Feb 23, 2015
I feel mixed about Tiger & Bunny; on one hand, I want to like it, and on the other, I just want to write it off as another under achieving japanese superhero manga that cannot come close to their brethren that reside in the marvel and dc universe. All things considered, I have not watched the anime, so I have not seen the animation of the heroes in action, and thus, my overall opinion of the series may change in the future.
The manga opens on the city of Stern Bild, a metropolitan that is paradise for the media, corporations, and those looking for fame, where
...
the superheroes, known as Nexts, live among regular citizens. Now, here is the cool premise of Tiger & Bunny, the heroes are filmed by a news crew, named HeroTv, that follows the heroes through city and broadcasts their actions to the general public; after each crisis is adverted (i.e. robberies, super villains) the heroes are awarded points based on how well they executed in saving the city (i.e. how many people were saved, keeping collateral damage to minimum, stopping the villain, and how well they made their entrance). Think of it in terms in sports, such as a player stats, and also who is also the better athlete like an mvp, excpet these athletes are gentically enhanced freaks.
The main character is named Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (aka Wild Tiger), an unlucky super who believes that experience is the only thing a hero needs in order to fight crime. Unfortunately, the public do not have the same ideology as Kotetsu, and his unpopularity has grown over the years, plus, his destructive nature has earned him the nickname The Crusher Of Justice. So basically, Kotetsu is a lot like American superheroes, except does not receive any admiration or respect. The bad luck only increases for Kotetsu as his employer is sold to a bigger company. This merger forces him to work with a new hero named Barnaby Brooks Jr. (aka Bunny). Basically the new kid on the block, Bunny is by the books new hero that solely does the rescuing for increasing his popularity with Stern Bild. There is more to the merger as well, as Kotetsu is a scapegoat for both Barnaby and the company they work for should anything bad happen while they are out on patrol. Of course the two naturally do not get along when they first meet, but after their first mission the story ends on showing who gave Kotetsu motivation to be a hero and foreshadows more ominous things to come with Barnaby.
Art
The characters are nothing new spectacular to view as they mostly have very ordinary street clothes with some fashion sense thrown into the mix ( it's not like some dude, in a fucking wife beater and saggy pants, or something), but the costumes themselves are very vibrant and colorful. Since this is manga, like ninety-eight percent of the heroes are fucking mech suit wearing supers, and yet there are like with actual costumes, from a flamboyant pyro, to an oriental dressed lighting user loli, and even a sexy cryo babe that could make even Mr. Freeze get over his dead wife ( cause it's time to move on, Freeze); Tiger and Bunny deliver on unique characters.
Background Art
Stern Bild feels like an enormous city,and that is a good thing to give off such a huge scale from me just reading the book. I mean, fights take place in the air, and through the city streets and eventually take place on a giant statue that makes the heroes look like ants! It's nuts! The best way for me to describe Stern Bild is by saying to imagine Times Square, or NYC for that matter, and like sci-fi the hell out of it, but not to the point of Ghost in the Shell neo Tokyo sci-fi, if that makes sense. It just needs to feel more realistic, like real metalish? I don't know if I'm making this easier to vision, lol, Stern Bild is cool, there I said it.
Overall
I have read Tiger & Bunny two times. The first time I didn't really give it much credit and just wrote it off, but the second time I gave it more of a chance and I'm still on the fence about it. I want to like this series, I really do, I jut need to read more of it to have a final opinion of it, but if you like superheroes then it is worth a look, it's not terrible by any means, I just found it mediocre at best. Also if you haven't heard of it (no sarcasm, and I know how that sounds) check out One-Punch Man, over- powered doesn't even begin to describe the main character, plus the story is really good, and if you want a more darker hero tale check out Guvyer: The Bio-boosted Armor (think Todd McFarlane's, Spawn)
-Later ( Laugh at how dark it can get in this place, as if your eating the soul of a Demon for strength) \\(T)//
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
.png)
.png)
