The Wolverine anime is the second series in the Marvel Anime lineup that started with Iron Man and continues with the X-Men.
About the Wolverine Anime
Anybody familiar with Wolverine’s legacy from the comic books will recognize the Wolverine anime borrows heavily from the early storyline involving Logan and his Japanese girlfriend, Mariko. It even uses one of the main plots of that story and many of its characters, including Mariko’s father Shingen, and the assassin Yukio.
The story follows Wolverine on a mission to rescue his girlfriend Mariko from the clutches of her father’s and her soon-to-be husband. In fact, the story is pretty straightforward. While many things happen along the way, Wolverine never veers from his original goal to find and rescue Mariko.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPZBnpXCJE4
The Dialogue
I don’t think the voice acting was as good as it was in Iron Man. Maybe choosing Milo Ventimiglia as the voice of Logan was the wrong idea. If you didn’t know, Milo is the guy that played Peter Petrelli in the Heroes television series. I did not have a problem with anybody’s voice but his. This is one anime that I probably should have watched in its original Japanese with subtitles.
The Writing
As previously stated, the story is straightforward. There isn’t much mystery or too many plot turns to distract you from the main story. This is in direct contrast to the Iron Man anime, which had many different things happening in the background.
The Wolverine anime is a lot like the titular character himself: frank, direct and straight to the point. The story takes a little while to start in earnest though. It’s not until the characters get into Madripoor several episodes in that it becomes truly entertaining. That’s not good in a 12-episode series. However, once you get to the meaty part, it’s all action from then on out.
The Animation
The animation is top-notch. But you should expect that from Madhouse. Everything flows smoothly, which makes the action sequences fun to watch. This series is much more violent than Iron Man was. There is blood, lots of it. Oddly, even though there is blood, it doesn’t always show. There might be a scene where Wolverine slices several people with his claws and the blood flies out. Later on, a person might get a life-ending slice from a katana…and no blood. It’s odd and very noticeable.
Also, as an aside, Wolverine gets his ass handed to him…constantly. Just so you know. Also, if you care about the animation or music in the opening and ending credits, prepare for utter disappointment.
The Verdict
It’s slow to start, but once it does, it is everything you would want from a Wolverine yarn. Borrowing elements from the actual Mariko storyline was a good idea, but I’m not sure if the execution was all that it could be. I was not overly impressed by it, but I was willing to stick around until the end.
I think many people can skip this and not be disappointed. As an anime, it’s subpar. As an adaptation of the comic book character, it’s serviceable. It’s something to watch to pass the time, but there is nothing particularly classic about it. Still, at 12 episodes, it’s quick and comes with a beginning, middle and satisfying end. Well, it was satisfying to me, it may severely upset many of you.
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You can get the Wolverine Anime DVDs from Amazon
You can also get the Wolverine Anime from Amazon as digital downloads
It’s also available as digital downloads on iTunes
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