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This first EAT-MAN adaptation has a veeeery abstract atmosphere, and I see a lot of people shitting on this anime and trying to 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'S ... RIGHT, 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 mercenary/adventurer 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 original source. 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 floating ship known as "LAVION". A ship 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, which also emits electromagnetic waves and destroys any other ship that tries to approach or explore LAVION. During some episodes we can see the ship floating on the horizon, and it's Bolt's final destination in this adaptation, where he will help to rebuild the ship 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 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; 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. 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.