This is the tale of two expies, one constantly down-on-his-luck doing what he can whilst gaining no respect, and one pretty-boy billionario harboring a TRAJIC PAST involving dead parents. The show calls them Kotetsu T. Kaburagi and Barnaby Brooks Jr. Together they dress up in Conspicuous CGI action-figure costumes and save the populace on live TV, competing against fellow Heroes for the highest viewership rating as TIGER AND BUNNY.
Doesn't that last part totally sound like your typical Hollywood "reality" show pitch? Cause thats really how it comes across in-universe. Heroes are but a commodity, gaining respect not as people risking their lives to save the city, but as the flavor of the week dedicated to pushing product.
"That was whole point, to take an alternate look on the business of super-hero dom" you might be saying. To which I'd reply "it doesn't seem to be looking very hard". By that I mean this aspect is presented as being A-OK by all of the heroes. Nobody seems to question the notion of trivilizing such important work; its as much a game to them as it is to the Hero TV producers. The show instead jumps back n forth between the buddy cop story and the hero story.
But while neither of these are particularly strong (the buddy cop angle is the standard "instinct vs. the rules", the superhero aspect is akin to Power Rangers) Their lightheartedness is what makes them fun to watch, with Kotetsu stealing the spotlight the majority of the time.
Until the series goes "TDKR" all over the place.
The 2nd half plays up the drama for all its worth, pandering to the fangirls/boys than for any real attempt at actual storytelling. FOR EXAMPLE SPOILERS we're given the name of the org. that assassinated Bunny's parents early on, he's given plenty of moments to angst about it but nothing progresses until the last 2 eps. Tiger deals with the growing distance between him and his daughter, who doesn't know he's a hero, but ONLY because she's the only family member he DOESN'T tell. On the plus side, we do get a better look at our resident anti-hero Lunatic.
It goes without saying Tiger & Bunny doesn't quite reach the levels westerners have expected of the superhero genre, but for a series that was expected to fail, it's still an interesting take, and one thats a fun -yet forgettable- time waster.
Spider-Man & Batman SPOILERS
This is the tale of two expies, one constantly down-on-his-luck doing what he can whilst gaining no respect, and one pretty-boy billionario harboring a TRAJIC PAST involving dead parents. The show calls them Kotetsu T. Kaburagi and Barnaby Brooks Jr. Together they dress up in Conspicuous CGI action-figure costumes and save the populace on live TV, competing against fellow Heroes for the highest viewership rating as TIGER AND BUNNY.
Doesn't that last part totally sound like your typical Hollywood "reality" show pitch? Cause thats really how it comes across in-universe. Heroes are but a commodity, gaining respect not as people risking their lives to save the city, but as the flavor of the week dedicated to pushing product.
"That was whole point, to take an alternate look on the business of super-hero dom" you might be saying. To which I'd reply "it doesn't seem to be looking very hard". By that I mean this aspect is presented as being A-OK by all of the heroes. Nobody seems to question the notion of trivilizing such important work; its as much a game to them as it is to the Hero TV producers. The show instead jumps back n forth between the buddy cop story and the hero story.
But while neither of these are particularly strong (the buddy cop angle is the standard "instinct vs. the rules", the superhero aspect is akin to Power Rangers) Their lightheartedness is what makes them fun to watch, with Kotetsu stealing the spotlight the majority of the time.
Until the series goes "TDKR" all over the place.
The 2nd half plays up the drama for all its worth, pandering to the fangirls/boys than for any real attempt at actual storytelling. FOR EXAMPLE SPOILERS we're given the name of the org. that assassinated Bunny's parents early on, he's given plenty of moments to angst about it but nothing progresses until the last 2 eps. Tiger deals with the growing distance between him and his daughter, who doesn't know he's a hero, but ONLY because she's the only family member he DOESN'T tell. On the plus side, we do get a better look at our resident anti-hero Lunatic.
It goes without saying Tiger & Bunny doesn't quite reach the levels westerners have expected of the superhero genre, but for a series that was expected to fail, it's still an interesting take, and one thats a fun -yet forgettable- time waster.