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

Nov 22, 2024

LightningComet

Recommended

Something unique that struck me about Tiger & Bunny is just how much of its strength does not come from its visuals. The fact of the matter is this: by and large, most anime series tend to put most of their effort toward the art and animation fronts. Notable examples aside, it is, specifically for anime, rare for the writing to outclass production quality, regardless of how well-written the work is. As seen with Samurai Champloo's hip-hop vibes, FLCL's groundbreaking animation, or design elements like Psycho-Pass' absurd cancer guns, well-written anime such as these present visual elements that (historically have proven themselves to) remain in ... the viewership's consciousness far longer and more strongly than the actual story being presented. In actuality, this is also true for those with more middling production value e.g. Serial Experiments Lain; the animation may not be great, but, boy, did Yoshitoshi ABe strike diamonds with Lain's design. Tiger & Bunny doesn't quite have that special sauce in its aesthetic, competent though it certainly is. Masakazu Katsura's designs are all memorable enough, ditto the city of Stern Bild, and while I can imagine plenty of fan art of the characters (especially from the fujoshi), I don't see any of those elements propelling T&B into selling absolute gangbusters like those earlier examples. The only-moderate population count here on MAL should make that very clear.

Again, though, that is okay. In lieu of devastatingly viral visuals, we have consistently good episodes and a wonderful flow between them to match. I was struck by how effectively T&B balanced the episodic elements with larger story arcs. Admittedly, Witch Hunter Robin, GitS:SAC, and Heat Guy J all did this almost ten years earlier, but suffered by shifting in decidedly more jarring ways. The smoothness in which T&B accomplishes this balance is the cornerstone of its achievement of "having good writing" and I feel that this really sets it apart from most other anime (or shows, period, for that matter). Again, though there are a few flaws, the stories presented in these episodes are strong, both when taken individually and when tied together. What drives the story is a persistence toward asking the core question of what makes a hero in a world where heroics are commodified. The answer T&B leans toward is that heroic deeds should be considered ends unto themselves, where the individual conducting them is not concerned with whatever manufactured value follows (be they increased popularity, higher-paying endorsements, etc.) but prioritizes the net positive effect of conducting heroics i.e. saving lives and thwarting crime. An idealistic view, for sure, but the writers are very much aware of that; there is some harsh realism at how much it takes from these people to balance being heroes with their personal lives, whether it's by showing how much Wild Tiger is missing out on watching his daughter grow or how Barnaby, sorting out the mysteries behind his trauma, doesn't really have room for a personal life to begin with. And while all that is great, the episodes that stick in my mind are those featuring Blue Rose and Origami Cyclone which demonstrate the characters' struggling to balance idealism against their role's commodification, primarily because this is the series' decidedly atypical stamp (at least, until The Boys came along and made this commodification mainstream). Being a hero is analogous to being a product and advertisement for companies with priorities as follows: are the logos plastered on their product's costume visible, and does that product make said companies appear credible by proving itself to be a worthy investment? I'm getting flashbacks to RoboCop when I think about all this, and I would bet there was a story arc drafted that had a similarly dark (if potentially too obvious) premise and was left on the cutting room floor. And darkness is not something to dissociate from Tiger & Bunny. Episode 16 certainly stands out in this matter, showcasing seedy bars, a sleazy and fearful atmosphere, and tragic stories of domestic abuse, serial killings, and violence against women. I personally didn't have a problem with any part of this episode, film noir fan that I am, but both the content and the tonal whiplash alike can be problematic for some.

Beyond all that, there are also stories dealing with justice, mistaken identity, and whatever else that have all been seen in other works. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm alone covers both of those specific examples. To be fair, these topics are handled well, if not always with perfect grace; how many times do we need to hear Tiger rant at Lunatic about the latter's immorality? Thrice in two episodes? Come on, buddy. I also feel I should mention the Dragon Kid episode, often considered the black sheep and with reason. I've heard it said that this episode is incongruous with that theme of what constitutes heroism, and I agree that Pao-Lin "needing to appear more girly because she's a girl and her **** manager says so" is stupid and irrelevant, but I also believe that there is a (generous) reading of that episode discussing how kids view their parents, which is at least relevant to Wild Tiger's character. One could say that this episode does something to help make a few of the characters seem more like fully-realized humans, which is always good, and the episode is thankfully entertaining enough. But another gripe I have is that we don't get a dedicated Fire Emblem character-building episode (some flashbacks were seen in the "eh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" sequel film, as I recall) and the more damning problem is the show deciding to go with that nasty trope of conflating flamboyance and queerness with predatory behavior. Not okay. At least Fire Emblem is an otherwise fun and engaging character, and I do appreciate that.

And I really mean it when I say that the show is fun. It had me laughing in earnest or sporting a big, dumb grin quite often. I'd actually argue that there is something for almost everyone here: a beating heart of emotional drama, lighthearted and whacky antics, smooth superhero action, seriously threatening villains, decent production quality with few shortcuts (notice how Wild Tiger's family van was never CG, although that one CG banana looked ridiculous), and a solid, if overly-repetitive early on, musical score. I think more people are familiar with the first opening, given the group performing it, but I found the second opening much more impressive on a technical level. It was like the staff had really found their footing by that stage and I didn't skip it even once (unlike the EDs, which I found unremarkable). The English dub is also very good; no complaints there.

All told, Tiger & Bunny is a truly strong show, and I'm really happy I scored the Blu-rays because I will definitely keep coming back to this. I feel it even deserves the label of "modern classic", a little unsung though it may be. Here's hoping that will change!

Happy watching!
- LC

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 12, 2021

CappedPluto

Mixed Feelings

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

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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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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