(L) Tiger & Bunny (Sunrise)

[Saturn Beaver]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

This isn't the type of show that gets really popular on these boards and doesn't seem to contain much that would make it popular with the animesuki crowd at large. Plus Nichijou, which everyone is going to be paying attention to cause it's by that studio with that reputation, and the last episode of Star Driver aired around the same time. I'd say if this show picks up more of an audience it's going to be later this month.

Then again I could end up being surprised by a sudden influx because I didn't expect much of anybody besides myself to even be aware this show existed and was coming out today.

Yeah, I suppose you're right. It could also pick up later on, wouldn't be the first time I guess.

Originally Posted by konart

Spoiler for hmmm:

I'm pretty sure that woman was his mother, not wife, lol. Besides his daughter had to be 8-9 - and when did the heroes appeared? Ten year before the current events, no?

http://imgur.com/JCVYd
http://imgur.com/XCJmd - srsly, she looks MUCH older than him.

Hmm, I can't check it again but I could've sworn I saw her saying 'our daughter'. I agree with you that she looks way too old compared to the picture though, and especially compared to her husband.

[Bri]

First episode was a positive surprise. I fearing something along the lines of Heroman. Had to check it out as it is Sunrise. But while not dark it was not basic superhero fare. Haven't seen a crime fighting anime in ages. In someways it reminds me of Running Man, altough it probably will be more upbeat. Definitely a show for the to watch list.

[Genten]

Out of curiousity, why isn't this in the Currently Airing section? It was a little confusing trying to find this thread.

Spoiler for Tiger & Bunny ep 1:

The first series of the spring season! (I need to wait a little while for Nichijou and Hanasaku as I debate buying a PM). And what a doozy this was. I'm not surprised it got such great reviews at ANN's Spring Preview guide.

First, I feel totally mislead by the pictures used for this series on the Spring Preview charts. They made me think Tiger and Blue Rose were going to be the dynamic duo instead of Wild Tiger and Barnaby (this kid really needs an official superhero name). Despite my slight surprise when I realized this I wasn't disappointed by it. In fact, I was totally blown away.

I love the way T&B deals with the concept of the superhero. Using them as vehicle for advertisements and treating the whole thing as a cutthroat popularity contest on a reality TV show is very original. The meddling of corporate exceutives really gives the whole thing a darker spin. I'm actually much more fond of this more mature treatment than the route The Dark Knight took as I feel T&B is more realistic. Can you compare the two? Well, I sure can.

Anyway, I loved the superheros introduced. Wild Tiger certainly has an interesting background: (presumably) dead wife, daughter that doesn't know he's a superhero, and that his mother has to take care of her (I wonder what the story behind that is?). Plus, the fact that he is aging is a huge detriment to his career: the CEO practically said it when he mentioned, in reference to Barnaby: "He is young." That's a slap in the face. I'm interested to see how the relationship between the respective Tiger and Bunny will develop as Tiger is basically training the man that is quickly usurping him.

I loved the really obvious CGI (although it wasn't as obvious as Last Exile's was so I don't really find fault with it). It was campy and fit with the overall tone of the series.

Hmm, I wonder how the concept of 'major villain' would play out in this episode?

[Dilla]

That was really interesting! The first episode reminds me a little of Mystery Men and I love that movie.

I'll be keeping up with this.

[DragoonKain3]

Lol. Really have a hard time watching shows where there is literally nothing to ship, and this seems to be one of them. Not my cup of tea at all, but I'll hang around for a couple more eps to see if there's any.

[Duo Maxwell]

Lolz, just what I need for my birthday. I was thinking it will be ridiculous when I saw the poster/cover, but I didn't thought it would be that entertaining .

[Patriot's Blade]

is it just me that Fire Emblem's car reminds me of something from the Red Line racing anime?

[ReddyRedWolf]

Reminded me of Mysterymen's Captain Amazing especially Sky High's popularity.

Spoiler for Captain Amazing:

From a marketing perspective yeah having a team makes sense. These heroes are kinda clumsy indirectly working together. By indirectly I mean they make up each others weaknesses trying to one up each other.

But having a pair as team would like get the job done faster.

Anybody else thought Ultraman with the suits and the time limit?

Hopefully we are getting Otou-san hyjinks with Tiger. Imagine if his young daughter is a fan and has a crush on Bunny. Something like "Otousan does not approve of you as a son-in-law".

[j0x]

i thought the CGI will be bad judging from the trailer i saw but im wrong the actual 3D CGI is good looking and fits this series

its kinda different take on a super hero show so i hope Sunrise will make this good

[Wakan Tanka]

The art made it painful to watch, IMO.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I liked all the subtle character development they packed into the first episode. Based on first impressions, Wild Tiger seems like the kind of guy who loves what he's doing not for the publicity or the money, but because he genuinely wants to help the people of the city. A hero's hero in an era where being a hero has become a completely commercialized affair who is unfortunately being marginalized because his image isn't what it once was compared to the newer flashier heroes like Skyhigh.

Barnaby seems like he's probably a huge self-absorbed dick, what with all the posing and completely ignoring the girl who's balloon is stuck in a tree among other things. I could see him and Tiger clashing a lot and by the end of it all he'll probably learn his lesson....although maybe not.

Rock Bison seems like he's probably the only other guy who can relate at all to Tiger. I assume he's been a hero for a while as well and seems pretty chummy with Tiger, but it looks like both of them have gone into a slump as a result of the current system.

Blue Rose seems more concerned with being an idol than with being an actual hero and seems like she's completely incompetent at the job (her special ability this episode was running away), but remains popular because of her looks and style.

Dragon Kid looks like she's possibly just out there to try and have fun. Origami Cyclone seems like a showboater in the same was as Barnaby and Blue Rose, Fire Emblem is of course extremely effeminate and comes off as a bit of a goof as opposed to a real hero and Sky High.....well I don't really know much about Sky High other than he's the most popular hero and that we'll probably be seeing a lot more of him in the coming episodes.

Also there's the awful Hero TV producer Agnes who is the current system in the city personified, concerned more with ratings and maintaining her reputation with the company for getting them over actually helping people. We will all be rooting against her. I also hope to find out what happens to Tiger's old boss Ben Jackson who seemed completely on the level and probably lost his job in some sort of move by Hero TV for refusing to reel in Tiger to play the game the companies way.

All of this subtle character building from one episode! I'm really impressed.

Originally Posted by Voinic

The art made it painful to watch, IMO.

Are you referring to the sort of orange glow around the characters? I don't know, but I absolutely love the artstyle and overall character design. It's extremely refreshing and looks like a nice blend between Western and Eastern styles.

[ReddyRedWolf]

One theory I find intriguing is that it could be a Xanatos gambit to have Tiger mentor Barnaby and when Barnaby learns everything from him on what a real hero is they kill off Tiger for ratings.

[thundrakkon]

That was a pleasant surprise. From the really strange/goofy series title and unusual picture posters of the series, I wasn't expecting much. Actually, I was expecting something extremely lame, but the first episode surprised me.

It looks like a good series, but I am not sure if a lot of people will actually watch this, since they may be put off by the name and posters. I will blame the marketing department on that part, if the series ends up under the radar for a long time.

[Triple_R]

Kaioshin Sama and Saturn Beaver covered just about everything I was going to say about this pilot episode. I agree just about entirely with both of them. Kaioshin's character breakdowns very closely reflect my own takes on the characters so far.

I will add, though, that I like how Wild Tiger comes off as a more realistic version of Mr. Incredible from the Incredibles movie.

Like Saturn Beaver, I see this anime as a realistic portrayal of how super heroes would work in the real world, but it isn't cynical or a super hero deconstruction either. It's just a show that's seriously exploring a different but believable way that super heroes would function in the real world.

I also like seeing a male lead that's an older middle-aged guy and a family man. That's a welcomed change, even for a mecha-esque show.


I'm not sure how long I'll stick with this, as the recent Iron Man anime eventually lost my interest. But so far, Tiger and Bunny looks very good, and I enjoyed the first episode.

[Fenrir_valindri]

Watched the first episode, I'm rather impressed tbh.
Although I'm not a big fan of the 3dCG, it is fairly well done so I can live with it. The story and setting is what got me interested anyway. I'm rooting for you Wild Tiger.

[Blue-kun]

Like Saturn Beaver, I see this anime as a realistic portrayal of how super heroes would work in the real world, but it isn't cynical or a super hero deconstruction either. It's just a show that's seriously exploring a different but believable way that super heroes would function in the real world.

This is a nice way to sum up how the whole show presented itself, and why I don't particularly feel very excited about it. It's not a bad show - far from it, had some good moments, in particular when focusing on Tiger -, but it lacked a real hook. Maybe the fact I was expecting something a bit more funny from the premise also played a part, but I feel underwhelmed.

Tiger overall came off as an extremely likeable character, as Kaioshin put it, and I much appreciate the sort of guy who always tries his hardest to help out people. Even when stuff doesn't go his way, he doesn't seem to give up. A real hero, so to say. Plus, having a glimpse of his family was a nice touch. Everyone else, though? They show up in a second, most did some outrageous thing which, in the end, didn't quite help or improve the situation in the least and that's it. Enter the only guy who seemed to have a clue about what he was doing and everything is good again. That wasn't very exciting to watch, in particular because the action kept being interrupted by those little "funny" moments where the heroes constantly messed up. Feels as if the show is somewhat undecided on what it's trying to do, because if these half-assed heroes actually had some hilarious mess ups, I would probably have enjoyed it more. The way it is right now, it's as if it doesn't want to be a comedy -- but still throws in some cliche mess ups that just don't add anything to it.

That said, the show looked good. The animation on the 2D bits was well handled, and the CG itself didn't look half as bad as I was expecting it to be. It's far from being, say, Blassreiter CG level. On the other hand, despite the CG being good I didn't really click with most of the CG'd heroes designs. Origami Cyclone being the exception, Bison, Sky High, Barnaby's suit and the new Tiger all just felt really uninspired. And it's a real shame they had to go and get rid of Tiger's original suit in favour of this green neon lights suit.

Overall, mixed feelings. I am - or I should say was, in my childhood days - a really big tokusatsu fan, and I grew up watching all sorts of really awesome looking heroes who simply saved the day because they could. While watching this, it was a bit unsettling watching a super hero show which was full of people which hardly resembled what I'd consider my "super hero role models". Still, Tiger's character was interesting, and I'm curious to see where they'll be taking this weird setting. I think it's clear that Barnaby will have to change his dick ways to work with Tiger, and maybe pick up a thing or two about what being a hero really means, but for it to happen it doesn't seem like their attitude is the only thing that needs to change. The system itself seems to encourage these messed up heroes going only after fame (after all, commercialism ahoy, what's better, idol-like hero who messes up but is popular or real guy who tries his best but is overshadowed?), so maybe the team's feats will open a way to change the whole concept of the hero system. That would be cool. In short, it wasn't amazing, but it was certainly good enough to tune back next week.

[DonQuigleone]

I think this show could be the sleeper hit of the season, obviously it's still early days, but I think they've set things up quite well, and they have a lot of plot threads they can use.

I've gotten vibes that the "criminals" here were set up by the TV show, there was some strange behaviour going on:

1) The thugs were dressed too obviously as criminals.
2) One of the studio guys asked the exec if "things were going too far" when the thug held a gun to the monorail operator, like she had some power over it.
3) The thug behaved strangely when captured by Tiger, as if he wanted to be captured by someone else, now this could be comedy (wanting to be captured by the more "glamourous" sky-high), but I think it's pointing to fixing.
4) Blue Rose (the Ice Lady) was surprised when the thug fired the gun, as if she's not used to dealing with such unexpected occurances.

Now you might ask, why doesn't Tiger know about any of this? But I think he's out of the loop due to the company he was with (top magazine). Appolon Media seem to run the TV Show, and recently bought out Top-Magazine, though it's unclear how many other heroes they employ. However it's possible Top-Magazine went out of business because they didn't join a possible Appolon led fixing regime.

With Tiget now being employed by Appolon Media it'll be interesting to see how the show goes. I predict Tiger will start to suddenly be a lot more succesful.

On another note, did anyone notice how similiar Agnes looked to a certain property developer from Kuragehime?

[Fenrir_valindri]

I have a feeling the Producer lady is engineering crimes just as you think donquigleone. She also dislikes Wild Tiger, who does things at his own pace and doesn't listen to her.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Blue-kun

This is a nice way to sum up how the whole show presented itself, and why I don't particularly feel very excited about it.

I don't know if I should be thanking you or apologizing then, lol.

But I'll thank you anyway.

It's not a bad show - far from it, had some good moments, in particular when focusing on Tiger -, but it lacked a real hook. Maybe the fact I was expecting something a bit more funny from the premise also played a part, but I feel underwhelmed.

Tiger overall came off as an extremely likeable character, as Kaioshin put it, and I much appreciate the sort of guy who always tries his hardest to help out people. Even when stuff doesn't go his way, he doesn't seem to give up. A real hero, so to say. Plus, having a glimpse of his family was a nice touch. Everyone else, though? They show up in a second, most did some outrageous thing which, in the end, didn't quite help or improve the situation in the least and that's it. Enter the only guy who seemed to have a clue about what he was doing and everything is good again. That wasn't very exciting to watch, in particular because the action kept being interrupted by those little "funny" moments where the heroes constantly messed up. Feels as if the show is somewhat undecided on what it's trying to do, because if these half-assed heroes actually had some hilarious mess ups, I would probably have enjoyed it more. The way it is right now, it's as if it doesn't want to be a comedy -- but still throws in some cliche mess ups that just don't add anything to it.

I think that for most of the heroes here, the producer's goal was to display them all in action, and looking cool for the most part. However, they chose to have the heroes deal with generic (possibly hired) thugs, so it does make the heroes seem a bit incompetent to struggle so mightily to stop a handful of normal human thugs. Still, they are trying to make the heroes look genuinely cool, so you don't get a hilarious disaster. Just basic run-of-the-mill incompetency.

Going forward, I think (hope) that screw-ups will arise out of intentional comedic goals, and that when they want to make the heroes look cool, the heroes will also come off as impressively effective.

Here the need to showcase a bunch of different heroes stopping a few thugs does make them look a little bit incompetent. That was probably the one thing I didn't like about this pilot episode, but I kind of let it slide, because honestly, I've read stuff like this in team-based comic books before. It's kind of inevitable if you want to showcase each and every member of a super hero team against generic thugs.

And again, I think (hope) going forward that this will change.

Originally Posted by donquigleone

I think this show could be the sleeper hit of the season, obviously it's still early days, but I think they've set things up quite well, and they have a lot of plot threads they can use.

I've gotten vibes that the "criminals" here were set up by the TV show, there was some strange behaviour going on.

Yeah, I agree with you here.

If so, that could make things very interesting later on. That the people behind Hero TV are actually causing problems on the whole. Maybe they're the real villains that Wild Tiger will need to eventually confront.

[Blue-kun]

I don't know if I should be thanking you or apologizing then, lol.

But I'll thank you anyway.

Hah, it was a compliment. It just so happened to be exactly what sort of irked me about the first episode at the same time!

As for the whole TV people behind the scenes articulating everything to keep this system going on, it's an interesting thought. I'm not sure if they are going to take that route, because it probably would be done in a more serious tone than the one the show seems to ride on for now, but it's definitely something that could happen. It would actually be interesting, too, because there are some more mature subjects behind the whole fluffy super hero thematic, such as the previously mentioned commercialism that's plastered all over it.