‘Marvel’s X-Men’ Anime Just Hit Netflix: Is it Really Worth the Watch Though?

I don’t know about you, but when I heard the X-Men anime was coming to Netflix my hype levels were on Iceman walking into Studio 54 with Emma Frost and Dazzler on his arms! The X-Men are so iconic I’m gonna skip over the drawn out intro, include the trailer (above) from 2011 and hit you with some honest feedback; this anime should be the shit, but it’s nothing special. I’ll break it down by story, characters, and animation. Same Story, Different Setting When you hear the words anime and X-Men in the same sentence, you expect a crazy story, impressive action, smart writing, and a wild use of powers. Sadly, there wasn’t much of that to go around and it’s a big missed opportunity for Marvel and Japan. Following the death of Jean, the X-Men are disbanded, and Cyclops sulks for 365 days straight. In due time, Professor X gets the band back together when mutants disappear from and strange things start going down in Japan. Most of the 12-episode season is about the X-Men investigating missing mutants like Armor, battling the mutant organ harvesting group of haters called the U-Men, and discovering the oh so mysterious truth that there are more powerful forces pulling the strings.

The theme of hatred is ever present. Japanese citizens repeatedly make disparaging comments, so it’s clear that mutant discrimination is not exclusive to America. On one hand that’s a welcome angle, but it has been done over and over in X-Men comics, movies, and shows. If you’re going to turn the astoni…