Japanimation studio Madhouse has teamed with Marvel on a few animes now, the first of which was Iron Man. The story sees Tony Stark trying to provide Japan with an arc station, limitless, clean power. Plans are thrown off course when he must return to his Iron Man form to stop a new threat from an old Marvel villain force known as Zodiac. Yinsen, a key part of the Iron Man origin which is also presented in the anime, makes a surprise return and does not appear to be on Tony’s side.
Characterization and story are largely based off of the Iron Man live action movies, which should appeal to fans of those films. Additionally, with only a single true protagonist, the series is able to spend a lot of time with Tony Stark and the storyline, while also including plenty of high energy action scenes. The combination of the two is potent, making for a pretty captivating story that is punctuated with lots of great action scenes that make full use of the tech infused within the Iron Man suit.
The Japanimation used here seems very fitting, given how a lot of Japanese animation includes sci-tech and mech-like characters and equipment. Iron Man and Yinsen in the Iron Man Dio suit look sleek and anime-like with this art style. This type of animation compliments the style of action very well, and as with the X-Men anime, is a strong positive for the series. In terms of presentation, the technical details mirror those of the X-Men set, so expect a 1.78:1 widescreen with 5.1 Japanese and English audio, as well as English subs. Video quality and voice acting are on par with what you’d expect out of a DVD, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if an HD version of the series is announced in the coming months.
Several extra features are included, split across the two discs:
-The Marvel Anime Universe: Re-imagining Iron Man (10m) – A basic feature with writer Warren Ellis, Jeph Loeb (Exec VP, Marvel TV), Cort Lane (VP Dev and Production, Marvel TV), and Megan Thomas Bradner (Manager Dev and Production, Marvel TV) giving their thoughts on why Iron Man is a great fit for Japanaimation.
-Voicing Tony Stark: Interview with Keiji Fujiwara (5m) – Voice actor Fujiwara answers a few questions about voice Tony Stark, his impressions of the character, and what makes him so interesting.
-21st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man (7.5m) – Loeb, Lane, and Bradner talk about the tech that makes Iron Man tick.
-Special Cross Talk: Marvel Anime’s Iron Man And Wolverine (29m) – An interesting behind the scenes looks at Madhouse, with several of their employees talking about the task of bringing Iron Man to anime and the challenges involved with it.
To the summary…
