Tiger & Bunny

In Stern Bild City, those with special abilities are called NEXT, and can use their powers for good or bad. A unique organized group of NEXT appear regularly on Hero TV, where they chase down evildoers to bring limelight to their sponsors and earn Hero Points in the hopes of becoming the next King of Heroes.

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, known as "Wild Tiger," is a veteran hero whose performance has been dwindling as of late, partially due to his inability to cooperate with other heroes. After a disappointing season in which most of the other heroes far outperformed Tiger, he is paired up with a brand new hero who identifies himself by his real name—Barnaby Brooks Jr.

Barnaby, nicknamed "Bunny" by his frivolous new partner, quickly makes it clear that the two could not be more different. Though they mix as well as oil and water, Tiger and Bunny must learn to work together, both for the sake of their careers and to face the looming threats within Stern Bild.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kaburagi, Kotetsu T. Main

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Brooks Jr., Barnaby Main

Morita, Masakazu Japanese

Petrov, Yuri Supporting

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Karelin, Ivan Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Goodman, Keith Supporting

Inoue, Gou Japanese

Seymour, Nathan Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Lyle, Karina Supporting

Kotobuki, Minako Japanese

Huang, Pao-Lin Supporting

Ise, Mariya Japanese

Lopez, Antonio Supporting

Kusunoki, Taiten Japanese

Saito Supporting

Iwasaki, Hiroshi Japanese

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Simone, Jamie Producer

Matsui, Chinatsu Producer

Satou, Keiichi Director, Storyboard, Assistant Animation Director

Reviews

Mar 17, 2012

Archaeon

Recommended

Superheroes have long been a staple of popular culture, especially in the West, and over the years characters like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and even The Hulk have become household names. With their popularity at an all-time high thanks to video game tie-ins and movie adaptations, it's only natural that pretenders to the thrones that Marvel and DC sit upon should crawl out of the woodwork.

The most obvious attempts to capitalise on the success of these comic-book creations have come from television and cinema, but while shows like "Heroes", "Chronicle" and "Misfits" have found a degree of success, the majority of attempts to reinvent, reboot or ... revamp the superhero genre have ended in ignominy.

Which is where Tiger & Bunny swagger onto the stage.

Set in Sternbild City (a fictional version of New York), the story begins 45 years after super-powered humans known as NEXT first began to appear. In the decades that followed, individuals with superhuman abilities took on the roles of heroes and villains, and over time the constant to and fro between both sides became a form of entertainment. Fast forward to NC 1978, where the forces for good have their own specialised broadcast - "Hero TV", corporate sponsorships, and a chance to accrue points in order to win the coveted title of "King of Heroes".

Every day brings new challenges for these intrepid do-gooders, but Sternbild City has been built upon many secrets, and when Barnaby Brooks Jr. takes his place amongst those who stand for truth and justice, the shadows of the past begin to move once more.

At first glance Tiger & Bunny may seem like nothing more than a super-powered "buddy" show, and to a certain degree that's a fair assessment. The plot is relatively straightforward (but also rather predictable), and although there are several elements that add a veneer of complexity, none of these affect the pacing or progression of the storyline - mainly because it has been split into two major chapters. This has the effect of setting a "deadline" for the conclusion of certain arcs, which in turn adds a brevity to the narrative that prevents the atmosphere becoming stale.

Unfortunately some viewers may find themselves annoyed by the fact that certain episodes appear to deviate from the main plot by focusing on one or more of the supporting characters. Now while this usually a valid complaint, these "fillers" often serve as a platform to introduce themes, characters or events that may have a lasting effect on the story proper. In addition to this, the episodes in question have very little impact on the flow of the narrative, and in a very real sense this show is a good example of how "fillers" can add to the whole story.

When it comes to the visuals, Tiger & Bunny certainly looks the part, but it's not without its flaws. The artwork is of a good standard, with a nice variety of character designs, settings, and outlandish costumes that uphold the reputation of superheroes everywhere. The series is well animated for the most part, and while there are the usual (and very minor), anime-related problems when it comes to wardrobes, one particular issue continues to crop up throughout the show.

Technology has progressed to the point where computer generated imagery can often be blended with more traditional animation to good effect, but for some reason Sunrise has decided to be a little more ostentatious in its approach - which has led to a few complications. The main problem lies in the movement of the heroes after they don their costumes, and in several action sequences the studio's attempts to exaggerate the actions of the characters can make the entire scene look more than a little ... odd.

That said, many viewers may forgive the slightly weird feeling they get from the CG, but only because the overall look is decidedly refreshing and the show makes very good use of some rather nice visual effects.

Tiger & Bunny features two opening sequences, both of which introduce the main heroes (with particular attention paid to their sponsors), alongside a few short scenes that display their powers. The only real difference between the two OP's are the songs attached to them - "Orion o Nazoru" by Unison Square Garden (a rather upbeat rock song), and "Missing Link" by Novels (a surprisingly bittersweet rock ballad). The series also features two closing sequence, the first of which is a fairly simple affair that focuses on the characters of Kaburagi Koutetsu and Barnaby Brooks Jr. while "Hoshi no Sumika" by Aobozu plays out. The second ED is much more in keeping with the great traditions of the anime industry as it uses still images of the characters alongside some fairly basic visual effects - all to the J-Pop stylings of Tamaki's "Mind Game"

When it comes to background music it seems like Tiger & Bunny is on firmer ground, and much of the soundtrack is littered with anthems that echo of heroism, action, and good old comic-book cheese. In addition to this there are a wide range of well defined audio effects, and overall the series is remarkably balanced in terms of its choreography.

As one might expect from a superhero tale, the dialogue is awash wish one-liners, catchphrases and other sentences that tend come out of the mouths of costumed vigilantes. That said, the script is surprising in both its intelligence and humour, and although there's the ever-present shadow of cheese, it's not enough to deter the voice actors from delivering some fine performances. Hirata Hiraoki and Morita Masakazu are in good form as the laconic veteran Kaburagi Koutetsu (a.k.a. Wild Tiger), and the fiery young Barnaby Brooks Jr., but while the two have a good on-screen rapport, the cornerstone of the dialogue is the camaraderie between the heroes as a group.

One of the nice things about Tiger & Bunny is that the characters represent a wide range of ages and backgrounds, and although the majority of them are adults, the show also tries to offer some insight into the personalities of the more prominent teenaged heroes. Koutetsu is a particularly interesting individual - a widowed father who rarely sees his ten-year old daughter (who lives with her grandmother), because of his "work", and this lays a very strong and unusual (for anime that is), foundation for development. A big plus is that rather than travel down the Ikari Gendou route towards a "bad end", the writers have decided to adopt an approach that's more akin to "Lethal Weapon", with Koutetsu in the role of the aging veteran.

On the other hand, Barnaby Brooks Jr. is Batman.

No, seriously.

The problem is that where Barnaby is concerned, nobody has tried to think outside of the box (as they do with Koutetsu), and it's for this reason that his background is one of the biggest stereotypes in the world of superheroes. Because of his origins, many of the changes in his personality over the course of the series can feel derived, and this is especially true where his relationship with Koutetsu is concerned. Thankfully the show has a pretty good set of supporting characters, and unlike many other anime, the series uses the relationships between the majority of the characters rather well.

If one compares Tiger & Bunny to its Western counterparts then it manages to hold its own, but only just as the weight of the superhero genre in America and Europe is enough to crush almost any challenger. That said, the series is a refreshing change from the shounen fare that's being served these days, and one of the most laudable aspects is that Sunrise haven't been afraid to take inspiration from Western media.

Which brings up one small but important point.

The majority of popular heroes were created decades ago, and since then there have been many attempts to update them so that they always appear to be in keeping with modern trends and tastes. Unfortunately these changes are only skin-deep, and aside from recent titles like "Heroes", "Misfits", "Kick Ass", "Chronicle" and "Super", the majority of Western tales don't really serve as a good reflection of modern times, even if their core message remains valid. It's in this particular area where Tiger & Bunny stands above many other stories, mainly because of its focus on "reality TV", celebrity culture and corporate sponsorship. In a very real sense the anime highlights a direction that has been blatantly ignored, and while the whole concept may seem alien to diehard fans of Western comic-books, the simple fact is that modern superhero stories tend to follow the same formula that has been the mainstay of the industry for decades.

Overall, Tiger & Bunny is an enjoyable take on the genre that blends several old ideas and puts them in a setting that, while futuristic, is more a reflection of modern society than many people might initially believe. The mixture of super-powered shenanigans, comedy and drama is very much in keeping with the best traditions of action movies everywhere, and in all honesty that's probably the best way to approach the series.

But that doesn't automatically make it no-brain entertainment.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 17, 2011

ggultra2764

Mixed Feelings

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 16, 2019

ktulu007

Not Recommended

Tiger & Bunny is a hero series from 2011. It was brought to us by Sunrise. I've heard it mentioned a lot over the years, but never got around to watching it. But since it's hero month, it seems like a good time to check it out and form some opinions. 

Story:

Our narrative is set in the future where mutants... I mean "Next" have started popping up. Naturally, this has led to a group of heroes who wear product placements like they think they're Captain Amazing from Mystery Men and who fight criminals & rescue civilians alike to earn points for a television show. Enter newcomer, ... Barnaby, a hero with a dark past he's looking to unravel. He becomes the first hero duo with veteran, Wild Tiger. Unfortunately for both of them, they don't get along all that well and Barnaby's past may be creeping up on them. 

One of the biggest problems with the series is that it has severe tonal issues. It tries to strike a balance between darker and lighter moments like some of the best comic runs out there including Claremont's X-men run and the Wolfman/ Pérez Titans run. The problem is that it sucks at it and there are two reasons for that. The first is that it goes two far in both directions. If you look at those comics that shift tone well, they have pretty realistic degrees on both ends. For example, The X-men facing the brood and finding themselves in a seemingly hopeless situation on account of the royal eggs that have been implanted in them but still maintaining hope and doing everything they can versus Shadowcat telling little Illyana a bed time story for an issue. In Tiger & Bunny, the lighter elements cross into Silver Age goofiness. Think Batman and Superman having a slumber party at the fortress of solitude but somehow dumber whereas the darker elements cross into 90s darker and stupider territory. Which means there's a lot more of a shift between the tones. Tiger & Bunny also fails because it combines the elements. If you look at those good comics, they actually transition from one tone to the other instead of abruptly forcing the tone to change. In this, they'll have goofy silver age elements, like evil plush toys piloting mechs, side by side with more serious elements like Barnaby trying to get revenge for the loss of his parents and that's just highly dissonant. 

Another issue is with the main villain's plan. I don't want to go deep into spoilers, so I'll keep this somewhat vague. Even though who the villain is going to be becomes really obvious as soon as our heroes have a certain conversation in hospital. In any case, our arch villain gets caught with a tiny contradiction and all he has to do to keep things from escalating is pretend he also doesn't know what the deal is. Instead he gives a huge villain speech revealing everything and tries to cover things up by messing with someone's mind. Then he makes things even worse by unnecessarily lying and trying to frame another hero. Even though said hero has had a costume where they can easily be identified just by visually comparing him with one of his old trading cards or videos. To make things even dumber, this guy supposedly wants Next to be treated well and that's why he's manipulated the Hero media but when things aren't looking so good he decides to have androids kill all the heroes that the citizens know and love even though that will clearly interfere with his big plan. I don't know how it's possible to be as egregiously stupid as this villain. 

Although that does lead me with yet another problem I have with this series. They bring up this idea of their mutants being feared and mistrusted a couple times, but it's not something we see any real evidence of. There are, maybe, three scenes where someone is a dick towards the Next. Other than that, they're treated like heroes, people buy their merch, big companies sponsor them to make themselves look good. There's almost nothing to indicate that things are bad for them. The series also wastes its one opportunity to do something with some impact right at the end by having a cheap cop out. So, the ending is pretty shit. The series also likes to repeat itself way too much, going over plot points to a ludicrous degree. For example, the anti-hero appears and gives a big speech about how "he is doing the true justice" and there are about three conversations after that where our heroes can't figure out what he's after. It's like they think their audience is really, really slow. 

Characters:

I've already described how bad the antagonist is, so let's talk about the other major characters. Our big characters are Tiger, Kotetsu, and Barnaby. Kotetsu is a horrible, neglectful father and obnoxious cretin. Barnaby is just boring. Which is kind of the way things go in this series. At best, the heroes are trite and bland. At worst, they're gross homophobic stereotypes, Hi, Fire Emblem. Sky High is probably the most likeable of them all, even though he's dumber than a wet cardboard box, because he's a paragon character with a dog. Blue Rose is an insipid twit with a really annoying crush on a dude more than twice her age. Which might not be so bad if they didn't bring it up constantly throughout the series. 

Dragon Kid and Origami Cyclone are dull. Rock Bison is so boring that even his "best friend" can't think of any personal information to give about him. Seriously, there's a scene where Tiger is giving out some information about all the other heroes and he has nothing to say about this guy. There's also Lunatic, one of those generic anti-hero characters. Although it is worth noting that he wants to be seen as seeking true justice, but he calls himself Lunatic. That would be like Mister Sinister trying to convince ordinary people he's actually the hero while still calling himself Mister Sinister. 

Art: 

The artwork is a bit mixed. Some of the city shots look impressive, but the character designs are kind of mediocre. and the action sequences aren't very interesting. One thing that's absolutely horrendous is the product placement. The hero costumes are plastered with logos to the point of it being really tacky. It's like Sunrise just decided this had no artistic merit whatsoever so they might as well just suck off some fat corporate guys for a bit of extra dosh. 

Sound:

Here's one aspect where I can give the series some credit, the actors are pretty decent. Maybe not great, but they're about as good as they can be with characters this insipid. The best is probably Inoue Go, who does pull off the simple-minded paragon character pretty well. The only truly bad performance comes from Tsuda Kenjirou. It's not really his fault since he's voicing a super flamboyant gay stereotype, but it is awful to listen to. 

Ike Yoshihiro does the sound track and it's the best part of the series. They may not be the best tunes out there, but they're quite good and well put together. 

Ho-yay:

It comes entirely from our gay stereotype, who has fire powers. Wow, that isn't the least bit subtle or clever. And I'm sure one person is going to say "didn't you have a gay character with fire powers in Omicron Squad?" Which is true but I had a lot of gay characters and Anastasia wasn't a stereotype. So, not really the same at all. 

Areas of Improvement:

1. Gives the characters personality beyond tropes. One of the things that makes for a good hero comic is a strong sense of personality from the characters and well developed interpersonal dynamics among them. Plus strong villains instead of total knob heads. 
2. Consistent Tone. If you want something stupid and goofy like the Silver Age, just go for it. If you want something darker and stupider like an early Image comic, go for it. This clearly doesn't have a strong enough writer to pull off something between, so let's not fluctuate between those two extremes. 
3. A Consistent World. If you want to be like the X-men and show powered heroes doing their best in a world that hates and fears them, that's fine. If you want to have a future where everything is built up around a culture of hero worship, that's also fine. These two things do not work together. 

Final Thoughts: 

Tiger & Bunny is a complete mess. It can't decide which extreme tone it wants and ends up awkwardly and really badly mixing them, its heroes range from boring to obnoxious & offensive. It has plot holes so massive you could fly a 747 through them. The world building is wildly inconsistent. The "twists" are really obvious to the point of being bland. They treat their audience like it's made up of a bunch of morons. The sponsorships are tacky as hell and it's just never interesting or entertaining. My final rating is going to be a 2/10. This anime sucks. 

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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