Wolverine Gets the Anime Treatment

Marvel Anime - Publicity Still

I just found out Marvel Anime premiered a few weeks ago. I guess I’m a little late to the party. Oops.

Billed as a way for Marvel to "push the boundaries with the Marvel Universe and seek new mediums for [their] characters," Marvel has teamed up with Madhouse, one of the top Japanese animation studios in the world, to help "expand the Marvel brand with a truly global vision tailored to themes and artistic styles popular in Japan, creating a uniquely localized and cross-cultural adaptation of the Marvel Universe." (Marvel Official Press Release)


I decided to check out Wolverine and for the most part, I like it. I watched the Omega Red episode. I have no idea what else is going on other than Wolverine’s in Japan, he kicked Omega Red’s butt, and people are trying to kill him. Basically your average day for Wolverine. Oh, and Mariko is around. (Die-hard Wolverine fans know why that's a fun fact.)

While I enjoyed it, I was left a little confused. Maybe it’s because I am jumping in in the middle, but I don’t know how old Logan is supposed to be. That might seem odd, we all know he’s over a hundred, but the animation makes him appear much younger than most portrayals, and Milo Ventimiglia of Heroes and Gilmore Girls fame sounds extremely young.  I know it has been said that the backstories were going to be played around with but unless they completely reworked his history, something does not add up. 


He is established as an X-Man and he has the adamantium but he does not sound like a man who has been through more than a lifetime's worth of crazy or had his mind mucked up.  I don't know if that was a conscious choice of the creative team or if it is just because Ventimiglia is a young man who has not abused his voice enough to sound rough and gritty.


Overall, I really like the animation. The backdrops are gorgeous and Omega Red looked badass. It’s Wolverine who kinda ruins it for me. He’s tall with a mullet and really oddly placed sideburns. I feel like they were trying to make him an anime Hugh Jackman and not the short, scrappy, hairy Wolverine we all know and love. 

My only other mild complaint is he was working with a female, who I believe to be Yukio, but her name is never mentioned in this episode. Come on! The episode had several different characters and other than the law enforcement agents who are after him, everyone else was named. Why would it have been so difficult to just call her by name just once? I don’t get it.

That said, I am definitely going to give the show another shot. The story, pace, and action were good and I really enjoyed watching it. I am also going to give Iron Man a go. You should too.

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