JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – TIGER & BUNNY – MY OWN IMPRESSIONS

Tiger & Bunny

Genre: Sci-fi, Superhero

Studio: Sunrise

Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry blog.

Long ago My Hero Academia became the most popular anime in Australia, long before any of us meet many franchises like One-Punch-Man and The Boys, which helps us realising how deconstructing superhero genre was possible, and… long before MCU and DCEU acquired their full identities, there was a really awesome superhero anime that made superheroes part of our daily life, and that depicts how one possible future could be if superheroes were real, and got sponsors, TV shows, not-so-secret identities; and despite only having 25 episodes, it became one of the best anime of 2011.

For those who remember, you know which I mean, and for those you don;t, I present you…

But first, I want to remind you, my friends, about the most important recommendations.

Are you healthy? Staying safe?

If the answer is yes, then I am very happy. With that said, let’s start with Tiger & Bunny.

PREMISE

Many of you might be wondering. Why am I suddenly reviewing an anime of 2011? Well… Where to start? Aside from being 10 years from its release, being available on Netflix at the moment, having a movie and receiving a second season for 2022, Tiger & Bunny is one of my favourite adventure anime.

Tiger & Bunny takes place in a futuristic world where humans have superpowers of many times: these individuals are called NEXT (Noted Entities with Extraordinary Talents), these NEXT decide whether become superheroes or supervillains, and, as I previously mentioned, superheroes have fame, sponsors and fans, thanks to a network called Hero TV, which granted them points so one can become King of the Heroes. One of these heroes, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, a.k.a. Wild Tiger, is down-to-his-luck, because is infamous for causing damage to private property and ditching some of Hero TV protocols: despite this, he is an authentic idealistic hero, just like…

All Might (One day, I will make My Hero Academia entries)

Wild Tiger’s new employers, Apollon Media, force Kotetsu to work with hero rookie Barnaby Brooks Jr. a.k.a. Bunny; however, they start having hard time working together due to their conflicting personalities; but, as Kotetsu knows the troubled past of his partner, he is more accepting of him, and Bunny begins to tolerate Kotetsu even more.

Immediately both work together while trying to solve the mysteries of Barnaby’s past while protecting Stern Bild City for the worst criminals, and a murderous vigilante, called Lunatic.

And, as I mentioned before, the first season of Tiger & Bunny has 25 episodes, and two movies Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning and Tiger & Bunny: The Rising.

One of the most important things I want to point out from Tiger & Bunny is its amazing soundtrack, composed by the very talented Yoshihiro Ike (Dororo, Saint Seiya, B: The Beginning, and Inuyashiki). Furthermore, the English dub counts with fantastic actors like Wally Wingert, Kari Walhgren, Yuri Lowenthal, Laura Bailey and Michael Sinterniklass.

STORY

From my perspective, Tiger & Bunny can be described in the following manner – an anime that combines adventure, superhero, mystery and sci-fi genre, with a very interesting world that reinforces its own identity, I mean as a anime; in fellow series like One-Punch-Man, My Hero Academia and The Boys, we learn that having a strong world building and understanding of hero community is very important, and Tiger & Bunny is no exception. The first episodes gives us really good hints about how powers of the NEXT work.

Furthermore, with every episode we explore the characters in a very smooth matter, especially Barnaby. In fact, it is the chemistry between Kotetsu and Barnaby that maintains our interest in the story, because they are so different, yet so entertaining by standing together. They have their own reasons to be a hero, which makes them all more compelling, and despite being a doofus at times, Kotetsu is definitely the most relatable and likeable of the heroes, along with Barnaby of course.

Then… It comes the setting of Sten Bind City. I noticed that, unlike The Boys, which is a complete social commentary about our modern society, as well as the eccentricities, dangers and consequences of having superpowers, Tiger & Bunny simply wants us to enjoy a textbook superhero anime, and that is also an amazing thing, because most of the battles are simply fantastic. Tiger and Bunny are absolute badasses, and the rest of the heroes are both unique and exciting, each of them with their own qualities and struggles, but I will talk about them later.

Despite these elements, Tiger & Bunny never stops taking itself seriously when the occasion requires so. In other words, it mingles a generally light tone with a profound story with complex characters.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Wonder Woman 1984 is exactly the opposite. Am I Right?

Shh!!! We still need to recover the money of our investors

Trust me when I have to tell that the story of Tiger & Bunny is really amazing. Probably it is not as satirical as One-Punch-Man and The Boys, or as deep as My Hero Academia, but it is an indirect precursor of these superhero anime. No. I take it back. Indeed, Tiger & Bunny helped to introduce the superhero genre into anime, just like Sword Art Online revived the interest of the virtual reality/role-play genre (Sorry, I don’t really see Sword Art Online as an isekai). We need to give a lot of credit to Tiger & Bunny.

Especially because of the…

CHARACTERS

They say that superheroes are only as compelling as its supervillains (Sorry, I am translating it from Spanish), and in the case of Tiger & Bunny have an amazing roster of characters; we got the beautiful, frost queen, Blue Rose (Please, don’t ask me to do jokes about Frozen); the inspiring and shiny Sky High, the young and powerful Dragon Kid, and the imposing and all powerful Rock Bison.

But aside from Tiger and Bunny, my personal favourite hero is…

Fire Emblem

This guy is just… a Gem. With everything, his powers, his personality, the chemistry with Tiger and Bunny… every time they work together. Fire Emblem has indeed some of the best parts of the series. Also, I want to mention…

LUNATIC

Just look at him. Trust me. this guy is absolutely terrifying. Beyond his crazy eyes and his expression, if you see the anime, you will love and dread Lunatic. I will not tell you anything, it is better to see by yourself. One fun fact… is that both Fire Emblem and Lunatic dominate fire (Like they want to give us some spark LOL).

Each hero gets its own episode to shine, so trust me, with Tiger & Bunny, we are in good hands.

CONCLUSION

Tiger & Bunny is one of those series that you will definitely want to binge in one day. Trust me, it is worth checking it out, especially. if you love My Hero Academia and One-Punch-Man, because both have a great debt to Tiger & Bunny. It is available in Netflix. I am not sure if it is on Crunchyroll, and choose a streaming platform and enjoy it.

And now…

No. Seriously. Let’s go to the next entry on my blog.

Here is a hint for you people…

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – One-Punch Man Season 2 – Episode 1 – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Before starting with this review, I just want to let you know, guys, that the bold texts contain spoilers, so please be careful with that. 

With that said, let’s continue.

PROLOGUE

HELLO MY FRIENDS. How are you today? I hope that you guys are ok. And I apologise for not updating my blog in almost two months. I was busy at work, and I have other projects that took most of my time. But during these days, I watched a lot of new anime, and I am back in action.

One of them… Well… The title says it all.

When I saw that the first episode of the second season of this fantastic epic anime was released, I literally said…

«HOLY COW! I NEED TO WATCH IT BEFORE I DIE!»

I did… AND I LOVED IT.

And now I am happy to bring you this review.

SAITAMA MEETS… ALL MIGHT? 

In this episode, we start with Good Ol’ Saitama, and his apprentice, the cyborg Genos, going back to their «normal» lives, and getting groceries, but suddenly Saitama sees a figurine of King, a.k.a. The Strongest Man on Earth. Coincidentally, both meet King in the streets, fighting two super-villains; one of them surrenders after witnessing King’s «aura», which is seen in his facial expression, and that I will call calm, cool and imposing; as well as his «strong heartbeats», a.k.a., the King Engine. But when the other one, a giant robot created by The Organization, arrives to wreak havoc, King suddenly disappears.

As expected, Genos fights the giant robot, along with Saitama… Oh wait… He also disappears!! If not, the robot will be dead by now.

I will be honest. Up to this point, I was really looking forward to see what’s going to happen. I wanted to be surprised by King himself, not because he is «The Strongest Man on Earth», but because there are so many cool heroes in One-Punch Man, just like in My Hero Academia; in fact, King reminded me All Might in a way; however, two of the strongest pillars of the comedy of One Punch Man are the creativity and the power to amaze the fans, or at least in my case.

Having said that, this is not the exception.

The episode later reveals that King is…

«An unemployed, 29-year-old, otaku loser!»

And yes. King reveals this to us. He only happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, with «someone else» killing the foes King encounters. Anyway, he runs away, gets home, and meets Saitama. Both play the newest release of Doki Doki Sisters, until King is forced to confess Saitama he’s been lying. Also, he discovers that Saitama is not only the same hero that King encountered in the past, but also the one who saved the latter’s life after getting his scar. 

Finally, the episode ends with Genos claiming victory over the robot, and Saitama sharing some pearls of wisdom to King:

«Then why don’t you just get strong?»

Then we have some hints about Genos’s past and the return of some fan-favourite characters… Fubuki and Sonic.

MY THOUGHTS

Just like in the first season, the combination between comedy and action is brilliant, something you can always expect from the same creator of Mob Psycho 100. I couldn’t stop laughing at the comedic moments, especially when it comes to the presence of Saitama, whose calmness in the direst situations is hysterical. Moreover, witnessing how Genos has become stronger is so satisfying, proving again that he is one of the greatest characters of One Punch Man. Both Genos and Saitama have an amazing chemistry together in this episode, and King himself leaves an ever-lasting impression, to the point that, on behalf of all the fans of One Punch Man, I would say that you want to see more of him. And we will indeed. Somehow, I compare the first episode of season 2 with the very first episode of One Punch Man, because the story and the pacing are very synchronised, and you get to understand all the main leads for the first moment.

And if the second season follows the rhythm and narrative of its predecessor, then fans will not get disappointed. The only problem is that perhaps newcomers of One Punch Man will be forced to see season one from the beginning in order to understand what it’s going on.

Moreover, I would say that One Punch Man s2 will be that good, but it is impossible to forget that, while the first season was produced by Madhouse (Boogiebop and Others, Card Captor Sakura), and directed by Shingo Natsume, J.C. Staff (Date a Live, Food Wars!) and Chikara Sakurai are in charge of this season 2. Additionally, the op, Seijaku no Apostle, is performed by JAM Project, who also sang the already classic «The Hero!! Set Fire to the Furious Fist» of season 1. It was a great song, but it will never reach the perfect epicness of its predecessor.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the first episode of One Punch Man, season 2 is a great start for a second season that took almost four years to see the world, and I would say that it was worth the wait. But like I said, is still too soon to compare both seasons, but for now, this is an anime I am more than willing to watch from the beginning to the end.

And let’s not forget Mob Psycho 100, whose first season I really enjoyed as much as I enjoyed One Punch Man.

STORY – 7.5/10

CHARACTERS – 7.5/10

ANIMATION – 7.5/10

MUSIC – 7/10