![[NoGrp]_Tiger_and_Bunny_-_24_[720p][unofficial].mkv_snapshot_12.32_[2011.09.12_19.21.05]](http://ghostlightning.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nogrp_tiger_and_bunny_-_24_720punofficial-mkv_snapshot_12-32_2011-09-12_19-21-05.jpg?w=940&h=198&crop=1 "[NoGrp]_Tiger_and_Bunny_-_24_[720p][unofficial].mkv_snapshot_12.32_[2011.09.12_19.21.05]")
But he won’t. He won’t die because this show isn’t committed to heartbreak. It’s committed to good-natured fun. But he must die, because it would make for incredible awesomeness. I heard rumors that there’s a second season that’s green-lit. That’s actually okay, if Tiger returns, to spend half the next season in rehab, while also training Kaede to become a hero. It’s going to have a lot of laughs and great moments.
But if Kotetsu dies now, this show becomes a lot more awesome. Kaede grows up even more bitter and angsty than Barnaby and it’s up to him to rein her in, but he’s finding that difficult because there’s a growing romance between them. Also, Blue Rose suffers a mind-breaking meltdown. Too delicious!
This plunges the show into a dark, dark first act in the next season, which is slowly but surely dragged back to a sunny, happy, bright, Silver Age place. Will this be easy to do? No way. But it’ll be awesome. I want it, but I probably won’t get it. But that’s okay. I’ve tempered my expectations for this show a great deal.
The battle between Isamu, Guld, and the X-9 Ghost was a whole lot better than Isamu vs. Guld from the previous episode. This is very satisfying. There was no deus ex machina, no deus ex nakama, not even deus ex daughter. The victory over the silly robot was completely due to the resources available to the two heroes. I am very okay with this.
Now if Kotetsu would only die for real (and please, no Neo Roanoake, Orange-kun, Lockon Stratos bullshit for the love of God Gundam)!
Man, I don’t know. I think Sunrise might actually go through with it. This is the same studio that’s responsible for the deaths of Lelouch and Spike. Plus, a Hero dying is totally within the realm of Western superhero mythos, so something so dramatically and suddenly dark as this wouldn’t actually be out of character for a show that hewed so closely (and in my humble opinion, wonderfully) to these Western tropes.
If a second season is greenlit, there’s all sorts of delicious ways the plot could go. In addition to what you mentioned above, there’s also the possibility for a Resurrection arc a la Superman. Maybe Ouroboros has been researching some occult stuff away from the prying eyes of the camera? Or closer along to what the android researchers were about, there could be some superscience happening similar to the Lazarus Project from Mass Effect.
Or.. gasp! Clones!
Yes, the oh-so definite and in no way ambiguous deaths of Lelouch and Spike. The ones that people haven’t spent collective internet eons picking apart because Sunrise left *juuuuuust* enough hints that they might not stick. (Sorry, that came off a bit more sarcastic than I intended, upon rereading. However, you did pick two interesting examples, given that half of each of those fan bases will tell you that “DAMMIT _____ ISN’T DEAD” if you bring the subject up. And, to be honest, they’re not just fan wanking – both series provide enough ambiguity that these theories, while far from concrete, are also not crackpot wish fulfillment.)
(Sorry GL, but…) If a second season comes out, he’ll be resurrected, no question. It’s very hard to kill your core characters, and it’s even harder to kill them if you’re still trying to make money off of the franchise. VC’s example proves this – Western comic book superheroes die all the time. However, they never *stay* dead for long.
I like your suggestion that they do it Mass Effect style – a one-time resurrection with tangible consequences. Hero resurrections are a pain, but they’re an inevitable one in certain genres – Mass Effect, however, managed to bring back Shepherd without it feeling like death had been substantially cheapened in-universe. Since the cheapening of death is my main beef with people coming back to life in stories, little narrative tweaks can really help a story to avoid the most dreaded consequence of constant resurrections: becoming Dragon Ball Z.
Western Hero mythos? The same hemisphere who “killed” Superman? I don’t know if we should really extend the mythology beyond comic book hero traditions, where no licensed property dies (for long). And yes, heroes = licensed property, they’re there to sell, and Tiger & Bunny took great pains to show this.
Next season should be Lunatic & Kaede.
Wild Tiger gets reborn as an android, and is 4x bigger, the size of a Knightmare Frame. Kaede gets to pilot “him” … if he’s more independent, he should be the size of a building, and go full Giant Robo, which is a Wuxia hero show anyway.
Well I never said Western “hero” mythos, since that’d go further into mythology and the Hero’s Journey and the roots lying in Greek demigods. I said Western “superhero” mythos, which I meant to imply specifically comic books and the like which allude to all of the licensed baggage you refer to as well.
Yes! Death is necessary. I hatehatehate it when shows try to have their cake and eat it too with the touching farewell right at the end of the episode and then, what do you know, not even a minute into the finale someone’s all “He’s breathing!” Goddamn, that is annoying. In short: this week, we are in agreement.
Yes, if you’re gonna bring someone back, cut down on the tearful farewells.
Wait, a second season, really? Got a link? That would be too delicious not to dig into.
http://www.anime-evo.net/2011/08/11/tiger-and-bunny-season-2-possible/
Oh snap. Thanks
The fight between them and the H-01 reminds me of the fight against Sharon.
Kotetsu is Guld
Barnaby is Isamu
H-01 is X9
and Maverick is Sharon
And now that the H-01 is gone, I think Barnaby’s gonna do what Isamu did.
Maverick is Myung!
¨There was no deus ex machina¨ YES IT WAS: the pistol was fired a few moments before, and both T/B evade the ray WHITOUT the powers.
Also, the ray dont have so much destructive power until the Kotetsu/robot scene. Its like the sword of the robot: you see clearly that thing slicing a iron bar a few moments before, but the arm of bunny only recive a few scretches.
Kotetsu whitout powers HOLDING the robot? C`mon: if the robot was giving them a hard time whit hundred power activated…
This episode has so much BS and his last words where… akward.
His death smells like fried rice and revlon eyelashes, period.
Their armor seems to be stronger than iron.
and Humans can bring out more power though determination.
What the fuck is a whitout power?
No, it wasn’t a deux ex machina. It was inconsistency. Pretty big difference between the two. Honestly, we should be wondering how Kaede managed to silently take out the thug guarding her.
Oh for crying out loud, you don’t think “Hey, you have pretty long eyelashes” is going to be the deathbed confession of one of the most popular characters to stir the undershorts of fangirls and fanboys alike, do you? It was a deliciously cheesy moment- the likes of which the series is noted for. The guy has spent his whole season trying to make right with his daughter. If it would have been a true tearful good-bye, he wouldn’t have wasted it on that putz Barnaby, that’s for sure. The guys been on the run for 24 hours- He fell asleep. Hell, it woud be in character for him (and the show) if he actually starts snoring next episode!
Naw, he ain’t dead. So chill.
Doofy death would be consistent with the show’s execution, and would work as a tragedy. But no, he ain’t dead. It’d be great if he did die though.
If he’s actually dead, I’ll be supremely impressed with Sunrise, although I honestly found the death scene a bit doofy. Or, rather, I couldn’t take it seriously because I don’t believe that this is the sort of Sunrise show where people stay dead, and so the scene seemed doofy. Where’s some Tomino when we need it?
It is doofy, because the whole show is doofy — and thus I don’t mind it. But re Tomino, he’s not necessarily very good with killing off main characters… how many times was it ambiguous about Char’s life? If Tomino did Tiger & Bunny, Kotetsu would be losing his mind and Barnaby would be going crazy… because EVERYONE ELSE would be dead by now LOLOLOL.
I think I’d love to see a Tiger & Bunny as done by Tomino. And by Tomino, I mean Tomino circa 1992, not happy and in therapy Tomino circa Turn A Gundam.
Turn the dial back, soldier. Way back to 1985 Z Gundam era Tomino knows what the fuck he’s doing period. V Gundam era will result in Kotetsu’s mom dying by guillotine by episode 4.
No way, I want the V Gundam Tomino. I didn’t say I wanted something good, did I?
NO. THAT’S TERRIBLE AND SUCKY.
As much as I like the idea of such a ballsy twist, especially to counteract all the goofy classic superhero vibes this episode had, with the second series being green-lit, Kotetsu dying would be a disaster! Could you imagine another 24+ episodes with an especially angst-ridden Barnaby as the main focus? They would need a new cast, or at least new leads to keep me interested.
It’s going to be Kaede and Lunatic vs. Barnaby!!!
Sold!
Goddamnit, I wish this was true so bad.
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“Neo Roanoake, Orange-kun, Lockon Stratos”
You could probably tack Mr. Bushido onto the list as well.
Perhaps my only beef with the show is a lack of any real development of Rock Bison. We still haven’t seen any examples of his powers (it’s unclear whether the strength is his or just the suit) and we don’t know a whole lot about him. Even a short episode with him like the one for Sky High would have been nice.
I think such things were left on the cutting room floor. You could say the same for Fire Emblem as well. Supplementary materials would probably provide you the information you need.
Also, LOL Mr. Bushido.