An amazing collage made of the Friend Rice pictures.
Whenever I do a big project that takes up a lot of my time, I feel the need to “write it off” after I’m done with it. It’s kind of a finalizing action to wrap it up all nicely and move on to other things. I think Friend Rice Event qualifies, since it ended up being way bigger than we expected. You see, there’s something we forgot…
“Do not underestimate anything that involves TIGER & BUNNY.”
We came up with the idea for the event in the middle of the night after watching episode 24. Aki wanted to make fried rice for episode 25 watch even though she had no idea how to cook it, so I said I’d make some too and serve it to Kotetsu and Barnaby and take a picture to post here at Sternbild. Aki wanted to do that too and then we thought it’d be fun if more people would join and send us photos of their fried rice with Tiger & Bunny characters. It really was a total spur of a moment thing that took us less than an hour to draft, make a banner and post. I thought that if we’d get a couple of dozen photos it’d already be awesome. Aki was a bit more ambitious and expected around 50 photos.
I was going to upload the photos and build the gallery only after the time was up, but by Tuesday morning we’d already received over 30 and the submissions were picking up speed. I realized I had to start working on it or it would turn into a mission impossible before we even hit the deadline. (It was a good decision. I’d been uploading and arranging the photos every day, so it only took a few hours after the deadline to get the final batch sorted out. That’s why we could publish the gallery so fast.) Then Japanese fans got interested in the event, too, so I decided we’d take submissions also on Twitter to make it easier for them.
A few people sent in cosplay photos, but we had decided that we wouldn’t accept those – the event was going to be about food and the characters themselves. We should probably have been more clear about this in the post, but since there were so few cosplay submissions, I think the instructions we gave were good as they were. There were a few photos I had to reject – some had food but no characters, some were inappropriate while trying to be funny. All in all, everyone really did their best for the event and it was exciting to see how creative the submissions were.
We received so many emails that we couldn’t respond to them personally. We really wanted to, because so many of you included messages also to me and Aki, telling how much fun you had with the event and cooking the food, picking the screencap to use, setting the table… Some of you even sent photos of yourselves cooking. Thank you, everyone! We’ve read every single message to us and we’re really happy you enjoyed the event so much.
“Expect the unexpected, and unexpected again.”
I know that many fans are following the staff and cast members on Twitter. It has made me see them as people, not just detached names and/or voices on screen – maybe it’s the same with you? Our wish was to show the people behind Tiger & Bunny in some way that we really love the show, and that we appreciate how hard they worked on it, even when they were told to give up. It was amazing to see how many wanted to take part in the event and send in pictures. We knew that getting a reply was a longshot at best, but despite that we wanted to try and reach at least one of the creators of Tiger & Bunny to pass our message and the photos to them.
The response the gallery got when it was published was overwhelmingly positive. It was featured on at least three different otaku news sites in Japan (and I was getting worried we couldn’t endure the amount of traffic we got – roughly 40 times our normal daily pageviews in just 24 hours), but that was just the beginning. Our message was acknowledged by director Satou Keiichi himself, who posted his thanks on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/satokeiichiree/status/115920485153390592
We thought that was all, and we were really happy that the gallery had reached Director Satou. But just like in the lyrics of Orion wo Nazoru it couldn’t possibly end there. You really can’t imagine our surprise in the afternoon when I checked the webstats and saw an incoming link from screenwriter Nishida Masafumi’s blog. It felt totally unreal and I think we cried a little, too, when we read his response and how moved he was by all the food everyone had cooked. He had been worried about Barnaby’s line about fried rice in episode 24, so this must have made the response to it even more touching.
That still wasn’t enough, Executive Producer Ozaki Masayuki also responded on Twitter.
I know some Japanese fans who had been playing with the idea for Tiger & Bunny café, and personally I’m happy and excited that they’ll get to experience it. I hope we’ll get to see some pictures from there! (Anime theme cafés are pretty popular in Japan. Some are limited time events, some are more permanent.)
On September 18th, Executive Producer Ozaki posted on Twitter how Tiger & Bunny has fans all around the world, and how the series connects people despite differences in language and culture. Even if we don’t speak the same language well, we can still communicate, and in a way all of us fans are citizens of Sternbild. The event submissions were on the last stretch at the time Mr. Ozaki posted that update, and to me it felt really accurate and touching. The pictures we received were from all continents, after all. I’m betting I’m not the only one who’s made new friends from other countries thanks to Tiger & Bunny, and I’ve heard of Westerners starting to learn Japanese because of it, and of Japanese people wanting to learn more English. We’re proud of being among the amazing group of people that fans of Tiger & Bunny around the world are.
To everyone who took part in the event, whether it was in spirit or by sending photos: you made this happen. Thank you! And again, thank you!
This is Sternbild 
Oh damn it, now you’re gonna make me tear up as well. I really really enjoyed cooking for this event, picking out the perfect pictures for it, and the response we got was all worth the ridicule my family put me through. They simply don’t understand.
Thank you so much for organizing this for us, and again, thank you!
Thank you, and again thank you for participating!
I admit I was very moved by the response we got for the event, it’d be fun to arrange something again in the future.
I’M CRYING, AND AGAIN, I’M CRYING!
I’ve never, ever been in such a touching, heartwarming and just plain awesome fandom before.
I think I can safely say the show, and the fandom and everyone somehow involved will forever hold a place in my heart.
In any case be sure I’ll be joining any other event you guys may come up with, it was just too awesome, not only to make it (hell, I even finally got the motivation to learn to do ice cream and carrot cake), but also to talk with other people about it and just smile together while doing so, just knowing we’re all doing the same thing, despite being so far apart.
I love the internet, I love this fandom and everyone, I love the show and its staff and I love you both very much!
I second Kuuki’s 「I’M CRYING, AND AGAIN, I’M CRYING!」, especially after seeing VIZ Media’s tweet about Friend Rice just now. (;wwwwww;)
I actually haven’t watched any anime series for years now (just stuck to manga, and even then I read very slowly), but T&B looked so interesting that I just had to come out of my non-watching habits. I’m so glad that I stepped back in with such an awesome series, and better yet, an awesome fandom.
Thank you, everyone, and thank you, This Is Sternbild!
Thank you! We’re actually really surprised how far the news of Friend Rice is spreading. Everything took us by surprise.
Awww Kuuki, thank you and again thank you!
I think there’s something special about Tiger&Bunny that turns even us fans an awesome and moe bunch, just like the staff&cast.
I was thinking about the incredible importance of this event thanks to the response of fans and producers of the series themselves, that approached us and made an integral part of the world of Tiger & bunny. I believe that no anime has ever been able to interact with the fans in the same way. Bunny & Tiger is really a wonderful exception.
I am proud to be part of this community and write about it in this wonderful blog. You guys are great!
Thank you! The community Tiger & Bunny has created is truly exceptional.
Bless this blog.
Thank you for taking part, and thank you again!
I cried when I saw this. I am so sorry I missed it. I make a hella fine fried rice and would dearly love to share it with all the Heroes, and all the wonderful folks here. Kudos to you all.
I’m sorry you missed the event. Was the short time frame for entries the reason, or didn’t the word of it get to you in time?
Wow… This was so touching. Really. I never thought I’d be SO happy to be part of this project! This was really fun to do and amazing to see so many people from around the world doing the same thing! I gotta say I teared up here reading this post! You guys did an amazing job with this website and this event! =)
Thank you very much for taking part to make this event as awesome as it turned out!
Wow, you guys did such an amazing job with this event!
I’m sad that I wasn’t able to participate, but just looking through the gallery and seeing everyone’s submissions was a really moving experience. The warm response from the creators was just so amazing~ ;w; I hope that they can sense the love that the fans who participated put into their entries!
Thank you, and again thank you! I’m sorry that you couldn’t take part, was it because of the short time frame for the entries?
Agreed, great job with the event, and now I regret not participating. I’m super happy that it was received by the staff and that they responded in a way. 😀 I wish I could’ve follow their Twitters during the series but I don’t know Japanese (really wish I had been more strict with myself in studying it…). It helped that you would sometimes share tidbits though, so thanks!
In fact, while I’m at it, THANKS, AND THANKS AGAIN for such a great blog! Half the reason I fell so hard for T&B was because of your analyses on the episodes, and it made it even better. So thanks!
Thank you, and again thank you very much! We’ll be doing our best here at This is Sternbild while waiting for the continuation.
you guysss… you make this simply more awesome & my eyes are brimming with tears now~~~ I have to confess that Tiger & Bunny is the first anime I ever follow up to date of the airing & & the responses, the warmth of the community makes my heart melt.
T&B is not just an anime, but a connector of fans from all over the world
*sniffle*
The community Tiger&Bunny created around it is something else, I’ve never been in so accepting, friendly and unified group of people before. Thank you for participating, and thank you again!
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