#t&b2 spoilers

[osombu]

birthday boy

[coolmomacchiato]

Auroras, The Course of Empire, and a HUGE Tiger & Bunny 2 realization

Before I begin, let me start out with a brief art history lesson about a series of 5 paintings by English-American painter Thomas Cole of the Hudson River School movement (mid-1800's). The series depicts the growth and fall of an imaginary city, each taking place at a different time of day to reflect where in its lifecycle it is. The paintings are: "The Savage State" or "Commencement of Empire" (Dawn/sunrise)

The Arcadian/Pastoral State (morning)

The Consummation of Empire (Sun's zenith/Day)

Destruction (Waning day/twilight)

and finally, Desolation (Sunset)

Of course even beyond Cole, the different stages of the day/night cycle has widely been used to symbolize the circle of life: Morning/Sunrise being birth/rebirth, Day for "adulthood"/Consummation (completion), Sunset/Twilight for downfall/aging, and Night for death. The SECOND thing we need to establish is the way "Little Aurora" is constantly equated with " hope" - both literally (as in it says the words right there) and figuratively, since she represents hope for not just NEXT, but society as a whole:

Now - how does this relate to Tiger & Bunny 2, you may ask? If you recall, Sunsets were a visual metaphor in Cour 1, and referenced in the ED AIDA, as well as the OP.

In Cour 2's ED, we see Kotetsu and Barnaby - each alone - standing under a night sky filled with auroras, surrounded by a broken cityscape. As the sun begins to rise over the desolation, Tiger and Barnaby cross a liminal landscape to find each other again, to face a new day together. Indeed, the ED ends with a visual recall to Cour 1, but at dawn:

S2 ends with the destruction of the status quo. The last scene takes place at night: the hero system is no more, society is fractured between NEXT/non-NEXT, Kotetsu has lost his powers, and Kotetsu & Barnaby are no longer "Buddy heroes". Even the two symbols of "justice", Sternbild, and Tiger & Barnaby's partnership as a whole - Justice Tower and Mr. Legend's statue - are destroyed in the fray.

However, as the title of Episode 20 says, The darkest hour is always before dawn. In fact, Episode 25 ends with the hope of a new beginning. The title is "Today is Not Tomorrow's Yesterday", and includes an epilogue scene where we see a snow-flecked museum that looks disturbingly like a mausoleum. The memorial plaque says "The Legend of Buddy Hero", with the starting date of when the first episode of S1 took place - the beginning of their hero partnership - and ending on the day that S2E25 happens on. Underneath that, we see "NEXT". Though this might be the end of the era of Tiger & Bunny as we know it, NEXT is the beginning of a new one.

So what does this mean for the future of the series? I posit that S2 isn't a conclusion - it's a second act that precedes a 3rd act with a drastic change of status quo - and a new beginning.

Staff have repeatedly spoken about "change" around S2, and now I think I understand what they meant. Bringing back the times of day symbolism, we can imagine that the entire story of Tiger & Bunny could be divided into 3 acts (seasons), with 3 "intermissions"(movies). They are: Intermission 1: The Beginning Movie Season 1: Day (Consummation) (this is a recent visual from S2, but I've always found the choice to frame them against a bright day unusual, compared to the historical treatment of key art):

Intermission 2: The Rising Season 2: Sunset/Nightfall (Destruction & Desolation) If so, then perhaps during the live audience viewing of Episode 25, which will air on the infamous T&B day of Christmas Eve (Dec 24, 2022), we will get an announcement of the conclusion: Intermission 3: The Fall? Season 3: Sunrise/Dawn (Rebirth. "Tomorrow is not Yesterday's Today.") As many have noticed, there seemed to be several suspended story and character arcs from S2. Foreshadowed events (such as the dinner/drinks date") don't end up happening, and character journeys don't feel complete. I can go into detail on what specific story aspects feel set up for a 3rd arc, but that will be for another post. For now, I will leave you with this last Easter egg. Thank you for reading!

[reitheist]

I'm rewatching t&b 2 in dub this time and idk if it's just me but it seems... straighter than the sub? (Caution: this a big nonsensical ramble, don't take it too seriously. I just wanna rant and not edit this for typos or flow)

Like I'm at the scene where Ruby talks about her dads paying for doctors (if I'm hearing it correctly, she says otousantachi, so I don't think it's a mistranslation), but the dub changes it so she just talks abt one dad. This is the most obvious change.

In the prev episode, we saw that red haired lady talk about her love for Anna, but the dub very conspicuously uses "like." The sub uses "suki" so it's not really a mistranslation, but either way the dub makes it feel like a more ambiguous than the Netflix subs portray it. I don't really know if this one was intentional or not and it's not major, but it stood out to me anyway.

In the same episode as Ruby's dad thing, Kotetsu is repeatedly worried abt Barnaby's leg. When Barnaby strains it in the fight, he yells out in pain. Kotetsu's reaction in the dub goes: "Bunny, go! Huh?" In the sub he just says Bunny in a concerned way. In the dub Kotetsu sound less concerned and more mildly annoyed with him, at least pre-realization. Sub Kotetsu knows there's something up immediately, because the entire episode (and entire 2nd cour) has been building up his bond with Barnaby and how he worries over him. This moment in dub feels weirdly ooc. Like, the man just screamed in pain Kotetsu! Kotetsu is oblivious in a lot of respects, but has never been oblivious to Barnaby's suffering. That's the point of the episode!

Then, Dubtetsu makes a sarcastic joke (at least that's my read?) at in the next scene about it "...thanks for dropping in the end there Bunny. *chuckle* Hey what's the deal with that leg though?" (For context, he literally fell onto the criminal.) In the sub he just says "Hey Bunny, your leg..."

I guess there's something to be said that this preserves Kotetsu's joking characterization in this scene? But it comes off to me that Kotetsu in the dub isn't all that concerned because of this random quip. Kotetsu makes jokes at his own expense, sure, but I can't recall him ever really making light of Barnaby's issues, especially when he's been shown be be worrying over Barnaby's recovery the entire second half of the season. Again, weirdly ooc imo.

A little after is the bike scene, where Kotetsu confronts him about his leg injury, sub Kotetsu brings up that Barnaby seemed off that morning too. Dub Kotetsu doesn't seem to mention this at all? He just mentions how he screamed earlier. He also says, "Level with me about your leg." as he approaches instead of "Does your leg hurt?" like in the sub. A subtle change, but this just feels too casual for how Kotetsu's feeling right now. Plus it's phrased as a command instead of a question, which really doesn't convey much worry at all. Sub Kotetsu consistently centers Barnaby's experience, but Dub Kotetsu doesn't, so it sounds more like he's annoyed with him for being injured rather than concern.

The sub rounds out the conversation with Kotetsu saying "You screamed in pain, Is it so bad that-" before he's cut off by Barnaby. Again, this centers Barnaby's suffering as Kotetsu's subject of worry.

Dubtetsu says "You don't have to hide it from me, just tell me how bad it is-" in a (no offense to the VA I'm sure he's lovely and great) really wooden tone.

In general, the cadence between Barnaby and Kotetsu's interactions between sub and dub is really different. Barnaby's side of the conversation seems the same, but dub Kotetsu just seems way more sarcastic than sub. Sub Kotetsu is occasionally sarcastic and goofy a lot of the time, but he also has very serious moments. Above all, he has a heart of gold. Dub Kotetsu comes off as incredibly jaded sometimes. We saw this a couple times in the sub of season 1 as well, but never in season 2 as far as I can recall. By season 2 Kotetsu is more mature and has learned to fully put his trust in his friends, and especially in Barnaby.

Now that I'm on a tangent, there was also a couple of weird moments in the dub finale of cour 1 between Rock Cyclone(?) and Fire Sky. Specifically where they reunite in the hospital. Nathan mimics Keith's catchphrase in the sub to cheer him up and it's very sweet, but the dub they just kinda talk? It's really weird. The sub has a joke between Antonio and Ivan where Antonio is worried abt something and pulls the 'don't ask about it" thing, Ivan takes him seriously, and Antonio complains about him not asking and they laugh abt it together. In the dub instead of "don't ask about it" he says something like "I don't really know" iirc, which kinda ruins the joke, but they laugh about it anyway? It's a very weird scene to watch in dub bc it feels like a lot of non sequiturs they're saying at each other.

Also also correct me if I'm wrong about this, but the dub seemed to have changed Kotetsu's desire to "go to dinner" with Barnaby to be consistently asking to "go out for drinks," which doesn't change much in the scheme of things but also makes it seem a little less like a date, if that makes sense? I mean either activity can or can not be a date in different circumstances, that's just my take on it. Because Kotetsu goes drinking w Antonio already, 'going to dinner' feels less like a friend activity for Kotetsu than 'grabbing drinks," if that makes sense.

Then again, there was that one scene in the elevator w Subaru and Kotetsu. The dub seem to have Kotetsu imply he thinks Subaru has a crush on Thomas, but the sub doesn't really imply this, at least to that extent. So I guess the dub doesn't straightify everything?

The changes wouldn't irritate me so much if I unilaterally disliked this dub, but I really like it! It's a shame it suffers from really strange moments like these, because I really love some of the changes the dub makes to better the flow and humor of the series. I adore the voice acting on pretty much everyone, so I believe the dub's issues are a mix between inconsistent writing/interpretation/translation and the occasional weird direction choice. Anyway, those are sort of my thoughts thus far. Might make a followup once I finish off cour 2.

[thedragonofmajima]

on a more light note, we can infer that any interaction between lunatic and tiger, kotetsu is referring to him as "Luna" in his head.

[semi-imaginary-place]

Tiger & Bunny 2 thoughts

I agree with my impressions from the first 13 episodes, that while T&B2 wasn't bad, the original T&B had overall tighter writing. The overall feel of the two seasons and the hearts of souls of the two seasons are the same but the original Tiger & Bunny just does it better. One of the main contributors of this is that T&B2 struggles at time with pacing and tension. Take the last 5 or so episodes of the season 2 its like the show can't decide whether the heroes have severe injuries and should be hospitalized or if they're actually alright and just have a few scratches and so their state flip flips several times between scenes. Now the reason for this is for the narrative, so the story can hit its proper emotional beats of failing against an overwhelming force only to come back at the last moment and win. This isn't bad however I could not suspend disbelief long enough to actually buy into the narrative, the story just wasn't convincing enough. It's like if I had just read the overarching plot summary of T&B2 cour 2 I'd think it was great and the perfect second season, but the devil is in the details and while on paper the plot sounds great, the execution wasn't quite there. Tiger & Bunny has always been a workplace drama masquerading as an action show and in season 1 it does so convincingly and balances those two aspects well. Here in season 2 the workplace drama is still strong but the super hero action show is weak which isn't as much a problem as you'd think because again this is primarily a workplace drama. However, T&B does put narrative important arcs in its action parts and when those parts are weak it drags the rest of the show down.

While the super hero action show was a weak point let's talk about how the ideas in the second season were perfect. Two of the core concepts in the original T&B were Kotetsu having work problems, and his growing relationship to Barnaby. A man who's been working his job for some time and is starting to get into his middle years is overshadowed by a young upstart who thinks he can do better. From the beginning a lot of Kotetsu's problems were made to be relatable to your average working adult, management changed, now hates him, and pressures him into things with the threat of firing him, he struggles to meet the demands of a job he is increasingly unsuited for, his preteen daughter hates him. These very normal problems are contrasted with Barnaby busy off being a little revenge boy trying to unmask a global criminal conspiracy and learning that his father figure and head of the hero agency brainwashed him for years, and most of his memories are fake. The growing relationship between Barnaby and Kotetsu is what carries the show and them (emotionally) through season 1 and it was really great to see the continuation of that in season 2. The conversations between Kotetsu and Barnaby were probably the best moments in season 2. In season 2 we see the deep trust between them and because their relationship is so stable we thus get to see more of the other cast members and their new co-worker problems. The addition of Mattias was a good choice as their is Barnaby's first friend outside of work and is another step in him reclaiming his life. And while in season 1 Kotetsu struggled with the possibility of his career ending, in season 2 now its Barnaby's turn. One of the core themes of season 2 is how people are stronger together we see this in everything from the new Buddy system of HeroTV to how the main threat of cour 2 is Aubun who represents "believe only in your own power" and who is of course defeated by the cooperation between Wild Tiger, Barnaby, and Lunatic.

Lunatic was always meant to be a mysterious threat you can see this in how inconsistent his characterization was in season 1, he was always whatever the show needed him to be whether as a foil to kotetsu or a deus ex machina to move the plot along. Like the show can't seem to decide what to make of them, if Lunatic is out there killing people who didn't do anything like Ivan's friend who didn't actually kill anyone like even a manslaughter charge is a little iffy, to oh Lunatic's actually got a point about people the justics system can't catch. So that talk between Yuri and Kotetsu about Mr. Legend was excellent as it directly addresses how that past hero deeply affected both of them and their opposing senses of justice. I'm still not quite convinced he's dead given Lunatic was able to disappear in a burst of flames before but that might be giving the writers too much credit in remembering what happened in the original series.

[tigerexe]

long post on my thots on t&b 2 cour 2

BIG SPOILERS AHEAD

and again

BIG SPOILERS AHEAD

Well. i didn’t like cour 2 very much

i’m pretty disappointed really... a lot of it felt messy and yuri’s unfulfilling character arch and apparent death physically twists my stomach. gonna try and put this into a coherent order and giving each section a snazzy title. this is gonna be a mostly negative review of my thoughts so if you really liked cour 2 and would like to stay positive feel free to skip this read. that’s totally cool. chase your bliss. train and fight!

part 1: how to develop 15+ characters in 13 episodes

the problems that come with having such a large cast  is really starting to show in cour 2... my bias towards certain members of the supporting cast might be clouding my judgement but i feel like the writers didn’t know what do do with most of the ensamble cast during a lot of the episodes. i felt it especially during the portion the heroes are suspended and trying to investigate Gregory, theyre mostly just all standing in the same room, reacting to the same things over and over again as they wait for the main characters to forward the plot.

the small, personal moments between characters other than kotetsu and barnaby were few and far between. i did like each buddy duo being given at least the tiniest bit of mini-archs (antonio’s gift, pao-lin and lara dealing with lere’s mom etc) but my poor sweet firesky barely got anything. i had gotten the idea based on promotional materials keith and nathan were going to have a slightly larger role than during the first half (my fault, i know. shouldve kept my expectations lower) but even if that didn’t happen i still feel like they were given the short stick... do keep in mind i’m speaking as a guy who had convinced herself canon firesky romance was actually possible and spent the entire cour waiting for something. ANYTHING. to happen between them. even during the final episode i was sitting there, only half jokingly thinking “we popping the biggest bottles when canon firesky happens in the last 5 minutes of the last episode with no buildup”.

*spongebob Hawaiian Coctail plays me out*

it bothered me so much how during each buddy duos fight with L.L Audun they all apparently showed heroicsm by protecting and caring about eachother, enough to leave an impression on Audun, but the audience barely got to see any of that!! i think some of this could have been fixed with better phasing and a better focus.

part 2: everything happens, nothing resolves

man, what was up with all the unresolved and eventually dropped plot threads. i can’t think of a single setup that had a statisfying conclusion to me. L.L Audun came closest, as he was a really fun character but the way he was utilized fell so flat. his potential history with Mr. Legend couldve been touched upon, how he sees himself as a hero despite his action etc etc etc but instead he was just Gregory’s pawn for 10 minutes until he goes berserk and becomes a generic out-of-control final boss.

Little Aurora, who got such massive foreshadowing during the first cour turned out to be a mcguffin woman who will cause vague NEXT hate if she dies. she didn’t even have time to do anything before they caught Gregory and fixed the X issue :/ sigh.

i can’t even list all the potential directions i thought the plot would go based on previous foreshadowing and setup.

part 3: poor sweet darling Yuri

Yuri gets his own section because good lord, why would they do that. Yuri’s entire arch in this cour felt so needlessly, awfully cruel all the way to his apparent unaliving of himself (i say apparent because i’m in denial). the way his relationship with his mother, that was previously strained, was presented very happy and sweet until she gets killed. nothing wrong with Yuri achieving a better relationship with his mother ofc, but it was so transparently done here in order to further increase the manpain he suffers after she’s gone.

mr. legend was also handled very strangely. i thought his force ghost appeared much too frequently, like we get it. youre a manifestation of Yuri’s guilt or whatever, get a job. but jokes aside his last scene with yuri was so weird. him admitting his wrongdoings to Yuri felt like a weird attempt to redeem him? even if i read it as Yuri attempting to cope in the moment, as the only family Yuri has left is the hallucination of his abusive father who even still leaves him all alone to sob in a puddle of his own mothers blood. get what i’m saying? about a lot of this being so needlessly cruel? and oh ho ho we haven’t even gotten to his death scene yet.

i still feel a clump in my stomach and my chest thighten when i think about Yuri’s death scene. it truly makes me feel physically ill. i know that’s probably silly of me, to get physical anxiety symptoms about a corpse looking anime man but jeez. that shit hurted. just the fact that Yuri has to go through all that torment, all that pain, just to off himself after sacraficing himself for the main characters after Kotetsu told him his dad became abusive because he didn’t have a bestie unlike me :) (oughhh i get what that exchange was going for but it pisses me off. why would Kotetsu be more shocked at Mr Legend fixing fights than him being a domestic abuser. Kotetsu. a father and certified wife lover.)

The way they made Yuri so completely alone and isolated as he died once again feels so cruel. the fact that he had to die because he was “irredeemable” for killing awful people (for the most part i’m not gonna argue Edward needed to die), while that being an age old story in media, just feels so hollow.

part 4: positives????

i do feel i need to rewatch the whole thing again before i can truly, truly digest it but the first viewing did not leave a strong impression. i do think the parts i actually liked will hopefully stand out more on rewatch.

like i said, the little moments between buddy duos we got were great. Subaru especially definetly came out on top this cour. he’s definetly one of my favourites after this.

I also want to mention again how much i enjoyed L.L Audun. he was just Reinhardt Overwatch with some doomfist overwatch and allmight mixed in there. i love how huge he was ... (biting my tounge not to go on a tangent about his unused potential again)

i honestly don’t care too much about Kotetsu and Barnaby, mostly because i’m so fixated on most of the supporting cast but i’ll say a lot of their moments were quite good. i don’t enjoy them as a couple or see them as such but the way barnaby really cares for his emotional support old man is touching. the moment Barnaby’s suit breaks and Kotetsu tosses him his own was hype. 

lastly i loved the firesky conversation where Nathan offers to hire Keith as her secretary mostly because the mental image of sexy secretary keith keeps me going in there dark times

^cute keith pic to lighten the mood

[twizzlyworm]

TIGER & BUNNY 2 SPOILERS

Idk how to do the thing where it hides the text unless you click a button that says “show more” so this’ll do

[ if you are for some reason reading this I apologize for the onslaught of typos I have butter fingers and brain fog 🦭 and don’t reread what I say ]

Sitting with my thoughts and feelings and also looking at what everyone else has to say the season was a bummer and a very very obvious change from season 1. S1 was driving by the characters there actions led the story not the story leading them when they messed up It drove the plot forward. They were interconnected to the villain. The villain and the hero’s story’s were connected but now not really just ouroboros but even then Barnaby has no care for that word anymore I guess that’s how he acts at least he’s healed not or less and they had ample opportunity to give kotetsu more of a connection with the villain but that didn’t happen either..

also going with that the show is called Tiger & Bunny yet we don’t really see anything new about them on screen we’re just kinda told that they hang out and have gotten to know each other more not actually shown it. And WHEN are we ever going to get a understanding of kotetsus past?? What’s with that we are just meant to accept that we are only ever told he is / was afraid of his powers never get to see anything Barnaby never gets to learn all that much about kotetsus past when Ko knows just about everything about bani so we really could’ve had a kotetsu focused season with his powers and stuff leading up to the climax where he gets over thrown by the power or something like that ahhhh I love this show I really do and I wouldn’t have been able to have such interactions with people is the 2 season came out a bit after 1 (I was 5 when 1 came out lol) so it’s a very special situation but for the people who have waited 11 whole years for this and are just left more confused and more concerned than if this came out a couple years after the first even I’m worried will we ever get another season ? Idk no one knows last time they said yes and it wasn’t till 11 years later something came of that. That can’t happen again it’s just no possible I don’t think fans could stick it out that long again not with this seasons story it doesn’t hold as much promise as it’s first.

I will genuinely be nervous up until they announce if they’re gonna do a movie or anything after this the amount of things not tied up cant be just bad writing I don’t think the writers are THAT incompetent no way so I feel they want another season coming closely after this one I will be hopping and manafesting or whatever to have another that can really tell a good story this time.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh idk idk I still feel so strongly about this show nothing has ever made me care this much so that is exciting tho I don’t think a new season is meant to make you want to watch the one before it because you want to see better story telling lol anyway I need to shut up I keep repeating myself. So if this is where it really ends a very mediocre season one that would probably finally calm the fandom down to let it die if we get another season then this was pretty good you can tell the writers just weren’t doing the same good job as last time but it’s not horrible I still love it AND if we get another season that’s the same or worse writing with the same lack of character importance then it will just make everything sadder and not worth the wait .

[inevitablesurrender]

Just a heads up for anyone who needs it, in hopes that the symbol won’t fuck anything up: art or random yammerings having to do with major Tiger & Bunny 2 spoilers will either be tagged “T&B2spoilers“ or “T&B2 spoilers“.  Like I tried to do both for FFXV, just in case.

[unlimitedhorsepower]

my thoughts on t&b2 cour2 summarized ngl

huge massive spoilers under the cut:

(following is half copied from me telling this to people who dont know t&b lore)

im genuinely inconsolable over yuri and what happened to him.

its not even that he could or should be saved but he truly deserved something better. killing people... who cares... on-screen his murders have notably included a serial rapist for example which isnt said ig but it was a guy who only kills women he picks up at a club etc...

killing your abusive father and then going on to kill murderers and serial killers isnt a crime he had to pay for with his own life jesus christ. he was a victim in that. and i dont care hes killed people they had it coming and deserved to fucking explode.

and he dies so miserable and alone. and the truth about mr.legend didnt even come out. i guess it might, but it wasnt shown on-screen and i dont care. he never lived to see it. i cant believe it im actually just bawling.

his last scenes gratuitously consisted of his body being controlled by someone else, and before that happened his mother was shot to death. and he hallucinated his shit dad and the hallucination was like i can never be forgiven but youve followed your own sense of justice. goodbye.

yuri begged for the hallucination to not to leave him but even a hallucination of his shit dad couldnt stay to make him feel marginally better because he just didnt want to be alone.

so, alone and miserable, he bawled on the floor on top of the bloodstain where his mother was shot by the criminals who broke into his house.

and he told about his past to kotetsu&barnaby and kotetsu even himself acknowledged he said things yuri probably didnt want to hear. AND YEAH he was kind of a huge fucking dick i dont care what you had to say about mr.legend (he didnt defend him and condemned him but he was like ill definitely never be like him etc)

then in the end yuri stood alone, bleeding to death, after having given the rest of his strength to protect the protags of course, and they half-heartedly tried to convince him to come down from there. but the narrative had no kindness left for yuri whatsoever, only a dramatic moment of him breaking his mask while blood pooled around him.

so he just said hes following his own code of justice, and he earlier acknowledged its not the voice of thanatos he follows but his own voice. and then he pressed his hand on his chest and set himself on fire and jumped down.literally it was worse than if he had just died.

he burnt himself to death and literally enacted my metaphors about him being born from ashes (awful childhood, killing his father with fire) and returning to ashes once he has burned himself up. but it was literal.

and since his mother died... and only kotetsu and barnaby know his story... its so incredibly cruel and callous. he literally disappeared, like his life didnt matter, and he didnt even leave a body behind. mr.legend still has all those mythos around him, and what yuri got was to be a footnote in the line of judicial officials of sternbild and vigilantes killed in action.

im actually devastated. he never got a single piece of happiness.

one of his last interactions as yuri was kotetsu telling him that he will never become like mr.legend because he has a partner like barnaby.

how i understand his last actions is that yuri accepted hes fully alone, and will be alone, forever. he has nobody to support him like kotetsu has, and will never have it, hes too broken, too far gone.

and so, he had to die because there was no saving him. he killed himself for that, because he had no hope left. he thought he could never be forgiven, like his father could never be forgiven, but what yuri ever did was never in any way equal to being evil. to have him equated to anything mr.legend did (within the narrative) is unimaginably horrifying.

im like genuinely just crying i WISH i was joking saying that but im not. im trying to make it into a joke but i cant im just genuinely devastated.

like i know any depth i made up for ryan in my mind is my bad because i think about him way too hard but i was a little disappointed in his actions but thats whatever, my expectations were high since hes my favourite, right?

it wasnt even that bad, im just disappointed he mostly got to interact with karina which i really enjoy as well they have a funny dynamic, but i like him so im like oh! theres sooo much more to him hehe. but again, whatever, hes out there, i can imagine him doing whatever i want. he didnt contradict anything i think of him either.

but yuri... ohhh.... taking this very personally actually. i cant believe the narrative didnt give him any mercy. it was a choice they made, to have him burn up like that.

like have i somehow thought of yuri petrov way too hard?... im just devastated. he was a sympathetic character, i never have ever considered for a single moment he could DIE. and in that sort of way?

did i somehow misinterpret the entire scenario? i dont even know what i couldve misunderstood to make this better in my mind. he didnt die?.. he just uhm... went bungee jumping

like the rest of the cour i liked, there were a lot of fun parts. but i just...this is something i cant get over. it felt so incredibly cruel to him, because to me he has always been the victim.

and i thought... i dont know... that he deserved better. that he deserved to feel happiness, not die feeling thoroughly miserable and alone. i cant even reasonably focus on the parts with ryan even if hes my favourite character. i wish he had died too, for equality, idfc.

i wish LL audun had smashed his head like an egg and this was the last shot i saw of him.

everyone else can “die” and then be fine i guess uh maybe ill just choose to believe yuri somehow is fine despite losing all of his blood and burning up and falling from a great height then thats my choice. they didnt show me anything that contradicts it.

which also just reminds me nobody even remembered him after his death. i thought the last shot would have him with “true heroes” and ill be honest i was crying incredibly hard thinking about yuri but i didnt see any indication he was remembered by anyone in any way.

again, this is a deliberate choice taken by the narrative and just remains so heartless.

does anyone else agree or have some other sort of take on this?! was i simply distracted by the huge amounts of yuri petrov lore i made up in my mind so that i misunderstood half of the season and also didnt see a huge memorial set up for him or something at least.

?????

cant even enjoy anything else in the cour because of how much this bothers me. i would be glad if i just had hit my head and somehow saw a different series in my mind than what everyone else saw

[emeraldties]

Are you Happy? Cour 2 Review:

This is fine. We're fine.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR TIGER AND BUNNY COUR 2 BEWARE.

I'm a changed man after all this I'll tell you that. This is gonna be kinda long so... read at your own peril lol

Chronologically, this is a mess but whatever. I need to get this out there before I explode and accidentally spoil this for my friend.

We're starting off positive because we're making a sandwich right now and I really did enjoy this season. It definitely took a turn that I did NOT expect in a million years.

Fire Emblem. I loved their characterization in the Rising and this season in particular. That scene where they are talking to Keith about their suits was *chef's kiss*. How, despite amassing a successful company, when they became a hero they worried about what it took to be a hero. To have people look to you for protection, to feel safe in your company. It lends credence to the eventual conclusion Kotetsu comes to at the end of the season about what being a hero is. I loved every conversation between FireSky.

I want to know the source of Barnaby's new disability. I just wanna know. Phantom pain? Hundred power putting stain on a weakened knee. I MUST KNOW.

Oh, how the tables have turned. It's Kotetsu's turn to bridal carry Bunny.

Mattia... really had me going there was a second. Jesus Christ. I was sweating. Not again. Not again, please.

Blue Rose. I also really enjoyed her characterization this season especially. We meet her in season one as a hot-headed kid who just wanted to be a pop star, and now, we get to see her become an amazing hero. My little girl has grown up brooooo I'm so proud.

She's become so mature and her outlook on life has broadened in a lot of ways, specifically regarding her crush on Kotetsu (which I think we all, as kids, have had crushes on adults. It's up to those adults to not take advantage of those feelings if they do notice... which Kotetsu doesn't, not that he would ever do anything if he did). She let her feelings wash over her, and made healthy friendships with the other heroes to the point where her feelings for Kotetsu became something in the background. She didn't stop liking Kotetsu, she just accepted that it wouldn't happen. And I don't think season 1 Karina would have accepted that conclusion... you know with the whole "how to bag single dads" thing lol.

Golden Ryan? I'll kiss your boots any day

Kid. I love her. She's my child. It's whatever. Adoption papers signed. Shion hairclip is given. Been my kid for 7 years.

Origami and Bison's relationship is just so funny to me. I don't know why. It just is. They're stupid. They're too smart for their own good. They're buddy heroes.

Me and the homies know the real villains of this season were the Mayor and the police. Ouroboros just played their cards right.

Fuck you Mayor whatever and your approval ratings. Your son's a NEXT but I bet he didn't get shoved into a dingy little camp now did he? Segregation? I can't believe I'm saying this, but if Maverick were here this would have never happened. He had that man's balls in a chokehold. Sorry. Rant over.

I love you Doc Saito and your crowded little coffin of a lab.

Bunny, Tiger, and Lunatic teaming up? When I tell you I screamed. I fucking SCREAMED.

Okay. Now for the... NEGATIVES. Sorry. BIG SPOILER MASSIVE SPOILER TIME.

Yuri Petrov deserved better. I don't know what else to say. But also I knew that his arc would either end in death or reformation. I just wish it was the latter. I probably have more to say, but I haven't fully articulated it yet. But I'm sad.

The Nemochild's (I forgot her name) motive was a bit... lackluster. Hotness can't make up for everything I suppose.

I wish we had more work put into her in Cour 1, like Mugan and Fugan and Brahe, then maybe I wouldn't have felt nothing when she died.

Now, this is the Taibani nitpicker within me, so it's not a genuine criticism, more of a wish than anything else. I wish Kotetsu had gotten his hands on Mattia's drug in the middle of the fight and injected himself with it to save Barnaby. I think that would have been more dramatic and it would have made more sense why he lost his powers in the end. Because the drug would have unforeseen consequences, instead of the All Might "I used up all my reserves of power" moment.

Also, I'm gonna need some answers on this segregation thing. Conclusion? Please?

No drinks? No dinner? I've been robbed. And so has Kotetsu.

Not enough Ben. That's the real fatal flaw of this season. 0/10.

I said this was a sandwich so back to the POSITIVES:

I'm really interested in the way Tiger and Bunny depict abusive parents.

I think we see that with Yuri, Barnaby, and Cat. There is a bittersweetness. A soft underbelly to these incredibly strong characters. Despite all that their respective parents have put them through, there is still the ghost of fondness there. A refusal to treat their parents with the same flippancy toward their feelings their parents had all their lives.

Barnaby still keeps a picture of Maverick on his table, he got what he wanted. His parents' killer is dead. But that doesn't change the fact that Maverick had been his only pillar of support for so many years. Even if it was all fake. It's a trophy of a pyrrhic victory that he can't bear to give up or look at.

I was struck by how gently Yuri treated his mother. In season one, there is love there, but also betrayal in both parts. She blames her son for protecting her, and he blames her for not protecting him or herself. He regards her with coldness and resentment.

In this season, he seemed to have lost his fight. He brushes her hair, he doesn't argue, he agrees with whatever she says, he's attentive. In a lot of ways, he's forgiven her in a way she will never forgive him. But he hasn't forgotten. But he's gentle.

His relationship with his father is different. It's tainted. There's guilt. Grief. Sadness. Relief. Resentment. Love. It's a lot. I'm sure my heartbroken Yuri stans can articulate this better than I can.

Cat, she's the only one with an abusive parent who is alive, but she has shown tremendous strength. For the most part, she talks to a brick wall. Her mom doesn't take no for an answer. She pushed her daughter into a job that is made for adults but continuously treats her like an infant. She is a weird amalgamation of a helicopter parent and a negligent one... she's a beauty pageant mom. except with more guns and life-threatening situations.

Cat exerts her autonomy, she branches away from her mother and rebels against the very ideals that she had tried to instill in her. at the end of the day, your child is not a mini you, don't treat them like they are. And Cat's arc wasn't about admitting her mom was wrong for treating her that way, it was about telling her, putting her foot down, and standing up for herself. No take-backs, no backpedaling. Which is sometimes the hardest thing you can do, especially as a kid.

(still, her mom had every right to insist that she come along with her child to a CAMP filled with random people. She's still 13.)

Tiger found out about Mr. Legend. TIGER FOUND OUT ABOUT MR. LEGEND. And got a bit pissy about the fact that Yuri insinuated that he was anything like his father, and honestly, I think that was a really in-character response from both of them. Kotetsu wasn't tactful, and Yuri was accusatory. I really liked that conversation because it wasn't perfect, in a lot of ways they didn't say the "right" thing. And that made it all the more well-written.

THEY WENT ROGUE. BROOOOOOOOOO. AGHHHHH. TOGETHERRRRR. I'm not crying.

Barnaby is. That goes in positives. I just wish they animated Barnaby's tears because we've established that Kotetsu can really discern Barnaby's emotions with his eyes. It isn't a season end without a few blubbery tears and a bridal carry.

WHEW. I'm done. Holy shit. I feel like I haven't scratched the surface of what I think but I guess that's what ao3 is for.

There are a lot of loose ends, and I don't know if they will be tied. Crossing my fingers for a season 3 or a movie because I think they really have introduced a lot of cool concepts that I would like to see explored.

At the end of the day, I've just got a genuine love for all these characters, and I've loved this show since I was 13. Now I'm older, and a little nostalgia addled. And maybe that makes me see things through some rose-tinted cat frame glasses. But I gotta ask you guys;

Are you happy?

[ova-kakyoin]

DOUBLE DECKER CANON IN T&B OMG

the drug mattia made is 100% anthem there is no doubt in my mind

[osombu]

does he know that i love him

[meanya]

Never thought I'd hear the words "Ah, the trusty vibrator-fish" come out of Whoopie Goldberg's mouth but here we are

[penebui]

can't wait for t&b season 3 or a movie but I think it'll be more of a season because they just threw HUGE hints at us about ourobouros and since it's so crucial to the whole anime it wouldn't be right to put it into a movie

[elfyaoi]

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can we talk about this. who the fucks voice is that bc its definitely not liam o’brien ill tell you that

[semi-imaginary-place]

tiger & bunny 2 (im still not over the show almost being called busty & bunny) season 2 cour 2

it even a little kid recognizes him wild tiger's "secret identity" must be the biggest open secret in sternbild. i mean neither of his little masks does anything.

kotetsu and barnaby talking non stop about each other to other people is uh is something

of all the habits barnaby could have picked up from kotetsu he had to pick up hiding his injuries.

wild tiger really is the worst kept secret is all of sternbild

evacuation. yeah that's just segregation into ghettos.

i was wrong. its worse. its concentration camps. wasn't the mayor's kid a next too

ep 18. soooo they're all breaking and entering. vigilante justice it is! love how everyone is like hell yeah crime. hmm where have i seen the yellow eyes before... is mattias being controlled?

19. oh bunny. the first new person he's been able to trust and there's evidence he might have been a traitor this whole time. just like maverik. i do hope mattias survives the series. i rather like him. for all the hype and build up, oroborus's plans are uh bad. if the entire operation hinges on one alcoholic cooperating than that's not a good plan. vigilante justice it is! the police helicopters and news coverage are already there why are you two going after the robbers.

20. juicy episode. but first the old lady shown throughout cour 1 finally got revealed now im just waiting for the drop on those little happiness dolls. kotetsu and yuri finally got their confrontation, it was hoping for this. yuri sees the cause and effect of his father refusing to step down as a hero even when he can no longer physically do the work. the same thing kotetsu has been struggling with throughout the series.

24: wish the fight scene choreography was a bit better but eh. hmm a minority only being valued from how useful they are to the majority instead of having inherent value, she's got a point.

25: barnaby using kotetsu's suit was a nice touch. not sure about lunatic. on one hand his major arc did finish but on the other hand it feels like he's not quite done yet. it feels like a waste to end it here but the writing for t&b2 has been mixed so i can't tell what the writers intended.