Nov 8 2011

In which we get teased again

Ozaki sure likes to tease with the “future development”. Not entirely sure which magazine this is interview excerpt is from, though. (As usual, there were Tiger & Bunny features in several magazines this month.)

There’s enough to develop with Barnaby. Even in episode 25 there was a temporary separation, but during that time there was also something he has gained. Their relationship is once again different from what it was before they reunited and I think we can depict that. Moreover, even Kotetsu has plenty of room for further growth, so it would be nice to show that as well.

That “something that he gained” could refer to what producer Matsui talked about in another interview, how Barnaby dealt with severe depression during the last timeskip while he was trying to come to terms with all the stuff that happened with Maverick. You don’t go through an experience like that without changing in some way. What exactly it could be… guess we’ll find out when these guys do their stuff and stop teasing us and tell us what they’re planning on Sunday.

Yep, Hero Awards 2011 is this Sunday. My body isn’t ready. How about yours?

Nov 6 2011

Advertising for 13 million yen – but what does it mean?

My internet was down for most of the day yesterday so the commotion this caused almost slipped past me. Yesterday, November 5th, a huge wall ad of Tiger & Bunny appeared on Shibuya’s landmark building, Shibuya 109. What’s remarkable about the ad isn’t that Blue Rose isn’t getting a bigger spotlight than she should anymore, but that it costs 13 million yen + tax for two weeks. The series is over, and although it’s currently on rerun on several channels, an advertisement like this is a bit too expensive to promote a rerun. The advertisement will stay in place until November 19th, so this might be a sign that whatever they are planning to announce at Hero Awards on November 13th is something big.

Something big, but what? We were expecting a continuation announcement already by final episode. Instead they announced NEXT Project – which by the way is a pretty brilliant way to keep up the hype while the continuation is planned, and whoever is handling the marketing for Tiger & Bunny at the moment is doing a pretty good job. They could be planning a movie, or a second season, or OVAS… Though if I had to bet, I’d put my money on NEXT Project Stage 2 – whatever it is – because I don’t think they are ready to put a S2 into production yet. I could be wrong though, but I remember Ozaki talking about “three steps” in NEXT Project somewhere – I just can’t find the quote for it right now, it could have been in some of the Japanese webcasts he’s appeared in.

By the way, the second set of official books (Official Hero Book 2 and Hero TV Fan vol.2) got pushed back three weeks from October 25th to November 16th. They’ll come out after Hero Awards 2011 event, possibly so they could include some promotion for what they’re announcing there. Even if we don’t get a confirmed continuation to the series yet, if they play their cards well they can keep us interested in Tiger & Bunny for a long time. After all, Hero Awards 2011 sold out in minutes and the live viewing event for it had even more theaters added recently.

We want more and Bandai wants our cash, so they’ll give us more… eventually.

Oct 20 2011

B.T.B. song Natsu no Koi wa Otsukare Summer full lyrics

How they ever managed to record this song, I don’t know. There must be a blooper reel of all the takes that were ruined by the seiyuu losing their pokerface while singing (especially Morita, because dammit Barnaby). It was actually a good thing they didn’t play the full thing on radio because there would have been more spontaneous discharges. My mental image of Nishida while he was writing the lyrics includes him grinning like the Cheshire Cat because this song is trolling on so many levels.

Anyways. Kanji, romaji, translation under the cut. Minor fixes to kanji and romaji now that I got my OST.

Continue reading →

Sep 25 2011

I have no words (Updated)

You may or may not have heard that the Tiger & Bunny Original Soundtrack got pushed back 2 weeks, and it’s coming out on October 19th.

Ozaki’s tweet on the OST delay:

I don’t know how to express this shock… Such destructive power. B.T.B. “Natsu no Koi wa Otsukaresamaa” is a truly terrifying song. Ike’s brilliant sound coupled with Nishida’s enticing lyrics produced a chemical chain reaction that resulted in an enormous detonation (or maybe spontaneous discharge?). Though admittedly, the song is not the only reason for the delay. We’re hoping to it will allow us to even further polish the work. Not that I’m bragging… Blue Rose’s orthodox idol sound! Tiger’s back chorus full of pathos! Bunny’s loving hands, er I mean the interlude that shines so brightly! The three of them join in the phantasmagorical dance! The ep14 experience just won’t be complete without this song!

I… thought he was exaggerating, but the song sample was played on Hoshizora Sunrise radio just earlier tonight and… I just have no words.

Lyrics and translation from /a/ with some minor polishing. You can listen to the song on Nicosound.

小麦色の貴方はNice Guy
ビーチボールがキューピッド
渡した瞬間手と手が触れて
気付けば貴方を見つめていた

あ～止めてくれよ【いきましょいきましょ】
息が止まる程さ【砂浜砂浜】
お強請りするよな瞳
かき氷ならママに頼めよ

貴方の瞳　写る私はまるで子供
お気の毒サマー

届かない恋のうた【I miss you】
ずっと傍に痛いけれど
沈む夕日　海に溶けてく【See You Tomorrow】

貴方の瞳　写る私はそんな子供？
バイバイお嬢サマー

涙で終わる　サマーラブ
夏の恋はお疲れサマー

You’re a tanned nice guy
When my beach-ball played Cupid
You handed it over to me and our hands touched for a second
And before I knew it, I was looking at you

Oh, stop it [B: Come on, let’s go]
It’s so uncomfortable my breath stops [B: Sandy beach, sandy beach]
Don’t look at me like that
If you want shaved ice, go ask your mama

Am I such a child in your eyes?
How unfortunate, this summer

A song of love that can never reach [B: I miss you]
Staying with you hurts
But as the Sun sets it melts into the sea [B: See you tomorrow]

Am I such a child in your eyes?
Bye bye, young lady

The summer love ends in tears
Thanks a lot, summer love

I actually ordered the OST ages ago. Now I can’t wait to get it, I simply must have the full version of this song.

(Also lol, beach episodes everywhere, the 5th BD Limited Edition drama CD was like a beach episode, now this song…)

Update #1: Seems that reactions to the song are positive. お疲れサマー and スナハマスナハマ were trending on Japanese Twitter for a few hours after the song aired. The OST went up to 2nd on CDJapan’s real time ranking, and to 3rd place on Amazon Japan’s anime music CD ranking.

Update #2: Nishida, the screenwriter for Tiger & Bunny talks about the song in his latest blog post. He wrote the lyrics to it, the music is by the series soundtrack composer Ike Yoshihiro. He mentions that the in-universe setting for the song was that “Because Blue Rose is popular idol, and T&B are a popular combi, they’d be even more popular together. The song was a shallow strategy for that.” Nishida thinks that the song turned out really cute, and he’d be happy if fans would enjoy the song like those who came to see the performance in the anime.