Recap: Mariko

 

Hello again. Well, after months of waiting, The Wolverine is finally coming out. Hoping

to rectify the poor reception to X-Men Origins: Wolverine; this new movie is based on the

classic comic book story where Wolverine goes to Japan and clashes with Yakuza gangsters

and the villain Silver Samurai.

Due to this story, this makes Wolverine another one of the few American comic book

superheroes to successfully break out in Japan; a country where manga rules the roost (a large

chunk of anything that gets read in Japan is manga, with stories appealing to every niche and

age group you can think of). So, as I promised, I will recap the first episode of the Wolverine

anime to mark the occasion. It is indeed very good, though there is material for this recap.

So, let's open up “Mariko.”

We open on the skyline of New York City. We see a ship on the docks, with a young

woman looking over the bay.

Then, we get our approach of Logan, aka Wolverine. Even in his anime design, he still has the familiar sideburns. Many people, myself included, have tried to replicate them; to varying degrees of success. Wolverine approaches the woman and asks if it's too cold. The

woman says it isn't with him there.

Suddenly, men in scuba gear and with jetpacks on their backs come out of the water!

They start firing on the ship!

We're still angry about X-Men Origins Wolverine! If your new movie is bad, we'll come back with adamantium bullets!

Wolverine takes the blasts. I'm not sure what these people were firing, but he appears

to have burn marks all over his body. Naturally, we get to see one of the two of Wolverine's

many mutant powers that get used most in adaptations: the ability to heal within seconds

from any injury.

 

He leaps to face the men and we get the most prominent mutant power: those claws.

Adamantium claws that come out of his hands that are indestructible and come in handy in

many fights.

We then get our opening sequence, set to a heavy J-rock guitar. Much like the Iron Man

anime I recapped around the time Iron Man 3 first hit theaters; Warren Ellis wrote the story

to this one. Madhouse animated it, and apart from that opening scene, this intro does a great

job of showing off the badass that is Wolverine.

We then cut to one year later. A man is on a rooftop when he's cornered by several

people wearing invisibility cloaks. Several countries are working on this sort of thing: it's a

bunch of microscopic cameras that scan the area around them and project the image around

the space they're on.

The man, named Asano, draws his gun and fires on the men as they reveal themselves.

It turns out the suits also have force fields around them, rendering the bullets useless. The men

use a sonic shockwave gun, which renders Asano's weapon useless and emits a shrill sound that

the man cannot bear to hear. The wave continues, and the man's glasses break.

NO! STOP! This is worse than going to see X-Men Origins Wolverine in the theater!

 

Everything metal on the man breaks, until a beer falls from the sky and sprays all over

the attacker when the can bursts. It's Wolverine! It turns out he's helping Asano. Wolverine then

attacks the people after throwing his other beer into the sky.

Wolverine takes out two of the men while the other three slip away. A water tower is

destroyed, and Wolverine is all wet; with his clothes sticking to him. I may be straight, but

whether he's wearing that, his yellow-and-blue duds, or 20 pounds of black leather; Wolverine

is fair game.

You're welcome, Japan.

He's not done yet. He uses another one of his powers, animal senses (which tend to

be far greater than those of humans) to sniff them out and finish them.

 

The last one tries to leap off the building with Asano, but Wolverine dives after him, and

uses his claws to slow them down. All while Japanese rock music plays. To finish it off, he

catches the beer he threw into the air before and casually welcomes Asano to New York.

It turns out this is the first time in 10 years that Wolverine and Asano have met; with

Asano remarking he hasn't aged a day. Despite the jabs I've taken at X-Men Origins: Wolverine,

this is consistent with Wolverine having been alive since the provincialization of Canada in

the late 19^th century; having effectively stopped aging since he hit his thirties.

Asano shows Wolverine a photo of Mariko. Asano says he knows where she is.

Wolverine says she was taken from him.

 

It turns out she was kidnapped by a Yakuza clan known as the Kazuryu; who is funded

by Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM. Their leader is a man known as Shingen. He tends

to be very active as a master swordsman. It turns out Mariko is his daughter!

 

Asano and his group have been trying to gather enough information to convict Shingen.

Even more, Shingen is putting his daughter through an arranged marriage. Her fiancé is Hideki

Kurohage. He looks alarmingly like Aizen from Bleach. There's an idea: Aizen could come

to the human world and present himself as a Yakuza gangster! Hey, it's not much more ridiculous than most of the other stuff in Bleach.

It turns out Kurohage rose to power in his syndicate on an island known as Madrepur.

All of a sudden, I'm reminded of Enter the Dragon. The island is a sovereign state, but it's

full of crime and villainy. Kurohage, of course, lives in the penthouse of a heavily-guarded

skyscraper.

Asano says that Hideki is a very dangerous man, and that Hideki killed his own father.

With the marriage, Shingen will have a hotbed of crime, and Hideki will have untold amounts

of funding. Mariko was kidnapped and is being held hostage in her father's compound in

Tokyo. Wolverine then decides to go to Tokyo.

We then get a flashback with Mariko and Wolverine. Given what's been explained in

the past few minutes, this is a genuinely sad scene here. Wolverine then flies to Japan, vowing

to find Mariko.

We cut to Tokyo, and Wolverine is walking the streets; passing by a temple guarded

by men in black suits. 

It turns out Asano is helping Wolverine spy on the Kazuryu. Suddenly, Wolverine has

disappeared. He's jumped the fence, and has begun infiltrating the compound.

Wolverine has managed to make it to the garden without being spotted. Suddenly, Mariko comes out the door. Shingen then comes out to greet her, as do his guards. Wolverine

continues to stay hidden. Shingen then draws his sword and throws it!

I told you kids I don't want any magazine subscriptions!

 

Wolverine dodges just in time, and he's been discovered! The guards draw their guns

on Wolverine. Shingen greets Wolverine. Wolverine replies that his reputation precedes him.

I should hope so. Marvel has a habit of keeping you in the public eye. They even put you on

covers of books you don't actually appear in to get people to buy them!

Wolverine is not happy with Shingen kidnapping his own daughter, and has come for

Mariko. Wolverine claims she is her own woman. Shingen replies she has a duty to her family;

and has been promised to another. I did point out in my recap of The Sun, The Sea, and The Host Club that the Japanese have very different ideas about gender roles. Well, I must also

point out that they also have a much greater focus on continuing their bloodline and honoring

it. While in the US, marriage and having a child is indeed seen as a great milestone in a person's

life, in Japan it's vital for keeping their family from dying out. It's often why Sasuke from Naruto has his motives criticized in the US and other Western countries; but that's not important

right now.

 

Naturally, Wolverine does not agree. Shingen asks if the rumors he heard about him

are true; and Wolverine declares it's time for him to find out. He then engages Shingen's guards,

and wipes the floor with them.

 

Shingen is impressed, and challenges Wolverine to a duel. If Wolverine wins, he can

have Mariko back and Shingen will give up his plans. Shingen agrees. Wolverine goes inside,

meaning Asano and his colleagues can't track him.

Wolverine then engages Shingen in their duel. Wolverine isn't able to make one blow,

and Shingen takes out Wolverine in one strike. Still, Wolverine recovers and goes after Shingen.

Shingen is able to land many blows on Wolverine. Still, Wolverine continues. The fight goes

on, and Shingen apparently uses the Wind Scar on Wolverine to finish him.

Shingen then throws Wolverine through the door. I notice both of them seem to be holding back. Wolverine isn't using his claws, and Shingen isn't using a blade: I imagine they'll

be a more even-footed fight between them later in the show.

The fight between them continues still! OK, time to set this to some appropriate music.

The fight ends when someone shoots a dart into Wolverine's back. This

causes him to go all loopy.

Didney worl?

We then see who shot the dart. It's Kurohage! The dart was full of an experimental

chemical weapon from AIM; which affects the nervous system. OK, I'm convinced: the suave

look, the smug demeanor, the presentation of himself as a magnificent bastard; this guy IS

essentially Aizen as a Yakuza gangster in a three-piece suit!

 

It turns out the weapon takes effect faster because Wolverine is a mutant. Still, he draws

his claws, and that's how the episode ends. One of the last images we see is a pastel-chalked

freeze frame of Wolverine and Shingen staring each other down.

“Mariko” is a solid first episode to the Wolverine anime, in a similar manner to how

“Enter Iron Man” was. I'm noticing a pattern that the Marvel anime are exceptionally well- made; with great animation, writing and voice acting. On top of that, they're practically

tailor-made for Western audiences. I plan to do a recap of the first episode of the Blade anime

around Halloween, and I think I'll add a recap of the first episode of the X-Men anime to my

plans for next year; around the time X-Men: Days of Future Past comes out. Once I post this

recap, I will be saving my energy for August; where the whole month will be on the Endless 8

of Haruhi Suzumiya. See you later.