02.06
When it was announced that Madhouse and Marvel were buddying up to make a line of Marvel anime, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one filled with fanboy glee. In particular, I was pumped about the Iron Man and X-Men anime. One episode into the series, however, and I was automatically turned off by Iron Man. Though I guess considering the other possibility of a show showing promise only to fail later in the game, Iron Man came out on top.
Such is the problem I had with the X-Men anime, starting off with the typical elements of an X-Men series only for me to start losing interest halfway through.
The series starts with an epic fight between the X-Men and one of their own—the psychic Jean Grey apparently having lost control of her powers and burning a conveniently barren wasteland-ish type of area. While members Beast, Storm and Wolverine are doing their best to fend off her attacks, boyfriend Cyclops is having a particularly difficult time accepting the fact that his lady-friend has just gone bat-shit insane.
Now, I’m not the biggest of X-Men fans, but I do know that it is a universal constant that Scott “Cyclops” Summers is one of the least likeable characters in the franchise, coming off as an uncooperative little punk due to one thing or another. Such remains true for this version of the series.
Unhindered by the sudden god-mode of his gf, Scott blindly throws himself into the fray-iest of fray, getting as close as possible to Jean to try and talk some sense into her. Pretty admirable if it was anyone else… but it’s not, so I was kinda glad when the mind-controlled Jean flicks him aside like a particularly difficult booger.
One year passes since the battle with the now deceased Jean and it looks like the X-Men have had a falling out… again. Okay, such a plot trait has been used in so many other series (the latest TMNT movie, Wolverine and the X-Men) that seeing it again with the X-Men, as sensible of an idea as it seems, just comes off as rather trite. So, the school’s been disbanded with headmaster Charles Xavier having nightmares about crying orphans and one particular child whose mind he cannot read. Y’know, typical Charles Xavier stuff.
The other X-Men are also out and about living their separate lives: Wolverine off traveling, Storm on a relaxing boat ride (with exception to pirates), and Beast teaching students alongside a talking squid… it’s actually cooler than it sounds. The only person seeming to hate all this sudden down-time is Scott, who’s apparently still moping around the battle area where Jean died. Now, while I completely understand where Scott is coming from, coming from the perspective of the viewer, Scott is being a complete and total hindrance to the plot, simply refusing to get over himself and get on with his life. He’s very much like the one kid in your carpool that always forgets to use the bathroom like the inconsiderate ass he is.
Exact details as to what happened to the students of the Xavier Institute completely thrown aside, the episode continues with Charles summoning the rest on a mission of a missing child. With some insistence from Storm, who plays the “it’s what Jean would have wanted” card that Scott finally realizes that the series apparently can’t just leave him be, finally joining the others. The mission: apparently the entirety of Japan is cut off from Charles’ mutant detecting device, Cerebro. Rather than assuming that Japan just happens to be a mutant-free zone and calling it a day, Charles assumes some shenanigans must be up that are blocking Cerebro in that particular region of the world. Matters are only worsened when an acquaintance (read: “not friend”) in Japan has had his daughter kidnapped by robot-design rejects from Afro Samurai.
Being such the good person he is, Charles sends out his X-Men to Japan to get to the bottom of things.
A pretty good episode in general that shows some promise for the remaining 11 episodes in its run. So what could have gone wrong? Well, that’s what I’m forcing myself to try and find out these next couple days. Hopefully my eyes won’t pop out due to excessive rolling from anything an uncooperative Scott does in later episodes. Heaven forbid I be unable to finish watching.
Originally posted on Thursday, July 21, 2011.