Eva’s First Impression
After an eternity, Tiger & Bunny is finally back with a second season! They had quite a chilling start, with shit going south for Barnaby on freaking Christmas all over again. Seriously, why must this guy be constantly put through the ringer during this time of the year? Give him a break already! We only got to see them in the beginning of the episode and then in the post credits, when they only made themselves even more creepy with the way they were laughing over the fallen heroes that they have defeated. Either way, they spell for trouble and it’s going to get messy in two months time.
Until then, we go back to October where we are introduced to the new Hero TV’s Buddy System. After all the scandals Apollon Media has been through (from Maverick to Mark Schneider) there is a desperate need for a fresh start. For most part we have the familiar faces, but there are a couple of fresh recruits Magical Cat (Water NEXT), Mr. Black (Barrier NEXT), and “He is Thomas” (I kid you not, that is his hero title– a Levitation(?) NEXT) along with a returning hero Golden Ryan (Gravity NEXT) from the movie “The Rising”, which is strongly recommended to watch before starting this season if you want to understand about the extent of the scandals and who Golden Ryan is! In-fact I actually just finished watching it about an hour before Netflix dropped in this season, haha!
In the new buddy system we have the following new pairs:
- Sky High and Fire Emblem
- Rock Bison and Origami Cyclone
- Dragon Kid and Magical Cat
- Blue Rose and Golden Ryan
- Mr. Black and “He is Thomas”
I have to say I really like the match-ups. Sky High/Fire Emblem and Bison/Orgami make a great duo, and Dragon Kid and Magical Cat is, at least on the premise, quite adorable. And with the way Golden Ryan functions, he makes a good partner with Blue Rose as they both don’t care to be nosy in each other’s business so as long as they do their job. Actually speaking of Golden Ryan, I am a actually a bit surprised to see him back so soon considering he was boasting about getting a contract over seas with a billionaire. But I am actually kind glad in a way that they didn’t make him into a one time thing. He isn’t a bad character by any means, so I’m interested in seeing if he will be given the chance to be fleshed out further.
Meanwhile the two new boys Mr. Black and “He is Thomas” share a vaguely similar dynamic of the hot and cold of Tiger and Bunny when they first started out as partners. I would say the main difference between them is that Thomas doesn’t bitch at Subaru as he is more of the quiet type. But make no mistake, he can certainly deliver some jabs when he feels like it. I cracked up when he called Barnaby “old man”!
Then we have Thomas is your classic rookie who hasn’t quite come to terms of the consequences of reckless actions and disobeying orders. To an extent, he certainly comes off as a cocky kid who feels like he can take anyone on with his powers. He and Thomas were ordered to go to the rescue operation, but decided to go after the dangerous robber who has the ability to stop any object he touches from moving, including the living. His thoughtlessness could have costed him his life, but thankfully the seniors Tiger and Bunny were already at the scene since they were the ones who were called into deal with the guy. Thanks to their shrewd tactics and ability to trust each other, they managed to knock the criminal out and arrest him without any further troubles.
That being said, it will be interesting to see how Kotetsu will be fairing with his dwindling powers. There have been times when he tried to be at peace with himself of moving on from the hero life, but thanks to the encouragement of his friends and loved ones, and FINALLY got some proper recognition in the Rising Movie from the public, he is determined to be the Hero he aspires to be as long as he is able to. But how he will further adapt to it in the face of new dangers and new blood entering the field is something that we will be watching closely. On that matter, I am curious to see whether we will actually see his powers decrease any further than it already has.
Overall I thought this was a solid way to return to the series. While it wasn’t anything special, it was more like going back to business as usual with our favourite duo, Tiger and Bunny!
Now since this series is being released on Netflix: The first thirteen episodes of the season (13/25 total) are already out. This does offer a safety net of a sort that gives me a way to see whether I want to cover this sooner than later, but in order to give each show a fair shot, I am going to wait on checking out episode 2 and 3 until after I see the remaining titles I have my eyes set on this weekend. Only after that, I’ll have an idea whether I’m up to covering this season. So if I am interested, I’ll release the next episode entry next week, and if not, then that probably means I am going to just stick to watching it this time round!
Possibility of Blogging: Moderate
– Will check out Ep 2 & 3 after this weekend’s remaining Spring premieres and decide on it then.
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
