With the premiere of the new X-Men anime in Japan, it joins the ranks of Marvel properties like Iron Man, Wolverine and Blade getting the slick anime treatment. It's cool that Marvel's using the power of anime to their advantage, and I hope X-Men is just one in a long line of properties just itching to be done anime-style!
Today I'll be doing something different. Instead of a countdown, I'll simply list down five Marvel characters that I think deserves an anime. There could be a precedent for them to penetrate the Japanese market, or they deserve an anime simply because the idea of these characters in anime form is just darn cool. And so, I've listed them down so you won't have to!
POWER PACK
Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Power make up the Power Pack, a group of super powered siblings who have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with their series of Marvel Adventures books. It's an anime standard that children are more capable of doing things like fighting giant robots and saving the world than their adult counterparts, so an anime of the Power Pack isn't too off-base. Also, being drawn by Gurihiru Studios (see picture) is making me wonder why there isn't an anime of them in the first place.
RED RONIN
Come on, this is the perfect time for someone like Red Ronin to get into anime. He's a giant Japanese robot made in America...it's like hitting two birds with one stone! He reads like a super robot check list: he's got a rocket punch, laser guns for hands and a huge laser sword. He's gone toe-to-toe with Godzilla, for goodness sakes! Imagine Red Ronin stomping around in Japan animated by the same people who made Gundam, The Big O and other mecha anime...it's like printing money!
BLACK CAT
If an anime about thieves like Lupin III can be madly successful, then an anime about a female cat burglar in a skintight catsuit zipped way down low could be HUGE! Imagine Felicia Hardy, professional cat burglar who has the hots for Spider-Man, freerunning across buildings and animated by Gainax. Go ahead, I'll wait. But please come back when you're done imagining. I still have two more suggestions here!
GHOST RIDER
Forget the film of the same name, Ghost Rider's adventures seems better suited in anime, where there's no shortage of devils, demons and their ilk to beat up on. Besides, he's got that Kamen Rider vibe going on. You know, the mysterious loner with a mysterious past who rides a motorcycle and transforms when evil needs its ass kicked? Only more vicious and brutal. I'd pay to see Ol' Flamehead like that.
X-23
She's a teenage girl version of Wolverine...what more can you ask for? There's lots you can do with an X-23 anime. You can go the Blood+ route and have a brooding Laura searching for clues to her past, or a special-ops adventure in the vein of Ghost in the Shell, or just have Laura acting all badass and psychotic like in Noir or Black Lagoon. Whatever the choice, there's sure to be tons of stylized, kinetic asskicking in it for sure.
Just don't make a moe anime out of her, or she'll kick your butt...with her foot claw extended.
That's my list of five Marvel characters that could use an anime...I hope this inspired you to make your own list, just so we can give Marvel ideas! Comments? Got an idea for your own list? Leave me a note via the comment box below and let's talk about it! Thanks for reading!
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