Hero TV Fan vol. 2 came out on 11/16, Official Hero Book 2 on 11/18. There’s not much information available yet, but finally enough to warrant a post. I don’t think there’ll be anything revolutionary in these books since Hero Gossips was pretty definitive (but I’ll review them anyway once I get my copies hopefully next week). I’m including also some interesting stuff from Hero Awards 2011 pamphlet. There are some sample photos from Official Hero Book 2 here.
Again, thanks to translatorbros for translating.
Mixed stuff (not sure of which is from where):
- The hospital Tomoe was in is located in Sternbild.
- One of the residents of Oriental Town is a magnetic NEXT.
- According to Nishida, Maverick isn’t a completely wicked man.
- (partially paraphrased) Maverick was affectionate with Barnaby, in his own way. Things like cooking for him and such in private continued for many years.
- (partially paraphrased) In episode 23, Barnaby’s memory did not return completely at once. At first he was roughly in his episode 2 state.
- About Barnaby: The only people with whom he ever interacts without pretense and also shows his brittle aspects are his trusted family and his precious partner [大切な相手].
From Official Hero Book 2:
- Satou: I will think about the continuation as well, if such comes. There are things I would like to explore, such as the characters’ personalities and daily life.
From Hero Awards pamphlet:
- About Barnaby’s slightly sparkling eyes scene from episode 9:
“Touched by the gentleness behind Kotetsu’s persuasion, Barnaby shows a smile.” - About that odd lighting in the end of episode 24 and Kotetsu’s expression:
“Perhaps due to the feelings of relief and safety brought by his partner’s embrace, his expression remained eternally serene.” - About Barnaby in the future:
“Hero work with Kotetsu is more preferable than pursuing romantic affairs.” - A note about Barnaby’s decision to quit in episode 25:
“Kotetsu-san and I are one in body and soul. I believe we will come back one day.” - Nishida is involved with the movies’ production.
- About T&B in the future:
“The duos that came after them hate being compared to the legendary pair Tiger & Bunny.” - About SANDY BEACH:
“The song doesn’t really depict the relationship between Tiger & Barnaby and Blue Rose. It’s a marketing collaboration.” - Keith is the current King of Heroes.
- “Barnaby is still young and he’s a former KOH. Somebody of his caliber cannot stay in the second league very long and sooner or later he will be forced to advance to the first league. But once that happens, what is Kotetsu, who has a mere one minute, going to do… Their struggle to stay and live together might be one of the things we would like to show.”
Information from the new books (not sure which bit is from where):
- Kriem’s hat originally belonged to Jake but he gave it to her.
- Barnaby ended up in the orphanage right after his family’s death.
- H-01 abilities resemble unlimited Hundred Power.
- Barnaby’s cellphone is of a different model than the phones that Apollon normally issues.
- Maverick started showing the Hero activities live in order to increase awareness about the existence of NEXTs.
- “A certain organization” that Maverick mentioned is indeed Ouroboros.
- Ben and Saitou apparently work as a team in Apollon Media.
- T&B’s Double Chaser sunk underwater.
- Chopman’s (note: he’s one of the 2nd League heroes) special technique is karate chop.
- Oriental Town can be reached from Sternbild in a few hours by train.
- The power that Kaede exhibited in episode 17 was the Hundred Power.
Relationship stuff from Hero TV Fan vol. 2 (page 17):
One-sided fleeting feelings!?
Case: Agnes ← Rock Bison ← Fire Emblem
Nothing goes as one would like it and there’s plenty of jealousy, but that’s what makes romantic affairs interesting. The romantic situation of this trio is kind of complicated… But maybe the main cause for this complexity is Fire Emblem?
The way out of this one-way street of love cannot be seen. Poor trio, where does the human passion lead…?
- Antonio: is interested in Agnes
- Agnes: loves ratings
- Nathan: loves Bison’s butt
Nobody really talks about it, but what is Barnaby-san’s romantic situation like?
Surrounded by Heroes crushing all over the place, the reigning ranking champion stands apart from rumors. Let’s indulge in some wild speculation of why he has no interest in romantic affairs!
- Working with Kotetsu is preferable to pursuing romantic affairs.
His relationship with his partner Kotetsu is also great. Is he enjoying his job more than romances!? - As he’s just started living his own life, romances are yet to come?
Until now he had dedicated everything to his life of revenge. As for the future… - Maverick’s cooking is too delicious!?
Maverick makes the best food. Does he miss the taste of home-cooked food!?
The idol Hero has unrequited feelings for a single father!?
Case: Blue Rose → Wild Tiger
For some reason, the ultra popular Idol Hero Blue Rose, who is actually just a high-school girl, has fallen for Wild Tiger, a.k.a Kotetsu Kaburagi. What is she seeing in that old and busted middle aged man… Look girl, we don’t mean to be rude but forget about Kotetsu and find yourself a better man!
- Karina is bothered by Kotetsu’s absence when he is on vacation. Is that him on the phone!?
- Crying over Kotetsu being alive. She isn’t even aware that she’s clinging to him…
The reason for the former KOH’s ranking slump is infatuation!?
Case: Sky High → Six
After he had his throne easily taken from him by the smoothly sailing duo Tiger & Barnaby, Keith Goodman a.k.a Sky High seemed to fall into a slump. Recently he has been showing signs of getting back to form though, and it seems that a mysterious woman has something to do with it all… Who is that woman!?
A mysterious doll-like woman with noble features. Not a talkative type.
Mustering the courage, he decides to confess. And the result is..!?
- Keith → Six: infatuation
- Rotwang → Six: production
Other stuff from Hero TV Fan vol. 2
- Barnaby’s lashing out with words in episode 19 was an emotional reaction, not calculated.
- “Barnaby was a Hero in order to take his revenge and to repay Maverick. And when Kotetsu, who has become his ideal Hero, quit, Barnaby quit as well.”
- Barnaby doesn’t object to being called Bunny now.
- Nothing remains of the Brooks’ mansion anymore.
- “The elite hero, who in private is a young man with a heart of glass. Normally brimming with easy confidence, Barnaby never shows his weakness to people. But because of how unparalleled he is, even subtle things can wound him, which creates a brittle aspect of his nature. The only people who can ever see it though and with whom he interacts without pretense are his trusted family and his special someone.”
- About Kotetsu: “The time-limit for his powers has shortened to a mere one minute, but the spirit of justice residing in his heart is as strong as ever. Known now as a “one-minute hero of justice” in the Hero world, he has bloomed a second time, with his partner Barnaby of course by his side.”
- Barnaby about Kotetsu: “He might be clumsy and reckless, but he always does his job with pride and absolute dedication.”
- More about Kotetsu: “Deep in his breast is engraved the gallant figure of the great hero, Mr. Legend. No matter how difficult this occupation gets and what sort of a person Legend truly was, this image will never disappear.”
- Kotetsu is proud of his family and cherishes them considerably.
A couple of notes from various episodes:
Episode 16
- (Barnaby at the banquet) Kotetsu is making himself scarce and that worries Barnaby.
- Expressing his gratitude for all kinds of assistance Kotetsu has provided. Considering how sharp and cross he seemed at the beginning, such humility is almost unthinkable.
- Yuri’s powers activated for the first time during that confrontation with Legend.
Episode 17
- Kaede really hates that Kotetsu treats her like a child.
- Muramasa is not married, he lives with his mother and Kaede.
- Barnaby’s words on TV bring back memories of Tomoe, who said the same thing on her deathbed.
- There are many kinds of heroes, and being one for your family is also one of them.
Episode 18
- Gradually Barnaby started seeing only himself in his repeating traumatic flashbacks.
- Kriem was shaved in order to render her unable to use her powers.
Episode 19
- Kotetsu dragged Barnaby out to help him remember, but it was also an attempt to cheer him up and to take his mind off things.
- Kotetsu’s repeated avoidance is what enraged Kaede.
- Anxiety and insomnia were responsible for Barnaby’s collapse.
- Kotetsu said “I’m really quitting” in order to pacify Kaede (he himself indented to postpone his retirement), but Barnaby ended up overhearing that.
- That Barnaby’s greatest enemy was a man whom he thought he owed his life to was a shock by itself, but finding himself drugged and having even the control of his own body taken from him…
- (Nishida’s comment) Had Kotetsu simply told him the real reasons, Barnaby would have definitely accepted it then.
Episode 20
- Nishida’s comment about Kotetsu’s and Maverick’s direct conversation: “Depicting the reactions of them both is something that we put a lot of thought into. As pretty much everybody who appear in T&B, Maverick is not wholly clear-cut character and he is not a totally wicked man. Talking to Kotetsu of all people disturbed him slightly, and we wanted to show that strange reaction.”
- (About Kotetsu’s state in Maverick’s office) Feeling worthless after he made Barnaby angry with him, Kotetsu ends up revealing more than he should…
About the production process:
- The first designs of Sternbild were drawn in 2008 and it was supposed to resemble Tokyo; the three layered city and the animal and goddess motifs were there since the beginning.
- The goddess statue was intentionally made prominent at many points.
This is Sternbild 
Thanks for the translations
According to Nishida, Maverick isn’t a completely wicked man.
(partially paraphrased) Maverick was affectionate with Barnaby, in his own way. Things like cooking for him and such in private continued for many years.
I am not sure if I can accept this. After the way he treated Barnaby after he found out I just don’t see the affectionate side. I can only see that he was using him.
However the rest of the Kotetsu & Barnaby stuff made me squee so much. They are totally killing this fangirl here. lol
“Barnaby is still young and he’s a former KOH. Somebody of his caliber cannot stay in the second league very long and sooner or later he will be forced to advance to the first league
I guess I didn’t consider that Barnaby was in the second league. I knew Kotetsu was but I thought as soon as they teamed up again I assumed they would both be in the first league again and they would have to make that work with Kotetsu’s power limit. Interesting that Barnaby purposely stayed in the 2nd league to be with Kotetsu, actually that’s even sweeter than what I thought.
One could argue that Maverick maybe had good intentions when starting HeroTV, considering that NEXTs are now more accepted thanks to that show.
That would be my argument, too.
It’s not so much that I think he didn’t initially have good intentions with the HERO TV concept but I just can’t see any real affection for Barnaby. It seems to me he only saw Barnaby as a means to further HERO TV. Like he saw Barnaby as more of a concept (a hero) than a human.
As soon as he had the robots that could replace the heroes he seems to not hesitate to get rid of Barnaby once he had his memories back.
^w^ too happy for thinking (just sooo swweeet) and thank you very much *3*
Aww Bunny. ❤ That's all I can say, really. haha
Although something I'm interested in is the bit about Ben and Saito working as a team. I'd like to know exactly how that works seeing as their areas of expertise are very different. I mean, Ben had no idea what Saito was doing during the last couple of episodes. XD
I really love reading all these little pieces of background info. If my Japanese was better I'd buy the books for myself. Thank you for compiling all these translations! ^_^
in light of Ep. 25, i see this team-up with Ben as manager to the hero(s) under his contract, and Saito continuing to be the technical genius he is.
i suspect the visitor Ben had in Ep. 25, after signing the papers with Lloyds, was Barnaby informing him of wanting back in in hero business (to be with Kotetsu again).
Yep, Barnaby is just too cute. (Finally starting to behave like his nickname implies LOL) He really needs someone to devote himself to, doesn’t he? First his parents, then Marverick…and now Kotetsu. He’s like a puppy or something XD
Sweet as though it is, it’s kinda dangerous (for him) to be so devoted; look what happened to him because of his devotion to his parents — he nearly got himself killed! Not to mention he’s so fragile emotionally precisely because he could never get over their deaths…
The more and more info that comes out, the more and more get certain that those two are together… Or atleast will be in the future…
*Stares at differnt league thing.*
Hello fanfics ideas, my name is Kayla, nice to meet you.
“Their struggle to stay and live together might be one of the things we would like to show.”
I’m dying from the inside :’DDD
Suddenly. I want to cook things for Bunny.
…. but DOUSHITE they want Barnaby in a love affair???? lol
He has got his precious partner. Isn’t???
And then… Antonio involved with Agnes is hilarious… I think he has to shave his hairs before pretending a meeting with the Iron Lady… lol
Well, imo they’re going overboard with the BL subtext. This does not bode well for the movies (and the 2nd season, should there be one); once a show’s creators start to make such blatantly obvious attempts at drawing in the yaoi fangirls, it’s certain that they’ve got romances (with women) lined up to follow soon after. This is a seinen/shounen series after all. [If you want proof, just look at Kuroshitsuji (the manga, I dunno about the anime) — waaaay too much fake BL, but we all know it’s his cousin Ciel’s going to end up with]
Personally, I’d prefer T&B to just take the “friends and partners forever” aspect than this kind of glaringly obvious money-making pretext. I’m a bromance fan anyway 🙂
i have to agree with you’re cautionary note there. keep the show as gen/ambiguous as it is. play the lines, by all means, but cast a wider net to your audience. once you start alienating whole groups, you start limiting your appeal.
UST can get you years of new seasons…
I agree, it does sraw a wider audiance, it even draws more fans of them as a pair to stay interested if it’s left unstated, reason being, if you get what you want in the show it’s harder to go back and imagine ways they could get together.
It was said best when the question was answered at NYCC, if you want them to be, they are, if you don’t they aren’t.
It’s more appealing to fans to figure out what the characters coudl do next if it leaves a few things left unsaid, be it plot or relationships or heh in Tiger & Bunny’s case, some characters ages…. I’ve seen so many fandoms shrink because the story closed up all loose ends.
If you think there’s romances lined up, you don’t really understand the writer or the characters. And Kuroshitsuji is a pretty poor comparison in this case.
Besides, this is just one book. Each official book is a bit different, depending on how the publisher is profiled, so how they write goes through a sort of a “filter” for their audience. Just like in magazines, Pash! and Otomedia may have good and valid information but they are magazines aimed at female readers so the choices of words usually emphasize that. (And the publisher of Pash! also published Hero TV Fan books.)
I do feel this is a bit insulting generally to fans of homosexual relationships (especially for lumping crazed “omfg butt-sex squeeeee” fangirls in with ones who appreciate the dynamics of a relationship and bond between two characters) and homosexuals in general. Not sure if your opinion was to be intentionally homophobic. I apologize if I took it too literally and too much to heart. Meanwhile yes it may be an indirect (wait, more so direct) fan-service… who says it can’t be the director making a statement about male relationships. Whether it be bromance or even a romantic love that goes beyond sex/gender (as in being male or female) and sexual relations.
But it seems at this time the writers/directors/creators are leaving it as ambiguous as possible to make all the fans happy. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are trying to push a homosexual relationship. Series is decent enough to pull something like this. Sure there is fan service but it has good story elements, strong character development and complex relationships. It has the setup to prove a male/male relationship can work realistically without just appealing to the fangirls.
It has the setup to prove a male/male relationship can work realistically without just appealing to the fangirls.
This. At this point it would feel just natural to me if they actually took a clear direction that way. They’ve paved the development so well, so it wouldn’t be out of character.
and i agree with you both that the stage has been set well, should it ever swing in that direction. but it would be a gutsy move for Sunrise to take, if it ever took it there. and what about the sponsors? if some folks balked at Nathan being openly gay, imagine what might happen if one or the other lead character made an open declaration. or i could be wrong – maybe they’re more progressive than i take them for.
but it is entirely possible to have two people (of any gender) completely devoted to each other in the purest aspect. platonic or non.
@Team_Kubaragi
It may be a gusty move, but it would be what the anime fan and even the general younger generation needs to take a stand against Ishihara with censorship.
Nathan seems to be met with minimal resistance because his character is more than just the “gay black man”. Yes is portrayed as a flamboyant European gay man, there is more than to him than that. He’s a responsible businessman. A very devoted friend as well. Nathan’s character isn’t pandering to the fans. His harassment of Antonio can be taken as such (or just another side of Nathan’s personality being playful at Antonio’s expense).
As with Barnaby and Kotetsu, their relationship can naturally take any turn whether it be platonic, romantic, or even quasi-romantic. Any turn it may take, in my opinion is a great option to take a look into how male sexuality and kinship is portrayed in media. For Japanese Media this is a rather huge step. Then again Sternbild being based on New York might help this as well.
Oh, please…let’s not start the ” OMG you’re so homophoobic!” “Oh yeah? Well then you’re such a fag hag!” kind of argument, because those things go nowhere and end up turning sour, fast. (And the way people use that word is completely incorrect; homophobia is a psychological condition just like pyrophobia, arachnaphobia etc. — not a word that can be used to describe obnoxious people who hate gays/lesbians).
And I’m the kind of person who says “if it’s not in the show, it’s not there at all” when it comes to important things like relationships (not tidbits like their favourite foods and all — those are cute and funny to read about, and it’s what I come to this site to see), so I find all this “Will They Won’t They” speculations kind of pointless — there’s no way in hell anything is ever going to happen in the series itself — not unless they want to lose a good 70% of their fanbase
And you’re kidding me if you say there aren’t a load of shows which intentionally play up the BL subtext with no intention of ever letting it go anywhere, and eventually bring up female love interests into the equation (not that Kotetsu needs a love interest — heck, he’s already married with a kid!). And really — how different is T&B from any other show? The creators want to make money, and that’s all. They’re not doing this for fun; it’s their job. And when you do a job you do it so as to get maximum profit. Frankly, if I were a BL fangirl, I’d be insulted by so much teasing. Like derpchan pointed out, they only print such ‘info’ in booklets which they know are read by the girls (of course, there are still way more females who hate BL than those who like it, but let’s not go into that here), so that pretty much explains the kind of tract they’re trying to take.
I meant ‘arachnophobia’ >_< LOL, how embarassing.
They do print that stuff even in the BD booklets, not just in the books, but some of the books are more prominent in how they spell out things.
And I’d rather this not turn into wank here. The creators themselves have intentionally left things vague so we can make our own interpretations, although their recent comments are making it increasingly hard to adhere to the vagueness.
So Maverick is like Pokemon’s (specially Pokemon special) Giovanni/Sakaki: A great man that deviated from his path so slowly that he didn’t notice when he turned into a “villian”…
Heck, no! He was a villain from the very beginning. I don’t really think a man who killed a little kid’s parents (who also happened to be his best friends, and very nice people to boot!), brainwashed that kid to make him psychologically dependent on him, and then decided to get rid of him and his trusted partner just ’cause it’s covenient for him could ever be considered “affectionate”…”in his own way” or otherwise. (That said, I’ve never watched Pokemon, so I have no idea what the guy you’re talking about is like LOL)
The beginning wouldn’t be when he killed his parents but when he created HeroTV. One would say it was all about marketing and money but on it’s days NEXT were hated and any investment on a project around them meant the risk of losing a huge amount of money.
I would classify that as a good action.
Then the show started dying and he came across Ouroboros and shit went down.
Well, maybe. But that’s like people calling terrorists “Freedom Fighters” just because their original intentions (getting some respect for their race/religion/ethnic group) were good, disregarding the fact that they’re now annhilating members of other races/religions/ethnic groups who never did anything to hinder their cause. (Might seem like a weird example, but that kind of thing really hits home with me.)
We really have no way of finding out what someone’s real reasons for doing something were, so it’s usually a matter of how each person interprets a certain action. I don’t think Maverick was ever discriminated against (because his NEXT power is completely inconspicuous), so there wasn’t really any motivation for him to go so far in his attempts to gain recogintion for NEXT except money and fame. But then again, you’re right that it had good effects, so while ordinary people like us can dislike him all we want, I guess NEXT (especially the Heroes) and the HeroTV staff should be grateful to him…but they weren’t. Heck, even I thought that it was pretty odd there was no-one among the NEXT who thought “Hey, this guy is right!” — But I guess they didn’t want to bring up such a conflicting issue just before the show ended.
■“The elite hero, who in private is a young man with a heart of glass. Normally brimming with easy confidence, Barnaby never shows his weakness to people. But because of how unparalleled he is, even subtle things can wound him, which creates a brittle aspect of his nature. The only people who can ever see it though and with whom he interacts without pretense are his trusted family and his special someone.”
“and his special someone.”
Well then…
Can anyone explain why Maverick didn’t simply manipulate Barnaby’s parents memories so that they’d go along with Maverick’s plans? Instead he took the easy route and killed them? He comes across as the calculating type. Is it just to show that he was capable of killing all those years ago?
Maverick needs his target in a state where they can’t fight back, that’s why he drugged the heroes and drugged Barnaby, and tried to drug Kotetsu. He had no chance for that with the Brookses, they were on to him and there were two of them. His only choice was to kill them before they could reveal to public what he’d been doing with their inventions.
“Their struggle to stay and LIVE together might be one of the things we would like to show.”
Oh gawd, I hope that’s a typo…
Kriem’s hat originally belonged to Jake but he gave it to her.
Stop. Breaking. My. Heart.
Oh, OTP, gone so soon.
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