Tiger & Bunny – 07

Anything and everything that isn’t fabulous is a villain

It’s official: we’re entering a more serious arc about Ourobouros, Barnaby’s past, and sparky sparky boom man. As for me, I’m game. Heck, I’m ready for anything despite the fact my brain decided I would be an insomniac for the weekend. A rare occurrence given the fact that I sleep for 11 hours at a time if left alone. Maybe I’m just nervous since summer school is starting today, but I’ll survive!

Continuing on from last episode, Bunny accepted Tiger’s marriage proposal…..wait that’s just in my head. Rewind. Continuing on from last episode, Barnaby dashes towards the hero who killed his source of information about Ourobouros, and then takes it out on Kotetsu when he gets away. He’s furious that he let the opportunity slip away, and refuses to talk to anyone after the whole incident.

Kotetsu laments over Barnaby’s inner turmoil, but knows he has to keep his distance. That doesn’t stop him from meeting up with the glamour queen himself, Fire Emblem, to dig up some dirt on his past. Fire Emblem suggests that the NEXT user with the flames is killing Ourobouros members to keep them silent, since all of his victims were criminals. He tries to call Barnaby and tell him, but no dice.

Perm boy is in his room sulking for so long that the company has to call Blue Rose as a temporary Bunny stand in. NO ONE WILL EVEN NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE, I MEAN WOW. Blue Rose makes Kotetsu look like a chump by stealing all the glory capturing criminals, even though it’s just a staged act with fake criminals. To make matters worse, he gets bullied by a little freckly redhead of all people. I haven’t seen Kotetsu on this much of a low note since the first episode.

If anyone asks what this show is about, I will just show them this picture.

After the show, the CEO of Kotetsu’s sponsor company congratulates him and then forces him to rest in an oxygen tank. He also managed to get Barnaby to snap out of his daze and come too, although he doesn’t look like his usual cocky self. They both rest in oxygen tanks (not both in one tank, sadly, as I had first assumed) for a bit and Barnaby tries to recall the face of his parent’s murderer, but is snapped out of it by a call from his wrist-phone-amazing-thing-I-wish-I-had.

All the heroes are on standby since Hero TV decided to do a live stream of everyone busting into the crime syndicate hideout. Just as they get the signal to bust in and arrest the bad guys, their hideout bursts into neon blue and green flames. The objective changes from capturing them to saving them from burning to death in a flash – except for Barnaby who goes right for the fire archer himself.

“I present my crotch to your face to say sorry for being late”

Barnaby’s attack on the flaming creeper is more of a game of cat and mouse than an exchange of attacks. He’s just too fast for Barnaby, and manages to wear him out for 5 minutes and then land a critical blow that sends Bunnyboy sailing. He uses the opportunity to introduce himself as Lunatic, a hero who has a different set of justice and finds the Hero TV bunch despicable. He even goes so far as to announce his world views for all the heroes to hear as they try to desperately salvage burning criminals but to no avail.

I’m just a traveling BBQ lover. Why don’t you appreciate all the human BBQ I made for you? D:

After failing to save someone from Lunatic’s flames once again, Kotetsu heads to Barnaby as fast as he can. He arrives just in the nick of time to stop him from landing the final blow and even throw in a lame insult to lighten the mood. Lunatic leaves, threatening to return and own everyone the next time they meet.

HANDS. OFF. MY. BUNNY.

Rock Bison managed to resuscitate one of the fire victims, but it turns out he doesn’t have the tattoo. the crime syndicate wasn’t Ourobouros afterall. So Lunatic is just like a Light Yagami who prefers to kill criminals than capture them. Interesting. Also, if you forgot about creepy judge man, he appears at the end of the episode to take a look at the one survivor of the fire. He reeks of suspisciousness.

The tie lets us know he’s a villain because his fashion sense sucks.

Spring Anime T&B Style:

Blue Tiger Exorcist

Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi & Bunny (don’t see it? Picture Tiger being thrown roughly on the couch, legs spread)

Tiger & Bunny Wonderland

Hidan no Blue Rose

End Thoughts: I still think Tiger & Bunny is more adept at being humorous than being serious, but this arc is turning out to be quite great regardless. There were some rather memorable serious moments such as Kotetsu being unable to save more people and having a mini meltdown and Barnaby losing his cool on more than one occasion. It’s all because of Lunatic. His design may be creepy nightmare fuel, but at least he brings something new to the table. A villain who kills criminals. He’s not in it for the cameras, points, or sponsors (unless he’s got a Sony logo under that coat or something) – just for his own satisfaction of making the world a better place. Clashing of morals! I love it! I don’t love HIM because he’s hideous, but we need someone to shake things up every now and then.

This is some very obvious hinting here, but the judge is probably Lunatic. It seems so obvious I don’t want to believe it, but we don’t exactly have a lineup of suspects here. I’m also inclined to think he’s somehow related to the CEO of Tiger and Bunny’s company. I say this solely because they both have creepy lips, but how messed up would that be if he was the CEO’s real son or something? Wild speculation, huzzah!

I won’t talk about the humour as much since we all know I think this show is hilarious (I need Saito’s voice as my alarm clock), so let’s talk about the action this time. It felt a lot different from the usual, almost lackadaisical action sequences of catching criminals. Seeing Barnaby so riled up and desperate was a real switch, and made for a really intense fight. I guess T&B can pull off some genuinely badass battles when they want to ditch the cheese. I was quite pleased.

I like Barnaby a lot more when he’s not wearing his shiny, confident veneer and when he’s just a scared boy trying to avenge his parents. I’m glad the tension between him and Kotetsu only lasted a little bit, because they really need to be interacting with each other to spark interest. That awesome buddy-buddy shot of them standing next to each other on standby, talking about Ourobouros was wonderful. Deep down they appreciate each other, but hell will freeze over before either of them thanks the other for it or acknowledges it. It makes me happy to see the two grow closer together and help each other. They will be husbando and husbando in no time!

Preview: There are two Kotetsus in this episode. TWO. Not only is there double the Kotetsu, there’s about 100x more Origami Cyclone than we usually get. I would have expected Ivan to get a comedy-based episode, but he looks like he’s suffering immensely in the preview. More drama, more Lunatic and more precious Ivan! YES!

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.