Tiger & Bunny – 05

Happy Birthday, Bunny-chan~

SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! With any luck, it’s actually your birthday. I’m sure SOMEONE out there has a birthday today. If not, I have rescheduled your brithday to today and you will celebrate it and ENJOY it. I made you a cake and you’d better accept it, dammit!

Poor Bunny-chan. His husbando is constantly trying to be nice to him and make sure he stays thin by monitoring his diet, but Bunny just wants to be a douche and die alone. Kotetsu doesn’t think his meddling is really too costly, even though it cost Apollon Media a bunch of money in damage costs. Also, he can’t even pick up a pen for someone without screwing up.

“Barnaby…this baby….is ours…..”            “BUNNY-CHAN, YOU CHEATED ON ME?!?!”

The next day at work, Kotetsu is astute enough to notice that Barnaby is acting even more miserable than he usually is. He recalls a fan wishing Barnaby an advance Happy Birthday and formulates a plan. How do you cheer up an asshole who hates company? Throw a surprise party with lots of people! The other Heroes are sharp enough to recognize that Barnaby isn’t exactly a people person, but Kotetsu is insistent. The other Heroes only agree to throw the party when Sky High decides to do it. Way to go, King of Heroes!

The first thing on Kotetsu’s to-do list is to get Barnaby a present. He has no idea what Barnaby likes so he shows him..aprons…and tries to get a reading on which one to buy him. No really, aprons. Do you…do you even see the salivating fujoshi that watch this show? Do you know how many apron-clad pictures you’re going to spawn? The slew of pictures with Kotetsu using mayonnaise in ALL TYPES OF ACTIVITIES thanks to that one preview was one thing but…Okay, never mind, I should stop pretending to be mad. Teehee. ANYWAYS, the only thing Barnaby says he wants is a 6 million dollar necklace in a museum. And another villain seems to want it too.

“You’d look good in this!” “…This is an ad for mayonnaise.” “Oh….I know~”

The more elaborate you try to make a plan for a surprise birthday, the bigger the chance for it to blow up in your face. Especially when dealing with someone who isn’t exactly oblivious. For some reason, they find it a perfectly logical decision to stage a robbery and fire fake guns with little “happy birthday” flags. They do a quick practice run and it works well enough.

Meanwhile, Barnaby is sulking at home and talking to a maid who used to take care of him. She made him cake every year for his birthday, and this year is no exception. When he hangs up the call with his maid, he gets another call from Kotetsu asking for help. He comes to the scene of the “crime” but isn’t very compliant in trying to catch any criminals. He outright refuses to help and doesn’t even flinch when a “thief” tries to steal Kotetsu’s bag.

Kotetsu somehow drags Bunny-chan into a dark alley to catch the thief, but instead of finding the Heroes dressed as villains, he finds a real thief. A NEXT user who can cover his body in a diamond armour in order to steal rare items…such as that necklace from the museum. Naturally, chaos ensues. He fires a very real bullet at Tiger and Bunny before escaping into a car and leaving the Heroes very, very perplexed.

Everyone gets an official call to give chase to the NEXT user villain with the bling around his neck. Tiger and Bunny hop into Satou’s truck on their way to catch up with the car and quickly don their suits (TRANSFORMATION SEQUEEENCEEE!!!!). Satou tells them he installed a new function for Bunny’s birthday before they head out.

Sky High stops the car and captures one of the goons, while Blue Rose grabs the other. The main guy is left to our main duo, who manage to corner him with only 30 seconds to spare for their power usage. Neither of them can break through his diamond armour despite firing a flurry of jabs and roundhouse kicks. It’s only in the last second that a secret mode activates and they both land a hit with perfect timing that the armour shatters.Kotetsu gives the criminal to Barnaby so he can get extra points, as a birthday present. He pretends to act angry, but he actually smiles ever so slightly. CAN’T FOOL YOUR HUSBANDO, BUNNY. HE KNOWS YOU LIKED YOUR PRESENT.

Tiger and Bunny, over and out!

Bonus Bromance:

Crap, he doesn’t like it. Now I need to go return the apron I bought…

HOLY SHIT THOSE MEN ARE HOLDING HANDS. BEST DAY EVER. Just act normal and push your cart forward…

If you think this is impressive, wait until you see how fast that thing can come OFF.

MOVE BITCH, FABULOUS COMING THROUGH

End Thoughts: God, I love this show. I look forward to it every week, and I can’t say I’m quite so avid about some of the other spring shows. Tiger and Bunny is just pure, silly, shameless fun. It takes silliness and makes it an art form. This was probably my favourite episode so far too, due to the leap in levels of both humour and super power gimmicks. The whole episode revolved around a ridiculous concept with enough TigerxBunny fodder to keep pixiv abuzz for way more than a week. And I am completely okay with this.

By pushing the usual criminal chase to the side even more than usual, it could focus on more Kotetsu AND some of the other heroes. We haven’t seen much of Sky High sans superhero suit before, so it’s nice to see him in street clothes. The other heroes are also quite funny and quirky when they get their time on screen. They’re all kind of stereotypical dorks or brats in one way or another, but they mesh together quite well. Even though it was Barnaby’s birthday, he actually wasn’t in the episode much. This…is probably a good thing. I still think he’s a prick, and can only be handled when taken alongside Kotetsu. Barnaby by himself is just too bitter to swallow >_<

The actual crime was just a saturated 5 minutes or so of eye candy…a new transformation sequence and a new attack mode. Sure, the attack mode is useless but HOLY MOLY it looks downright BADASS. Forgive me, but I was totally won over by those totally campy segments, but it REALLY hit the spot for me. Please oh please let there be more cool transformation sequences! This is one of the first times they had to fight a criminal with NEXT powers (except that kid, but they didn’t fight him..they chased him), and if the villains keep getting stronger, maybe the fights will get more intense? It might just be wishful thinking on my behalf, but the only thing the Hero TV segments are missing is a sense of urgency. I want to see a villain that tears people to shreds.

In terms of more serious, plot-related snippets, we had 2 bones thrown our way. 1. Barnaby had a good relationship with his maid and is still all angsty over his past. 2. That judge is in on something. I’ll bet you anything he’s the one who sentences Fire Emblem to murder in the next episode. I doubt he has the staying power of a recurring villain, but he might appear every now and then to try and slander people. Could the next episode be…a serious episode? I’m very curious to see how they pull of that one after this gag-filled creation.

Preview: Oh! This time Barnaby is doing the voiceover! Wow, he really does know how to sound cool and not mince his english as much as Kotetsu. Barnaby seems to see something that could be related to his father’s death! Also, Fire Emblem gets accused of murder next episode! Sounds a lot more intense than usual…Especially with the hidden implications with Fire Emblem being black and falsely accused of something *cough*. Next episode will be one to watch indeed.

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.