Anyone trying to watch either the X-Men or Wolverine anime will now need to look no further than YouTube, as both series have officially begun streaming for free on the popular video-sharing platform.
With the first episodes of both the X-Men and Wolverine uploaded in full to Sony's official Throwback Toons YouTube channel, fans can now experience the beginning of the two anime series completely free of charge. Although there is no confirmation whether each series' remaining 11 episodes will eventually be uploaded in full as well, Throwback Toons has uploaded multiple complete episodes for other animated Marvel shows -- namely, Spectacular Spider-Man. Viewers should also note that both first episodes are only available with English dubbing.
The X-Men anime originally premiered in 2011. The series ran for a total of twelve episodes and prominently featured superpowered mutants Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm and Beast. Set after the death of Jean Grey, who succumbed to the powers of the Dark Phoenix due to the influence of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, the plot centers around Professor X reuniting the X-Men to rescue the young mutant Armor from the organ-harvesting U-Men. While simultaneously dealing with the scheming Inner Circle and the dangerous U-Men, the X-Men discover a disease affecting mutants' second stage of mutation -- an anomaly that strangely appears to only affect mutants living in Japan.
Similarly, the Wolverine anime also debuted in 2011 and ran for a total of twelve episodes as well. The anime is inspired by the original 1982 Wolverine graphic novel by writer Chris Claremont and illustrator Frank Miller. Set in Japan, the Wolverine anime follows Logan fighting to rescue his beloved girlfriend Mariko Yashida from the clutches of her crime-lord father, Shingen. With Shingen preparing to merry Mariko off to the head of a crime syndicate, Logan finds himself partnering with the young assassin Yukio in order to rescue Mariko and defeat Shingen, along with legions of the Japanese criminal underworld.
The X-Men and Wolverine anime are part of four Marvel anime series released between 2011 and 2012. The other anime series include Iron Man and Blade, the former of which recently saw its first episode uploaded to Throwback Toons as well. The four series were produced by Madhouse, the Japanese animation studio responsible for other anime series such as Death Note and the first season of One-Punch Man. More recently, Madhouse has collaborated with Marvel on the 2017 Marvel Future Avengers series, which ran for 39 episodes on Disney+ last year.
Source: YouTube (1), (2)
