X-Men

Alternate Titles: None

Original Japanese Release Date: Apr 2011

Episode Length/Run-time: 12 Episodes

Summary:

Professor X notices that he can no longer sense mutants from a specific region of Japan.  Concerned, he groups the X-Men together and sends them to investigate.  Another mutant Hisako joins the team and they begin to discover there’s more than they suspected to the mystery in Japan.

Review:

X-Men started out great, and really just began to loose it as the series went on.

What started out as interesting, well animated, and engaging fight scenes began to loose their power later on in the series.  It felt like the creativity in the battles began to lack culminating in a lackluster conclusion and a “final battle” that just lost it.

The plot went much the same way.  The characters started out really engaging, Wolverine and Cyclops in a tense truce, Cyclops working though his own demons, and evolving a sub-plot around professor X that was surprisingly unexpected.  But this development went nowhere in the series.  It’s like they laid a foundation for a mansion, began building the studs, and then completely forgot about the rest of the house.  The show became about the lackluster fight scenes, Cyclops blowing things away and then sneaking in a shirt-less pose, the Japanese girl being awkward every moment on camera, Storm using ONE ATTACK, and just fighting one mutant abomination after another.

Beyond that, fans of the X-Men comics will likely find this equally insulting as there are a slew of continuity problems you think they would’ve solved with the X-Men universe.  While it takes place right at the end of the Phoenix saga (yes Jean Gray is in it), she seems to be made stronger than she should be and Storm is weaker.  Storm is one of the strongest! Plus, what happened to Rogue and Gambit during this time?  I guess just chilling back at the academy.

Overall this anime is not AWFUL but its nothing amazing either.  It sits comfortably at average but don’t expect anything more.

Review: X-Men, 8.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

[starrater]