Review-Marvel’s Animated Series Hit-Monkey Is A Masterclass In Blending Violent Themes With Meaningful, Complex Story Lines Using Our Most Primal Human Emotions

Word of caution, don’t even mistakenly type in Hot-Monkey IMDb. Things get weird. Photo courtesy of Animation Nation.

The Hit-Monkey story has a very basic premise, vengeance. The story goes that an American assassin named who’s been mortally wounded after a hit gone wrong drags himself into the mountains to escape the bad guys and find medical assistance, which he does, but in the form of primates. They nurse him back to health, he trains to get in the best shape of his life so he can exact vengeance on his enemies who unexpectedly find him first and kill him first, along with the macaque troupe that saved his life, save for one monkey who rises up and, in the course of his path for avenging the death of his tribe, becomes both a hero and villain in the eyes of people of Tokyo. While it’s a pretty standard storyline there’s plenty to draw you into this near-misadventure.

Photo courtesy of Distractify.

When Bryce, the assassin murdered at the Macaque pool, dies, his soul becomes tethered to the only surviving monkey from the attack, and at first, only Monkey can see and hear him. Bryce decides the only way to get his own revenge is to teach Monkey how to become an assassin himself so they awkwardly find a place in Tokyo to crash to regroup and plan their next move. Monkey slowly learns how the process works, but finds himself at a moral crossroad because his tribe did not practice killing anything innocent, but innocent lives were being taken because of his journey. It was a palatable emotional struggle, one even Bryce confessed to wrestling with.

Note to self, never try the Puffer Fish. Photo courtesy of Yahoo.com

While Bryce and Monkey were hunting down the bad guys, A.K.A the Yakuza, an election for the office of Prime Minister was taking place between two bitter rivals, one of which, Shinji Yokohama, was running in place of his dear friend Ken whom Bryce was paid to kill because that’s what assassins do. As tensions between political enemies rise, attacks on Shinji’s home and family increase, putting Monkey and Akiko, Shinji’s niece and campaign strategist on a direct course to meet and yes, I’ll say it, worlds collide.

Between the politics, the complacency of the police, the crime lords pulling the strings of both the politicians and police, not to mention a well-dressed vigilante monkey running amok killing the mafia loyalists and a couple of ancient, beloved but very angry ghosts fighting over who loves the office of P.M more, things get really complicated and yet the Marvel writers keep everything flowing smoothly like good whiskey in a good glass.

Photo courtesy of Hulu IMDb.

There’s a lot of emotional energy that is felt throughout the series, most of which is drawn from moral conflict, self-reckoning, and loss, which is what you would expect from a Marvel creation. The animation is gorgeous, the series keeps a steady pace through to the finale, and it resolves (and not always favorably) all of its subplots. Add in a dynamic music score and you have a hit on your hands.

Hit-Monkey is streaming right now at hulu.com

For more information on cast and crew, you can visit the Hit-Monkey IMDb right here