YMMV / Marvel Anime: Iron Man

• Adorkable:
  • Nanami is this in spades. She gets flustered around Tony, worries about what reporter questions to ask him, and sometimes acts like a harmless Tsundere, but that’s all what makes her so darn endearing.
  • Ichiro is a kind, goofy Big Fun who loves to eat, much to his partner Nanami’s annoyance. It’s hard not to feel sorry for him when he gets let down by Nanami vehemently denying to Tony that he is her boyfriend.
• Awesome Moments: Episode 4 "A Twist of Memory, a Turn of the Mind". Iron Man and Wolverine working together to destroy Taurus and rescue Kawashima.
• Awesome Music: Iron Man, out of all the other anime series, has the most amazing selection of music to name, with four notable ones:
  • The opening theme itself, which is equal parts futuristic and epic. It also nicely demonstrates Stark’s whole life and how he came to be the superhero Iron Man through still shots.
  • The battle theme remix, which pumps you up for every fight that Iron Man gets into, and is considerably more awesome than even the original theme song.
  • The original theme song, what was initially intended to be the main theme before it was ultimately changed. Complete with Japanese vocals. This counts as an epic example of What Could Have Been.
  • And finally, speaking of the original theme and What Could Have Been, let’s not forget the original trailer, which was the pilot for how the anime was initially supposed to look and how it started before we got the end result. The epic orchestral music just makes this whole trailer even better than it already was.
• Complete Monster: Defense Minister Kuroda at first seems to be a stern but reasonable ally of Tony Stark, but is in truth the man behind Zodiac. Using Zodiac supposedly for the greater good of Japan, Kuroda had Zodiac carry out multiple deadly terrorist attacks on Japan, such as creating several tornadoes to kill targets while causing massive collateral damage; focusing radiation down onto the Arc Reactor, causing countless people to become critically sick; and experimenting on the little girl Aki to make weapons based on her powers and connecting her to a mech so that when it took damage it hurt her too, and caused a massive explosion that could have killed thousands. Kuroda also convinced Tony's old friend Dr. Yinsen that the world must be torn down to create a new one and to try to kill Tony, before betraying him and having his drones kill him once Kuroda doesn't need Yinsen anymore. Eventually, Kuroda has Zodiac wipe out the Diet so he can accomplish his true goal of taking over Japan and eventually the world for himself, before he personally destroys an entire US military base and reveals that Tony's Love Interest Dr. Chika Tanaka has actually been a Zodiac Sleeper Agent this whole time, and painfully transforms her and orders her to kill Tony.
• Fridge Logic: Why Japan for the first mass-production Arc Reactor? They have cause to be concerned about meeting their power needs, given recent events.
• Funny Moments:
  • Nanami and Tony are made of funny.
    • The initial Crash-Into Hello.
    • Tony immediately hitting on her, and her response (a slap).
  • Dr. Tanaka's reaction to the air show.
  Tanaka: So much for humility.
• Heartwarming Moments: The friendship Tony forms with the telekinetic girl Aki, from episode 8 "Daughter of the Zodiac".
• Moe: Aki herself is an adorable bundle of energy, and just acts like a regular girl who wants friends, which makes her friendship with Tony even more endearing.
• Questionable Casting: This is Adrian Pasdar's first outing as Iron Man, but like every other time he's voiced Tony Stark, many fans found him to be a bad fit for Tony.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The ending of episode 4, Tony discovering Yinsen is alive, but has gone completely insane.
  • Making Yinsen's second and permanent death at the end of episode 10 "Casualties of War", all the more heart-wrenching.
  • Episode 9 "A Duel of Iron", Yinsen's flashback to how he survived his "supposed" death at Righella's hideout. A kind woman named Shehla saved him from certain death after his sacrifice to save Tony. While recovering, he deicides to stay in Shehla's village. Only for him to lose his new family, when terrorists attack and wipe out the entire village, while framing Tony for the crime. This trauma, on top of everything else, causes Yinsen to lose his mind in his grief.

---