OVA
Description
Bob is a supporting character who works as an agent for Ghomvak Security & Investigations, a bounty hunting agency. His primary function within this organization is to serve as a liaison and dispatcher, bringing prime job opportunities to the veteran hunter Glenn and his apprentice, Iria, while assigning more elementary or lesser cases to another hunter named Fujikuro. Despite his administrative role, Bob is not confined to a desk and often joins Glenn and Iria in the field to help out on their missions.
In the early part of the story, Bob is a physical being who works closely with the team. His personality is defined by his professional reliability and his supportive, almost avuncular relationship with Iria. He is portrayed as a competent and seasoned member of the group, though he is not the primary front-line combatant in the same way as Glenn. His position as the intermediary who brings the team their most significant assignments sets the entire plot of the series into motion.
Bob's role in the narrative is dramatically altered during a rescue mission on a hijacked spaceship called the Karma. The mission goes horribly wrong when the team discovers that the hijacker is not a terrorist but Zeiram, an immensely powerful and virtually indestructible alien creature that had been the ship’s secret cargo. During the ensuing chaos, as the team tries to evacuate survivors, Bob is severely and critically injured by Zeiram. This injury proves to be fatal to his physical body.
However, Bob’s presence in the story does not end with his physical death. Following his injury and escape from the Karma, his personality and consciousness are transferred into a computer system by a character named Puttubayh. This digital transformation becomes a core part of his character. In his new form, he is eventually retrieved by Iria, who has been targeted for assassination in a corporate cover-up. As a computer program, Bob becomes an indispensable ally to Iria. He uses his hacking abilities to assist her, notably helping her manipulate a teleportation system during a final confrontation with Zeiram. His computer form has a distinct visual representation; it resembles a vajra, though on Iria’s personal communication system, it appears as a simpler configuration of two floating cones sandwiching a smaller sphere.
Throughout the remainder of the series, Bob serves as a guide, information source, and strategic partner for Iria. His presence offers her continuity and support after the loss of her brother Glenn, and he helps her investigate the truth about Zeiram and the conspiracy that surrounds it. His transformation from a flesh-and-blood agent to a disembodied artificial intelligence highlights the science fiction setting's themes of identity and survival. This digital existence also directly connects the animated prequel to the original live-action Zeiram films, in which Bob is already established as an AI partner to the bounty hunter Iria.
In the early part of the story, Bob is a physical being who works closely with the team. His personality is defined by his professional reliability and his supportive, almost avuncular relationship with Iria. He is portrayed as a competent and seasoned member of the group, though he is not the primary front-line combatant in the same way as Glenn. His position as the intermediary who brings the team their most significant assignments sets the entire plot of the series into motion.
Bob's role in the narrative is dramatically altered during a rescue mission on a hijacked spaceship called the Karma. The mission goes horribly wrong when the team discovers that the hijacker is not a terrorist but Zeiram, an immensely powerful and virtually indestructible alien creature that had been the ship’s secret cargo. During the ensuing chaos, as the team tries to evacuate survivors, Bob is severely and critically injured by Zeiram. This injury proves to be fatal to his physical body.
However, Bob’s presence in the story does not end with his physical death. Following his injury and escape from the Karma, his personality and consciousness are transferred into a computer system by a character named Puttubayh. This digital transformation becomes a core part of his character. In his new form, he is eventually retrieved by Iria, who has been targeted for assassination in a corporate cover-up. As a computer program, Bob becomes an indispensable ally to Iria. He uses his hacking abilities to assist her, notably helping her manipulate a teleportation system during a final confrontation with Zeiram. His computer form has a distinct visual representation; it resembles a vajra, though on Iria’s personal communication system, it appears as a simpler configuration of two floating cones sandwiching a smaller sphere.
Throughout the remainder of the series, Bob serves as a guide, information source, and strategic partner for Iria. His presence offers her continuity and support after the loss of her brother Glenn, and he helps her investigate the truth about Zeiram and the conspiracy that surrounds it. His transformation from a flesh-and-blood agent to a disembodied artificial intelligence highlights the science fiction setting's themes of identity and survival. This digital existence also directly connects the animated prequel to the original live-action Zeiram films, in which Bob is already established as an AI partner to the bounty hunter Iria.