comics – Together With Japan

Tiger & Bunny: Anime Review & Opinions

J Sensei — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 05:34:04 +0000

My name is not "Bunny-chan". It's BARNABY.

An Impressive Show

Long story short, Tiger & Bunny is an unlikely “bromance” anime viewed through the “Amerikomi” (American Comic Book) superhero genre. Superheroes capture crooks and save civilians live on HeroTV, all sponsored by major corporations. Yet a strong current of real heroism animates the show itself.

Story & Premise: The core pairing is Kotetsu a.k.a. Wild Tiger, an idealistic “hero” with old-fashioned notions and a long, long list of fines for property destruction in the course of saving lives. In recent years his rankings have fallen, but he has to put up with sponsor requests because someone has to pay his fines and keep a roof over his head. This culminates in being paired with Barnaby Brooks Jr., who violates “hero” tradition by combating crime under his real name. The pair share a similar power – 5 minutes of greatly enhanced strength, speed, and endurance – and get along famously poorly.

Barnaby is younger, smarter, and reeks of competence, whereas Wild Tiger is something of a goofball. Kotetsu receives a new armored suit to go along with Barnaby’s, complete with new corporate sponsor logos, and has to ride in a sidecar while Barnaby does the cool motorcycle driving. To top it off, Kotetsu plays off his partner’s name and the pointy ears of the suit (see picture at top) to dub him “Bunny,” which really, really annoys him.

Plot W/O Spoilers: Trust between the two goes through several stages of rising and falling. Barnaby has a tragic past and a revenge-oriented mission; in another universe he might have put on a Bat cowl. Kotetsu has a young daughter who lives with her grandmother and a long list of broken promises due to his ever-busy life as a “hero”. Yet through the show’s camp, brilliant action scenes, and ratings-hungry HeroTV spectacles, it manages to not only hold interest, but be itself, build at its own pace, and create an ever growing mythos.

The other “heroes” of HeroTV make a lot of difference. We slowly delve into their stories and find out, in a well-paced sequence of episodes, what makes them tick and where and how they shine. People who were once costumes and stage names – to us real-life viewers, not just the citizens of the city – turn “real” before our very eyes. All have their flaws, but we know them through their deeds; they truly, genuinely care about the lives they save. (Even Barnaby, whose on-the-surface emphasis is saving lives to earn “points” and his Hero Ranking.)

The plot thickens as someone’s going around and killing bad guys instead of capturing them, very against the hero code, and the criminal organization involved in the deaths of Barnaby’s parents raises its ugly head. Any more would spoil, and you don’t want to be spoiled. The intended pace of exposure of information is important for full enjoyment.

Production Values: The show’s production values are very high. Sound, color, sharpness, Japanese voice acting, and overall scripting and feel are all top notch. The show simply leaps out at you. You never feel like the studio is letting you down; you can enjoy the show on its own merits, ride its foibles and great hits, and appreciate it for not being a one-trick, one-tone pony. I really enjoyed watching this show.

Trivia: One thing to point out: it’s not just about the superhero stuff. All the “heroes” above are NEXTs, essentially the Tiger & Bunny world’s version of comic book mutants. You know, like the X-Men. These powers are simply applied to heroism or, as the case may be, criminal endeavors. Some people are causing havoc because their powers have awakened and they don’t know how to control or use those powers productively; others are genuinely mean and nasty people. In the end, it’s the human factor that makes the difference, and that’s clearly the theme of this show.

Rating: Let’s say 9.5/10 with excellent entertainment value, and the only reason I can’t give it a 10 is because some of the late show plot, I could see coming. And some I couldn’t, and I really enjoyed a few “Oh! So THAT’S IT!!” moments as things came to their big climax.

Incidentally, what finally sold me on this show – and I was a late arrival to it – was that it makes comfortable viewing for young adults. It’s not a “kiddie” show at all. It’s mature in a good way, treats itself and its viewers with a lot of respect, and feels like a high quality effort.

Bonus Points: You know, the corporate logos, especially prominent in the opening sequence, are at least partially from real companies, like Bandai, Softbank, etc., which are most definitely getting privileged advertising space in the process.

Anime Review: Iron Man

J Sensei — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 20:41:23 +0000

Better Than I Expected

Before diving into the spoiler space, here’s a general impression.

Themes: Sacrifice, Bonds (See spoiler space.)
Visuals: 8/10 (More than adequate, but not top)
Characters: 9/10 (Better than expected, -1 for annoying reporter)
Sounds/ Music: 7/10 (Good hard rock, but nothing truly special)
OP/ED: 5/10 (Uninspired, meant for easy use in US market i.e. no voice, so no additional $ involved)
Plot: 9/10 (Not perfect but greatly exceeding expectations)

I really was surprised by how much I ended up liking this show, and the ending was particularly strong.

show

So, this show really did surprise me.

I’m not kidding when I say that the key theme of the show is sacrifice. Tony’s victories come hard, and they come at a cost. If not a cost to him directly, then someone else is paying the price – and that is really the message of this show, that someone has to pay the price of heroism.

Heroism it is, in a way that you’d never suspect from watching the Iron Man movies. The content here is derived from that Tony Stark and that Iron Man, but this plot (all meticulously approved by Marvel, mind you) leaps off in its own completely different direction.

This is a chastened Tony Stark trying to do good in the world by setting up Arc Station in Japan, to take the next step from that gadget keeping his own body (and Iron Man) going and power a nice chunk of Japan with very clean and abundant energy. Even if the dialog is Japanese (but readers may be watching a dubbed version already), Tony’s spirit is very much American… and this creates domestic resentment.

Whoever penned this plot has a very good ear for real-life Japanese political issues, including the specter of nuclear holocaust in Japan, having an American arms dealer on domestic soil (pushing Iron Man clones for the U.S. military), and as a result, very quick suspicion and outright political scapegoating of Tony Stark to take heat off domestic Japanese politicians. Therefore, this is not just a superhero drama; it is a drama about modern Japan, and where it might go if you added a little science fiction to it.

Actually, add a lot of science fiction to it. The robots and cyborgs in the show are very advanced, with those of the mysterious, high tech terrorist organization Zodiac providing a lot of grist for events. This being a 12-ep anime, Zodiac is the enemy throughout, with no true “filler” episodes but with good, character led middle chapters along the way.

The characters are surprisingly good. I mean, even the annoying Japanese reporter girl is a necessary part of the plot and well, she has a role to fill and has a ticket to punch, so let’s not hate her too much, shall we? I know, it’s easy, but someone has to play this role.

The real co-star of the show is the lead scientist of the Arc Station project, a beautiful and highly intelligent woman who naturally gets quite close to Stark (or “Tony”) over the course of the show. But saying more would not be productive.

This is a plot you should see for yourself. Some events you might feel coming, or a lot even, but it is well-executed and given strong emotional impact by seriously well-done virtual acting by the voice actors.

This show did something I didn’t think it had in it: it made me care.

Given the amount of… utter violence done to Tony Stark’s character on the American comic and movie side, this version, fighting for redemption, not for fame but for his soul, and doing the right thing even when it is the very hard thing, is a character I can respect, even cheer for.

Oh, yeah, the battles are more than acceptable. There’s better in the universe, but… how shall I describe it? Popcorn mecha anime, I think. As in, you’re not going to get the most profound experience imaginable from these battles, but it’s fun, and there’s no need to be jaded about it.

This is a very watchable anime, and it has a strong ending.

Overall: 9/10

Greater than the sum of its parts and a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Strongly recommended for anyone even remotely interested in mecha, sci fi, comics and/ or Iron Man.