"I've arrived" is the best possible translation for it but im imagining a world where the primary translations match, like "From the beginning, I've already hit a climax" with "I've come".
“Hatred doesn’t suit you all. Make sure to stop him, but please don’t hate him for what he’s doing. Please show him the light. I know that you can do it.”
I'll be honest, when X-men '97 was announced I didn't think much of it. I've held a long stance of (at best) indifference towards reboots, remakes, or continuations of legacy properties. At worst, I hold a deep cynicism towards the often mishandling and cheap regurgitation to cash in on nostalgia.
The thing that most often goes wrong with such things is either it becomes so different one questions why it has X name attached instead of being a whole new thing, or it's so similar it does nothing new and only serves to callback fond memories and memes spawned from the original. It's a delicate balance to be familiar yet fresh. More often than not, it goes terribly wrong.
X-men '97 does not suffer that fate.
The most shocking thing about '97 isn't how much it feels like a proper continuation in every sense one could possibly achieve, but how better it is top to bottom. Sure, it has surface level nostalgia like the intro, callbacks, and the occasional campy tone (although never quite as much as the OG series, which lets be real, is for the better.) But it also understands how paramount it is to elevate and evolve the narrative with what the show explores, rather than relying on the familiar. The kids who grew up with the original are in their 30s if not their early 40s, and the ones that didn't remain children want more nuance and complexity. Not to mention the original, for all the good, is extremely flawed.
There's a story I read about Genndy Tartakovsky having a sign outside his office in the heyday of Cartoon Network that said something along the lines of "Make the Cartoons the way you think you remember." The idea being that a lot of people don't recognize the flaws in the shows they enjoyed at kids and have false idealized versions of those memories. '97 feels like that philosophy in some ways. It feels like all the legitimately good aspects cranked up to 11, and a lot of the lesser parts filtered out; an idealized version of what the original could be. In fact, Tartakovsky might be an apt comparison in another way, in that it feels as natural a progression as Samurai Jack with how it matured upon a revival, but without losing the parts that made the original so endearing.
Where X-men '97 hooked me was as early as ep. 2. Magneto gives a speech to the UN stating "As a boy, my people's homes were burned to ash because we dared to call God by another name. Then, my people hunted me with those who had once hunted them."
The balls to go there hit like a truck and made me realize where this series was going.
It might be trite to say "This isn't your childhood X-men" as if to imply some dark bend to the series. But no, this is simply an X-men that doesn't play coy with the analogies or side skirt death because of broadcast standards. It's an X-men allowed explore topics and stories in a manner much closer to the comics. The greatest example of that here is with Magnus, who for the first time is treated with a level of complexity I've not seen in any adaptive work.
The thing I love about Magneto is his versatility as a villain. He's full of himself, and goes too far in areas, but often still makes a good point. And even if he has those two flaws, is that much different than Xavier? Is his way ultimately more correct even if not 100% so? Conversely, you can easily turn him into a megalomaniac, unquestionably in the wrong-- yet still somewhat sympathetic because much of Humanity has reinforced time after time that it's oppress or be oppressed, with no alternative or in-between.
That also makes him very interesting as someone who struggles to change their ways, to avoid falling down that slippery slope of becoming that very thing he so hates.
It should come as no surprise that this added focus on Magneto results in some killer lines throughout the run. The trailer made it clear that he would become leader of the X-men after Charles' apparent death at the end of the original series (as an aside, pay close attention to the language used when referring to Charles, it's very clever.)
About half this season deals with Magnus building towards something beyond the school and beyond the X-men with the Island Nation of Genosha, creating a proper haven for Mutants to exist freely and in the open. He's honestly one of if not my favorite part of the show, both as a character and how that characterization helps drive the plot.
Of course it's just one of many. Another big focus is Scott and Jean's relationship, the pregnancy, the fear of and eventual birthing of a child into a world that hates and fears them. That added dimension makes Scott a lot more nuanced this go around. Ideally, Cyclops should make difficult and perhaps unpopular decisions that are ultimately for the better, justifying his position as someone capable of making choices others would not. In practice, a lot of instances have Scott making boneheaded decisions and being a punching bag for Wolverine. People like to hate on the dude, and I don't blame them. It's very easy to make someone like that unlikable, and most of time, writers do.
But '97 gives a lot more personal scenes with him, showing how he's scared of his position, how Xavier's absence added a great weight upon his shoulders. Not to mention one of their greatest enemies-- the one ideologically opposite of Charles-- is entrusted with carrying on Xavier's dream, not him, not even another X-men. Then there's the baby on the way, everything that happens afterwards which is just the cherry on the shit sundae. I felt bad for Scott, the poor guy is sent thought the ringer this season. But that also makes him and his relationship with Jean legitimately interesting.
Meanwhile, the latter half of a show blows up into a much bigger cataclysmic event that actually manages to pull off some of the best suspense, trepidation, and "Oh shit, what next?" moments that few series achieve with such a level of success or frequency.
All that said, as much praise as I have for the story and characters… the stuff with Rogue is a bit weird and will probably be the most off putting aspect during the first half.
This is one of those parts I can't really skim over in a mostly spoiler free fashion, so get ready.
For half the show Rogue spends a lot of time with Magneto after he takes over the X-men, and it's a source of friction for Gambit. And you think you know how this is going; Rogue obviously has some sorta past with Magnus no one else knows about, which makes sense given her checkered history, and Gambit is horribly misinterpreting that prior relationship as something more out of jealousy.
But no, Gambit was right. It was a lot more than just partners in crime.
See, Magnus' whole electromagnet field can protect him from Rogue while the two still feel a touch, as it where, and they took full advantage of that way back when. So yeah, that's a thing that happened.
I get what they're going for; giving Rogue a complicated relationship with a major antagonist, how fair is keeping that information from Gambit, what does that even say about Magnus etc. The comics have done or tried similar things, often to a worse extent. (In fact this is based on a bit from Age of X)
Still, it feels a tad weird here, and the age gap certainly plays a role. Which again, I realize is the point. I think part of the hang up on my end is Animated Rogue and Gambit always felt just a tad younger than say Jean, Scott, and Storm-- and the thought of the much older Magnus hooking up with an at the time technically legal Rogue bothers me. Not in an ageist way, but in a Jerry Seinfeld sorta way.
But I think that they're a bit more up there then previously thought. So if this goes back 5 maybe 10 years, that makes it feel less like Magnus was taking advantage of a very lonely and still naive girl, but having a fling with (at minimum) mid 20 something, which has it's own baggage, but is far less creepy and but in-line with Magnus' ego.
His crimes against humanity I can forgive, but not acting like a libertarian.
As for Rogue…I mean I wouldn't judge her anyway. Especially from her POV. I mean… look at Magnus.
If I couldn't have physical contact with 99% of people, I'd jump at exploring that magnetic pole, too.
That's probably the biggest "issue" I have with the story, and honestly I'm sorta coming around to it because it's told so damn well and leads to some pretty great bits. Rogue's argument with Gambit in particular is heart-wrenching.
And we also get some lovely scenes later in the series with Nightcrawler being a supporting brother to Rogue, which I just adore. I'll admit I'm slightly bias here because Kurt was one of my favorite X-men characters along with Remy, Rogue, and Magneto. So I'm eating good this season.
What I don't care for however is the romance between Forge and Storm. In fact, Storm probably gets the worst arc this season simply due to constraints and timing. It's not bad, but you can really tell hers was meant to be a larger and more intimate tale that was condensed down to what is effectively a single episode hacked to pieces. The passage of time is very poorly conveyed, so it feels like Forge proclaims his love after a week and one romantic dinner. Storm's more internal demons and struggles with her powers, while interesting conceptually, suffers from structural and pacing issues as it's split over two episodes shared with other stories. This is compounded with the fact one episode in-between those two is on the much more grandiose story of Genosha-- which is itself is grounded by that love triangle between Mags, Gambit, and Rogue-- not to mention a number of character deaths as the mid season "Oh shit" moment. The result is a vast cloud being cast over Ororo's narrative. We don't even get to properly delve into the Adversary.
There's some more minor things I can think of; the first episode is a little rough because of the dialogue being very hamfisted. It's made to be friendly to newcomers that didn't watch the original series, which I respect, but the consequence is some very weird statements of facts from characters to others that already know them. I think they knew this, which is why the much better ep. 2 dropped the same day. Smart.
Outside ep. 1 it's handled much better. Slight spoiler, but if you know the comics you know about Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean with all her memories. OG Jean pops back in, but has a fragmented memory which allows for a much more natural flow of information as she slowly remembers events like the Phoenix and such.
Another use of conveying information to new comers is the newest member to the team, Roberto da Costa AKA Sunspot. Early on Roberto doesn't really have much going on, he's used similar to Jubilee as the audience POV saved by the X-men and that's kinda it.
There's sparks between him and Jubilee, but for the most part his story takes a back seat to the much larger going ons. In fact I don't really think he ever comes into his own this season, although he is getting there by the end. However, I do think his character is used well thematically. Roberto's mother is a very wealthy business woman and philanthropist, and she's basically the stereotype of every rich minority liberal. She doesn't mind her son being a mutant, but she wants to keep it secret for social and financial reasons. She holds big charities for mutant causes, but will sell her own son out to authority figures if pressed. I never got invested in Roberto as there simply isn't enough time to focus on how that affects him on a deeper level beyond "Maybe Magneto is right." But I am impressed at showcasing that type of performative ally-ship, and with a parent no less.
I guess the last thing to address the new villain this season. I won't get into the story stuff, but if you know who Bastion is, then you sorta know where this goes anyway. And if you don't, then I won't really be getting too deep into that stuff. To be honest, I don't have a ton to say about him. He is quite different from his comics version to better fit within TAS universe, and he's sympathetic as a result of those changes. Pretty typical with this iteration of X-men to mix, change, and mash storylines across multiple decades. So nothing new there.
I think he's a good threat, I like the portrayal of the prime sentinels, he's built up very well as a mysterious puppet master and power house; possibly too good given a "get out of jail free" moment with Jean in the finale.
Theo James also does a good job making him sound calm, collected, almost emotionless-- but not bored, which a lot of people struggle with.
I just don't really find him all that captivating or fun as a villain compared to say Magneto or Mr. Sinister. What he is, is a good catalyst. And I'm fine with that. X-men thrives on its melodramatic interpersonal relationships to carry damn near any story. Take characters you like, build'em up, have complex emotions, then throw them into scenarios to exacerbate all of that. If you can pull it off, you've got a fine formula for entertaining stories-- so long as you keep evolving those characters and scenarios.
So, sure, I don't think Bastion is an all time great, but I'm more interested in the team having to deal with his shit and each other than him specifically, and I'm still getting other villains I do find interesting, so I can't really complain.
But that's enough but the story, let's get into the other bits.
Animation
On the Animation side X-men '97 looks damn good. Comparing it to the original isn't even fair. The original studio, AKOM, was constantly threatened with firing because their output was routinely bad. Be that from a massive workload, poor management, crunch, Saban being a fuck stick, etc. Whatever the cause, the end result was not good. The first episode of X-men aired in an incomplete state, and that sort of trouble plagued the entire production. Heck, fellow Fox Kids series Batman The Animated Series terminated their contract with them for similar errors.
The first episode on '97 meanwhile takes every opportunity to showcase dynamic action. It probably has the most clever combination and uses of the X-men's powers; Scott using his optic blasts for movement, Gambit charging Wolverine's claws, Jean creating a containment field for Storm's tornadoes to increase pressure.
That standard of quality is mostly maintained throughout. The biggest critique I can make is that some of the more subtle movements; raised eyebrow; slight head tilt; gritting teeth, tend to have an…off look. It reminds me a lot of the adoption of Flash in the 2010s and other digital animation, where every now and then certain objects just sorta float and slide in an overly smooth fashion, as if someone is simply moving a png around.
Another quirk is that there are A LOT of close ups of eyes. Sometimes that's an artistic choice, but very often it feels like a work around to avoid animating mouth movements for dialogue, showing backgrounds, other characters, and so on. And it's a trick used a wee-bit too much, one I'm hoping is ironed out by next season because it did become distracting by the end. But ya know, this is also better than Castlevania's first two seasons.
Voice Acting.
The voice Acting is great, no surprise there. Hell, the cast was the best thing out of the original series. While the dialogue and the delivery varied wildly, the voices themselves were generally on point, weird takes or direction notwithstanding. Those to me will always be the voices for those characters. I still hear Alison Sealy-Smith when I read Storm's dialogue in comic form, or Lenore Zann's Rogue, or George Buza's Beast.
Most of the surviving original cast is back, either as their respective characters, or in other roles if they didn't want/fit the role anymore, as was the case with Catherine Disher and Alyson Court.
Hilariously, Morph's original actor, Ron Rubin, now plays President Kelly.
Oddly enough Gambit's original VA, Chris Potter, returns but in the role of Cable. Credit where it's due, this Cable sounds similar to a much gruffer Cyclops, but in such a way that's clearly a different voice. So I think that was a good change.
Speaking of Scott, Ray Chase is the new voice and he knocks it out of the park, absolutely perfect voice for the character that captures the smarmy routine Norm Spencer had. I'm frankly impressed how perfect he fills those shoes, while also adding a world weariness.
Likewise, Jennifer Hales is a fantastic choice for Jean. She's played Jean before but this is much more influenced by Disher's performance. Ironically Hale's performance made me realize how perfect she would've been as Jill Valentine, and I'm sorta surprised she was never picked for any of the remakes.
Additionally, Hale is clearly having so much fun in a villainous role as the Goblin Queen. In fact, her tone is slightly different for Pryor in general, but my god is the Goblin Queen stuff a joy. It's only like an episode, but Hale is just REVELING in being a baddy.
Nice to see X-men awakening things in people even years later.
Other new cast members include A. J. LoCascio, who does a great job as Gambit. Of course we have new addition Roberto, voiced by Gui Agustini, who fits lovely and speaks Portuguese to boot. Holly Chou takes over Jubilee and is so damn on point I had to double check it wasn't a time-displaced Court. You actually get to hear Chou and Court opposite one another and it is WILD how subtle the differences are. Ross Marquand is also pretty damn close to Cedric Smith's Xavier, albeit a tad younger sounding.
One returning member I do want to give special mention to is Cal Dodd's Wolverine. Dodd was always a favorite, and like the others "the voice" of that character to me, and it's great to hear him again. Although I will note it doesn't really sound like 90s Wolverine, with exception to the penultimate episode where it sorta comes back. I'm not sure if they told him to do a rougher voice, if it's just the result of age, or if he's just getting back into it (Logan doesn't have many lines this season) but it's certainly different for most of the run. Every so often you'll also get a very slight inflection of an accent. Now Dodd is Irish born, but he doesn't have an Irish accent, yet I swear I hear one coming from Wolverine. Honestly? It weirdly works simply due to Logan's age and coming from Alberta, which was pretty heavy on immigrants from all the British Empire's isles. So…I kinda dig it, even if I'll always default to the OG performance in my head.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the incredible music by the Newton Brothers.
But I also don't really know what to say about it beyond "That's some damn fine music and remixing of the Main Theme."
Part of the problem is the Soundtrack isn't released at the time of this writing, there's only a single for the opening. But the harrowing vocal version of the theme, the BGM, all that's not released in a format I can point to and tell you to check it out, or even give a name to the ones I like.
So... I just have to throw my hands up and say I love their work and am glad they're returning next season.
I hope they remix the second X-men theme from the later seasons.
Final Thoughts
X-men '97 has been by far the most pleasant surprise this year. I loved the feeling of looking forward to each episode, wanting to know what events will transpire, waiting until next Wednesday for the follow up. Few series manage to capture my attention to the extent '97 did. In the wrong hands this could've been exhausting, but it's a masterclass in pacing and escalation without feeling tiresome. X-men '97 pulls off a perfect balance of new and familiar, maintaining and building upon a strong foundation of character drama to reach new heights that results in, above all else, an extremely rare example of a revival surpassing the original in every regard.
Now, I just hope the firing of the director wasn't a sign that Disney is going to sabotage this because the suits are rock stupid.
Or that the series will become bogged down with cameos and references to other stuff. I gotta tell you, one of the best things was '97 not dealing with MCU and just having relatively subdued cameos and name drops. It was quaint compared to what it's like now. But that finale made me wince in spots. You can justify it all you want, but I'm tired, and I hope it's not a sign of things to come.
I couldn't figure out where to put this in the review, but I did want to mention a moment in ep 2 that I loved. Jean goes into labor and while Logan is driving her to the hospital, her powers go a little out of control and rips the roof off his vehicle. She made him a convertible.
They do not draw attention to it, no smarmy comment, just something that happens. But I have to imagine it was an intentional reference, and that's my favorite kind of callback.
All that said, thanks for reading this. It's not often I do spoiler free reviews, but sometimes the format is just right for what I have to say without delving into a big plot synopsis. Hopefully, if you were cautious like me, maybe you'll check out '97 and find something you really love.
so apparently the main reason Shurato and Samurai troopers (or ronin warriors) didn't last as long as Saint seiya was because their toys did not sell as well compared to saint seiya toys. damn. the more I learn.
No small part of why Samurai Troopers didn't sell well is that the toy line suffered from a very confused and troubled production, which ultimately lead to the very awkward combination of snap-on armor (cool) and spring-loaded joints (what).
And then of course the fact that the show failed to capture its intended demographic (young boys) while drawing in a huge following from a completely unintended - and to the eyes of the suits at Takara and Sunrise, unwanted - demographic, that being teen-and-up girls.
There's a reason that so much of the merch, aside from the meager toyline and a retooled Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop toy, are posters and the like of Cute Boys Doing Cute Things and not Cool Heroes Doing Cool Battles like most other major shonen-aimed series.
ahhh that makes alot of sense ! samurai troopers for sure attracted the BL fans and girls who like bishounen characters xD Saint seiya did as well but it still had plenty of young boy fans to keep it running as long as it did although it eventually fell out of popularity around 1990.
every time someone says 'im a savage' or anything to that effect it takes all my willpower not to yell 'PENIS. SIZE. AVERAGE.' it doesnt happen often but god when it does.
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