There’s a feature on Tiger & Bunny in the new issue of PASH! Some information from it has started to appear. I’ll update more if/when I find it.
- During the early stages of development there was an idea to kill Rock Bison in action.
- During the planning stage Barnaby had teleportation powers, while Kotetsu had memory manipulation.
- Matsui wants to see Barnaby cook fried rice. Girls in swimsuits are would be nice too.
- Jake has two powers, but only glows when using his barriers. Mind-reading is an automatic process of receiving, so the glow doesn’t activate, unlike when using active abilities.
- There are many questions about whether some other supernatural phenomena other than the usual NEXT powers exist in their world. Mind-reading could be one of them.
- NEXT powers are poorly understood. Their origin is unknown, they don’t seem to be genetic and there are no solid rules as far as their manifestations are concerned.
- The story was considerably darker during the initial planning stage.
- Matsui (about the story from episode 25 onwards): Barnaby is slightly tsun (it’s his nature), but they understand and trust each other so thoroughly that sometimes words aren’t even needed.
- There was a proposition about making Kotetsu the one who scarred Lunatic (the idea was that they had some kind of a confrontation in the past).
- Hirata sighs that after mere 6 months he lost his 10 year long reputation as the “pirate seiyuu” and has become the “ojisan seiyuu”. Morita on the other hand is now known for tsunderes and glasses.
This is just my opinion, but if they had gone with the teleportation and memory manipulation powers they had in mind first, I think T&B would have turned out a completely different series. As for the story being darker, we grew so attached to the characters because the 1st cour was light-hearted. If there had been the possibility that someone would have died then, I at least would have avoided attachment. (I seem to end up with my favourite characters always dying.)
Morita probably won’t shake off his years as Ichigo that easily, but to me he will forever be Barnaby. He’s done other great roles (my other favourite of his is Rail Tracer from Baccano!) but I think Barnaby is his best performance up to date.
(Also, Matsui should see to that fried rice scene becoming a reality. We need it.)
This is Sternbild 
I don’t care, for me Hirata will always be the (moe) pirate ojisan! (Because Jack Sparrow, that’s where I heard him first ^^)
Still, I was convinced from the start that someone would die during the last episode (I have that curse too) so I’m glad it didn’t become as dark as it should have because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have loved everyone the way I do if someone died in the first episodes. I would have spent most of the episodes scared instead of going from sadness to happiness to being scared and so on
“During the early stages of development there was an idea to kill Rock Bison in action.”
LOL, some people (including me) thought Origami Cyclone would be the first to go. Too predictable, huh?
I’m so glad they didn’t kill off Bison. I agree that the reason people got so attached to the characters is because of the light-heartedness of the the 1st cour. Personally I’m a sap for ‘happily-ever-after’ type endings so I’m happy they didn’t make the story darker like they had originally planned to.
I find it interesting how they say that NEXT powers don’t seem to be genetic. I’d assumed there was something genetic about it because of both Kaede and Yuri developing NEXT powers. Although I guess their powers are different from their fathers’, but surely it’s not just pure coincidence?
I really want to see Barnaby cook fried rice too! ^_^ I’d love to know whether he ever did end up cooking fried rice for Kotetsu.
Morita was Keiji from Sengoku Basara for me before T&B happened (well, I don’t watch Bleach). He’s really crazy and loud (his character is crazy and loud anyway) during Basara’s seiyuu events, which is the totally opposite of Barnaby. But he did really well as Barnaby, and his voicing is part of the reason why Barnaby is my favorite character. And yes, Morita will be now be known for tsunderes and glassess to me XD XD XD
Barnaby cooking fried rice hnnnnggg~~~~ I want to see his poison cooking in action!!!
As I’ve understood, Keiji’s character is closest to Morita’s own personality. Barnaby must have been a huge change for him, but you can tell he loves the character now even though he was reluctant at first.
“Poison cooking”? Oh please, Barnaby will go for perfection, especially with that fried rice.
Actually, I would love to see Barnaby in a non-life-or-death situation where things are out of control – like say… cooking – just to see how he handles it.
Getting back on topic, it’s really hard trying to envision what the series MIGHT have been like after reading this. I’m really REALLY glad they went with the more optimistic tone (something that’s missing in a lot of comics as it is). The Kotetsu we know with mind-altering powers just doesn’t sit right.
I’m glad Antonio got a reprieve. Here’s hoping he gets a featured episode next season.
Morita loves the character so much his new take on Ichigo in the recent Bleach season feels more like Barnaby (calm and introspective on the outside, a boiling lava of emotion on the inside) than the usual hotblooded shonen protagonist.
Really? I haven’t watched Bleach in a long long time, I got fed up with the story constantly bouncing between filler and the Hueco Mundo arc. Tho I did watch Hell Verse, but I think it was recorded before Tiger&Bunny, he sounded the usual Ichigo in it.
as mentioned elsewhere on the net, ‘Being Bison is suffering…’
i hope Antonio gets more love and an episode devoted to him in Season 2. same goes for Nathan. i’d like to see the how-he-met-Kotetsu scene acted out, complete with punk personas.
completely agree that the show wouldn’t have been as popular if it were so dark; the character likeability and light-heartedness were the things that hooked me in. watching everyone you love go through hell later on just made all the suffering in the second half that much more intense.
personally, i’m banking on a Season 2: with the way this series is printing its own cash, it’d be crazy if they didn’t have one. we can only hold out that it’s just as good – and that we get our requisite Fried Rice scene!