviction by André Holland, is aware of each previous timeline and is trying to build something coherent from them.

It’s an enticing idea and one the show gives the weight it deserves. The setting helps a lot too, with the series unfolding in a Tokyo full of assistance androids. There’s a sense of innovation just starting to move too fast, of the downhill slope starting to gather pace. The setting thrums with tension, and it cleverly nods to the mutable, constant holding actions against the future fought in the superb Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The show sensibly spends time in the dark future of 2022 as well. Ann Dowd’s Prophet is a Resistance leader who Sonoya Mizuno’s Eiko work for, not to stop the future but to get ahead of the implacable, relentless AI who has killed the world. The payoff is predictable, but it has narrative weight that balances the familiar ground.

It helps too that the show is gorgeous. Production IG and Skydance have mixed traditional animation with the slightest hint of CGI to create a world where the future is moving a little too fast, seems a little too plausible and a little too self aware. There’s a great, graceful shot into the lead Terminator’s shattered eye and out into Skynet building it a new body in a nearby factory. Kokoro is hugely impressive too, a graceful dance of light that’s as gentle and beautiful as Skynet is brutal and angular. And yes, the music is absolutely there.

Verdict: This is an intense, ambitious, confident debut. I can’t wait to see what happens next. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart