Tiger & Bunny is a new anime program current airing weekly in Japan. Produced by Sunrise it's currently being directed by Keiichi Satou (best known for his work on Big O). The series revolves around a couple of super heroes who fight crime while driving ad revenue and product placement for a hero themed television program.
Synopsis (minor spoilers)
Episode 3 of Tiger & Bunny starts with the pair in a simulated combat exercise. Though forced to work together it's apparent that they approach the job from completely different standpoints. Tiger is driven more by instinct and feeling while Bunny is more calculated and logical.
Barnaby, Tiger, and Anges
To promote Barnaby's rising fame the duo finds themselves getting stalked by Hero TV's relentless producer Agnes Joubert and her camera men. While the other heroes have an obvious knack for the limelight, Barnaby especially, Tiger finds it much more difficult to promote his new partnership.
Creeepy
Episode three gives us our first real look into Barnaby's background. It seems that he's really Bruce Wanye a well educated orphan from murdered, well-to-do parents. After his loss he was taken in by Albert Maverick, CEO of Hero TV and the company which funds Barnaby and Tiger. They've also begun hinting at a new, most likely sinister, organization known as Ouroboros.
While visiting a newly opened skyscraper the two find themselves in the midst of a bomb threat. Together the two hotshots must complete a time sensitive pop quiz in order to save the day.
Review
I didn't think I'd be saying this so soon, but I'm really starting to like the series. I have high hopes indeed.
The animation is solid and well done. I love the crisp animation, the design work and the attention to detail. Even the CGI is growing on me. I noticed the shading in their suits which strikes me as well done. It may not be 100% accurate but it looks realistic and does a great job at adding depth.
There are a couple of issues with the CGI that caught my attention. The first is that there seems to be an inconsistent handling of Tiger's face mask. At times he's able to speak and shout without the jaw of the suit moving at all. At another point it seems with every word his jaw and the suit's are moving in unison. Far more troubling is the CGI used for Fire Emblem. Tiger and Barnaby , when speaking with their masks up, are a mix of cel and CGI. Fire Emblem, on the other hand, is all CGI. Between his skintight suit and eccentric expressions he's painfully distracting for the wrong reasons.
Yeah, something's not right
In the previous two episodes I didn't really gain anything from the background music. During episode three's climax there was a nice piano and guitar track that worked really well. It's no Storywriter but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Even so I don't think we're going to end up with a forever memorable OST.
My criticisms are comparably small for my current appreciation for the series. That I'm starting to like the characters this early on is unexpected but not unwelcome. I noticed that Tiger still wears his wedding ring, though they haven't mentioned the state of his marriage/wife. It looks like next week we'll get to see more about Blue Rose, could there be a connection?
