I didn’t write anything about the first episode mostly because not enough happened for me to have much more than a neutral impression. With the second episode, the mood for the series has been better established, and I can more or less see where it’s going from here. And really, it doesn’t seem too terrible.

To be honest, I’m actually kind of impressed with how things are unfolding. Tony Stark is not arbitrarily in Japan. He has a reason to be there, and it’s believable enough. The reaction of the Japanese public to his presence in their country is also reasonable, subdued to an extent, and clearly different from what the American public would be like. That Marvel and Madhouse have been able to successfully plant this very American character into a Japanese setting has been a nice treat, even if the story itself doesn’t fall very far from your standard superhero fare.

The episodes so far remind me somewhat of the 90′s Batman: The Animated Series crossed with the 80′s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with more of the former’s storytelling and plot set-up style and more of the latter’s silliness, I suppose, though the fact that there’s a subpar reporter tailing Stark everywhere probably caused that association more than anything else. Sadly, Iron Man has none of Batman’s cleverness or innovation (though certainly can rival his technological output as a super power), but this may be because his villains are not nearly as interesting. I mean, really, a terrorist organization with mecha named after astrological signs? Been there, done that.

But I never expected this to have a creative plot anyway. I’m more interested in how the characters develop, if they do at all. Stark is pretty established, and while I’m incredibly thankful they didn’t go for Yet Another Origin Story, I’m kind of afraid that will limit his ability to grow within the series since he’s probably, at some point, already faced most of the obstacles ahead. Then again, it was established day one that Iron Man’s complete lack of humility wouldn’t mesh well with Japan, and it would definitely be interesting to see more culture clash happen as we go on. Indeed, the government and politics of Japan have thus far presented themselves as more of a hindrance to Stark, however slight, than the Zodiac.

I’m disappointed with the action scenes in the series so far though. All of Iron Man’s fights with the Zodiac robots have been boring and seem more or less the same. The enemy mechs’ designs are inelegant and bulky, and they seem to go out of their way to make sure you never really get a good look at them. The cgi integrates well enough, and I’m happy with how Iron Man himself translated visually, but considering how much of this franchise is built on advanced technology and explosions, I was expecting a lot more, Madhouse.

On the bright side, Tony Stark’s design is kind of fun, if expectedly hilarious. The general bishounen aesthetic doesn’t mesh well with facial hair, which obviously denotes manliness, but Stark pulls it off well enough. Really, the only thing that bothers me is the largeness of his eyes, which is another generalized anime aesthetic, but one that usually trends down when it comes to older and more mature characters. So given that, I think Stark’s eyes are waaaay too big. But hey, his voice actor is doing a swell job, and he even kind of looks like Robert Downey Jr? His nose is a bit too narrow though.

Still not expecting a lot from this, but it’s not what I feared, and if they manage to sneak in a few good action scenes and some halfway interesting character development, then I think I’m good.

And I’m feeling a little better about the rest of the Marvel x Madhouse ventures… even if the next one has Wolverine has a total bishie ninja or whatever.

There are only a few naysayers, and most either confused or cautiously speculative, but I honestly don’t think many things on the fandom end will be affected; there will just be more money in different people’s pockets. What’s really going to change with this acquisition? Disney is notorious for aggressive merchandising and pushing their licensed characters, but will a flood of new action figures and new Marvel-themed rides at Disneyland really affect Marvel’s artistic integrity or quality of work? As long as Disney keeps its hand out of what the folks at Marvel actually do, then I don’t see a problem. People were upset when Disney bought out Pixar too, but Pixar has, for the most part, retained its autonomy and continues to produce outstanding films. So why shouldn’t I expect Marvel to continue making comics like it always has?

Some people are concerned with the long list of Marvel properties being developed as films at the moment, but it isn’t like Disney is forcibly severing Marvel’s existing contracts with the dozens of studios already involved. If Marvel’s success in movies is part of why it was attractive to Disney, then shouldn’t Disney just let them continue doing their thing? Others are concerned that Disney might take away from the maturity and violence of certain Marvel titles, but if Disney was also attracted to Marvel’s popularity with boys and men of a wide demographic, why would they tamper with that by numbing anything down? Of course, logic hasn’t stopped companies from shooting themselves in the foot before, but Disney should know that they can’t afford to make too many mistakes here.

I guess I might be more concerned if I actually read more Marvel titles, but my Western comic consumption is pretty limited as is, and even then, it’s mostly DC for Batman. Still, I see this mostly as just another acquisition that will be accepted soon enough, just like Disney and Pixar and when Adobe bought Macromedia.

As for Kingdom Hearts, I don’t really think that Spider-Man will be making his debut there any time soon, but Square-Enix is just as notorious for exploiting its properties as Disney, so who would really be surprised? Sora, Spidey, and Mickey VS Xemnas, the Lizard, and Sephiroth, why the hell not?? At this point, Kingdom Hearts is every bit as much of a cash cow as Final Fantasy, so I’m not too invested in the franchise keeping any kind of integrity anymore. It’s too late for that already, so whatever! Bring it. …I’ll still buy it. Integration might be a little awkward considering most Marvel characters reside in the “real world,” but hey, it would be kind of awesome if Sora and his buddies could visit Manhattan and do the tourist thing. Sora in Times Square! Sora in Central Park! Sora at the Statue of Liberty! Sora riding in a taxi! I mean, they’ve already visited Port Royal and that was a real place too.

Just think, you could have Wolverine as a summon and he’d slash through Heartless for you… Okay, so I can’t actually picture Logan taking orders from Sora at all, but heeey. Maybe if Sora buys him a cigar and a beer.

So my first thought was this:

Then again, considering all of the madness that Sunrise has put on the Code Geass drama CDs and sound episodes and the over-the-top, blatant fanservice they put in magazines like Newtype, maybe this Geass-Pangya association is supposed to be taken with that same grain of salt. It isn’t like any of it is canon anyway. And I guess it really isn’t that hard to imagine that Ashford has a giant golf course tucked away somewhere that they take occasional field trips to, and Lelouch is really the only character that would fail hardcore at it anyway — I guess golf isn’t all that physically extraneous, but I still like to think he would fail utterly at it.

I wonder if they’ll give Suzaku some kind of mad hax golf ability. I wonder if there’s a golf course at Clovisland! I wonder if I would have noticed these sorts of weird anime-game hybrids earlier if I actually played games? Ah, well… I guess I don’t really have much else to say. This is just one of those passing WTF moments, which seems to happen way too often with Geass. Speaking of which, how about that R2 review huh? …Oh, right, haven’t written it yet. :X (Hattip: CG LJ comm)

Madhouse apparently has the creative license to “re-imagine” whatever the heck they want using Marvel’s properties. This phrasing does not bode well with me. …Has anyone seen the Spidey live action show Japan created? I’ve seen an episode. It is the most hilarious crack ever and is definitely one of those things that makes you go, “OH, JAPAN! OH, YOU! …WHY?!” It makes you wanna laugh and cry simultaneously. It’s so very stereotypical of Japan to “re-imagine” Spidey in a parallel universe where he not only has special, radioactive spider powers, but he pilots a giant robot! Yes! That is totally what Japan is all about. Giant robots. With everything. (Because everyone knows that mecha makes everything better.) In a similar vein… has anyone seen the Japanese Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “re-imagining”? Japanese Spider-Man was more laughing than crying. Japanese TMNT was more crying than laughing.

I’m not as big a fan of Iron Man and Wolverine as I am of Spidey and the Turtles, but I sure hope they get treated better. I do have some confidence in the Marvel/Madhouse team though. After all, the Spidey and TMNT adaptations are years old now and the industry has changed a lot since then. I don’t think Batman: Gotham Knight really counts as an example since they weren’t “re-imagining” it and it had a specific story role to fill between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but it still shows that more recent partnerships between US and Japanese companies have been more successful. I haven’t actually seen Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z, but honestly, I think PPG was rather suited for the magical girl nonsense.

What I’m really curious about though, is whether or not the Japanese audience really wants American properties to be “re-imagined” for their sake. Case in point: American fans are generally pretty damn livid when companies do any editing on existing shows. 4Kids has a place down in the deepest level hell with along with Judas and Brutus in the eyes of most overseas fans, and even FUNimation, back in the hay day of DBZ, was not immune from rampant criticism. Can you imagine what would happen if an American company tried to “re-imagine” a Japanese property? If Viacom tried to remake Akira with “American cultural references”? There would be rioting in the streets.

Sure, American moviemakers have developed a gradual interest in making live action adaptations of Japanese works — Akira, Evangelion, Battle Angel, and so on, but for the most part, the people involved have said that they will try to stay as true to the source material as possible. They aren’t re-imagining much, if anything at all. Overseas fans don’t want their Japanese cartoons and comics filtered through a cultural lens. They are perfectly willing and able to digest foreign culture. They want to. They’re sick of their own culture; that’s why they gravitated to Japan in the first place.

So why is Japan different? They love US movies, which usually release in theatres subtitled. I’m not sure how big the audience is for US and other foreign comics, but we know that Japan loves Disney. And Harry Potter. So do superheros really need to be adapted for them? Did Spider-Man really need to become a mecha pilot for Japanese kids to be able to identify with them? (That’s a… really, really hilarious thought.) For Iron Man, I imagine his suit streamlined like whoa. It will be sleek and beautiful and have a billion new functions and be oh so very Japanesey. And Tony Stark will be flaming bishounen. But other than that, what would be changed? Billionaires and self-absorbed assholes exist in Japan too. And Wolverine? He should fit right in. He’s a mutant. Japan freakin’ loves mutants and monsters and aliens and that junk.

It is puzzling to me. But oh well. I guess we’ll find out in two years. If anything, I’m sure it’ll be a darn pretty anime if Madhouse is doing it. And Stan Lee’s other Japanese projects should be interesting too.