I want to say that that something is heart, but each episode's so lovingly animated that this time I can't really accuse Madhouse of not trying. Indeed, I kept up with X-Men for that reason: this is a fluid and excitingly drawn series that, in the end, just never convinces us that these characters are worth caring for.
Cyclops is the angsty pretty boy and Wolverine the wise-cracking bastard; that's all we get from them. This wouldn't be problem if the series didn't go out of its way to try the viewer's emotion, but there's just too much empty melodrama here, and as it gradually becomes clear that X-Men can't handle its characters, the series devolves into an increasingly hollow experience, where the more I just want to see stuff blow up, the more we're dragged through the likes of Xavier's dull dealings with old flames and bastard children.
Quite frankly, I felt empty after watching this, like I'd wasted my time. Never again, I say!
