Famed anime studio Madhouse has the rights to make anime based on various Marvel properties. Iron Man and Wolverine have already been previewed at various cons and on G4TV, which will be airing them in the US. Now, they’ve released character designs for the upcoming X-Men anime, along with a cast list. I am not the anime fan I was in my teenage years, so the cast list doesn’t mean much to me, but here it is for your perusal.
Cyclops: Toshiyuki Morikawa
Wolverine: Rikiya Koyama
Professor X: Katsunosuke Hori
Storm: Aya Hisakawa
Emma Frost: Kaori Yamagata
Jean Grey: Yurika Hino
Hisako Ichiki: Yukari Tamura
Beast: Hideyuki Tanaka
As you can see in the image, notably absent from the cast picture is Jean Grey and Emma Frost. It can be surmised that Grey’s absence is due to the fact that she is deceased as the show begins. Seeing as it’s Jean Grey, and she does have a voice actor, I’d speculate that this won’t be the case for long. The designs themselves are evocative of John Cassaday’s designs from the Astonishing X-Men comics, which is prudent, since Hisako Ichiki (aka Armor) is also from that book. I like the designs, but personally, I think the cleavage window they gave Cyclops make him look a bit… off. At any rate, as seen in the clip below that may just be his “street clothes” as he look more like the Cyclops we know in love in action.
The show is set to premiere in Japan at the beginning of April, with an American showing on G4TV later in the year.
Via Anime News Network.