Stan Lee is most remembered for his immeasurable impact on Western comic books, namely those involving superheroes in the Marvel Universe. Lee would later parley this fame into working his way into the anime and manga industry. One of the results of this was an anime series that embraced many of Lee’s most notable tropes and ideas.
The Reflection was a short series that took a look at how the sudden emergence of superpowers would affect society. Coming out a few years before Lee’s death, the series had quite a bit of hype as it neared its release. Unfortunately, its quality and the way in which it handled now tired elements has made the superhero anime largely forgotten at this point.
What Was Stan Lee’s The Reflection About?
The 12-episode series The Reflection is centered around an event that gave numerous individuals around the world superhuman abilities. These gifts range from teleportation, pyrokinesis and even physical mutations. Some of these use their newfound powers for good, while others use them for evil or purely personal gain. However, no matter the individuals’ ambitions, those with powers are increasingly despised and ostracized by society. These “Reflected” many times wonder about the nature of their powers and what caused the eponymous Reflection.
The series was handled by Studio Deen, which has a prolific history in the anime industry and has produced several well-known and even more well-regarded series over the years. These include the classic Urusei Yatsura, the Higurashi anime and its follow-ups, plus the isekai series KonoSuba. Given this pedigree, not to mention the fact that Stan Lee was involved, many expected the series to at least be a fun thrill ride. Sadly, what could have been a celebration of Western-style superheroes was instead a mishmash miasma of their most tired tropes.
The Stan Lee Anime Couldn’t Meet Its Superheroic Potential
The description of The Reflection recalls different elements of popular American superhero properties, especially Marvel’s X-Men (which was co-created by Stan Lee). One character’s costume even resembles the “Marvel Now” suit for X-Men member Cyclops. Themes of persecution and being an outcast are a big part of what made those heroes a hit, and when combined with a mysterious event that causes these powers, such a narrative device has the potential to work wonders. However, The Reflection was somewhat rote and by the numbers at best — more of a superhero concept regurgitation than an exploration of the genre or even a loving tribute to it.
The characters are all two-dimensional at most, even when the ingredients are there to give them plenty of depth. For instance, Lisa Livingston — one of several cast members bearing the iconic Stan Lee alliterative names — is wheelchair-bound after an accident, though her powers allow her to become a giant robot. Her life before this and the impact of being handicapped are never explored, even though these are the sorts of flaws that Lee’s Silver Age Marvel characters (particularly the classic hero Daredevil) were known for. Even the persecution angle feels poorly done and blasé rather than nuanced.
Perhaps the series’ biggest sin is that the action sequences and the animation as a whole are fairly tepid. The action scenes are notably slow-paced, which is a problem given that so much of the show is based around its rather poor plot. The visuals for The Reflection likewise look poor at times, despite the fact that the studio behind the series wasn’t an amateur one even at the time. The intention was to emulate classic comic books, but the show only comes off looking plain, shabby and unfinished. Such an issue was also one of the problems with Studio Deen’s Junji Ito Collection anime. With its plot, characters and even the animation disappointing many, it’s no wonder that Stan Lee’s The Reflection was forgotten so quickly. Lacking the elements that turned its much better inspirations into hits, the anime series was unfortunately not amazing, spectacular, fantastic or marvelous.
The Reflection can be streamed through Funimation, Crunchyroll and VRV.
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