Tiger & Bunny – 20

…I am going back to bed and never waking up again.

First of all, WE’RE BACK! Metanorn’s been down the past few days, but we should be switching hosting sites soon so that it can manage the huge load that’s being put on it. Metanorn isn’t exactly a small site anymore. Back to T&B related business, I was extremely tentative to watch this episode. Mostly because my Twitter and Tumblr became a wasteland of miserable souls, tweeting out in pain at how heart-wrenching episode 20 was. I was already a mess after episode 19, so I knew I’d have to prepare myself for 20.

No one has been able to contact Barnaby, not even Kotetsu. Assuming it to just be because of their little lover’s spat, Kotetsu gets the other heroes to yell at him for being mean to poor Bunny and making him hide from their calls. Before the scolding can get any worse, he slips away to answer a phone call. It’s Maverick and he wants to meet up with Kotetsu.

By “talk” we all know he means “drug your coffee and rewrite your memories.” Kotetsu doesn’t drink the coffee because OH MY GOD THERE IS SOMETHING SHINY ON THE FLOOR, LET ME CRAWL UNDER THERE AND CLAIM IT FOR MYSELF. It’s Barnaby’s pin, but Kotetsu assumes it’s just his and shrugs it off. Before they can get any deeper in conversation, Kotetsu is interrupted by yet another phonecall. This time, it’s to arrange a meeting between him and Samantha so he can see a particular photo. He tells this to Maverick, which is a bad, bad decision.

Awww, you only have ink-flavoured coffee? Okay…

Kotetsu arrives at his company’s HQ to meet Samantha, only to be sent away to stop a terrorist attack. An attack that Maverick planned so that he could kidnap Samantha while Kotetsu was busy. It works like a charm, and Samantha is tied up and thrown in a basement while Kotetsu saves civilians despite having limited NEXT abilities. When he goes back to see Samantha, she’s gone. He only starts to get suspicious about all this when he finds another pin in his car. So unless Barnaby snuck into his car at night and rubbed himself all over the seats, the pin in Maverick’s office belonged to Bunny.

It’s sad that as soon as Kotetsu figures something out, he tells Maverick. He calls up Maverick (who is currently being a creepy pedo and living with Barnaby) and tells him that Barnaby must has been in his office…while he wasn’t there. So close yet so far. He tells Maverick that he’s going to Samantha’s house, which pushes the mastermind to make some frightening arrangements. The first thing on his agenda – erase Barnaby’s memory of the partner he is ever so worried about.

Samantha’s house is unlocked, so he just heads inside and looks around for her a bit. He puts out the fire in the fireplace with one of those pokey-sticks (I’m so technical, I know) and then falls asleep staring at photos of Barnaby. I bet he had nice dreams. Unknown to Kotetsu, Maverick has this all set up and decides to kill Samantha and pin the blame on Kotetsu. Who else to suspect that someone with fingerprints on the doorknob and the almighty pokey-stick?

His plans don’t end there. He knows that the heroes would stand up for him, so he calls all of them together along with anyone else involved and works his NEXT magic. He gets them all to forget who Kotetsu is, so that when the broadcast revealing that he’s a wanted murderer airs, they’ll chase him down without a second thought.

However, the broadcast hasn’t aired yet, so Kotetsu is free to waltz around as he pleases. He walks into his workplace like he always does, but Lloyd treats him like a total stranger. Not only that, his passcard doesn’t work anymore and he can’t get past security. No amount of coaxing convinces the security guard that he’s the real Wild Tiger. If anything, things get worse the longer he sticks around. The broadcast Maverick planned all along airs, showing a wanted poster of none other than Kotetsu. The guards point guns at him, so he pulls a Barnaby and uses his NEXT powers to escape. Now everyone is after him, even Barnaby…

Bonus Brainwashing:

Not sure if joking, or just stupid

What, I thought those were supposed to go on your eyes….BEENG GURL IS HARD.

Balnaby and Tigel.

What Kotetsu wishes he woke up to every morning

End Thoughts: Since when did this show become so DARK? Not corny soap opera dark, but legitimately exploring more depressing themes in a serious manner. There’s still that hint of over-the-top flare and a joke every now and then, but I’m still impressed how much this series has evolved. The animation still flits in and out of Derpville every now and then, but the storyline at least is top notch!

I absolutely despise Maverick for how many horrible things he’s done just to keep Hero TV running. He’s just so crafty, it irks me to see every single person fall into his trap so easily. I mean, no one’s going to question a man who’s been so kind to everyone all this time, let alone assume he can SCREW WITH YOUR MIIIINNDDDD. That’s going to be a bitch for the others to figure out. He really is worthy of being a final boss for the show. The only people who aren’t under his beck and call are Kotetsu and Lunatic. As much as he doesn’t like heroes, I’m hoping he stands up to fight this injustice…conveniently saving Kotetsu in the process. Based on the preview screenshot, he seems to be going through the phone records for what I can only assume is Apollon Media. Wouldn’t it benefit him if Hero TV went out of business, anyways? Come on Lunatic, get some screentime and make things right again!

Even if Lunatic does help them, I can’t help but wonder what he could possibly do to set things right. People’s memories have been seriously altered, and there isn’t really any solid evidence to prove that. The only way for memories to resurface seems to be if there’s a contradiction in the facts, such as when Kriem told Barnaby about Jake being busy on the night of the murder. Unless someone finds a huge contradiction, all the heroes will just see Kotetsu as a murderer. I’m hoping that since Kotetsu and Barnaby used to be so close that helping him regain his memories is easier…I can’t stand seeing them fight when they used to be so close TT^TT

While I personally don’t really care much for what Kaede thinks since she’s been distancing herself from her old man over the years, it will probably play at least a medium-sized role in the plot. Finding out that your father killed someone has got to have a huge impact, no matter how estranged you are from that person. It would be awesome if she went and copied someone’s powers and escaped to go find him, but I doubt that would happen. Booo, I wanna see a little kid fly around and go nuts.

Preview:  Kotetsu is still racing around the city to try and avoid all the heroes that are hot on his heels. Barnaby is mad, Kaede is shocked, and Lunatic is…potentially going to help out? Let’s hope Kotetsu doesn’t get caught just yet, although it looks like Blue Rose might have him cornered.

I am doing something important, BUT I MUST BE NONCHALENT ABOUT IT. NONCHALENCE!!!

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.