Tiger & Bunny

What I liked most about the series was the whole concept of Hero TV. It was entertaining and well thought out, including the sponsor companies, commercials, scoring, etc. The writers turned superheroes into a functioning show business, and I found it creative, funny, yet believable. Plus, the central pair of characters, Tiger and Bunny, were likable and had great chemistry, like Riggs and Murtaugh, and they each had their own interesting problem to deal with. I enjoyed the resolution of Barnaby's past and Kaburagi's future as much as I enjoyed them gradually getting to know each other and becoming buddies. What I also liked was Lunatic, a very interesting and well-portrayed character whose motivations and approach to justice actually made sense to me, but I could also see what was wrong with it. The show's message was also quite appealing, although it was sometimes pushed too hard and I felt like the subtitle could have been "Friendship is Magic", but it didn’t bother me all that much. Tiger & Bunny was a great show which I have been reminded of a couple of times since (for example when watching The Boys, by which I mean the commercials and medialization of superheroes, there were no other similarities otherwise), and I was glad to see that the show got a second season after more than a decade. 7.8/10 (08/10/2022)

The beginning of the second season was an unpleasant surprise for me. If people were complaining that the first season pushed the importance of buddies a little too hard, the second season went completely overboard in that regard. It's all about buddies, everyone has a partner, and everyone has some supposedly terrible problem at the beginning. This makes the first half feel like relationship counseling and a never-ending build-up of each pair of characters. What kept me watching were the hints that something big was about to happen and also the brothers Fugan and Mugan. With each new episode, I was secretly hoping for these two to finally get to the city so that things could really get going. I understand the importance of building up the characters’ relationships. It does pay off in the finale as it makes their chemistry more convincing, but there were too many build-up episodes in a row and they mostly felt the same (someone has a problem and goes to the main characters who try to help, but the character in question and his buddy manage to work it out themselves in the end). Fortunately, the final confrontation with the brothers was truly epic, the fights were nice, and all that building up of the individual superhero pairs eventually didn't go to waste. The first half of the second season seemed like a slightly above-average series, which I quite enjoyed. The second half, however, really stepped up the game, benefiting from everything that the first half had built up, tying up some loose ends, and starting the biggest adventure and most complex threat the heroes have had to face. And it worked, although it was constantly repeated how important trust is and that you can achieve anything with a partner, and those who don’t have friends end up as tragic antagonists. There were also moments of gloomy atmosphere, drama, and sometimes almost hopelessness, and great moments when the heroes get back on their feet and try to beat the odds. It’s full of heroic clichés, but they are well delivered and serve their purpose. The ending was satisfying in most respects. It was suspenseful, sometimes quite surprising (like what Mission A is). The only thing that didn't sit well with me was Lunatic’s storyline, I expected more from it. The animation was decent, even the use of CGI on the superhero costumes looked pretty cool. Despite a few reservations and an unimpressive beginning, I actually ended up enjoying the second season and I’m giving it a 7/10. (08/10/2022)