Marvel Anime: Iron Man is a 2010 anime based on the Iron Man comics, though it is perhaps more directly inspired by the live-action movies. Produced by Madhouse, it is the first of four series co-produced with Marvel Comics, each focusing on a different superhero from the company, starting with this one, followed up by Marvel Anime: Wolverine, then Marvel Anime: X-Men, and culminating with Marvel Anime: Blade.
In this series, Tony Stark heads to Japan to produce a new arc reactor station and promote the Iron Man Dio armor, but is quickly faced with the challenge of winning the hearts of the skeptical Japanese public. It only gets worse when the Iron Man Dio armors are suddenly hijacked by an organization called the Zodiac, and it's up to the real Iron Man to prove his innocence and stop them.
Tropes:
- Animated Adaptation:
- Of the live-action films.
- One episode has a Montage of Tony in action; included amongst the scenes is Iron Man fighting Iron Monger from the first film (specifically, it looks like the scene where Tony shouts "This looks important!" and starts yanking out components).
- Badass Biker: Sakurai
- Big Bad: Defense Minister Kuroda/Rasetsu
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Dr. Tanaka/Gemini
- Break the Cutie: Flashbacks reveal that after Yinsen miraculously avoided his Death by Origin Story, he was taken in by a rural village, where he began to recover in both body and soul. However, the Big Bad then destroyed the entire village using Stark weaponry in order to turn Yinsen against Tony.
- Broken Pedestal: Yinsen to Stark, and Kuroda to Sakurai.
- The Cameo: Wolverine in episode 4.
- Car Fu: Taurus attempts to assassinate Tony with a race car.
- Chest Blaster: The Unibeam. Engages in a Beam-O-War with a similar weapon wielded by Gemini.
- Combat Tentacles: Gemini has two built into her armor.
- Continuity Nod: Fans of the comics will get the references to Advanced Idea Mechanics, the Fujikawa corporation and mention of quinjets.
- Crazy-Prepared: Tony has 'suit-up' machines in the unlikeliest of places...
- Creator's Culture Carryover: Tony Stark works hard to curtail his American sensibilities (especially his womanizing) while in Japan, knowing it won't win him any points with the locals. His behavior, however, more closely resembles what a Japanese writer would guess an American hotshot would act like. For example, at one point, he is sparring with Sakurai and compliments the man on his Japanese Spirit...before cheating and then proclaiming that as an American, he instead has "Pioneer Spirit". Not only is Japanese Spirit something most Americans have vaguely heard of, at best, but no American would ever use the term "Pioneer Spirit". The "American Way", maybe, but in this context, even that's a stretch.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Rasetsu kills Ramon Zero with little effort.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Yinsen/Iron Man Dio.
- False Flag Operation: Zodiac uses this to make it easier to take over Japan.
- Fish out of Water: Tony Stark in Japan.
- To the point that it's actually used In-Universe several times when he "has to think of the right phrase in Japanese," or uses informal speech and honorifics when he shouldn't. There are rumors that his actor was affecting an American accent the entire time.
- In the second episode of the adaptation, there's a similar play on this - when someone asks him why he hasn't answered about whether or not he's smuggling plutonium into the country, he replies, "Oh, I've got an answer, I'm trying to think of a courteous way to say it." And then... "It's a friggin' lie!" Kind of makes you wonder what his original, non-courteous answer would've been.
- Handsome Lech: Tony, naturally. Though he also is a Chivalrous Pervert.
- Heel Realization:
- Pisces, a Well-Intentioned Extremist who would have succeeded in killing Tony if he hadn't suddenly realized he was on the wrong side.
- Sakurai, when he discovers who the real Big Bad is.
- Intrepid Reporter: Nanami
- Japanese Spirit: Mentioned by name during a sparring scene.
- The Mole: Chika, through Mind Control.
- Monster of the Week: Each episode features a baddie themed after an animal of the Western Zodiac.
- Oh, Crap!: States it directly when he's about to get blasted by a Zodiac's version of the Unibeam.Computer: Weapons lock detected.Tony: Uh oh. *gets blasted*
- Powered Armour
- Red Eyes, Take Warning:
- When the Dio armor is first hacked and stolen, its blue optics and Arc Reactor turn red. They revert to blue for his subsequent appearances though. Many of the Zodiac Mechs also have red eyes.
- Averted for Ramon Zero, who turns out to be a good guy despite having red eyes.
- Satchel Switcheroo: used in Episode 2.
- Shout-Out:
- Tony's sets of armor to be mass produced are called Iron Man Dio.
- Gemini's armor is nanotechnology stored inside her bones, similar to Tony's Bleeding Edge armor from the comics.
- As Rasetsu is expressing sheer disbelief at his defeat, Tony simply responds with "You lose!"
- Strawman Political: The defense minister turns out to be an ultranationalist who uses Zodiac to weaken Stark Industries' relations with Japan, take over the government, and turn the country into a militaristic, imperial power.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Tanaka
- 12-Episode Anime
- Western Zodiac: Each episode features a baddie themed after one. Monster of the Week style. Based on the classic Marvel organization Zodiac
. - The Worf Effect: Sakurai gets turned into a Sacrificial Lion to show us how powerful Kuroda's Rasetsu armor is.
