Tiger & Bunny – 25 [END]
Looks like you’re about to be *puts on glasses* deMOLEished. YEAAAAHHHH
This is the last show of the Fall I’m blogging, so I’ll be twiddling my thumbs for a while in wait of the new series. By twiddling my thumbs, I mean doing homework and training at the dojo and actual non-anime things. But this is just the beginning of the post, why am I thinking of the end already? It’s totally not because I write the introduction last and the end thoughts first or anything. <_<
The danger is far from over. Kotetsu and Barnaby took out the android last episode after a long struggle, but Maverick has a whole army of them ready to fight. The heroes do their best to fend off the superpowered androids, but if they couldn’t take down one, it’s quite obvious they won’t be able to take down a whole slew of them. Before long, they’re all herded to one spot and held at gunpoint. Everyone just waits for their imminent death with gritted teeth and their eyes squeezed shut.
As if the entire cast of the show would be blown to bits at the beginning of the finale. Just moments before the guns start firing, Saito successfully activates the safety mode. Pissed off, Maverick manages to outrun the heroes and get to the control room so he can reboot the power system and get his precious androids back online. Along the way, his robot-making assistant gets pushed so that he’s dangling from Maverick’s leg out of the building. Naturally, Maverick throws him off and continues on his merry way to the control room.
Moral of the story: racists get kicked out of buildings
The heroes corner him and tell him to just give up. Maverick is still convinced he has the upper hand though, as the higher-ups will see his death and immediately blame the heroes for being murderous rebels. Luckily, Agnes has been filming the whole thing as a live broadcast, so Maverick’s only trump card has been burned. Agnes actually DID have her memories return when Kaede initially flashed her little blue ball of revelations, she just decided to play it cool in case Maverick found out. Thank goodness for Hero TV!
Maverick’s second ability must be to disappear, because he suddenly vanishes without a trace and then re-appears with Kaede at gunpoint. Things look bad until we remember that Kaede would never be killed. While we’re at it, Kotetsu would never be killed in a show like Tiger & Bunny, so let’s bring him back too and have him save Kaede! Hugs all around for Kotetsu as everyone (including myself) breathes a sigh of relief. With nowhere to run, Maverick erases all of his memories and is reduced to a drooling, catatonic mess.
With the main criminal finally behind bars, the heroes can breathe easy. Now is a good a time as any for Kotetsu to properly announce his retirement to everyone. Surprisingly, Barnaby also announces his retirement. He wouldn’t want to continue being a hero without Kotetsu, so he spends the next year raising Kaede with Kotetsu….Hey, it’s not like they actually told us what he did in that year, IT COULD BE ANYTHING.
“Kotetsu, I refuse to look at you until you put a shirt on…”
One year later and all the heroes are still doing their job, apprehending criminals and whatnot. Even Lunatic is still killing criminals, Maverick in particular. Before Maverick is transported to jail, Lunatic kills him with his own hands as punishment for what he did. Took you long enough. Barnaby visits his parent’s grave with flowers, and realizes that the password for safety mode is the date he was born. He cries in the snow, and then the episode moves on.
Kotetsu becomes a hero again. He’s in the B league with the derpy heroes though, and is called Wild Tiger 1 minute since he can only activate his powers for 60 seconds. He accidentally falls through a glass roof, and is caught by Barnaby in his power suit. How he knew Kotetsu was going back to being a hero immediately is beyond me, but all that matters at this point is the sweet, sweet princess carrying. Oh, and Ouroboros is still out there, but WHATEVER.
Bonus Screenshots:
Mavederp
Yes! Getting super fat and becoming a sumo wrestler is gonna make me SUPER popular with the ladies! Logic!
1 second to awesome.
Oh no, we’re losing male viewers! Do something! Ah, much better.
End Thoughts: All 3 series I’ve been blogging this season finished off with a happy ending. That’s…a first. Usually I have to write about wtf endings (Panty and Stocking) or cliffhanger endings (Highschool of the Dead). Now I can complain about forcing fluffy endings on the viewer as well! Let’s be honest, the show suddenly dropped any serious momentum it had when Kotetsu revived. Sunrise decided that instead of pulling off risky moves such as killing Kotetsu or having the two heroes retire, they would go back on their word and make things continue as per usual.
Reviving Kotetsu, okay, I’m not too mad because I love the guy and having him come back to life is nice. But the retiring and then UN-retiring was a stupid move. Why bother retiring them in the first place? Doesn’t anyone else see an issue with Kotetsu stubbornly continuing his job instead of raising his daughter and helping her control her powers? Or how badass it would have been if Barnaby retired, went to get a degree in robotics, and started developing power suits with Saito? Barnaby and Kotetsu have arguably already fully developed as characters and partners, and these sorts of endings would open the doors for a NEW duo to step in if they did season 2. Kotetsu and Barnaby could still make appearances, but I don’t see what else they could possibly do with Kotetsu and Barnaby any more as the main characters. It just wouldn’t be the same now that they’re practically a married couple now.
I’m talking as if there is a second season despite it not being official, because you can tell it’s what Sunrise wants. Tiger & Bunny has made them a lot of money (through the ads and DVD sales) so of course they’d want to keep it going. The ending feels like it was specifically set up so that we can have another 25 episodes of Kotetsu and Barnaby being all buddy-buddy. It feels like a cop-out that we’re getting this sort of anti-climactic ending, and I feel like if they weren’t trying to gear for a second season, we’d have gotten a better finale. If this wasn’t for a second season and is just Sunrise’s idea of a cool ending then….Well, I don’t know what to think. The ending was so cheesy it hurt.
If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m not a fan of the finale. The only thing I can praise is the wicked fight between the heroes and all the androids. That was pure badass. I also liked the mini epilogue of the other heroes as they spent their Christmas one year later doing various things that showed their slight growth as characters. Ivan visited his friend in jail, while Karina browsed books on how to win over a single dad (I admit it…I loled). It was sweet and fluffy, but at least it made sense. Kotetsu coming back as a 1 minute hero was…come on, he’s going to be useless. It’s going to be Barnaby dragging him around like a rag doll. =.=
I was never meant to blog Tiger & Bunny. It wasn’t even on my list of anime I was asking to blog. Instead, I had picked Toriko of all things. I quickly found a way out of my dilemma (because blogging Toriko is like a life crisis waiting to happen) when I heard that no one else wanted T&B either. I had watched episode 1, liked it, and made the switch. Who would have thought that corny superheroes with ads plastered everywhere would turn into GOOD corny commercialism with ads plastered everyone? It’s one of those shows with an unmistakable charm that just reels you in, surprising you every now and then with a glimpse of something deeper than just a one shot episode. The over-dramatic scenes are just something you get used to, and even begin to like. Tiger & Bunny is like the bumblebee of anime: by no means should it be able to fly, and yet it simply can. This ranks up there as one of my favourite shows to blog about (and fangirl over) so every week has been a sheer joy to rant about. Thanks for reading my posts (or post, in the event that you skipped every single one of my posts and read ONLY THIS ONE) and commenting (unless you didn’t, which means one less ‘thank you’ for you).
Tiger & Bunny, over and out!
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.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 199 comments
There’s going to be the second season fer sure. They have an evil organisation to defeat after all.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It’s like a 99.9% chance, I just didn’t want to jump the gun and say it’s an 100% chance XD With Ouroboros still out and about, yeah, second season looks hella likely.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
Omg so happy, Sunrise actually did something right this season! Unlike Sacred Seven and that thing called Gundam Age in Fall. I’m gonna miss Kotetsu and Barnaby. Thanks for your awesome blogging Overcooled *claps for you!*
And technically it was the awesome Daddy ending ^_^
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I heard the Sacred Seven ending was rubbish…:/ That’s kind of sad. Awww Kitty, you’re too kind ;w; *bows*
No one can ever convince me that it WASN’T the daddy ending. WOOO IMAGINATION.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
Hurray for Agnes!
For the most part I’ld have to agree with you that a second season will probably bring the franchise down. The really cool ideas (notably Kotetsu’s very human struggles as a single dad, and aging hero) have already been played. I doubt Sunrise will be brave enough to do something bold like your suggestions.
Ah, well. I enjoyed watching T&B. It was a very good combination of comedy and action, and Wild Tiger is a character to be remembered.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I love how useful Agnes became at the end. That was an awesome moment.
Sunrise isn’t very daring, I doubt they’d use anything even remotely risky. Season 2 will probably be a bit of an eyesore, but I’ll watch it anyways. Afterall, I loved the original Tiger & Bunny a huge amount, especially watching Kotetsu struggle through life as a perpetual underdog. He’s going down as one of my favourite characters of the season.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Woooo hoooooo Kotetsu lives! I agree with you OC it would be soooooooo terrible to see him actually die from that blast! I like him way to much to just kill him off.
LOL Mavederp indeed he was like FINE! Brain freeze self, I liked how he was all oh I didn’t do anything wrong! LOL Try kidnapping? and possible world take over? Sure you didn’t do anything….But at least lunatic got the final kill! I was like HA! THANKS!
Great series happy to see something happening in the future with this series, I am really happy I decided to pick it up I think I will show this series to my dad once they get a English dub cast. He does like super heroes and comics so I think this will work out more than us watching HoTD together…
Now to get cracking on drawing those suits! I always wanted to try and draw them haha.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yeah, totally. Stupid Mavederp trying to say the ends justify the means. Uh, no. Doesn’t work like that, buddy. He deserved getting burnt to a crisp by Lunatic. XD
A lot of people dropped it right away, but it was worth sticking around for, right? My mom watched a couple of episodes and seemed to like it too (she loves action). Waiting for the dub is smart for parents who hate those darned subtitles. XD
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ahahah yes! Dub works great to get new people into anime, I recently showed my sister Angel beats and Clannad AS and Baka test! That dub had me laughing so hard xD
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 305 comments
As much as I know it was lame to make Kotetsu a hero again just for the sake of having a second season….I’m secretly a little excited for it anyway. XD I just can’t help it.
It would have been nice to make Kaede the protagonist instead though, but I doubt they’d ever do that.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’ll definitely watch it, but I’m going to have to talk down myself so I don’t expect too much lol. I would have liked Kaede as the new protagonist too but ughhh..Sunrise.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
I actually loved all the cheese, omg. Mostly just because T&B was already full of it, and it wasn’t bad cheese, it was
yummywell done cheese XDIf there is a second season, which seems so, they’ll have to bring Kotetsu back into the game somehow. But I feel like Kotetsu wouldn’t have gone home either way. He promised his wife to be what he is and never give up until he’s forced to. He might even pull a Batman and inspire those without NEXT powers to be heros too. That would be interesting too.
Also, big ups to Lunatic for giving frog face what for, my being contains so much rage towards the old douche D<
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Sometimes I like it, sometimes it’s a bit too much. It depends.
He did promise his wife, but what the hell is he going to do when he’s 80? <_< There's a limit to reason here. I hope he goes all Batman though with special gadgets and more of that sexy martial arts fighting. Mmmm hmmm.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Looks like it’s time for me to d/l and watch. Also looks like you have a nice little break, OC. Enjoy! Surely you’ll be playing Disgaea more.
As you said in your opening (I’ve skipped all other stuff), I’ve had the last two episodes spoiled for me. It’s a shame that we have to put a twitter ban on ourselves when something comes out, but I guess it’s just up to us to no when to avoid it.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
I can sympathize with you. I’ve had many books, TV shows and animes spoiled because some people just don’t care about the world around them. Usually when popular books come out or animes start to wrap up I go on a social network hiatus. I assure you, even with the last two episodes spoiled you will most undoubtedly enjoy Tiger & Bunny ^_^
OverCooled you play Disgaea <—- I do to!! Love it!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
have a nice break = do more homework. LOL. But I will be playing more Disgaea 4 whenever I get the chance. YES, ANOTHER DISGAEA FAN!!! *high five* Fun little metaleak for you, I’ll be posting my review in a few days.
Yeah, getting spoiled on twitter can’t be helped. :/ The internet is what it is. Ah well. Catch up faster, Jrow! Then again, I have yet to watch the latest Penguindrum…Hmmm.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 99 comments
Bah. Without new anime to distract me, I’ve been a bit depressed over how it all ended (and really depressed at the thought the a 600-minute trainwreck coming our way).
Come to think of it, I haven’t been happy with any of the endings this year, except for those of the pretentious dramas. Madoka, Ano Hana, Steins;Gate, Star Driver, [C], Fractale & Sacred Seven (though they sucked to begin with), now Tiger & Bunny… I had major nitpicks with all of them. And at the rate things are going, I’m not too optimistic for Hanasaku Iroha or Ao no Exorcist either. 🙁
Whups, OT. Anyhow, I felt really lucky I got to blog T&B at the same time as you! It was always refreshing to check out what you had to say. Hope you get in a well-deserved break before the next crop of shows! 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I know, I’ve never been this disappointed over a Tiger & Bunny episode D:
It’s hard to have a satisfying ending, I can only name a handful of anime that have really good endings. It’s like they panic at the end and just go mental.
Me too, I loved reading your posts! I fell into despair whenever you didn’t post lol. I wanna see what you’re blogging in the next season!
POWUH: iLurker with 14 comments
the ending feel flat. even so i always reminded myself, this is why i follow TnB at the beginning, to have fun. but seriously, i feel like want to smack sunrise face at pixiv and show them how fans seems to be more imaginative with the ending rather than them, the creator.
i don’t hate the ending, i just thought that they could do more climax and still unexpected ending like i was hope.
i don’t mind if they break our heart with kotetsu being coma or whatever (as long as he still alive), yes i would be sad and rant, but i would vigorously forever committed at upcoming season2, for curious (?). because if the season 2 has confirmed, it would give this show a chance to new development in its character
and really hoping they don’t add new character for HERO just for the advertisement purpose, god forbid, no. selling is okay, get benefit is okay, just don’t get overboard with it ^^;
btw another topless kotetsu always effective with fans, sunrise. keep a note for it lol
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The ending was…weird. It sort of trailed off at the end and tried desperately hard to extend things with the whole “1 minute” thing. They were thinking more about keeping things open for more stuff (like a movie, haha) than making it genuinely awesome. Ah well, at least Kotetsu didn’t die. That would’ve been too much to take.
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
I have just finished the series yesterday.
I was in shock with episode 24 finale and very hysteric when I saw Kotetsu rise again XD I’m agree with evryone here that Kotetsu is the very soul of the show and it would be awful let him die on episode 24.
Also I agree that the upcoming second season could be a bad move. Maybe for that reason there will be movies… but the most remarkable thing about the show (besides Kotetsu) was the continuos surprises in the plot.
I’m talking by myself, but I never thought of Maverick as the final enemy; Bunny forced to shoot Kotetsu let me in shock; Yuri revealed as son of you-know-who let speechless… And I’m sure everyone find a lot of unexpected scenes that did not expect to find.
I can only hope now the movies be directed and written for Sato and Nishida. I really wait for the upcoming surprises 😀
PD. Sorry for my bad english
PD2. Was great to read your reviews 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’m glad people are still watching Tiger & Bunny, even after it’s done airing. It’s such a fun series, and Kotetsu is just a wonderful character. It makes me sad just remembering that he ALMOST died, heh.
I have no idea how the movies will turn out, but I can only hope they’re not cheap things made just to fatten up their wallets. I have high hopes though!
Thanks for commenting by the way, I see it’s your FIRST COMMEEENNNTTT! Which means I get to point that out and make a big deal out of it!
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
Hahaha! Thanks XD
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
Just finished the series, and felt very similarly to many of you on the whole thing. The show itself started off kind of cool but looked like it would be very overdone, then it turned into an action-superhero thriller with a large dose of drama, and became pretty good. I actually had to look up the status of a manga as many things seemed… unfinished? I guess? Lunatic just seemed to be there, Legend being his father seemed to just be there, but then… That mystery of “what else is there?” Really adds some imagination and flavor to it as well. Sometime you want to be told what is between A and C, and other times you want to imagine it as being some weird shape or symbol.
However, on Kotetsu, I think where he is now is perfect for him. I can very easily see him being something of a moral figure, mentor, and a person everyone aspires to be. He’s no longer go this identity hidden really, and even with his powers fading he’s staying a moral upright guy, with a sense of justice and action. He’s known for being derpy with his powers, and so strong willed that even with broken ribs, he won’t quit fighting to protect and aid others. THAT’S a hero. He embodies that.
On season 2 beliefs, I’m sure it will come out, and one of 2 things will happen. We’ll see Kotetsu become an old man that just hangs out and has trained his NEXT power or had it evolve into something new, and he wasn’t really losing it. They kind of hinted at this possibility is why I mention it, what with the backstage thief and all, but one theory I had was that his powers are becoming more concentrated. I can see him entering some type of “God-o Mod-o” for 1 minute or 10 seconds in the second season as sort of a “Plot device savior”. He moves so fast and has such strength in muscles, hearing, mental processes, sight, everything, that he can do nearly anything as just that 10 seconds feels like 10 minutes to him.
The other possibility was that Tiger will become Tigra or Tigergirl, and Kaede will fill the Roll of Megaman (harhar), being nothing too special on her own, but taking powers from those she comes in contact with, now fighting alongside Barnaby to follow her dad’s sense of Justice.
Alternatively… maybe the B Team starts catching a lot of flak for botching a job and everybody gets all “Watchen” on the NEXTs going around. Suddenly Ourobouros step in and say “Down with NEXTs! Here’s how!” while hiding their powers and Kotetsu is now human, was a NEXT, still fights for justice, inspiration, yadayadayada.
All said and done, loved this review! Though I am curious how you may have changed things about the end to make it more attractive to you?
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I did not expect anything coming into this show at all, but it really was a fun ride in the end. It’s a shame they left so many threads hanging (especially Lunatic!) but I suppose once they realized the main draw was the KotetsuxBarnaby dynamic they decided to focus on it and ignore everything else.
I’m okay with Kotetsu being in the hero league now, although I would prefer if he had no powers and just supported the heroes however he could. Like a sort of “You can help people even without powers” kind of thing. Anyways, this was a nice compromise, and I really hope if they do a season 2 that it continues from where season 1 left off. I couldn’t handle focusing on a new set of heroes and ignoring Barnaby and Kotetsu! They’re too perfect! …although I wouldn’t mind Kaede getting a side role as a heroine.
Hmm, interesting thought about him having less time but being more powerful. I’m fuzzy on the details since I watched this so long ago, but it certainly sounds possible. I remember when his powers suddenly became unstable and he couldn’t even control them because he was so insanely strong.
Anyways, nice to still see people enjoying T&B after all this time! 😀 Thanks for taking the time to comment. To be honest, all I remember about the ending is that I was so angry they made me confused over whether Kotetsu died or not. However, I do feel like my opinion of the series got even better as time passed because I remember all the lovely KotetsuxBarnaby moments and forget all the loose threads.