I know I am extremely late with X-Men but since I am reviewing the Marvel Anime Series since Iron Man, I have every right to review the series this late, so expect the next review will be a review of eps 2-4. Back to X-Men, the series starts with an opening battle depicting a rampaging Phoenix/Jean Grey. Why is it that in every X-Men adaptation I watched has this scene?!
The opening battle caused my jaw to drop and my fingers to keep on getting screencaps (sadly, I can only place four of the most important caps here) due to how good the animation is in this scene. Also, the fact that they were able to make a scene about a rampaging Jean Grey looked good and emotional at the same time, especially in Scott's case since Jean is her girlfriend/wife (it wasn't explain what is the current status between the two in this series).
Another thing I can praise in this episode is how the quality of the fights increased in this series. Seriously, the fights from Iron Man were crappy, while the fight choreography in Wolverine improved so much that it made Iron Man the worst Madhouse anime that I know. While this show, it raised the bar in terms of fights and animation that I do not know what to expect from the Blade anime in terms of those departments.
As for the events that happened a year later, it was fine with me. First, they showed our heroes (less Scott) are now back in their normal lives. Ororo is taking a vacation somewhere, Hank is back teaching and Logan is having his vacation in Madripoor... so the thing that I read in Cracked.com about him being a rich guy in Madripoor is true, no wonder he gained a lot after the Wolverine anime!
As for Scott, well he turned into the Emo Scott that I hate in most X-Men adaptations I know. Seriously, get a hold on yourself Scott! Stop acting like a wuss and be the man whose claim to fame is to shoot Brotherhood members with his optic blast and know to argue with Logan a lot!
If there is one thing I am disappointed with the pilot episode is their new mission after a year, and that is to look for some Japanese girl named Hisako Ichiki (aka Armor, yes she exist in the comics) who was missing. But as they keep on adding more details about this mission, such as the number of mutants in the area and the fact that Professor X can't sense them gives me more reasons that this is indeed an important mission for the X-Men to handle.
How the episode ended was classic, it is one of the elements that I loved in the X-Men franchise and that is, Logan trying to shake Scott off from his emo mode and force him to return in his old self. But in this anime, it didn't work... for now. Even if Logan's method didn't work, Ororo's persuasion helped Scott remember Jean and returned into the good ol' Scott we know. It was a perfect end to Scott's emo self which I am irritated at.
Overall, it was a really impressive episode. Compared to the previous first episodes of the Marvel Anime Series, this is definitely my favorite due to how well balance the action and the plot in this episode. Also, one thing that I can highly praise in this episode is that Logan is not stealing the spotlight most of the time, and most of the scenes that involves Logan is something relevant and common with the X-Men franchise. In simple terms, there is proper focus with each X-Man that appeared in this episode.
Lastly, the character depictions here are pretty much spot with their comic book counterparts, same goes for the character designs that improved, no the art in X-Men is a total art shift! Oh and final note, I love that they have two sets of costumes and the fact that they continued what Wolverine started in terms of story, which is it is based on an actual comic book series that has more than one Japanese character in it and add more Japanese flavor for the final touch.
The opening battle caused my jaw to drop and my fingers to keep on getting screencaps (sadly, I can only place four of the most important caps here) due to how good the animation is in this scene. Also, the fact that they were able to make a scene about a rampaging Jean Grey looked good and emotional at the same time, especially in Scott's case since Jean is her girlfriend/wife (it wasn't explain what is the current status between the two in this series).
Another thing I can praise in this episode is how the quality of the fights increased in this series. Seriously, the fights from Iron Man were crappy, while the fight choreography in Wolverine improved so much that it made Iron Man the worst Madhouse anime that I know. While this show, it raised the bar in terms of fights and animation that I do not know what to expect from the Blade anime in terms of those departments.
As for the events that happened a year later, it was fine with me. First, they showed our heroes (less Scott) are now back in their normal lives. Ororo is taking a vacation somewhere, Hank is back teaching and Logan is having his vacation in Madripoor... so the thing that I read in Cracked.com about him being a rich guy in Madripoor is true, no wonder he gained a lot after the Wolverine anime!
As for Scott, well he turned into the Emo Scott that I hate in most X-Men adaptations I know. Seriously, get a hold on yourself Scott! Stop acting like a wuss and be the man whose claim to fame is to shoot Brotherhood members with his optic blast and know to argue with Logan a lot!
If there is one thing I am disappointed with the pilot episode is their new mission after a year, and that is to look for some Japanese girl named Hisako Ichiki (aka Armor, yes she exist in the comics) who was missing. But as they keep on adding more details about this mission, such as the number of mutants in the area and the fact that Professor X can't sense them gives me more reasons that this is indeed an important mission for the X-Men to handle.
How the episode ended was classic, it is one of the elements that I loved in the X-Men franchise and that is, Logan trying to shake Scott off from his emo mode and force him to return in his old self. But in this anime, it didn't work... for now. Even if Logan's method didn't work, Ororo's persuasion helped Scott remember Jean and returned into the good ol' Scott we know. It was a perfect end to Scott's emo self which I am irritated at.
Overall, it was a really impressive episode. Compared to the previous first episodes of the Marvel Anime Series, this is definitely my favorite due to how well balance the action and the plot in this episode. Also, one thing that I can highly praise in this episode is that Logan is not stealing the spotlight most of the time, and most of the scenes that involves Logan is something relevant and common with the X-Men franchise. In simple terms, there is proper focus with each X-Man that appeared in this episode.
Lastly, the character depictions here are pretty much spot with their comic book counterparts, same goes for the character designs that improved, no the art in X-Men is a total art shift! Oh and final note, I love that they have two sets of costumes and the fact that they continued what Wolverine started in terms of story, which is it is based on an actual comic book series that has more than one Japanese character in it and add more Japanese flavor for the final touch.
