Admittedly, I quite enjoyed this entry in the Marvel Anime outing, which in total consists of a 12-part Iron Man, 12-part Wolverine, 12-part X-Men and 12-part Blade (in that order) run. The story is quite engaging, and sees a core X-Men group of Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast and Storm travel to Japan to try and solve an absorbing mystery, one which entails the disappearance of mutants, secondary mutation in mutants, U-Men, the Inner Circle, Emma Frost, and a complete jamming of mutant signatures in the affected area!
As the story unfolds and mysteries revealed, we find that there is even more at play here than originally thought, including a secret from Charles’ past that not even Professor X himself was aware of!
The plot and storytelling is solid, the characters are all faithful to their comic book counterparts, and the clever use of Armor/Hisako Ichiki makes grounding this story in the unfamiliar territory of Japan feel quite valid and thus everything just works.
There’s not much in terms of humour or heavy, heavy drama here, but plenty of pulse quickening action and loads of intrigue and mysteries to be resolved, making for a delightful watch which you can easily lose yourself in as you race through all 12 episodes in what will probably be one sitting!
The animation is particularly strong (no surprises there, it is after all from Madhouse!), featuring some fantastic character designs and detail, plus a host of beautifully rendered backgrounds. The fight sequences are slick, well thought out and co-ordinated, and in the end Marvel Anime: X-Men is simply put, a great looking television show.
Similarly, the music score and voice actors employed are all well suited to the task at hand, leading to a polished final product.
Final verdict? Highly recommended for all anime and X-men fans then! :)
(Complete Viewing)
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_Anime