Ultimate X-Men #1 Reviews/Spoiler

[Rift]

The blob talks how Hisako was close with a boy named Tsubasa, who originally gave her that charm. The two were close, and she'd encourage him to stand up to bullies. But people all turned away and ignored the signs of his his sadness, until it was too late. He ended up dying, and it's heavily implied that he had committed suicide.



The blob now has these creepy, blood-shot, human eyes. Notable, when it recounts the story, it says how "We turned away," and "We killed Tsubasa." They're refering to multiple students, themselves, and even Hisaki herself. Only Hisaki ran from her responsibility by hiding from school.

The blob says that the time for sorrow is over. Now is the time for vengeance. It then vanishes, leaving a little straw doll standing in a pile of sand, surrounded by talismans. Then Hisaki feels a tap, and sees that Tsubasa's corpse is floating above her like it's hanging. It stares down at her with glazed, haunted eyes.

A panicked Armor runs off on her bike, silently apologizing but also feeling like his death wasn't her fault. Tsubasa's face appears behind her and asks her why she's running away? She was the one who told him not to run.

This distraction leads to her nearly getting hit by a car. Luckily, her powers activate, and an aura of red protects her from the car. The car itself it totaled, and Hisako's armor takes an almost friendly, samurai-like appearance before fading. I swear it waves at her too. Anyway, Hisako flees the scene.

The next day, Hisaki sulks in her room, repeating "It's all my fault." She later visits the temple to drop flowers by a tree - likely the spot where Tsubasa hung herself. The blob appears again to taunt her. He holds up her graduation diploma and offers it to her. It was left at the scene of the crash and is evidence of her involvement. "This will be easier if you join me."

This time, Hisako isn't having it. She realizes that this creature isn't concerned about Tsubasa's death, but using it as an excuse. The creature claims that it only wants to help her work through her trauma, but then attacks her. Armor's armor protects her and chokes the creature. Before it vanishes, the creature says that its curse is already in motion, and that the first victim is someone Hisako knows.

Hisako throws the charm on the ground, and it lands by the feet of Tsubasa's ghost. He tells her that it's too late. Hisako's phone rings. Tsubasa tells her to answer her phone. Hellion is taking over her comic now.

Also, they say that Tsubasa's coach, who was likely one of Tsubasa's bullies (let's put a pin in that), hung himself.

Holy dang this was such a good, moody, atmospheric horror story. For those who felt like this would be too manga-ish and not feel like X-Men, this won't change your opinion. And I don't see how this would work as a vibe for the entire Ultimate X-Men line. It's not what many of us are looking for, and that's a valid criticism. But that aside, it's such a solid story on its own. It's visually distinct and impressive. My hope is that this will end up being its own, long-running book that can live independently from UXM, which would be its own thing and return to its regular style of storytelling. I'd hate to see the current story go out the window to make room for something entirely different.

If this were an anime and kept up the good work, I feel like it would grow into a cult classic. It could be the next Another. People already talked about how the story gave them Ito vibes before it was released, so you can see it fitting in with classic scurry anime.

Notes:

• Tsubasa being bullied by his coach. Anyone who played Persona 5 might remember the abusive coach from that game. I wouldn't be surprised if this story, like that one, is based on the real-life stories about rampant abuse between coaches and their students. I won't go into this a lot, but it's a notable topic and I feel like it adds another layer of context to the situation.
• I believe the straw doll is in reference to rituals, where you place a curse on someone using the doll as an effigy. But I don't know too much about that, so I could easily be missing finer details and intricacies.

[GokaiBlack077]

I insanely loved this issue. Digging the almost Silent Hill vibe to this threat (those eyes always remind me of Doki Doki). Hisako's story seems tied to a lot of personal experience with suicidal youth (silent Hill even had a recent release focusing on it with "The Short Message" only I heard it was handled way worse than what this story seems to be going. Picking up issue 2 and finding out Mei's connection to the threat (possibly a friend of Tsubasa, daughter of the coach?)

[IN-a-Synch]

You know what..... Never Mind

[Rift]

OKAY, THEORY TIME, Possible big plot twist. And keep in mind that this is all based on some Westerners limited understanding of Japanese culture, through reading a few sources and through some anime/manga. I could be way off. I'd ask a Japan native or an expert in Japanese culture to provide some more info, but I doubt we have anyone here. I'll try Twitter later.

When we first saw Tsubasa hanging himself, I noticed how he had these hideously ugly shoes. Weird green and white crocs. But then my second thought was, isn't there a cliche in Japan where suicidal people will take off their shoes before killing themselves? Usually it's when they jump off a building, but like, one of the reasons it's done is to show that the person was thinking things through and killed themselves willingly. They weren't suddenly murdered.

But Tsubasa was wearing his shoes. This could be Momoko's short-hand for hinting at him not going out willingly.

[GokaiBlack077]

OKAY, THEORY TIME, Possible big plot twist. And keep in mind that this is all based on some Westerners limited understanding of Japanese culture, through reading a few sources and through some anime/manga. I could be way off. I'd ask a Japan native or an expert in Japanese culture to provide some more info, but I doubt we have anyone here. I'll try Twitter later.

When we first saw Tsubasa hanging himself, I noticed how he had these hideously ugly shoes. Weird green and white crocs. But then my second thought was, isn't there a cliche in Japan where suicidal people will take off their shoes before killing themselves? Usually it's when they jump off a building, but like, one of the reasons it's done is to show that the person was thinking things through and killed themselves willingly. They weren't suddenly murdered.

But Tsubasa was wearing his shoes. This could be Momoko's short-hand for hinting at him not going out willingly.

OOOOOOhhhhh good eye! A greater mystery is afoot!

[charliehustle415]

this is right up my alley, I want the Ultimate Universe to be weird and unrecognizable.

I love the art and the "new" depictions that is going on, I cannot wait to see the X-Men coalesce together.

[Thundershot]

Against my better judgment, I read this. I love X-men, but I don’t really like Manga or Anime (a few things excepted).

I don’t want my $6 back. I just want my time back. I get what they were going for, but if I wanted to read a manga, I’d read a manga. If I want to read X-men comics, they should damn well be X-men comics, not some manga thing. I’m sure it’s great for those that like this, but in my opinion, has no right being called X-men. If feels like it should have been a Marvel Mangaverse title. I just hope this title doesn’t impact any of the other Ultimate books, because I’ve enjoyed those so far…

I hope the rest of you enjoy, because I’m getting off this train.

[cranger]

Sorry for the people who do not like the art, or how like the rest of the Ultimate reboot this hi-jacked any hopes of having the original Ultimate universe return, but I loved this. While I look forward to the inevitable expansion of the cast and exploration of bigger (mutant) threats, it was refreshing to get a personal story about a character and how they develop their powers.

But Tsubasa was wearing his shoes. This could be Momoko's short-hand for hinting at him not going out willingly.

It is certainly a trope that is used more to show intent, maybe she is using it to show he was murdered (or coerced in some manner). I am hesitant to speculate much more because I want to read this with more of an open mind and not have any expectations from other stories or from wondering if and how the 616 versions of everything are going to get reinterpreted here.

[Kingdom X]

I’m sort of split on this. On the one-hand it doesn’t feel like an X-Men comic at all. And yes this is a new universe, but both Spider-Man and Black Panther FEEL like those properties regardless of the changes.

That being said I’ve been a manga/ anime fan longer than I’ve been a comic fan so this style isn’t at all a turn off for me. I think that if the 616 X-books were firing on all cylinders right now I’d be a little harsher but with the current state of X-books I can at least say this is giving me something new so I’ll be picking up issue 2.

[Malachi]

Some points:

* The note that the unnamed girl delivers to Hisako from the shadowy figure mentions the temple as the "temple on the mountain", paraphrased. Usually in manga temples are named. Named after the god they are dedicated too. The most often used exception is when in a rural setting(as this is implied to be) when the temple is the only temple and therefore the local people has no reason to name it everytime they talk about it. In this case though we also get the location of the temple in the note. So this note beyond being suspicous also made me feel it was written by an outsider. Not to mentiont the "Friend" thing too, which Hisako noticed.

* Tsubasa probably died near that tree. For him to take of his shoes in nature feels a bit off. But mostly I dismissed that notion when reading it because I felt it risked robbing the story of weight when tackeling suicide. It feels more evil if this creature is subverting his suicide and using it to hurt others, rather then it has instigated it or even used it as an excuse to cover up a murder.

* I was unsure how the prayer papers and the small straw-man had anything to do with the shadowy creature. It was implied but left vague enough that I didn't take it for granted.

* I also thought the armor was waving goodbye or hello. My favorite panel of the comic =)

* What came first: the clip or the power? The clip was bought by Tsubasa so it is possible it may have influenced her powers on a subconscious level. Her powers being psionic in nature and shaping themselves to reflect her needs. Or the clip is a foreshadow of her powers by the supernatural way. This also depends on if her powers are connected to some spirit.

* The rumors puts the Shadow creature as a version of the Shadow king. A littel on the nose but probably right.

My review:

This is a tough nut to crack as it could be reviewed and valued in several different ways. As a stand alone piece, as a part of marvel, as a part of the Ultimate line, as X-men, or just as art.

First things first it’s good that it’s 32 pages. We need those extra pages for the story. It’s decompressed and more about the atmosphere than anything else. We still only know 2 names, Hisako and Tsubasa. No one else has a name here and we know very little about the characters.

I am torn. I like it, I like the art. I think the pace is slow. Nothing wrong with slow but with this being monthly and probably a strain to draw and write I am worried. If this was manga and we would get the next part weekly or biweekly then no worry. As it stands now we don't know how long that it will be published. I kind of want the story to get on with it as we don't know how much longer this will be available.

The theme of bullying is a strong one. I have no personal experience of it but it hits hard for me and the japanese school world is a good setting for it with people talking behind backs, strong social hierarchies and generally people avoiding to touch and deal with other people.

One of my all time favorites is A Silent Voice by Yoshioki Ohina and this gives me some of that bullying vibes.

In summeration. Great art. Likable character in Hisako. Powerful bullying theme.

It has all the ingredients for a great comic. I’m still on the fence though. How will this fit into marvel and how much do we want it to?

[sbp1972]

First off, I applaud them for trying something different than the expected "slight but recognizable variation" on the existing X-Men mythos.

I will be curious to see how they eventually tie this in to the rest of the more "mainstream" Ultimate books.

And cynically, my guess is that this gets a year run or so (unless it's an absolute gangbusters sales hit), and then Marvel relaunches with the aforementioned "slight but recognizable variation.

Now, I kinda wonder why they didn't go that route to start with, and just launch this as a "Manga X-Men" book in it's own separate space, that would have no eventual dependence on the rest of the Ulitmate universe.

[Kurolegacy]

Just as I thought from the lead up to this book, I can’t say that I’m a fan of this. For this book being called X-Men, there’s just no elements of X-Men to latch onto much less anything that feels like a Marvel comic. The whole thing just feels more like an indy horror manga than any mainstream comic much less one that’s to serve as a pillar to a new universe. If not for the brief appearances of Hisako’s powers this would be utterly unrecognizable and even then, considering how common that a protective aura figure surrounding the person has become, it’s not enough. This might be just the first issue but I don’t see things picking up to be more heroesc any time soon.

[Grunty]

(...)I believe the straw doll is in reference to rituals, where you place a curse on someone using the doll as an effigy. But I don't know too much about that, so I could easily be missing finer details and intricacies.

It seems to be a piece of folklore/occultism which entered wider japanese pop culture and therefor finds common reference in their works of fiction both serious or light hearted. Often also used as visual joke regarding high school characters who are marked as "occult otaku" archetypes.

From wikipedia (so it should be taken with a grain of salt): "Ushi no toki mairi"

"Ushi no toki mairi (Japanese: 丑の時参り, lit. "ox-hour shrine-visit") or ushi no koku mairi (丑の刻参り) refers to a prescribed method of laying a curse upon a target that is traditional to Japan, so-called because it is conducted during the hours of the Ox (between 1 and 3 AM). The practitioner—typically a scorned woman—while dressed in white and crowning herself with an iron ring set with three lit candles upright, hammers nails into a sacred tree (神木, shinboku) of the Shinto shrine. In the modern-day common conception, the nails are driven through a straw effigy of the victim, impaled upon the tree behind it. The ritual must be repeated seven days running, after which the curse is believed to succeed, causing death to the target, but being witnessed in the act is thought to nullify the spell. The Kifune Shrine in Kyoto is famously associated with the ritual.

Also variously called ushi no toki mōde (丑の時詣で), ushi mairi (丑参り), ushimitsu mairi (丑三参り)."

[shadowbox]

Gave this a brief browse and something came to mind. I went to look it up to confirm and I was right: Tsubasa means “wing.” Love that reference to her deceased friend in the main continuity. While I appreciate that they give Momoko titles and freedom, it is a strange choice to have this be the first X-Men book of the Ultimate relaunch. Interested in seeing how she handles Maystorm.

[Mutant X]

It was not bad, but it's just not X-Men.

Ultimate Black Panther was too little disruptive, and this was too much.

We need something more balanced like Ultimate Spider Man.