all of the z.o.e. franchise - and indeed all of kojima's works - were influenced to one degree or another by works of anime and manga from the 70s and 80s - especially those in the mecha genre - with the mobile suit gundam franchise being paramount. the idolo ova in particular illustrates this, as it examines the concepts of colonialism and independence in outer space best illustrated by gundam. some would go as far to say that it is allegoric of the classic series, but this is an overstatement, as many key plot elements differ greatly. it also must be said that idolo was produced by sunrise in partnership with konami, and that mobile suit gundam is considered sunrise's flagship franchise. all of which were born from early science fiction anthologies and books from before anime was ever popularized on tv.