While Kotetsu deals with some family issues, Barnaby has found a lead on his parents killer.
What They Say:
Barnaby has finally tracked down the whereabouts of his parents’ killer. Meanwhile, Kotetsu decides to take some time off to visit his daughter Kaede, but on the way he encounters the bombing of a bridge.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the episode title of “The Calm Before The Storm,” you know you’re going to get an episode that focuses more on the characters themselves rather than the action and the larger plot line at hand with Lunatic and what Barnaby is after. And that’s not a bad thing as these characters in their normal forms without the costumes are a good deal of fun and they all have interesting stories that can be told. The time spent with Blue Rose previously was definitely enjoyable and letting us see a bit more about Kid Dragon recently helped to make him something more than just a cardboard cutout character. While we do get a glossing over of several characters here in a few scenes, the main focus is of course on our two leads with Kotetsu and Barnaby.
It is interesting to have a character like Kotetsu as a lead character since he’s the superhero with a sense that justice is the right thing to do more so than ratings, but also because he’s a father character and has experienced life. So many shows give us characters that have no real life experience, which has its place, but that keeps them from dealing with certain situations in interesting and logical ways. They’re more mired in emotion but they’re also often able to try new things that may not have been done before by someone set in their ways. With Kotetsu, he’s just trying to do right by his daughter but finds himself continually rebuffed because of what he believes. A simple idea of getting her a stuffed animal to replace one she lost and to visit her has him getting the wrong thing and then having to skip out on seeing her altogether when an accident happens on the Brox Bridge and he happens to be there.
Barnaby for his part claims to have found the guy who killed his parents and he’s at least in a nearby prison, so that gives him something to deal with. But that gets put to the side, and shows a good part of his character as he does so in order to help out Kotetsu and the others with the small army that seems to have arrived on the bridge to cause a disturbance. There’s an odd feeling to this fight, but it lets Kotetsu shine for awhile until his power runs out, a real damper on his abilities. The action does work well since it brings in a number of characters, especially as we haven’t seen Blue Rose for a bit now. One of the strengths of the show for me is the way they blend the action through on the scene reporting styles and what the others see, so we get some good dramatic moments captured on film but also the harsher look that comes from being actually involved in the fights. And it even finds some amusing humor to work with at times that can certainly make you grin as the cameras are rolling.
In Summary:
Tiger & Bunny has a good interlude episode here as it deals with some minor character bits and a piece that helps to potentially put Barnaby on the right path. While a good part of it is focused on the action, belying the actual episod e title, it does have some good calm moments early on that lets Kotetsu shine a bit and to show some of what he has to struggle with. When it moves forward with the fight, we get some very good action sequences and a big twist just at the end that makes it worthwhile as it sets the stage for what’s to come. Tiger & Bunny continues to be one of the more enjoyable series of the spring season which has largely left me underwhelmed. This episode, even though a relatively minor one overall, has a lot going for it and left me smiling and eager to see what’s to come next week. Fun stuff on a variety of levels all wrapped up in more great animation.
Grade: B
Simulcast By: Viz Media
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
