This episode focuses more on Yinsen and how did he survived and why he developed a certain grudge on Tony, to be exact on the Stark Industries along the way. Plus, we see some love for Tony’s infamous suitcase armor!
Anyways, asides from the fact that I noticed how mediocre the animation Madhouse did for this episode, which is, from crappy CGI, they will then switch the animation of the suits in traditional format, which kinda looks like how those old Iron Man cartoons animated looked like in a certain angle.
Even with the mediocrity of the animation, Yinsen’s backstory is what keeps me watching this episode. Yinsen was able to survived by some random passerby picking him up (Not surprised knowing that some Kamen Rider writer might have wrote it) and now lives with her as her ward.
After her marriage with some guy, for some unknown reason, helicopters coming from the Stark Industries attacked the church were the wedding was held. Yinsen, of course survived and was offered by some guy which is considered “unknown” for now offers him a offer he can’t refuse. After seeing crappy 2D pictures of Iron Man that looked like those old Iron Man cartoons, Yinsen officially joins Zodiac.
To be honest, even if his backstory is a traditional one (revenge to those who killed his family, etc…) there isn’t much meat in it. I mean, why did Stark Industries attack some random church? Are they targeting Yinsen? Or maybe Zodiac was behind it all? If I am right with the last part, it makes perfect sense.
About the mass produced types, Iron Man Sigma, I was at first surprised on the choice for them to be remote controlled robots, but later it made much sense. Zodiac is an organization that barely uses humans, so it makes sense that Yinsen will create Sigma as machines. I was hoping I could do a Kamen Rider 555 reference with it…
One of the biggest surprises in this episode is the appearance of Tony’s suitcase armor. No wonder he can transform into Iron Man in some random areas without his car nor him going into his house.
Points at Dio...
One of the best things in this episode is the fact that Yinsen pointed out that the Iron Man suit is a weapon! Come on, even an average guy can say that it is a weapon considering that it is an armor that shoot lasers and the like! So what will be Tony's excuse on this one? Prosthesis?
About the Iron Man vs. Dio fight, it has the same quality from the first one except it is a little longer and the thrill of seeing two Iron Men fight is lost considering that it felt more like Toshiki Inoue’s classic Rider vs. Rider fights. Sure, they used things only found in Iron Man but if you remove the aerial fights, the Iron Man suits and replace it with bug armors, it is still the same.
Overall, the only good thing about this episode is Yinsen’s backstory, robotic Riottroope… I mean, Iron Men Sigma and the fact that Tony’s suitcase armor is here. The Iron Man fights looked more like Rider vs. Rider fights, in which after the introduction of the second Rider, his next fights with the protagonist will go downhill in terms of quality. It is quite rare if the quality will increase.
Even if the title is VS Iron Man, which I expect the fights will look good (Maybe they are reserving it for the final episode…), it is one of the most disappointing episodes I have seen, along with the one that involves a kid and the Virgo mecha.