Ranked #2055

Tiger Mask

first i'll start telling why I consider it a masterpiece( i'll keep it brief), this the show that introduced into anime, I mean it isn't easy to tell you how amazing this classic masterpiece is. And i still can't believe that nobody wrote a review for it yet, Tiger mask is a story about wrestling, this will be your first impression when you watch it for the first time but believe me its about so much more, and I don't want to keep you detailed about the story. my advice just keep watching it. And also a small note if you're a fan of wrestling you better check out this anime, cuz i have one word and it's Awesomeness.

Story: As I said earlier the story evolves about wrestling and a famous wrestler who's loved by everyone and tries so hard to keep his identity secret. I don't want to give you a summary about the story, but as you keep watching you'll be interested in some of the characters stories, especially the protagonist ( Naoto Date).

Art: Well the art was the typical 70's anime, but what really makes it exceptional is the amazing fight scenes it's just there is also fluid action in it, and also the character's design most of them are very well detailed, especially when they show emotions, I mean the art of this is just amazing for me.
P.S. my most favorite thing in this anime is tiger mask's special moce sequence I won't spoil it for you but it's just amazing how he jumps around the ring.

Sound: Well the sound effects is sometimes is good and the other times is a let down. But the first i watched this show it was dubbed on my language (Arabic) and believe me the voice acting was amazing in my language, but then I also watched couple of episodes in Japanese and it was also good.

Character: This is maybe the strongest point in this series, I mean there is so much variety between the characters, especially the wrestler villains I mean you won't find anyone with the same style and characteristics. Also what I like about the protagonist ( Naoto Date) is how he changes his personality between the courageous, tough and loved by everybody tiger mask into a lazy, eccentric and a bit of a joker reporter ( that's his real identity).

Enjoyment: Anybody who loves watching wrestling but with a lot of bloody and broken noses, a lot of character development, and also a bit of comedy, This show is for you.

Overall: My opinion this show can't stop being so amazing, and it's a definitely a must-watch anime, even if you're not a fan of wrestling you'll love this show........ read more

ANIME MINOR JEWELS SERIES
Full list of the review series can be found on this page, 3rd post from bottom:
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?uid=251338&show=userpage&do=blog&blogid=29009&page=0

TEASER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaXQIBwZP1I

This is the first wrestling anime and its themes are basically all about fair play. In fact, the hero is fighting FOR fair play as a role model for the newer generation. But first things first; this has NO relation to Tekken’s King character. It is just a tribute at best despite having similar backdrops.

So the story is a wrestler who always hides his face with a tiger mask during matches. He has gotten really cocky because of his victories and is now fighting brutally and even cheats as the matches are usually fixed. He is having the fun of his life up until he realizes how much a kid hates him for being a cheater and how overrun with corruption his favourite sport became. Performing a U Turn, he now decides to fight for justice and takes on corrupted athletes while trying to be a good role model for the newer generation, without ever revealing his real identity.

As cool as it sounds, it is nothing much in practice, since it is almost entirely episodic. It is basically inspirational for little kids who dream of becoming athletes themselves, as he is showing how true talent is greater than cheating with cheap tricks. Each episode is partly about him giving good advises to little kids and the rest about taking on the ring cheating wresters, where he wins with talent (or loses but still is the winner for being fair; thus it is a win-win situation). There is nothing to make things more complicating than that despite the short termed schemes the evil wrestlers plan from time to time. Hell, it is over a hundred episodes and the finale feels like the end of another day.

On the other hand, it is not exactly family material as many battles tend to be brutal. There is occasional bleeding and grabs, throws, kicks and punches where it looks like bones are breaking. Why are little kids even watching this with their families? This is not children material!

Anyways, another thing that stands out is the animation style. Partly because of the fashion of that era and partly because anime where still not with their own unique style everywhere, the setting and the characters look rather French. Furthermore, because there was no aid from computers back then and the wrestling matches were really complicating in choreography, most of it was left sketchy… literally. The battles look like they were drawn with pencil and left as such without the final inking stage, as if it is all still in beta version or something. Ok, I kinda understand that it is very hard to have fluent animation in every episode just so you can entertain a few kids. I mean most anime are full of frozen panels even today so you can imagine how harder it would be back then. I can’t say it is a bad thing; in fact it makes it look artistic in a way. Too bad the show is aimed at kids who probably don’t know, don’t understand, or don’t care about art. They want to see muscular guys beating the crap out of each other… And I doubt their parents will be next to them enjoying all that.

I eventually came to dislike Tiger Mask, not for its episodic structure as much for his mask. I mean why is he even hiding? Is he afraid he will be killed by the villains? Why isn’t any of the wrestlers ever try to pull it off? And it is rather lame to be constantly staring at a guy with an expressionless mask. And the mask ain’t that cool to begin with; sometimes it even looks ridiculous.

Eventualy Tiger Mask never made much of an impact on the industry. A few years later Ashita no Joe and Hokuto no Ken came out and thus its few fans dumped it for something with more violence, more story, and more drama. I say it is ok for historical reasons mostly, being the first to show wrestling matches and all, but its episodic structure and pencil battles get tiresome fast. Plus, there is no way your mother is going to take you on a friendly wrestling match. And as for that cool WWE competitions, please, they are more fixed and fake than any Tiger Mask match. read more