Anime, I realize, is not for everyone. One has only to read the (many) comments, on this site and others, to recognize that there is a certain segment of the superhero fan base who just out and out dislike the Japanese animation style. For those people, nothing I say here is going to change their overall opinion about this art style, and they will (for the most part) most likely ignore this article entirely. Then there are other fans for whom anime and manga are the be all, end all of animation and sequential art. You know these folks: the girls who wear the cat ears everywhere they go, sitting in the floor at Barnes and Noble next to the manga rack, the guys who buy all the replica Samurai swords and who pretend they know the intricacies of Japanese culture. For these guys also, no amount of criticism will alter their deeply held belief that this is the pinnacle of artistic achievement.
Now I, and I suspect most of the CBM readership, fall somewhere in between these two extremes. I have enjoyed many anime in the past, but I find many of the conventions of mass-produced children's anime to be...well, irksome. Pokemon, Digimon, Yugi-Oh, all of these I find to be annoyances; simply twenty three minute commercials for card games I have no intention of ever playing. But classic films like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, or, a favorite of mine when I was growing up, Starblazers, I have found to be rich and rewarding viewing experiences. So it was with a combination of trepidation and excitement that I began watching the first episode of Marvel's first forray into anime.
First up was Iron Man. I was concerned when I first heard about this one, as I was afraid that the intention was to take the premise of Iron Man and set it in Japan, with an all Japanese cast. Thankfully, the Iron Man mythos remains intact. Tony Stark is the same cocky (dare I say, arrogant,) womanizing, tech genius that we've come to love over the last fifty years. He never met a woman he didn't want to turn into a notch on his armor, and turning him down just turns him on. He is in Japan to oversee the final stages of construction and the implementation of a large arc reactor (free, unlimited energy for everyone in the country!) He has also developed a new suit called Iron Man Dio(?), which, we are told, is ready for mass production. These new gray and silver suits will be piloted by hand picked and thoroughly trained recruits, while Tony is hanging up his trademark red and gold for good. During a demonstration of one of the Dio suits, piloted by Tony himself, a bright flash of light causes the suit to malfunction, and Stark to crash, and during subsequent troubleshooting back at Stark's Japanese HQ, the suit goes rogue, killing two of the recruits and breaking loose into the Tokyo sky. It is now up to Tony to to don the red and gold again and bring his creation back to ground.
The ensuing battles sequences are well done, and the sound design is top notch. The mystery of who or what is controlling Stark's tech is a compelling one. The climax to the battle takes an unforeseen twist, and a new antagonist (or group of antagonists, really) is revealed. Lest some complain that I've divulged most of the story, it is important to remember that this is the first episode of a series, and was largely an introduction to many of the supporting players and the McGuffin that drives the story.
Adrian Pasdar does a fine job of voicing Tony Stark, bringing all the cockiness that we've come to expect from him, but still making him likable. There is an undercurrent of naivete in the performance, as well, as Tony can't imagine why anyone would not be in favor of his grand plan. One area in which anime has always been remarkably good is in its depiction of machinery. The Iron Man suits and assorted other technology looks as good here as I've ever seen it, and mixed with the incredible sound design, truly brings a feeling of "this could happen."
Two small caveats: First,the reason behind the Iron Man Dio suits is never really made clear. Stark claims early on that he is out of the weapons manufacturing business, but later says that he has a weaponized flying suit of armor ready for mass production. Perhaps this will be explained in subsequent episodes, but it left me with a bit of cognitive dissonance. Second is the name of these suits. Every time I heard Iron Man Dio, I kept imagining Iron man making devil horns and singing "Rainbow in the Dark."
Overall, however, I was kind of impressed with the direction this one is going. The mystery of who is behind these events, the development of the supporting players, and the fact that this is not a show that's afraid to kill people will bring me back next week. Recommended to everyone who hasn't decided that they hate it already without having seen it.