The new Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc anime finally debuted on Netflix. I have been impatiently waiting for this anime since it was announced over a year ago. I am a die-hard Kinnikuman fan. There is no franchise that I love as much as the Kinnikuman franchise. Well, maybe the Legion of Super-Heroes. But, that is about it.
Of course, as excited as I was for the Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc anime, I fully understood the difficulty in rolling out this new anime. The challenge comes from two unique aspects of the Kinnikuman franchise. The first is the gap in time between the original Kinnikuman manga and the new Kinnikuman manga. The second is Yudetamago’s decision to start the new Kinnikuman manga at the exact point where the original manga ended.
The original Kinnikuman manga concluded in 1988. Yudetamago restarted the original Kinnikuman manga in 2010. That is a monstrous twenty-two-year gap! The original Kinnikuman anime ended in 1992. The Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc anime debuted in 2024. That is a massive thirty-two-year gap. That is a huge challenge when rolling out this new Kinnikuman anime and attempting to attract the attention of viewers under the age of 35 years old.
Now, yes, I know that we did get the Kinnikuman Nisei manga from 1998-2005. We also got the Kinnikuman Nisei: All Out Chojin Assault manga from 2001-2007. And we got the Kinnikuman Nisei: Ultimate Chojin Tag manga from 2005-2011. We also got a Kinnikuman Nisei anime (Ultimate Muscle in the United States) from 2002-2004. So, it is not like the Kinnikuman franchise skipped readers and viewers from 1998 to 20011.
But, Kinnikuman Nisei centered on the second-generation characters from the Kinnikuman franchise. So, these readers and viewers may have never read the original Kinnikyman manga or watched the original Kinnikuman anime. Therefore, these viewers might still struggle with hopping aboard the new Kinnikuman anime.
So, Production I.G. had the Herculean task of making an anime of a story that picks up right where the original story ended in 1988! Thirty-six years ago! Production I.G. had to both appeal to older Kinnikuman fans as well as appeal to an entirely new generation of viewers who may not know all of the original Kinnikuman fans. This was an unenviable position that Production I.G was in and there was certainly no perfect answer for this dilemma.
Now, this would have been far easier if Yudetamago had restated the original Kinnikuman manga back in 2010 with an entirely new story designed to attract new readers. But, Yudetamago made the decision to start the new Kinnikyman manga right where they left off in 1988. It was a bold decision but one that makes hopping aboard this franchise much harder for new viewers.
This all leads to Production I.G. deciding to start the new Kinnikuman anime with an Episode 0 rather than a true Episode 1. There is no doubt that Episode 0 is a prologue designed to provide an on-ramp for new readers to get up to speed about the world of Kinnikuman, its lore, and its different main characters. The upside to this approach is that it made Episode 0 extremely new viewer-friendly. The downside to this approach is that it was a bit boring for long-time fans. It is also not as riveting and gripping of a start for new viewers compared to hopping right into the actual story.
Episode 0 effectively takes the Kinnikuman vs. Terryman story that was released in Volume 37 back in 2010 and uses it as the foundation for the debut episode. The Kinnikuman vs. Terryman story is actually set in the Kinnikuman Nisei period with Meat telling Kid Muscle and Terry Kenyon about how their fathers sparred with each other before Kinnikuman got married and assumed his duties as King of Muscle Planet. Kinnikuman Volume 37 is the bridge between the ending of the original Kinnikuman manga in Volume 36 and the new Kinnikuman story in Volume 38.
The Kinnikuman vs. Terryman story is the spine for Episode 0 which supports the different flashback scenes to the various story arcs in the original Kinnikuman manga. It delivers the basic information on the Chojins and their world. These flashback scenes cover eight different story arcs in total. They include the 1st Kaiju Extermination Arc, 20th Chojin Olympics Arc, American Tour Arc, 21st Chojin Olympics Arc, Seven Devil Chojin Arc, Golden Mask Arc, Dream Chojin Tag Arc, and the Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne Arc.
Episode 0 also fleshes out the basic framework of the Kinnikuman universe. We are introduced to the three main factions of Chojins: Justice Chojins, Devil Chojins, and Perfect Chojins. These flashback scenes effectively introduce Kinnikuman and his main allies in Terryman, Robin Mask, Warsman, Ramenman, Brocken Jr, and Buffalo Man. These main allies are often referred to as the Idol Chojins. They are the all-stars of the Justice Chojins.
Most importantly, the viewer learns about the two core themes of the Kinnikuman franchise which are the power of friendship and honor in battle. We learn that all of Kinnikuman’s allies first fought him as adversaries until he defeated them and showed them the power of friendship.
The viewer also gets a sense of Kinnikuman’s personality and fighting ability. Kinnikuman can be a goof, but he also possesses a special power called the Burning Inner Strength. It is this incredible power that allows Kinnikuman to increase his Chojin power level from a paltry 950,000 up to a near godly 70 million.
For an episode built around a series of flashbacks, it moves at a steady pace. There is a nice linear and logical flow to the episode. While there is much explaining about the world of Kinnikuman we also get plenty of action. This keeps the episode from being too much of a dull history lesson.
Having said that, there are times when Episode 0 feels a bit like an exposition dump. There is no doubt that Episode 0 is a true prologue rather than the exciting beginning of a new story. That is always a risky way to kick off a new anime series. The hope is that long-time fans will come back no matter what and that new viewers are interested enough in what they learned in Episode 0 to return for Episode 1 when the real adventure begins.
My only other gripe with Episode 0 is a rather small one, but it annoyed me throughout the episode. It was a bizarre decision with the translation for the English subtitles to use the Japanese word for Justice (Seigi) and the Japanese word for Devil (Akuma). This makes no sense. New viewers in the United States are not going to know what the hell is a Seigi Chojin or an Akuma Chojin. It is far more effective to get across to a new viewer in the United States who are the good guys and bad guys by using the English words instead and simply calling them the Justice Chojins and the Devil Chojins. This was a dumb move.
I was thrilled with the animation in Episode 0. It is fantastic. The action is delivered in a delightfully violent and bloody fashion. After having to suffer through 4Kids’ sanitized Ultimate Muscle cartoon, it was fantastic seeing the trademark bloody violence of the Kinnikuman franchise in its full glory. I cannot wait for the future wrestling matches in this anime! All in all, Production I.G. did a good job and delivered a nice-looking episode.
Final Thoughts
Episode 0 was a necessary evil. There was no other option for Production I.G. given the circumstances. For long-time Kinnikuman fans, Episode 0 might be a bit boring at certain points since we are given zero new content. The actual story for the Perfect Origin Arc will not start until the next episode. Having said that, I believe that long-time Kinnikuman fans will love seeing the older classic story arcs delivered in gorgeous new animation. As someone who watched the original Kinnikuman anime from the 1980s, it is so cool to see these iconic scenes in fantastic modern animation!
Episode 0 succeeds in making this new Kinnikuman anime accessible to new viewers. All of the information that a viewer needs to know to enjoy the Perfect Origin Arc is in this episode. Production I.G. did a fine job bringing new viewers up to speed quickly and concisely. Episode 0 is going to be far more entertaining and interesting to new viewers than to long-time fans.
Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10