Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Starring: Neil Kaplan, Adrian Pasdar, Eden Riegel and Laura Bailey

What they say:  In an effort to make amends for his past in weapons manufacturing, Tony Stark has dedicated himself to building the world up rather than tearing it down. Traveling to Japan to build a new arc reactor that will deliver unlimited free energy to the Japanese people, Stark is challenged by the Japanese government and the media when he attempts to import the necessary nuclear priming device. When the nuclear reactor is repeatedly attacked by the mysterious Zodiac consortium, Stark must gather his allies to take on Zodiac and its mastermind.

What I say:  Iron Man was one of those characters I never go into.  That was always Dan that enjoyed a good Iron Man story.  I think the first time I even saw Iron Man it wasn’t through the comic medium, but his 60s show rather.  You know the one with the comic panels taken right from the book and filmed with a voice over.  As I got older I still didn’t like the character, sure some Bob Layton and David Michelinie stories were great, but this recent Matt Fraction run just proved to me more that the character has had his stride and is time to retire.  Now comes the anime. 

It is the story of genius/inventor Tony Stark once again, who is serving as a soldier when he is injured by his own company’s weapons. After being captured by terrorists he develops a battle suit with a life-support system.  He escapes and becomes Iron Man.  The story doesn’t end there.  Years later he wants to retire his life as Iron Man and just concentrate on his Stark Industries. His retirement doesn’t last long when the Zodiac attacks his company and he must face them as Iron Man.  More characters show up from the comics, but I guess the biggest cameo was Wolverine in the episode called Reunion. 

I watched all twelve episodes in English.  I really enjoyed Adrian Pasdar as Tony Stark,  his acting in Heroes was one of the few good things about that show.  The visuals were really stunning.  I love the design of Iron Man’s costume and it moves so amazing.  The fight sequences were top notch and the character designs were about as good as you can get close that is close to the source  of original material. 

Overall I think I enjoyed the Iron Man anime more than I did the X-men one.  Not because I had any expectations, but because the story was better in the Iron Man anime.  It had enough build-ups and twists to keep me intrigued and the plot actually went somewhere piece by piece. I really did enjoy watching every episode and the only thing that got on my nerves was that reporter.  Other than that this was a real fun series to watch and I hope there is a second season!

Episodes: 8/10
DVD: 9/10