X-Men (anime)

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Da team!

The third of the four series based on Marvel Comics and produced by Madhouse. This series aired in Japan on April 1st 2011 and follows the adventures of the X-Men in Japan as they confront the U-Men, a cult stealing and implanting mutant organs to strengthen their army, as they investigate the kidnapping of mutants in the area. Currently the revealed members are Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Professor X, and Armor.

Not to be confused with the 1990s animated series.

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X-Men contains examples of:

• Actor Allusion: In the first episode, Storm freezes a pirate ship harassing the cruiseliner she is vacationing on in a manner similar to Sailor Mercury in later seasons. Both are voiced by Aya Hisakawa.
• Action Girl: Storm is expected to be one, and likely Armor as well.
  • Contrary to her usual charcterization, in this series Emma Frost is a trained martial artist and uses her diamond form to fight. More often than she uses her telepathy, in fact. Arguably justified, as most of the opponents faced in the first series were immune to telepathy such as the cyborgs, or her telepathy may make matters worse - against Mastermind, for example.
• Adaptational Badass: In the comics, the U-Men were slightly creepy D-list jokes, notable only for their connection to the big-name villain John Sublime. In this series, on the other hand, they're a major organisation with considerable resources, and a serious threat to the X-Men.
• Art Evolution: Wolverine looks far more like his comic book appearance, contrasted to the two previous anime series where he was more of a Bishounen.
• Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence: Implied to be the case with Jean Grey in the first episode, and Takeo in the last.
• Audible Sharpness: Wolverine's claws.
• Badass Biker: Wolverine and Cyclops.
  • In one episode, both fight off a group of mutant hunting robots, while riding their bikes. Also, Wolverine does it by getting close and using his claws, cyclops simply charges in and uses his bike's assortment of missiles and lasers.
• Bare Your Midriff: Storm
• Batman Cold Open: The series begins with one, the main cast using their powers to survive a battle with a berserk Jean Grey.
• The Berserker: Wolverine in episode 11.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Mastermind
• Big Fancy House: Aside from the X-men's mansion, there's also Hisako's house which seems to be quite large (possibly because it's an inn of some sort).
• Bishounen: Cyclops
• Bright Punch: Logan to Cyclops after the latter hesitates in battle, almost getting Storm killed.
• Body Horror: The U-Men are not kind to the mutants they kidnap.
  • The first one they encounter also seems to be a Shout-Out to Akira.
  • Their own folks don't fare much better in these stakes, although at least in their case, it's sometimes voluntary.
• Cameo: Archangel, Colossus, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Deadpool, Captain Britain & Iron Man all show up very briefly in the finale.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Emma Frost can be seen controlling Jean/Dark Phoenix in the first episode.
• Chunky Updraft: The series opens with this as Jean goes insane.
• Clothing Damage: Cyclops and Wolverine.
• Continuity Nod: Hisako trains against a Sentinel in the Danger Room.
• The Cowl: Subverted, you'd expect Cyclops and Wolverine to wear these since it's part of their costumes (and even shown in the end credits), however they've so far never been shown wearing them in series.
  • They have in the prologue but lost it in the prologue due to Clothing Damage
    • It can't be that simple seeing as the events of the prologue happen some time before the main series and their uniforms have already been patched up.
• Cross-Dressing Voices: In the English dub, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn voices the effeminate but clearly male Marsh. It's not as obvious as you might think.
• Cult: The U-Men are billed as such.
• Evil Is Visceral: The U-Men are very fond of their creepy biotech.
• Expy: Dr. Sasaki, a But Not Too Foreign version of Moira MacTaggart.
  • By extension, Takeo is a Japanese Legion.
• Fantastic Racism: The X-Men are apparently still dealing with this, though not to as harsh a degree as most other adaptations.
• Fatal Flaw: So far Hisako's is her fear of her powers.
• First Episode Spoiler: Jean dies.
  • Find one person familiar with the franchise who doesn't already know that.
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Cyclops
  • The Lancer: Wolverine
  • The Smart Guy / The Big Guy: Beast
  • The Chick: Storm
  • The Sixth Ranger: Either Emma Frost or Hisako Ichiki (Armor) could end up as this, maybe even both.
• Foreshadowing: Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club can be seen in the prologue.
• Genius Bruiser: Beast, naturally.
• Genius Cripple: This version's Professor X is still in his wheelchair.
• Healing Factor: Wolverine.
• Heroic BSOD: Cyclops has one in the first episode, due to Jean dying in the prologue.
  • As of the second episode, he still seems to lapse into it from time to time.
• Hime Cut: Hisako
• Ho Yay: Wolverine and Cyclops, expected as they already have plenty of this in the original comic.
  • Specifically, Wolverine acts like a Type-A Tsundere to Cyclops.
• Humans Are Bastards: Granted this is a X-Men series but the U-Men takes this to extreme levels.
• Instant Armor: Armor's mutant power.
• Kick Chick: Emma Frost, when in combat.
• Les Yay: Hisako and Emma. Oh Yes.
• Let's Get Dangerous: Hisako really pulls it together in episode 11.
• Madness Mantra: One of the early enemies the X-Men face is rather...obsessed with organs.
• Mary Sue: Hisako (Armor)
• Mecha Mooks: The U-Men's mindless, faceless combat cyborgs fill this role, despite not being entirely mechanical.
• Most Common Superpower: Storm, Jean and Emma Frost, who combines it with Absolute Cleavage.
• Mythology Gag: The David Haller Syndrome is named after Professor X's son Legion, in some of the subtitles, though the actual voices are clearly saying "Damon".
• Names to Know In Anime:
  • Rikiya Koyama returns as Logan/Wolverine
  • Toshiyuki Morikawa returns as Scott Summers/Cyclops
  • Aya Hisakawa as Ororo Munroe/Storm
  • Hideyuki Tanaka as Hank McCoy/Beast
  • Yukari Tamura as Hisako Ichiki/Armor
  • Yoshiko Sakakibara as Yui Sasaki
• Nerf: Adaptation version: This version of Storm tends to run out of juice rather quickly, compared to the Physical God-level of power displayed by her other animated appearances.
  • If it makes up for anything, it's implied that suppression devices of some sort were utilized in the first few episodes. One isn't sure how they work, but they make as much sense as anything where comic book franchises are concerned.
• New Powers As the Plot Demands: As in the comics, Emma Frost suddenly discovers a secondary mutation at the moment it's needed.
• Noodle People: The U-Men's cyborgs are impossibly, inhumanly lanky. Made worse because they clearly were once human, and odds are they didn't originally look like that.
• Petting Zoo People: Beast has his more recent cat-like appearance.
• Posthumous Character: Jean, after the prologue.
• Psychic Powers: Professor X, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost.
• Reality Warper: Takeo
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Wolverine and Cyclops naturally have this dynamic, and Wolverine points out that when Cyke's Heroic BSOD puts Wolverine in the Blue Oni role, something is seriously wrong.
• Revealing Coverup: The U-Men assassinates any police officer trying to investigate the disappearance of teenagers in Tohoku, publicly revealed as an "unfortunate death".
• Sad Clown: Wolverine comes across this way with cynical gallows humor, particularly if this series canonically takes place some time after the events of his own series.
• Sailor Fuku: Hisako/Armor
  • Crosses over with Exposed to The Elements early on as it appears to be snowing.
• Say My Name: Cyclops to Jean in the prologue.
• Sequel Hook: The Stinger at the end of the series has a shot of Magneto's jail cell with a hole blown through it, and ends with "The adventures of the X-Men will continue..."
• Shoot the Dog: A recurring theme throughout the series.
• Shout-Out: The visual style, U-men as villains, and Emma Frost joining the group and developing her secondary mutation are all reminiscent of the Grant Morrison run.
• Sunglasses At Night: Courtesy of Cyclops.
• White-Haired Pretty Girl: Storm of course
  • Darkskinned Blonde
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Takeo