Wolverine (anime)
It's time for some slicing and dicing sushi-style as Marvel Comics' most popular cigar-smoking hero, Wolverine, gets an anime makeover. The product of an ongoing collaboration with Japanese anime firm Madhouse, Marvel's Wolverine is a 12-episode series set in Japan.
This is the second Marvel character to get a Japanese makeover, following the success of Iron Man.
Unlike previous American animations of the character, in which the bad guys just got beaten up, the anime version has no qualms about being more visually graphic in its violence - it's not for the very young or sensitive.
The story revolves around Wolverine/Logan and his girlfriend, Mariko Yashida, who was kidnapped in New York by parties unknown. A year later, Logan finds out from a Japanese anti-organised-crime officer that Mariko is the daughter of a powerful Yakuza boss and is living in the group's Tokyo compound.
Mariko's father, Shingen Yashida, is the main Japanese supplier to A.I.M., a terrorist group made up of brilliant scientists.
Shingen plans to marry his daughter to a powerful Asian crime lord to expand both families' power and influence. Mariko's father is a highly skilled kendo martial artist. In the first episode, viewers will see a fantastic kendo battle between him and Logan.
Will Logan be able to save Mariko? What nefarious plans does A.I.M. have in Japan?
Keep an eye out for the show to appear on local cable channel Animax some time soon.
