Bones posted earlier with some footage from the X-Men Anime and it got me pretty excited.

So I did a little digging and discovered that there are 3 other Marvel Anime projects in the works! It seems this is all old news but then, since I've been tirelessly blogging about video games for you lot, I've kind of had my finger off the pulse. In fact, the last time I looked at animation was waaaaaay back here!

Ladies and gentlemen... may I present to you, for your viewing pleasure, Iron Man Anime and Wolverine Anime. Of course there's a Wolverine Anime...

Follow up:

Wowzer! Robots smashing the servo-lubricant out of each is perfectly suited to anime and so this should be epic!

The plot is apparently overseen by Warren Ellis and ex-Hero, Adrian Pasdar, has been drafted in to voice Tony Stark in the English dub. Bet some people round here are just relieved it wasn't Josh Holloway...

The official blurb seems to be:

In an effort to make amends for his weapons manufacturing past, 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. And when the reactor-in-construction is repeatedly attacked by the mysterious Zodiac consortium, Stark must gather his allies to take on Zodiac and its mastermind.

Simples!

So who's up next? Any idea? Any hero with enough time on his plate to manage a few appearances in an anime?

Yes kids, it's Wolverine! The official Marvel trailer I found was a but poop I thought, but this is a riot! Does the Japanese voice-over make it more exciting? Undoubtedly, but look how badass he looks!

We all know that the character of Wolverine owes a lot to Japanese culture and so he should also be well suited to this medium. The official line apparenly is:

Based on the popular graphic novel by Frank Miller, the series begins in Japan, where Logan is challenged by Shingen Yashida, the notorious leader of a powerful mafia clan. When Shingen’s employee Yukio, a female assassin, falls out of Shingen’s favor, she must kill him or be killed. Teaming up with Logan, the pair seek out the villain to exact their revenge.

Another ex-Hero, Milo Ventimiglia (do the Patrelli boys have the same agent? Is it evil old Ma Patrelli?), is on hand to voice Wolvie in the English dub. Can't see that one myself. Was Steve Blum busy?

But that is not all True Believers! Yet more apparently official musings reveal:

Eric Brooks — known as Blade — seeks revenge on Deacon Frost, the vampire lord who killed his mother while she was still pregnant with Eric. With all the powers of a vampire and none of their weaknesses, Blade’s quest leads him throughout Southeast Asia in search of Frost, and, in Vietnam, he discovers a vampire plot that threatens to take down the whole world.

That's right! Vampires are still popular! But anime vampires kick ass and don't glitter in the sunlight or smell farts when they're supposed to be acting!! No they do not!!!

This must still be in the early stages as the interweb didn't appear to be awash with trailers for it. Despite my cynicism above, I am actually stoked for Blade anime. I really enjoyed the first Blade movie and think that Blade works very well on-screen as he is such a familiar character trope. That means he should be pretty easy to translate into this form. Get some good horror on the go and you've got a winner!

But I don't want to leave you hanging if you're a fan of anime and vampires. So as a little treat, I dug out a snippet from my all-time favourite anime, the mighty Cyber City Oedo 808. That they only made three of these is an absolute travesty. You want to know how to do Japanese vampires? Watch and learn!

More news to follow on the actual Blade anime as and when it breaks.

Really.

It's on my radar now.

Keep it on Sidekickcast!