Akai Koudan Zillion (赤い光弾ジリオン, lit. Red Photon Zillion in Japan), known elsewhere simply as Zillion, is a 1987science fiction anime series that originally ran from April 12, 1987 to December 13, 1987 on Nippon Television and was produced by Tatsunoko Productions, with promotional material published by Movic.
After the production of the anime, Tatsunoko Production and Ishikawa Mitsuhisa, the producer of Zillion, established IG Tatsunoko (which later became Production I.G) to obstruct the dispersing of the excellent staffs of Tatsunoko branch which had done actual production. Therefore, Zillion is considered to be Production I.G's first work.
The anime was adapted into a Sega Master Systemvideo game called Zillion. This is an original space adventure platform video game developed by SEGA and designed for the Master System as a companion tie-in for Tatsunoko Production's Zillion anime series in 1987.
The Zillion series prominently features Sega's egg-shaped mascot, Opa-Opa, who stars in the Fantasy Zone games, which are also available for the Master System. The main energy gun weapon of the anime is based on the design for the SEGA Light Phaser attachment for the game console.
A sequel to the game, Zillion II was released in 1988.
