Line #90 Anime/MarvelAnimeWolverine


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolverine_6206.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:Ya wanna go, bub? Let’s go!]]
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4	A TwelveEpisodeAnime beginning in early 2011 as the second of four Creator/MarvelComics series produced by anime studio Creator/{{Madhouse}}, ''Anime/MarvelAnime: Wolverine'' follows [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} Logan's]] journey to Japan in search of his lost love, [[DamselInDistress Mariko Yashida]]. As it turns out, Mariko's father, [[BadassNormal Shingen Yashida]], is the head of the criminal organization known as ''Kuzuryu'' (Nine Dragons) and intends to marry her off to cement an alliance with [[SmugSnake Hideki Kurohagi]], leader of the tiny island nation of [[WretchedHive Madripoor]].
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6	After trying and failing to rescue Mariko from her father's clutches, Logan is joined by [[ActionGirl Yukio,]] the daughter of an assassin who was killed by Shingen, and is now [[ItsPersonal seeking vengeance]]. Together, they follow Shingen and Mariko to Madripoor where the wedding is to take place.
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8	The series is based on the same Creator/FrankMiller[=/=]Creator/ChrisClaremont [[ComicBook/Wolverine1982 storyline]] that inspired the later live-action film ''Film/TheWolverine''.
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10	----
11	!!Tropes:
12	* ActionHeroine: Yukio is a badass ninja. It's InTheBlood, after all.
13	* AdaptationNameChange:
14	** Hideki Kurohagi is originally called Noburu-Hideki in the original comics.
15	** Tesshin Asano is originally called Asano Kimura.
16	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Wolverine is a PrettyBoy here.
17	* AttackItsWeakPoint:
18	** The sole reason Omega Red goes down so fast in his last battle against Logan is because at this point Logan figured out a vital piece of equipment on Omega Red's suit is his weak spot, and immediately targets this.
19	** The first time Logan fights Vadhaka, he is badly beaten and only wins when Min unleashes hot steam into Vadhaka's eyes, blinding the giant. Logan thus figures out that the eyes are Vadhaka's most vulnerable spot, so in their next fight he immediately targets them. Too bad AIM [[GenreSavvy also realized this weakness]] and gave Vadhaka a protective visor that even Wolverine's claws can't penetrate.
20	* BadBoss:
21	** Hideki. [[spoiler: He shoots one of his own henchmen with a horrifyingly lethal nerve toxin for no other reason than to demonstrate its effects.]]
22	** Shingen. [[spoiler: Anyone who would mercilessly kill his own top assassin just because she happened to fall in love with the son of his hated enemy would definitely mark him as a terrible boss to behold.]]
23	* BodyHorror: Happens whenever Hideki's AIM-designed nerve toxin shows up.
24	* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler: Yukio for most of episode 8, where he is held captive by Kurohagi's men and has to be rescued by Logan.]]
25	* FauxActionGirl: Although a badass and an all-round skilled ninja, Yukio spends most of the episodes being either knocked out, injured or held captive and needing to be saved by the protagonist.
26	* BadassNormal: '''Shingen''', who has no superhuman powers, but due to his superb swordfighting skills can hold his own against Logan just fine. Yukio to a lesser extent, as she is a skilled assassin.
27	* BattleCouple: Yukio's parents.
28	%%* BigBadDuumvirate: [[{{Sadist}} Hideki Kurohagi]] and [[{{Jerkass}} Shingen Yashida]]. However, both differ in so many ways, particularly when it comes to characterization and personality. For instance, Hideki is a SmugSnake and a bloodthirsty sadist with a penchant for DomesticAbuse and [[BadBoss threatening or outright killing his own men]] for petty reasons [[spoiler:such as letting Logan into Madripoor and causing trouble for him.]] He also has more screen time and therefore more time to antagonize Logan and show himself to be a loathsome human being. Conversely, Shingen is more of a hateful, arrogant [[TheDreaded crime boss]] who is known to kill his own men [[YouHaveFailedMe just for failing their jobs only once]], as notably shown in a flashback [[spoiler:when he coldly killed his best assassin just for falling in love with the bodyguard son of the enemy.]] Interestingly, Hideki is shown to be nervous and afraid of Shingen, and often reports to him about his actions or asks him for help with dealing with Logan, making it possible that Shingen would be the bigger antagonist than Hideki.
29	* BloodKnight: Oh yeah. You can just tell from the last two episodes alone that Shingen is enjoying beating up Logan, even declaring that he was actually looking forward to their final duel. [[spoiler:And for a more subtler example, he actually provoked Koh and Yukio into getting mad and therefore lowering their guards long enough for him to deal a final blow.]] Clearly, Shingen is not as [[NotSoStoic stable]] as he likes to present himself as.
30	* CanonForeigner: Some characters were only created for the anime:
31	** Kikyo Mikage
32	** Min
33	** Agents Takagi, Tsukino, and Machida
34	* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Shingen Yashida, an elderly, unpowered Yakuza boss who is, by a considerable margin, Wolverine's most dangerous opponent in the entire series, and doesn't even have to go all CombatPragmatist to accomplish this. [[spoiler:Although he's not above a little bit of pragmatism here and there.]]
35	* ContinuityCameo: ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} shows up to give Logan a ride in episodes 5 and 6.
36	* DarkerAndEdgier: Wolverine racks up a bigger body count in the first episode alone than [[Anime/MarvelAnimeIronMan Tony Stark]] did in his entire series.
37	* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler:Hideki's pistol going off when Logan tackled him in a manner that ''just happened'' to fatally wound Mariko.]]
38	* DirtyCoward: Hideki, in ''spades''. So much so that he even attempted to bribe his way into freedom by offering to “share” Mariko to Logan during his planned dowry.
39	* DoesNotLikeGuns: Kikyo.
40	-->'''Kikyo:''' Guns are for ''cowards''!
41	* DownerEnding: After all the fighting and deaths of many characters, [[spoiler:Mariko died in the end. See also DoomedByCanon.]]
42	* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: Yukio, for killing Logan's friend. Possibly justified, though, as Logan saw she was truly remorseful for it, and she was dying anyway.]]
43	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Kikyo draws the line at harming children, [[spoiler: something Vadhaka learned the hard way.]]
44	* EverybodyDiesEnding: [[spoiler: With the exception of Kikyo and Logan himself, ''every character'' that had some revelance to the plot is dead by the end]].
45	* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: Very much averted by the bandits on either side of Hell Road. Once Logan and Yukio clear out a section's traps, the first thing they do is start attacking each other.
46	* EvilSoundsDeep:
47	** Shingen, courtesy of Creator/FredTatasciore.
48	** Omega Red, courtesy of Creator/JBBlanc.
49	** Vadhaka, courtesy of Creator/JamiesonPrice.
50	%%* FlatCharacter: There are quite a notable few that qualify, but Shingen definitely stands out when it comes to this. His entire appearance shows him scowling, rarely smiling, always spouting threats, berating or gloating to the few people he actually interacts with, or waving his sword around. Despite him advertised as a fearsome presence, he seems to leave most of the dirty work to Hideki. Most of his interactions with his own daughter, while it is clear that he could care less about her and seems to view her as his property to sell, involve him taunting her for still being in love with Logan or reminding her to commit to her "wifely duties." He doesn’t have as much screen time as he was supposed to, especially when compared to Hideki, so as a result we don’t know much of his personality, other than him being a generic [[YouHaveFailedMe failure-intolerant]] and somehow [[InvincibleVillain invincible]] villain.
51	* {{Foil}}: Kikyo to Logan. Just as Wolvie's an AntiHero, though, so is his Japanese rival an AntiVillain.
52	* FriendOnTheForce: Asano, Wolverine's contact with the Japanese police.
53	%%* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Naturally.
54	* {{Hammerspace}}: Where Yukio must have pulled the truly ludicrous number of kunai from in episode 11, given that her outfit doesn't allow for VictoriasSecretCompartment.
55	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the end, [[spoiler: Hideki]] is killed [[spoiler: by a dose of the same poison he shot Wolverine with, and which it's implied he used against his own father]].
56	* HonorBeforeReason: While dueling Logan, Shingen insists on a fair one-on-one match, even though he apparently has no way of countering Logan's HealingFactor.
57	** Although in his rematch in the finale, he does [[spoiler: [[CombatPragmatist wear a suit of armor.]]]]
58	* {{Immortal Hero}}/InvincibleHero: Wolverine gets the crap beat out of him and normally lethal injuries numerous times nearly every episode by more skilled, powerful, or numerous enemies. Thanks to his healing factor he always lasts long enough to squeak out a win. By the end, the villains are trying to figure out how to kill him since he keeps getting up no matter how badly they wound him.
59	%%* InstrumentalThemeTune: Much like the ''Iron Man'' anime.
60	%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As ever, Wolverine.
61	%%* LeeroyJenkins: ''Everyone'' living on Madripoor. It actually gets rather amusing after a while.
62	* LivingStatue: Vadhaka is either this or a robot of some sort. It is left ambiguous.
63	* LittleMissBadass: Min, who will knife you in the face. And if that doesn't work, will shove a steam pipe in your [[EyeScream eye]] with her bare hands, then laugh off the burns she gets from it.
64	* MightyGlacier: The Vadhaka statue; it's a giant compared to humans and immensily strong and durable, but rather slow.
65	* NavelDeepNeckline: Yukio wears a SpyCatsuit with a neckline so deep that it reaches her stomach.
66	* TheNeutralZone: Hell Road is a narrow buffer between two of Madripoor's rival ethnic groups, and is loaded with traps by both sides to keep the other at bay.
67	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Omega Red, the result of a Soviet project to turn a SerialKiller into an undead cyborg superweapon.
68	* NobleDemon: Kikyo, an assassin with a strict code of honour.
69	* OldMaster: Koh, who was the chief rival of Hideki's father for control of Madripoor back in the day. He's still quite dangerous. [[spoiler: And is Yukio's actual grandfather.]]
70	* PendulumOfDeath: Among the various traps found on Hell Road, one involves trapping people in wet cement and then kill them with these kind of pendulums.
71	* PerpetualFrowner: Once again, Shingen and Kikyo. Though Shingen has smiled quite a few times in the show.
72	* PetTheDog: [[NobleDemon Kikyo]] hates anybody who attacks an unarmed person or otherwise can't fight back.
73	* ProperlyParanoid:
74	** Even though [[spoiler: she's]] chained securely, Hideki makes sure to check in on [[spoiler: Yukio]]. [[spoiler: This gives the opportunity to shoot her in the back before she can slaughter the [[{{Mook}} mooks]] guarding her.]]
75	** In the finale [[spoiler: after shooting Logan with a nerve-toxin dart, Hideki figures he'd better decapitate Logan while he can, in case his HealingFactor saves him. It does.]]
76	* PosthumousCharacter: Kurohagi Juo and Yukio's parents all contribute heavily to the motivations of most of the living characters.
77	%%* RavenHairIvorySkin: Yukio and Mariko. The opening plays up their physical similarity.
78	* RazorWind: Both Shingen and Kikyo can summon it with their swords as one of their most devastating attacks.
79	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Koh and Yukio both get to make amends right before dying. Must run in the family...]]
80	* RevengeBeforeReason: Koh. [[spoiler:[[RedemptionEqualsDeath He eventually gets over it, but way too late.]]]]
81	%%* SacrificialLion: Poor [[spoiler: Min...]]
82	* {{Samurai}}: Shingen and Kikyo are both absolutely in love with the samurai style.
83	* SatelliteLoveInterest: It's remarkable how few alterations they would have had to make to the plot were Mariko replaced with an inanimate MacGuffin.
84	* SelfMadeOrphan: Hideki, though he insists it was [[OffingTheOffspring pre-emptive self-defence]].
85	%%* SerialKiller: Arkady Rossovich, before he became Omega Red.
86	* SissyVillain: Hideki, especially because he speaks with a high-pitched, nasal, smug, and snooty voice courtesy of Creator/VicMignogna. This doesn’t mean that Hideki is a harmless or completely inconsequential villain, however.
87	%%* SkywardScream: Logan, several times.
88	%%* SlipknotPonytail:happens to Amiko (Yukio's mother) when she's murdered by Shingen
89	%%* SmugSnake: Hideki
90	* SoftWater: In the finale. [[spoiler: Made even more ridiculous in that both of them just keep fighting, even though one of them has a metal skeleton and the other is wearing a full suit of chainmail.]]
91	* SomethingWeForgot: The mystery of who killed Asano is completely dropped for the entire second half of the series, only for [[spoiler:Yukio]] to confess to it out of nowhere in the finale.
92	* TargetedToHurtTheHero: [[spoiler:[[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Yukio, who killed Asano in order to further incense Logan against Shingen.]]
93	* TattooedCrook: Shingen sports some elaborate dragon tattoos during his ShirtlessScene.
94	* TemptingFate: Logan, you ''really'' shouldn't have told Shingen that it was impossible to cut someone's head off with karate...
95	%%* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Omega Red, Shingen, and Kikyo toward Wolverine.
96	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: The voice-activated password to Logan's handheld computer is simply his name. Yukio reacts accordingly.
97	%%* TrainingFromHell: What Yukio was put through as a child [[spoiler: by her grandfather]].
98	* UrbanSegregation: Madripoor is split into two sections. Lowtown is the poor, filthy slum area, and Hightown is the clean, modern area where the rich people live. The only thing in common between the two sides is that they're both completely populated by criminals.
99	* VillainDecay: Omega Red gets hit by this ''hard.'' When he first makes an appearance Wolverine spends an entire episode and part of the next one fighting Omega Red; Wolverine only wins because Omega Red's equipment malfunctions. Omega Red is repaired and sent after Wolverine again... ''and dies after about ten seconds.''
100	%%* WretchedHive: Madripoor
101	%%* YouKilledMyFather: Why Yukio wants Shingen dead.

Context Anime / MarvelAnimeWolverine