A Look at Comic Legend Stan Lee’s New Anime

These last few days have brought with them a whirlwind of new information on Marvel Comic’s maven Stan Lee’s latest collaboration anime project, so what better time to reflect on everything we know so far?

Announced clear back in October of 2015, The Reflection is a collaboration between Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and Studio DEEN, who are well-known for their work on recent titles Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. Once conceived as a short single-episode work, the project has been expanded into a full cour TV broadcast anime in Japan. The early stages of the project didn’t reveal much in the way of animation, but the original trailer featuring the story and concept was narrated by Stan Lee himself, so that was pretty cool. Let’s take a look.
 

If anything, it certainly smacked of a Western comic book. 

Director Hiroshi Nagahama (known for some seriously beautiful and rather unique animation styles as found in Mushishi and The Flowers of Evil) joined forces with Lee as co-creator. Officially, he’s directing and serving as the character designer for the project. Today, we finally get to take a look at what the talented staff at Studio DEEN have been cooking for the past year and a half.
 

That sure is something, huh? Featuring heavy outlines and a diminished color palette, The Reflection certainly does look like the flat pages of a comic book in motion. Lee’s first anime co-production with 2010’s Heroman featured bright colors and a familiar anime style, so it does seem that Nagahama’s knack for experimentation is giving us what we’re seeing now. One thing that both projects do share however? Just a whole lot of America.

Heroman ® Bones, POW! Entertainment 

Japanese idol group 9ine are not only performing the theme song for the show, but they will also be making some pretty substantial cameos as well. It seems that peak crossover between East and West has been achieved, and I’m pumped to see where this all goes. The anime begins broadcast in Japan come July 22, and Crunchyroll will be simulcasting the series online. 
 

Oh, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what kind of cameo Stan ends up making this time! If you’re interested in checking out further information, be sure to take a look at the Official Site for The Reflection.