Well now. Episode 12 went totally differently from what we expected. Guess it’s best to rethink what we thought we knew (next Saturday it’ll turn out to be just a load of marsh gas after another plot twist).
Speculah and spoilers, so cutting it for your inconvenience:
Instead of fretting about what’s going to happen to Ivan, I decided to channel my nervousness into something good while I wait for tonight’s episode to air. I saw some comments on Twitter dissing Nathan and thought “that’s totally not cool”. Because I think that he’s an awesome character in a lot of ways. But I ain’t gonna lie, the first time I saw Fire Emblem I thought “this guy can’t be for real”. He’s not the type of character you’d expect to see in a superhero show, but part of what makes him so amazing is how he breaks many stereotypes. (Someone might be mean and say he’s just there to divert attention from Kotetsu and Barnaby’s lovestory of the century. If so, he’s not doing a very good job at that.)
If I start with the obvious, Nathan is black. How many of you can name a black superhero without having to think about it for a while? (I couldn’t, I had to resort to googling it.) There are quite a few, but not many that have been titular characters in movies for example. Nathan is also a very successful man, he has his own company. Helios Energy sponsors him as a hero and at the same time, he owns it. Running a business is not very unusual among superheroes, everyone knows that Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Tony Stark (Iron Man) own big companies, too. But being a successful black man he breaks some stereotypes about how black people often are depicted in fiction. Speaking of Batman, Nathan has a lot of things in common with him. The suit designs are similar, he’s got a car that looks like a cross between F1 Ferrari and Batmobile and he’s a damn good driver as they comment in Hero TV.
Moving on, the second most obvious thing about Nathan is that he is gay. The view on homosexuality in Japan is different from the Western view, though it’s common for people to hide their sexuality if it differs from the norm. I’m not gonna go deeper into that issue right now, it’d turn out way tl;dr (and Aki’s reading a book about homosexuality in Japan throughout the history so it’s more her field). So called “okama characters” (men who dress up as women) aren’t uncommon in Japanese media. If I think of the American view, homosexuality is less accepted among the blacks but this has more to do with religion than anything else. Again, Nathan doesn’t fit the usual mold.
Those who don’t know Japanese may not have noticed it so early, but Nathan’s speech pattern is feminine. In Japanese there are big differences in how men and women speak, not just in what pronoun they use when talking about themselves. Nathan is biologically male for all we know, but his gender identity is female.
Fire Emblem: He’s a cute kid. He’s the perfect new hero. He’s got a pretty face, so he’s got to be popular with the ladies too. Especially with the ladies…
He’s not talking about just any woman in this scene, he’s talking about himself. And just watch the “pass the baby” scene in episode 9 where Barnaby suggests a woman try calming the crying baby. Nathan’s eyes literally lit up. The way he dresses is over the top and flamboyant (the vest he likes to wear on his free time sparkles more than Edward Cullen in direct sunlight!), but he doesn’t choose his clothes and makeup to show off he’s gay – although his clothes are gaudy and tacky, they’re also feminine and underline his identity that way.
But back to superheroes. If you have been paying attention, you’ve noticed that this guy is pretty damn BADASS. He can stop bullets with his fire. He can melt steel with his fire. Even his cape is on fire. (Stare at the cape for a while, it’s hypnotic like live fire.) He’s confident, and I think the only time he’s been truly taken by surprise was in episode 6 when his fire was overpowered. He’s also smart, and emotionally intelligent, which makes him possibly the best judge of character among all the heroes. Lately he seems to enjoy especially watching Kotetsu and Barnaby. It’s not hard to notice Kotetsu’s bluffs, but he seems to be the most tuned in to what goes on between those two. All the characters get their share of being a comedy relief, but the show makes very little fun of Nathan as a gay man – the joke’s more on others and Antonio seems to have ended as a butt of many of them. (“Your butt always feels nice.”)
Best part is, the other heroes do not mind the slightest how different he is. Kotetsu most of all is completely unfazed when Nathan suggests spending a night with him, and just makes a comment about his arm being too hard for a pillow. First and moremost, he is a hero and someone the other heroes value as a friend and a rival.
All the heroes have traits that break usual character stereotypes, but in Nathan they stand out the most and it makes him a truly awesome, unique character. I really hope people can see him as one, not just a gay black man who acts girly and dresses in red tights.
Kotetsu’s cap is going to be made for sale! The executive producer of Tiger&Bunny, Masayuki Ozaki tweeted that he’d tried on the sample hat the other day. (Via ANN.)
Our immediate reaction was “do want”. And not just the hat, there’s a ton of things in the series that could be turned into character goods with ease, starting with the plushie in episode 5. We rounded up a quick list of items:
Kotetsu wears other bracelets, too, so those could also be a possibility. But weepinbelll on Tumblr noted that maybe his wife died of cancer and one of the bracelets is a pancreatic cancer awareness bracelet. This doesn’t sound too far fetched because of the amount of detail there is in the series.
There’s bound to be a lot more merchandise coming to the market because of how popular the show is getting. The popularity’s even affecting products that aren’t directly tied to the companies sponsoring the heroes but that are shown just briefly in some scenes, like the perfume bottle in one episode. It’s also worth mentioning the Official Hero Book that’s coming out in the end of July. Character profiles on the official site are really short compared to how much information most other series give about their characters, and I’m hoping the book will have complete profiles.
The Wild Tiger figure produced by S.H. Figuarts sold out already on preorders (you may get lucky and find it still available somewhere but it won’t be cheap), and I’m told that the Hero TV t-shirts are selling out, too. (Thanks, Kuuki.)
I don’t know about anyone else, but Sunrise can take all of our money for mini voice i-dolls of Kotetsu (“Lil’ Bunny!”) and Barnaby (“My name’s not Bunny, it’s Barnaby!”). Well, almost all. We want to get bunny plushies and those hats and… Yeah. (And I already preordered the Official Hero Book.)
I decided to take a closer look at where the episode titles come from and what are they mean, and how they relate to each episode. They’re all sayings, quotes and proverbs, mostly in English.
1. All’s well that ends well. 「終わりよければすべてよし」
Obviously this refers to Kotetsu and Barnaby becoming the first hero team.
2. A good beginning makes a good ending 「はじめが肝心」
This could mean a couple of things. Kotetsu and Barnaby don’t exactly get a good start, so I think it refers more to Tony (the NEXT kid who controlled the statues) making a new start for himself and realizing he can use his powers for something good. The Japanese title means “beginnings are fundamental” and Aki thinks it might refer to Barnaby saving Kotetsu’s daughter which got Kotetsu to warm up to him a bit.
3. Many a true word is spoken in jest 「嘘から出た真実」
Barnaby: What’s that?
Kotetsu: Figure it out yours- *sees Agnes glaring* Which you don’t have to do. What are you looking at?
Barnaby: That. *points at a building*
Kotetsu: That’s… a building.
Barnaby: Then… what’s that?
Kotetsu: That’s also a building. Also, the thing next to it is a building and the thing in front of it is also a building. Well… all the building-like structures you can see here are buildings.
Yeah, well… It could also refer to the hilarious top/bottom conversation (you know what I mean) during the bomb defusing scene. The Japanese title means “the truth that came from the lie”. We aren’t sure what the truth could be (maybe their budding teamwork?) but the lie might be the so called “date” which was done just for show so Hero TV could film it.
4. Fear is often greater than the danger 「案ずるより産むが易し」
This is a Japanese proverb. 「案ずるより産むが易し。」 translates to “giving birth to a baby is easier than worrying about it”. This episode was about Karina and her doubts about continuing as a hero when she’d rather be a singer. Especially the Japanese version of the title points to her realizing that it’s not so hard to be a hero after all.
5. Go for broke! 「当たって砕けろ！」
This was the motto of a World War II Japanese American military unit, the 442nd Infantry Regiment. I’m guessing it could refer to Good Luck Mode, since it activated only on the final seconds before Hundred Power is spent. It could also mean Kotetsu’s attempts to find a birthday present for Barnaby. (Clothes? Apron? Himself?!)
6. Fire is a good servant but a bad master 「炎は従順なしもべだが、悪しき主人でもある」
This episode was about Nathan and the proper introduction of Lunatic, so the fire reference is obvious. Nathan uses his ability to control fire to protect the public, and Lunatic uses his fire to kill criminals.
7. The Wolf Knows What the Foul Beast Thinks 「蛇の道は蛇」
This seems to be some sort of mistranslation of the Japanese episode title 「蛇の道は蛇」 which means “set a thief to catch a thief”. I can’t find the wording in the episode title anywhere, but the meaning is roughly the same as in “takes one to know one” and similar to “pot calling the kettle black”. I think the title refers to Yuri Petrov, since he’s not only a judge but also Lunatic – a NEXT criminal who is acting as a man of the law.
8. There is always a next time 「必ず機会が来る」
Whether or not this is an actual proverb, I’ve not been able to find out. Not even when and where this phrase originated (if someone knows where it came from, please leave a comment) but the meaning is clear in any case. Just because you didn’t succeed this time, another opportunity will come. This episode was about Ivan and the title could mean that there’ll be another chance for him and Edward to meet, or it may mean that this time Ivan could help Edward.
9. Spare the rod and spoil the child 「かわいい子には旅をさせよ」
Because this was the infamous baby-sitting episode, the first thing to pop to mind is of course the baby NEXT who could use some disciplining (if things just didn’t start flying around when he screams). It can also mean that Pao-lin has been disrespectful toward her parents and the gift she got from them. She realized it herself without being punished for it.
10. The calm before the storm 「嵐の前の静けさ」
Heroes enjoying a rare vacation (except Barnaby who’s working to find information about the man who murdered his family) is of course the calm before the storm of Ouroboros taking the city hostage.
11. The die is cast 「賽は投げられた」
This phrase is from Roman times, “Alea iacta est”. With the events of the episode, it refers to the decision to let Jake Martinez free, but I think it also points to Ivan going undercover. There’s no going back in either case, and the only way is forward.
I’ll put the titles of the unaired episodes under the cut, so those who don’t want to be spoiled can skip them. ->
The news section on the official Tiger&Bunny site was updated on June 11th with information about the artists who’ll perform the 2nd opening and ending themes.
New opening theme will be MISSING LINK by THE NOVELS. They’re a new rock band and they’ve been doing well on Oricon indies charts. MISSING LINK will be their next big single and the CD will be out in August.
New ending theme will be MIND GAME by Tamaki. She’s also a fairly new artist who made her big debut earlier this year with the theme song to the movie Into the White Night.
I checked out some tracks I could find on YouTube and The Novels sounds really good to my ear. They feel kinda similar to Unison Square Garden and ROOKIEZ is PUNK’D. I’m not so sold on Tamaki, her voice seems really delicate and the songs I found were all kinda melancholy.
I wonder if the new songs will have something in common like the current ones that both have something to do with stars? I’m also tempted to say something about nothing beating the current ending animation in fabulously sparkly gay, but then it’ll just automatically mean Sunrise will outdo themselves again. (Like they don’t do that already every week.)
There’ll be some character song CD’s coming soon, too. Blue Rose and Kotetsu&Barnaby’s have already been announced. (If Kotetsu&Barnaby’s song turns out to be a duet I pretty much must own it.) More about them later!
This is Sternbild 