Tiger & Bunny

I really hate it when a potentially fun premise finds itself eventually getting bogged down by the conventional elements it was seemingly trying to subvert. Tiger and Bunny's premise was unique in the fact you had superheroes on a reality show competing for points and being corporate-sponsored, which had me thinking this series would get its fun off exploiting the premise and poking fun of the absurdities commonplace with superhero formulas when I first heard about it. Instead, it creates plot development out of Kotetsu and Barnaby getting used to each other as a superhero duo when the former's company gets bought out and the ... two running into developments involving a vigilante hero and a crime organization. The series does decently flesh out both characters as the show prominently focuses on both of them and we get to learn what drove both men into becoming heroes. It also introduces some decent ideas explored such as said vigilante hero in the form of Lunatic and the idea of superheroes losing their powers, as what happens to a major character in the second half to Tiger and Bunny.

In terms of visuals, Tiger and Bunny is easily one of the better-looking titles to come out for the year thus far sporting plenty of detail and color to go along with the vast environments shown through the city landscapes of Sternbild City. This same high-quality also went into creating the character designs as the costumes of the heroes are slick to look at, especially the costumes worn by Kotetsu and Barnaby. Action scenes are fluid to look at and get fairly diverse as there are chase scenes by foot and motorcycle, aerial fights and hand-to-hand combat.

However, Tiger and Bunny finds itself getting bogged down quite a bit by its conventional elements which make it almost seem like a cookie-cutter shounen anime. A number of the characters are tacked on with an archetype that has been done to death in typical plot setups such as Kotetsu being the slow-witted and impulsive hero of the series, Fire Emblem your stereotypical gay man and Blue Rose a tsundere. The show also gets into the annoying habit of resorting to contrived plot developments or conveniently ditching certain points of the plot to help advance any major plot developments that the Heroes are caught up in, particularly with its major baddies in both halves of the show. I couldn't help but wonder the number of times the show resorted to deus ex machina just to force the plot into a certain direction without making sense of things, especially when the Heroes were put into situations where they were seemingly on the losing end of fights as they fought against villains who were either too powerful to be defeated easily or developed an elaborate plot that fell apart due to contrived developments. Both major plots had their potential yet the series fails to provide a solid resolution to both because things get too messy and/or cliched in their developments towards the final moments of both arcs.

Overall, Tiger and Bunny had its potential yet fell flat due to it not escaping the more conventional elements that get tossed into its path. While still having some decent ideas it explores and having its moments in developments with Barnaby and Kotetsu, it still made for a fairly mediocre watch for me and I imagine enough folks will be eating up the news of the series having a sequel planned in the works.

Sadly to say, this anime is not all that it's cracked up to be. When I first learned there was a super hero anime, I figured it might be worth a watch. I was wrong for a multitude of reasons.

First reason: The ENTIRE story is predictable. Not a single good twist was dropped on me. It's a typical revenge story/slice of "super hero" life with some comedy mixed in. None of the episodes really left me wanting to watch more.

Second reason: Few of the characters actually left a lasting impression. Instead, there was some character development every few episodes for one character or another ... in particular, but nothing was too relevant to the plot when it did so. Instead, Tiger and Bunny (obviously) go through the most development, and slowly grow more and more boring.

Third reason: Action. In an anime about super heroes, you'd expect there to be more fighting, right? Well, not with this. Very few episodes actually had a memorable fight scene to draw in the viewer! Instead, everything (or most everything) was fixed after maybe 5-10 minutes max.

Fourth reason: The ending was sub-par. About half way through the series, some events happen and the story takes a shift in the wrong direction, which leads to the bad plot. It's a typical "happy ending" in a sense, but really leaves a couple strings untied. I feel that with 25 episodes, they they really could have done better.

Rewritten and rearranged. [SPOILERS WARNING]heavy spoilers in the entire review as I believed you have followed the story up to the current point already when reading this, if not then you might want to skip this review

Story : (5) Concept is outstanding, taking American Superhero theme into anime format, but still needs much improvement, each characters’ backstory are common and clichéd(guy who had his parents killed and is seeking revenge, big boss guy turned bad, troubled teenage girl, etc)

Role distribution among supporting characters are poor. They each get 1ep to star on their story and that’s about it, their significance is simply done at that ... point. The story struggles to put in transitions between major events as many episodes appear to start a minor conflict to resolve by the end of that very ep and seldom have any effect on the story after then. Simpler said is how you can skip 70% of the episodes and watch the bigger events that take more than 3eps, and still would not feel like you missed anything.

I disliked how Karina fell in love with Kotetsu, not only that I am totally against the 10+ years age difference, along with how Kotetsu is married and already have a child.(Though exact age unknown, estimated age for Karina and Kotetsu are 17-18 and 32-40 respectively). How the development happen is very weak. Kotetsu have never personally save Karina from any danger and act nice in the same way he did to everyone else, and she is well aware of that. The reason for this romantic development is simply the same old “most attractive female in the same character category as the protagonist must fell for him, ignoring any logic that may get in the way”.

The plot villains made are pure stupid, Maverick’s “scenario” that everyone loathe wouldn’t make any benefits to himself even if he succeeded. He’s trying to dispose of his own faithful heroes that are at the point still loyal to him and had made him billionaire he is now, then replace them with powered soda cans that can’t even talk, expecting the media will be stupid enough to see their beloved heroes all turning lifeless at the same time. Indeed realistic voice synthesis seemed to be possible at that age, but as demonstrated by Cis the gynoid in earlier ep, the programming of anything else apart from battle is poor, the bots seem to have a totally absurd amount of memory storage available for vocal capability, and if they are going to replace the heroes without anybody noticing, interviews on the heroes will still be made regularly, try manage that Mr. Mav. (Also I’m wondering how creating bots with aerokinesis, cryokinesis, or transformation power is possible, if they’ve achieved that then I don’t see any need to try kill the heroes, just make a bot that can create a black hole and kick the heroes normally into unemployment would be enough)

Maverick’s plots are not only non-beneficial, but gives a lot of risks to himself. As how he cannot delete corporal objects, Kotetsu could have simply point out his innocence by showing material objects(such as photo) he took with the other heroes. Which unlike Emperor Charles in Code Geass, Maverick have no records of the heroes daily life so it is nigh impossible to send in Ouroboros henchmen in the heroes or anyone who have any relation to Kotetsu’s houses, cars or whatever place a photo or physical evidence may be and destroy all of those countless things without anyone noticing.

How Barnaby suddenly remembers Kotetsu’s identity when he heard “Bunny-chan” is absurd, it’s like Fairy Tail which is saying “friendship can break any barrier, heck it can do anything anyway”, it is certainly not what I was expecting, I know people would not want Barnaby to act all Sasuke much longer anyway but there certainly are better solutions to it.

Countless plotholes, too many to even point out but for an example is how an Ouroboros henchman have Lunatic's flamethrower when Lunatic isn't in their organization, or how Lunatic, thinking that he should kill all evil, kill prisoners only in 1 cell rather than burning the whole block, indeed he might have been concerned about the innocent guards or those whose sin isn't really severe(such as stealing something small), still he got the chance to kill more guilty men but just didn't use it.

Art: (7) The art is nice, I personally do not mind the CGIs and think they have all the rights to use it in this era anyway, though certain designs seem to be just to blend with the character theme and not for their maximum usability in their superhero job(I did not mean Blue Rose’s extremely short skirt that reveal much of her ass, but most of the heroes seem to be able to fight indifferently anyway, with suit on or not, making the superhero suit pretty much just for show otherwise pointless) Some facial expressions can be better, such as the point where Barnaby is slowly losing his consciousness as Maverick brainwash him, his face doesn’t contain as much agony from being blinded and betrayed for years, anger, sadness, and hatred as he’s supposed to have, but he did more of like “damn I’m sleepy” face and that’s it.

Sound: (6) Average, the songs are not very memorable(honestly a bit annoying for the first few times I listened to it), the BGM are pretty bland but will get the job done anyway, and the sound effects are just fine, nothing good but nothing bad either. The voice acting of the show is nice, though often time more impact should have been put into the voices, Sky High and raging Barnaby’s voices are fine anyway but I felt Jake could have been better.(It is not Fujiwara-san’s fault, he did fine with Ladd Russo and Kihara Amata, its more with the director who should have control how the voice is done)

Character: (3) Most characters lacks depth by far, so far only Yuri Petrov manage to show some logical depth(which still could’ve been deeper), the remaining characters act according to their clichéd roles, Kotetsu as the immature adult and typical protagonist who wish to save everyone and might as well say “People die if they are killed” like some other random guy who had similar philosophy to him. Barnaby is the Sasuke of the show(with some maturity) calm and cool guy who would go berserk against a man he hate, abandoning all his calm he had earlier.

The rest of the supporting heroes and characters are also typical, Blue Rose as mentioned earlier as the troubled teenage girl who fell for the protagonist for whoknowwhat reason. Rock Bison should have gotten more roles as Kotetsu’s best friend, but is inevitably beaten up on every major battle he had engaged despite his power that should have rendered him nigh-immortal and invulnerable upon activation, even with that he will be knocked unconscious against an enemy with only physical means of attack anyway. Sky High as the typical dutiful and always positive guy which only concern would ALWAYS be his fear of losing authority. Dragon Kid as the youngest member of the group, which though can vary greatly in personality, a young girl is almost always there to be found in most Japanese action media anyway(present in almost very JRPG there is), so even if she is not girlish, her status did not make her interesting to me either. Origami Cyclone is lastly, the troubled teenager, guy version which lacks confidence in his duty and would often consider himself the weakest of the group.

Each of the superpower given out to every characters in this show is rather boring and none are really unique. Conjuring elements can be found in 4 of the heroes(though I would actually praise the writer if these elemental manipulation ability can be utilized uniquely the way rarely used before, including further extra points for scientific accuracy), and its not like superstrenght, invulnerability and transformation are not mundane anyway. Memory alternation had become a common ability since Code Geass and blue flame are still just flames. Indeed the ability to smell stuffs the kidnapper sisters have are unique, but I don’t see any charm in the power as they are near-useless plotwise. Jake’s usage of force field projection is by far the best usage the story had presented(but still far from perfect), his mind-reading power though, did make him look much weaker as an actual fighter since he would require much less experience to become strong that way.

The supporting heroes are too absurdingly weak, they are barely using their powers correctly and are always defeated by the major enemy presented at the moment, I mean 6 heroes up against a single bot that should only have high physical capabilities and no other flashy powers(indeed we have not seen the bot fight in its full glory yet but as a bot designated to replace Wild Tiger, no further power should have been included if they did want to fool the media, not to mention the bot got easily thrown over by Kotetsu and could not escape from Lunatic's flame circle when its program should have been prioritized in capturing Kotetsu, so I'm assuming that's the best it can do) and lose? That is simply too lame, and no one did even try to escape from the bot to meet up with Kotetsu and Barnaby.

Enjoyment: (5) Clichéd usage of clichéd plot with clichéd characters and clichéd powers, so I’m thinking the clichéd enjoyment it gives should be also given a clichéd score, don’t worry, being clichéd mean there are many other media out there who share the same cliché

I honestly quite enjoyed this anime, but I don't think it's worth for 7.97. It has much potential like interesting plot and interesting characters but all of those were ruined by how the story was delivered. There're just too many plot holes.

An example is how Kotetsu was seen as someone useless in the beginning. He just has a goofy personality but he had been helpful. In fact, he helped MUCH. But well, they made everyone look down on him. They really want to point out that Kotetsu is seen as a silly and useless hero while Barnaby is seen as a handsome and perfect hero ... in the anime, but how they did it felt too forced.

Another example (this is kinda a spoiler) is when Barnaby was in a room with someone (who's actually the bad guy but Barnaby didn't know yet. I'm sure you would also realize that he's the bad guy if you get to this episode. This anime is kinda cliche and the plot twists aren't mind blowing) and he suddenly received a call to discuss something important. Normally, you would get outta the room or if you want to include the person near you, then you should include them to the conversation. But no, he just stood there and spoke really loud so that the bad guy would hear his conversation with the caller. Too convenient if you ask me.

Lastly, about their team name. This anime is called "Tiger and Bunny". Why put "Tiger" first? Ofc cuz Kotetsu is the main character. Despite that, he's a sidekick to Barnaby in the anime. However, their team name is "Tiger and Barnaby". It's weird to put Kotetsu's name first when he's supposed to be an extra to Barnaby. I see this as something important cuz even in research papers, we put the main writer's name first. And it's Batman and Robin, right? Not Robin and Batman.

There're still many plot holes but I think these are enough cuz I don't wanna spoil the story. Still, it got me hooked on during the few last episodes. Furthermore, it has decent English (I didn't notice any grammar error. I'm not native tho) which is actually not often in anime. So 6/10 for me.

Give it a go if you don't mind some plot holes. It's still enjoyable to watch.

If an anime involved mech or mechanized suits, Studio Sunrise is a good guess to be involved. The extremely popular Japanese anime Tiger and Bunny is no exception. What is interesting is the director behind this operation was the relatively unknown Keiichi Sato with his only previous work being the creator behind The Big O. He was an animation supervisor, so this work was his first real step into directing. How did the advertisement heavy Tiger and Bunny turn out?

One can basically sum up this anime as what if people with super powers made money by working on a T.V. show sponsored by companies to ... protect the city from crime. In this world, people whom have powers are called “Next.” The story follows a veteran hero by the name of Kotetsu Kaburagi aka Wild Tiger at the end of his career is paired to work with an up and coming cocky young hero, Barnaby. Thus the adventure of stopping crime on T.V. and an evil villain begins. The twist of the story is finding out who killed Barnaby’s parent when he was but a child.

Tiger and Bunny is a very “western” concept and rolls with it. It does start extremely slow in its build of the world and characters. Any sort of plot does not occur until about the half-way point which can easily sway viewers to it mediocrity on a surface level. It is not a bad guy vs good guy approach, but rather looking at these heroes have real world problems from teen adolescence to parental distance from their kid. These episodes are very singular and episodic. Some character development occurs, but really misses the opportunity for continuity despite the writing being pretty solid for each episode. Being that each hero is an anime character trope does not really help matters. At least the banter between our two main characters is pretty funny and convincing.

Other areas where the show falters is the sense of an actual conflict or real villain. Each villain is introduced, but never truly explored on other than a surface level reason or appearance. The worst offense of this is the anti-hero Lunatic whom never gets screen time and is hardly developed yet plays important roles in the story. The CG is pretty good for its time and should not deter from the show.

Tiger and Bunny has a good plot yet the pace of production is a bit messy, but written without plot holes. Villains are gradually revealed, but never hold much meaning to the story later or their place other than surface level. It does require patience from the audience, and any fan of Western super hero comics should give this a chance.

I enjoyed the nostalgic atmosphere of this. The animation, story, all feel like I'm watching a show from the early 2000s. 

That said, that's about all I really liked. 

I liked the idea of two "enemies" having to be paired up for work, but I wish there were more so-called 'enemy' scenes prior to the partnering up. That way, it could have been more significant and amusing when the moment happened. 

Also, the dialogue falls flat. Some of my favorite conversations in stories are the ones between the enemies. However, this did not have enough of that smart, witty banter between the characters Tiger and Bunny. I think that could have helped elevate the ... show immensely. 

The plot, lastly, was just alright. Not enough to keep me thoroughly entertained. 

This show has lots of plot holes and inconsistencies. For example one point they let us know of this metal that is super strong and uses nano tech and what not, well the people wearing the suits hide from gun fire, this makes no sense, they are bullet proof. In other scenes certain characters super powers are inconsistent, like in one scene they are fast and strong enough to walk around bullets and destroy several floors in one punch, while in other scenes they fail to chase after a criminal that doesn't even have super powers

If you dont like inconsistent plot hole shows then don't ... watch this show
If you enjoy some silly fun then give it a watch, despite the plot holes i still sort of enjoyed watching it

Pretty enjoyable, nothing that really stands out but nothing that was really painful either. I'm also not genereally a big super hero fan by the way. The characters and side characters were unique, and unlike certain other shows the main character are mostly adults and they don't cry all the time over everything.

It also seems to have a larger story building so it looks like it will be worth watching past the first season, unlike some shows that fall off because they've gotten past their major gimmick or storyline.

The only mild criticism I have is sometimes the main characters don't use their powers when they ... should just to advance the plot. Not just using their super speed to catch a person running at normal human speed when they could for example. This is only occasional though so it was easy enough to ignore it as a slight writing mistake.