The third of the four Marvel Anime series based on Marvel Comics and produced by Madhouse. This series aired in Japan on April 1st, 2011, and follows the adventures of the X-Men in Japan as they confront the U-Men, a cult stealing and implanting mutant organs to strengthen their army, as they investigate the kidnapping of mutants in the area. The current team consisting of Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Professor X, new girls Armor and Emma Frost.
Not to be confused with the 1990s animated series.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In the comics, Mastermind is an ugly man who used his powers to disguise himself as a handsome man while manipulating Jean. Here, when Emma is able to use her diamond form to see through his disguise as Jun as it blocks her telepathy and shields her from others', the handsome form is his true form.
- Adaptational Badass:
- In the comics, the U-Men were slightly creepy D-list jokes, notable only for their connection to the big-name villain John Sublime. In this series, they're a major organization with considerable resources and a serious threat to the X-Men.
- The show presents one of the most dangerous/competent versions of Mastermind, all media included. Here he is the leader of the Inner Circle, instead of the newest member who managed to enter by using a brainwashed Jean Grey as proof of his worth, even managing to escape unarmed after turning Grey into Phoenix. He's much more charismatic and intelligent, coming up with a nearly flawless plan entirely on his own and manipulating all the players involved into serving his goal. His powers also receive an upgrade as his illusions can fool even telepaths. Adding to that, he is a competent physical fighter (unlike his comic self who was a Squishy Wizard), able to easily dodge kicks dealt by this version of Emma Frost. All these elements contribute to turning him into a valid Big Bad instead of the muscle of a more important villain or a wannabe threat like he is in the comics.
- Adaptational Heroism:
- Emma Frost is portrayed as much kinder and more sympathetic here than most other versions, and most of her negative personality traits barely even show up outside of her backstory. In fact, outside of some snarking she doesn't do a single mean thing to anybody.
- Takeo is mainly the villain due to Power Incontinence. His comic counterpart, Proteus, was a psychopathic villain who murdered innocent people For the Evulz.
- Aloof Big Brother: Scott gives off vibes of being a distant and somewhat harsh older brother figure while training Hisako at the Xavier Institute. It's partially because Hisako's difficulties with her powers reminds him of what happened to Jean.
- Apocalypse Maiden: Jean becomes one in the prologue before killing herself to save the world.
- Art Evolution: Wolverine looks far more gruff like his comic book appearance, contrasted to the two previous anime series where he was more of a Bishōnen.
- Ascended Extra: Armor gets her first leading role in an adaptation here.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Implied to be the case with Jean Grey in the first episode, and Takeo in the last.
- Audible Sharpness: Wolverine's claws.
- Badass Biker: Wolverine and Cyclops. In one episode, both fight off a group of mutant hunting robots while riding their bikes. Also, Wolverine does it by getting close and using his claws, Cyclops simply charges in and uses his bike's assortment of missiles and lasers.
- Batman Cold Open: The series begins with the main cast using their powers to survive a battle with an out of control Jean Grey.
- The Berserker: Wolverine and Beast (emphasis on the former) have unstoppable feral rampages when extremely angry.
- Big Bad: Mastermind is revealed to be the true collaborator of the U-Men and the one influencing Dr. Sasaki's experiments, all so he could infiltrate her compound and unleash her Omega-level mutant son, Takeo.
- Big Fancy House: Aside from the X-Mansion, there's also Hisako's house which seems to be quite large (possibly because it's an inn of some sort).
- Broken Ace: Before the first episode is finished, Scott endures losing Jean and spends an entire year sulking where she died. He spends the rest of the series trying to hide his pain behind a stoic façade, but it's obvious that he's an emotionally broken man.
- Body Horror:
- The U-Men are not kind to the mutants they kidnap, as seen with the kidnapped mutant child with X-Men encounter, whose grotesque transformation can only be described as a Shout-Out to Akira.
- The U-Men themselves, particularly their foot soldiers, are gangly monstrosities with metal parts jammed into their flesh.
- Koichi and Riko turn into massive twisted monstrosities as a consequence of their mutant powers going out of control after taking an experimental drug meant to permanently suppress their mutations.
- The Cameo: Angel, Colossus, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Deadpool, Captain Britain, and Iron Man all show up very briefly in the finale.
- Canon Foreigner: Outside of Mastermind and Emma Frost, the members of the Hellfire Club were invented for the anime.
- Captain Obvious: Beast. Logan loves pointing this out.Wolverine: Hank McCoy, Ph.D.-ing on the obvious.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Wolverine often makes quips amidst dangerous situations.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Emma Frost can be seen controlling Jean/Dark Phoenix in the first episode.
- The Chessmaster: Mastermind, he played everyone like a fiddle, the only reason he failed is that he underestimated the power of Jean's love and Takeo's powers.
- Chunky Updraft: The series opens with this as Jean goes insane.
- Composite Character:
- Takeo is an amalgam of Legion (Prof. X's son with telepathic abilities) and Proteus (Moira's son with reality-warping abilities). He's basically Ultimate X Men's Proteus with a Race Lift.
- Mastermind takes over Sebastian Shaw's role as leader on the Hellfire Club/Inner Circle.
- Continuity Nod: Hisako trains against a Sentinel in the Danger Room.
- Crossdressing Voices: In the English dub, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn voices the effeminate but clearly male Marsh. It's not as obvious as you might think.
- Cult: The U-Men are billed as such.
- Deadpan Snarker: Wolverine is once again the teams top snarker.
- Evil Is Visceral: The U-Men are very fond of their creepy biotech.
- Expy: Dr. Sasaki is one of Moira MacTaggert, and by extension, Takeo is a Japanese Proteus/Legion.
- Fantastic Racism: The X-Men are apparently still dealing with this, though not to as harsh a degree as most other adaptations.
- Fatal Flaw: Hisako's fear of her powers keeps her from being able to use it completely voluntarily. She overcomes it later on.
- First-Episode Twist: Jean dies.
- Foreshadowing: Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club can be seen in the prologue.
- Genius Bruiser: Beast, as always, is an eloquent scientist in addition to being a burly fighter.
- Genius Cripple: Professor X, like every other incarnation, is a scholarly telepath confined to a wheelchair.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Logan to Cyclops after the latter hesitates in battle, almost getting Storm killed.
- Good Parents: Hisako's father and mother are very kind people who are very supportive of their daughter, especially noteworthy considering Hisako is a mutant.
- Healing Factor: It wouldn't be Wolverine if he couldn't regenerate from his injuries.
- Heartbroken Badass: Cyclops really didn't take Jean's death in the prologue well, and it still mourning her years later. His Character Development has him coming to terms with her death and stepping back up as the team's leader.
- Heroic BSoD: Cyclops has one in the first episode, due to Jean dying in the prologue. As of the second episode, he still seems to lapse into it from time to time.
- Hime Cut: Hisako, despite her not being from a notable upper-class family. It seems to be more meant to play into her design as a standard Japanese school student.
- Humans Are Bastards: Granted, this is an X-Men series, but the U-Men take this to a new height.
- Hypocrite: After Scott attempts to attack Sublime's mech with his Eye Beams, Sublime calls Scott a "One-eyed freak".
- Instant Armor: Armor's mutant power.
- Kick Chick: When she isn't just using her telepathy, Emma Frost seems to almost exclusively kick her opponents.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After Mastermind tortures Takeo to force the boy to unleash his full power, he's taken out when Takeo crushes him with pipes.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: After spending the first half of the anime struggling with her powers, Hisako really pulls it together in episode 11 and becomes the deciding factor in the fight against Rat and Marsh.
- Madness Mantra: One of the early enemies the X-Men face is rather obsessed with organs.
- Male Gaze: A lot of this concerning the female X-men, particularly Storm and Jean. If there's a shot from behind, you will get an eyeful of their rears.
- Mecha-Mooks: The U-Men's mindless, faceless combat cyborgs fill this role, despite not being entirely mechanical.
- Most Common Superpower: Storm, Jean, and Emma Frost are all very well-endowed super-powered women.
- Mythology Gag:
- The David Haller Syndrome is named after Professor X's son Legion, in some of the subtitles, though the actual voices are clearly saying "Damon".
- "Now boarding for Madripoor at Gate X-23."
- One of the young researchers working for Yui states that she's a big fan of Sunfire, a Japanese hero associated with the X-Men and Uncanny Avengers.
- Noodle People: The U-Men's cyborgs are impossibly, inhumanly lanky. Made worse because they clearly were once human, and odds are they didn't originally look like that.
- Oh, Crap!: Wolverine literally says this word for word when Sublime attacks him with some heat generating weapons.
- Person of Mass Destruction: First Jean when she loses control of the Phoenix, then Takeo after he'd been tortured by Mastermind.
- Posthumous Character: Jean performs a Heroic Sacrifice in the prologue to stop the Phoenix Force. Her continues to weigh on the team, particularly Cyclops, for much of the anime.
- Power Incontinence: Koichi and Riko turn into large deformed monstrosities as a result of their mutant powers going out of control. It turns out to be a result of an experimental drug that was meant to permanently suppress their abilities.
- Psychic Powers: Professor X, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost, in keeping in line with their comic counterparts, are all masters of telepathy. Jean Grey under the effects of the Phoenix Force and Takeo elevate their psychic powers to near-Reality Warper levels.
- Race Lift: Yui Sasaki and Takeo are Japanese Expies of Moira MacTaggert and Proteus.
- Reality Warper: Takeo's power, which puts the entire world in jeopardy.
- Red Herring: Emma Frost was mainly accused (especially by Cyclops) as the one who made Jean lose her sanity with the Phoenix Force. The Emma seen by Scott was an illusion made by Mastermind knowing that Emma might join the X-Men after her departure from the Hellfire Club.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Wolverine and Cyclops naturally have this dynamic, and Wolverine points out that when Cyke's Heroic BSoD puts Wolverine in the Blue Oni role, something is seriously wrong.
- Revealing Cover-Up: The U-Men assassinate any police officer trying to investigate the disappearance of teenagers in Tohoku, publicly revealed as an "unfortunate death".
- Sad Clown: Wolverine comes across this way with his cynical Gallows Humor, particularly if this series canonically takes place some time after the events of his own series.
- Sailor Fuku: Hisako/Armor wears one as a civilian just to drive home that she's a Japanese school student.
- Say My Name: Cyclops to Jean in the prologue.
- Sequel Hook: The Stinger at the end of the series has a shot of Magneto's jail cell with a hole blown through it, and ends with "The adventures of the X-Men will continue..."
- Shipper on Deck: Hisako appears to ship Scott and Emma in the final episode.
- Ship Tease: There's a little teasing of Cyclops and Emma near the end of the last episode.
- Shoot the Dog: A recurring theme throughout the series.
- Shout-Out: The visual style, U-Men as villains, and Emma Frost joining the group and developing her secondary mutation are all reminiscent of the Grant Morrison run.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Emma Frost is rather curt with the X-Men when she's first rescued, but she's much more openly friendly and even motherly to Hisako. After it's revealed that she wasn't behind Jean losing herself to the Phoenix Force, she starts warming up to the X-Men as well.
- Sunglasses at Night: Cyclops. Just like with every other iteration of his character, his shades keep him from uncontrollably firing his eye lasers.
- There Are No Therapists: Subverted, Logan and Hisako tell Emma, who is a licensed therapist, about Scott's emotional problems off-screen. Which she later confronts Scott about personally.
- Tragic Keepsake: Scott keeps Jean's necklace as one, until he gives it to Hisako in the finale as a sign that he's ready to move on.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Takeo is just a scared and confused boy who happens to be an Omega-level mutant with uncontrollable world-ending powers. He only puts them to use in the final episode because Mastermind tried to mentally torture him into subservience.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Because Sasaki's son is a mutant, she kept him isolated from society all his life and is dedicated to creating a retrovirus that attacks and deletes the mutant gene, forcing all mutants to be rendered genetically human again whether they want to or not. To this end, she collaborates with the U-Men and is indirectly responsible for the large mutant monstrosities the X-Men are forced to face throughout the series, but it's all for the sake of freeing Takeo of his dangerously uncontrollable powers so that he can live without the fear of harming others.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: When Mastermind tampers with Takeo's mind, forcing him to unleash his reality warping powers. The boy goes completely dark side and insane.
