Hello, this is derpchan, the member of This is Sternbild who’s been rewatching the series from the beginning with Aki! Seeing all those early episodes – when the series was a happy-fun-cute-superheroes-doing-cute-superhero-stuff kinda thing – feels a bit nostalgic. It also made me think of how I started watching Tiger & Bunny in the first place…

Remember this anime chart for Spring season? In March/April, I made lists of stuff I was going to check out when the new season would start, and here’s what I said back then:

• Not terribly excited about the anime this spring, but there’s still stuff to watch.
• [Tiger & Bunny] …sounds so preposterous it’s bound to be amusing.
• What the hell kind of a name is “Tiger & Bunny”? Seriously?

A good beginning makes a good ending.

Then the 1st episode of Tiger & Bunny came out, and I realized I had watched it at least three times before the 2nd aired. I remember thinking that Sky High was pretty cool and that Kotetsu was kind of a derp. And Bunny? Oh boy, he rubbed me the wrong way right from the start. I thought he was acting like a huge dick (although he did get some points for that first Princess Carry).

The following I wrote in June:

• When I started watching Tiger&Bunny my initial thought was that the whole premise of sponsored superheroes was utterly laughable. But I was sold after the first episode. The cast is excellent, and all the characters are amazingly lovable.

Little did I know that just a few weeks after I typed those sentences, I’d be starting this blog with Aki. I think that teaming up with her made me like the show even more – and we’ve had a ton of fun talking about it. In fact, whenever we talk about something else it doesn’t take long before the topic somehow gravitates back to Tiger & Bunny. (The tagline in the main page sidebar is not a lie!)

whatismylife.png

Then came the 2nd cour, and Summer season started. By this time I had – at first a bit reluctantly – started liking Bunny. This time I didn’t even bother to make a list for the new season, because of this:

While shopping for all that lovely merchandise that had finally started appearing, I realized that “Damn it, Barnaby is my favourite character. When did that happen?” I had also thought that Nathan was awesome pretty early on, but around that time I realized that he was my 2nd favourite character. I love all the characters (except Maverick), so ranking them is pretty hard beyond the Top Three. Kotetsu is 3rd by the way.

I’ll take the risk of sounding like a sad no-life and confess that the graph above is still accurate. I haven’t been this invested in an anime (or any series/movie/book/manga for that matter) before, despite being active follower of many of them over the years. It is kinda scary to think that in just a few days, the series will be over (save for possible plans for continuation of some sort). Granted, there’s the reruns, manga publications, lots of merchandise, BDs coming out… So it won’t really be “over” over. But the weekly wait for new episode won’t be there anymore.

These feelings I’m feeling

Another thing is how Tiger & Bunny has made all other anime seem bland in comparison. I’ve been an avid reader all my life reading novels from different genres, so I guess it’s not surprising that what I find most enjoyable in Tiger & Bunny is the human drama and how it’s written. The characters feel so real and their behaviour and reactions so natural. I have to agree with the voice actors that it’s a good thing to have an older protagonist. Looking at the Autumn season that’s about to start, I’m just not feeling much towards any series. Everything seems so generic, though it’s possible there’s a pleasant surprise hiding among them to fill some of the void. It’s too early for Tiger & Bunny’s possible influence to show in other shows, but there’s a lot more that you can do with anime series than just tell stories about high school kids.

The staff&cast of Tiger & Bunny kept believing in it even when the studio didn’t. They have earned their praise and I hope they’re proud of what they’ve created. The end result may not be perfect in every aspect, but in my opinion those imperfections (like QUALITY gym) give the series a kind of unique character.

Last but not least… Thank you, and again thank you to all T&Bros around the world for being an awesome bunch of people. It’s a pleasure to watch the show with you. ＼|宜|