Marvel Anime: Wolverine

Marvel Anime: Wolverine series, released in 2011, did its best to bring out a different side of the story. The animation, while dated, captured the fight scenes. The story was always meant to have a tragic end, filled with sadness, ready to capture our hearts. And it did its best to do that. However, something was lacking in this version of the story. The storyline kept pushing forward and gave us the whole story. There was no moment of emotion shown on the screen. 

The story shows that it was something more, but it didn’t capture anything other than what it was. A show that lacked a closure to the story. Not much can be said between these episodes; many posturing monologues and angry grunts seem to fall flat. The characters weren’t as fleshed out as they believed they would be. Yes, everyone knows Wolverine and his backstory. But, when you come into this with fresh eyes, you do not see much of the characters in this. Nothing seemed to blend well within Wolverine. It appeared that the only thing that kept pace was the theme of failing to capture anything within this adaption.

The voice actors did their best; they did try; however, Wolverine’s voice actor, unfortunately, did not suit Wolverine himself. Maybe I’m biased and used to Logan’s grunts and gruff voice. So, hearing someone else, someone with a lighter touch in their voice takes over. It didn’t sit right and threw me off when he started talking. The voice actor tried to adjust and give that twist for Logan, but it just didn’t turn out right. It failed within each episode I watched, and at times, it pulled my focus away from what I was meant to watch.

The final episode should have tied everything together, pushed forward, and given you that final moment. However, it failed; the moment felt empty as the credits rolled and faded to black. I was hoping for tears and a gasping moment, but all I got was finished popcorn and searching for something better to watch. 

When you know this is a story dipped in tragedy and heartbreak, you anticipate it and wait to see how they will bring that forward. Nothing seemed to connect here; it just kept going through the motions of a story that had been told, and didn’t want to dig deeper. It just scratched a surface that was waiting to crack. Marvel failed in this adaptation, burying the moment with fights while the fights were great. The story could have been fleshed out better to turn it inside out. They had a gem of a story and tossed it away to look for something else shiny.

Hopefully, one day, someone will get this adaptation of Logan’s story right. And maybe we won’t be set up for another disappointing anime that had me searching for something else to watch. Or maybe this story just wasn’t meant to live the print of a comic book.

That might be the best bet now.