Eat-Man

A good but not great show for fans of YK and kino. for anyone who likes slow pacing. The art is slightly above average but the character design besides the main characters are lacking. The sound is very good considering. Plenty of good moment, at least in the first episode where the main character has a slapping contest twice with a female bounty hunter. Each episode seems to be a different theme. The stories and character are about the same rating wise. Some of the episodes are varying in tone. Don't expect many answers/explanations to most of the plots, the majority of it is conjecture. The genre/cover isfairly misleading, there is very little action, and the superpower is there, but only to serve a purpose. Dont expect epic superman fights. Regardless, its definitely not best to go into this show hoping/expecting much. Definitely give it a shot if any of this interests you in the least.

This first EAT-MAN adaptation has a veeeery abstract atmosphere, and I see a lot of people shitting on this anime because they can't understand the pseudo symbolism behind each episode, when in fact not everything there has or needs an explanation, and what happens during the series is up to your own interpretation, just like our dreams, for example. Could it be that the director really wanted to say something in all this batshit crazy stuff? Maybe. But it could also be that he was simply out of his mind when he decided to adapt a manga that hadn't even started being serialized. YEAH THAT'SRIGHT, EAT-MAN STARTED OUT AS A MANGA AND A SIMPLE BUNCH OF CHAPTERS WAS ENOUGH TO CONVINCE A PRODUCTION COMMITTEE TO ADAPT IT INTO AN ANIME! FOR ME THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE AND AMAZING! It's as if the director, Mashimo Kouichi, wanted to tell his delirious stories but hadn't yet managed to create a character for it, until he found his ideal protagonist in Yoshitomi Akihito's "Bolt Crank", a strange adventurer/mercenary who can eat metal and can also transmute any weapon with the palm of his right hand. Mashimo most likely read the first chapter in the magazine where the manga was being published in and thought "THAT'S IT, THIS CHARACTER IS THE WEIRDO I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!", and thus, ladies and gentlemen, the EAT-MAN anime was born. EAT-MAN, both its manga and its anime adaptations, mixes science fiction, noir and fantasy in a cyberpunk universe that still has a bit of mysticism. From space battleships, mutants and cyborgs, to ghosts and even divine entities. Here we follow the previously mentioned mercenary/adventurer known as Bolt Crank, and all we know about him is that he can eat ANYTHING, especially things made of metal. Despite following almost the same episodic premise as the manga, the first anime has many differences from the source material. There are many rumors that Japanese fans of the series at the time were not satisfied with the final result of the anime, and so its "second season" was made to be more faithful to the manga. There's a bit of truth to that, but as I said above, the anime practically started to be produced together with the manga and the first volume was published on the same day the anime premiered. There wasn't much to adapt, so they chose to explore something different with the author's supervision. In fact, today the first EAT-MAN anime in Japan is considered a cult classic lol. "And what would be the main differences in relation to the manga?" Well, we can start with the mysterious ghost airship known as "LAVION". A airship that, despite being destroyed years ago, continues to roam the skies thanks to its anti-gravity system that continues to operate with the help of a mysterious crystal known as "Psycho-Crystal", which also emits electromagnetic waves and destroys any other ship that tries to approach or explore LAVION. During some episodes we can see the airship floating on the horizon, and it will be Bolt's final destination in this adaptation, where he will help rebuild it with his powers. While in the manga Bolt Crank enjoys his dirty work and adventuring around the world, here he doesn't seem to be very interested in his life as a adventurer/mercenary, and sometimes even considers trying to live like a "normal" human as much as possible. In this anime, Bolt can only transmute weapons because of a red crystal that he has in the palm of his right hand, while in the manga he does not need it to perform his feats. His appearance in the anime is also very different from the manga if you pay attention to the details. In the anime, Bolt keeps his hair tied in a ponytail, while in the manga he leaves it loose; In the anime he wears red sunglasses, while in the manga, his glasses are dark purple; In the anime, Bolt's eyes are purple, in the manga, they are yellow. His green coat and the blue vest he wears underneath are also quite different in both versions, and here his skin tone is also darker. His anime counterpart is also much more expressive than his original version, where he constantly cracks a somewhat sinister and silly smile for no apparent reason throughout the episodes. Ah, and all the supporting characters that appear here are also exclusive to the anime, with some of them returning later in the novel "Eat-Man: Koroshi no Idenshi", that serves as a true and direct sequel to this first adaptation. And that's basically it. Now speaking of sequels, the '98 adaptation works more like a remake than a sequel to this first anime, because, even though they are both episodic series, they have no relation to each other. Yoshitomi Akihito even used the difference between the two versions of Bolt to establish that they are from different universes. When the complete series Blu-Ray was released in Japan, a special one-shot called "EAT-MAN Double Bolt" was published as a bonus to the collection, where the two Bolts meet and briefly duel with their transmuted cannons, like old-west gunslingers. Honestly, the best way to get to know EAT-MAN is through the manga, but I highly recommend its anime adaptations too, especially this first one. Obviously the first anime isn't perfect, it has some flaws and issues here and there, but I LOVE its aesthetics and all those surrealist themes. It's visually beautiful, the direction of most episodes is incredibly well done (with a good example of this beign the 7th episode, which is easily my favorite one), and the soundtrack (OH BOY, THE SOUNDTRACK) is an absolute BANGER (you can find it complete on khinsider lol). Now, if you want something with more action, fast pace and that's more faithful to the source material, then you can watch the '98 anime first without any problem. Overall, EAT-MAN is very creative and quite different from anything you've ever seen before. I don't use the rating system and EAT-MAN deserves a 7 at most, but for personal reasons, I give it an 8/10.

Eat-Man is one of those shows that you'll pick up on whim based on the title alone and then the pace will either cause you drop it or you will slog through until the final couple of episodes because that's where any of the overarching story is. Story: 3 The story is rather poor being a very episodic show. Until the last 3 episodes, there is almost no plot progression. The general plot for all of the other episodes follows around some girl that Bolt Crank has met this week and he will do some "mercenary" work which is just odd jobs. Characters: 5 The characters areinteresting enough with our main character Bolt Crank having a fairly unique power. He can turn metal and other items that he ingests into more useful items like guns. Seems like a very helpful skill if he ever needed to walk in somewhere unarmed. The girl of the week can be interesting with the soldier girls and the doctor woman being my favorite. All of these stories are self contained so you could watch episode 1 and then skip to episode 9 if you really want to avoid all of the pointless stuff and meeting Bolt Crank more. Sound: 6 Sound is fairly good with that 90s synth and style to it. If you like generic 90s background music then this will be perfectly fine. The opening is lackluster with no visuals other than credits and the ending is the same way. This was a bit strange but the songs themselves are fine. Art: 5 You can really tell this show had a low budget compared to other anime that Studio Deen was making at the same time. Rurouni Kenshin was airing at the same time and that looks fine to this day if you don't mind the 4:3 aspect ratio. The art in Eat-Man is fine and if you like 90s science fiction anime then this will feel right at home but it wasn't the greatest looking anime airing at this time. Also for some reason Bolt Crank has his mouth slightly open most of the time for no good reason. Probably a good thing for memes since some of those faces are pure gold out of context. Enjoyment: 6 This is a show you can kill some time with and the story is very straightforward most of the time. Its not a hard anime to enjoy. The biggest barrier to entry is the age and how its not as refined as modern adaptations. Its also supposedly out shined by its own sequel Eat-Man 98. Overall: 5 You could do a lot worse than watching this anime. You could also do a lot better. Its not a waste of time but it is one of those things that will never gain any real popularity at this point so there is hardly anyone to talk about this anime with. Its just a very slow show that puts its best foot forward at the very end which makes it just okay. Its an okay anime from the 90s and in most cases if time is a big factor, your better off watching something else. Eat-Man will be one of those anime that is just forgotten to time by the general anime watching community and that's okay.

Eat-Man is a fascinating 90s anime that bewilders from the very start, doing whatsoever it pleases and never apologizing for it, which is an admirable thing, even if the end product is a pretty eclectic title that won't be everyone's cup of tea. Beginning with the story, I must be immediately clear that there isn't one. Eat-Man is an entirely episodic compilation of vignettes, these self-contained sci-fi short stories that sometimes touch on certain themes, but most of the time happen just because the dudes putting this together thought it'd be cool. Even though a good coherent story is always a good thing, Eat-Man stillmanages to make this a fun ride from start to finish, even if you are left wondering why or how certain things work every now and then. Regardless, you can always count on the protagonist Bolt to eat some metal and kick some ass, and at the end of the day, that is exactly what this anime should be delivering to you. Interestingly, it's based on a manga, but this anime has essentially nothing to do with it. It just took the concept of Bolt and some other stylistic elements and made the rest up as it pleased. They did make a later adaptation that's more faithful to the manga, but from my understanding this one has a lot more character and creative spirit. The art is the strongest aspect of the anime, for pretty simple, straightforward reasons. It embodies that 90s warmth and detail that makes that decade of anime so loved, complete with fascinating visual worldbuilding, solid character designs, and some really strong examples of good animation. Having said this, the animation is sometimes lacking, but not in any places that necessarily matter. It is just a solid visual experience, and a fair bit more consistent than the story, and for that alone it is the central pillar of this show. The sound is good, with a fun synth-based soundtrack, voice work that meets all the standards of quality for the time, and sounds of life that give the world a sense of gravity and impact, especially during action sequences. The characters are interesting, though none of these single-serving secondary characters recur at all, leaving the inimitable Bolt Crank standing alone as the mysterious, sometimes oafish, and consistently badass main character that makes this show what it is. Throughout, he really does feel like he's driving the story. He sometimes completely transforms a situation he's in, and sometimes he's pretty much just an observer, but whatever the case, it almost feels like the world exists just for him to explore and get lost in. Overall, Eat-Man is a weird anime. I enjoyed my time with it, but you have to like the story format if you're going to get anything out of it. That last part's pretty much up to you to decide, but as for my part, I'd definitely recommend it, even just on the grounds that it's a thoroughly unique, maverick title in a time period and genre that has the tendency to get kind of same-y by way of sheer volume alone.