First Impressions: Heroman

1:00 AM on 04.02.2010   |   Ben Huber

Summary: A fun, energetic romp through America from Japan's perspective, and turns out pretty good!

When the news first came out about Stan Lee's collaboration with BONES to create a new show for Japanese audiences, many scoffed. And to be honest, Stan Lee hasn't had the greatest track record recently (Ultimo), so it was with great interest I watched the development of Heroman. While I expected quality out of BONES, I wasn't sure about Mr. Lee.

The first episode has aired on Crunchyroll, and I'm sure many of you have watched it already. I'll put it simply: I wonder how many influence each party had? I'm curious as to whether Stan Lee spent large amounts of time influencing the manga and anime, or merely put his stamp of approval on what they presented to him. That said, we'll leave that question aside, as the end result is really something quite entertaining. Click through for my complete impressions of Heroman.

Let's start with the good: the animation and character design. The art direction for Heroman is fantastic, and looks great animated. The opening and ending are up to BONES usual standards of quality, and throughout the rest of the episode the style really stands out. Characters pop and stand out without being garish or "too colorful." The only complaint results from the good art: comparatively, the design of the alien Skrugg seems generic and uninspired. Perhaps this is only from seeing the first episode, but currently, they end up looking like your usual "insect-style" aliens.

As far as the actual story goes, there's not much to talk about. We get the very American-style scene of the robot receiving its powers (lightning striking), and I'm sure that was a Stan Lee concept. Joey himself fits pretty well into the "average American kid" role, but we almost fall into the 'MUHRICA hole a bit too much with the cheerleader who has an obvious crush on him, and her older brother the football jock. That said, it's such a drastic change from the other anime we'll be getting this season it's almost refreshing. My guess is that people will still end up disliking this show for being too "American" anyway.

The music is being done by METALCHICKS and MUSIC HEROES, and what results is an upbeat, rock-y soundtrack with frequent vocal appearances. It seems to fit the show for the most part, but it'll be interesting to see how it's put to use as the series progresses. The opening, Roulette, is by TETSUYA (of L'Arc en Ciel fame) and the ending is CALLING by FLOW. Quite the setup, and with Heroman taking over Gintama's time slot, it looks like BONES really wants a hit on their hands here.

Heroman is something I was not quite expecting. My expectations were low, and to my surprise we were handed something that was actually very fun. It's not incredibly intelligent, and it won't force you to think, but if you want to just relax, have fun, and be entertained, there are many worse ways to do so. Heroman has a promising start and a lot going for it. If BONES can pull this off, I think we'll end up with something pretty fantastic. I also think that this is the perfect show to localize. If there's any show that Disney would want to bring over here, it'd be this one (and given that they own Marvel and have a big stake in Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment it wouldn't be a difficult task either). Overall, Heroman is something I'd recommend you check out if you have any interest at all -- it's better than it looks at first glance. Is there a fair amount of 'MUHRICA? Sure, but it plays into the concept, and the overall idea that seems to be communicated is "fun." And that's about the best way I can describe it: simple fun. We're not breaking any new ground, but Heroman aims to provide simple fun, and it does it well.