Unique and brilliant, those are the words I would use to describe Tiger & Bunny.
Superhero appears in animes quite often, especially those fights crime selflessly. But corporate sponsored superhero fights crime as a reality show to gain popularity? This is just completely unheard of.
Tiger & Bunny covers more or less everything in terms of fundamental elements that an excellent anime (or any story in general) ought to have: a creative concept, a complex plot, realistic characters with in-depth development, a well executed directing, and some rolling on the floor laughing moments. The only thing in my opinion that fell short is the ending--it's way too...perfect. While I am not a fan of that ending, I have to admit it's reasonable, meaning there isn't the "unnecessary" divine intervention caused it to happen. But they did try to deceive the audience by intentionally concealing certain facts.
Another thing about this story, is the fact they actually dedicated time to development every single supporting character, so that when the ultimate showdown comes, you understand how and why each of the did what they did. Understanding and feeling compassionate towards the supporting crew ultimately helped in making Tiger and Bunny feel more realistic.
Another interesting thing about this anime is that in my opinion it also reflects upon the current state of our society quite well. In fact, you can draw almost a direct comparison between the fictional heros, "Next" with today's big name athletes: it's all about corporate sponsorship. Big corporations are in support of everything they do, so they can get the branding recognition. One wrong step (Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps) would cause your sponsors to drop you like a hot potato. Then there's the whole "Heroes Care" thing. I was laughing so hard when that first showed up because I have just recently watched a commercial on TV about "NBA Cares".
While the intricacy of Steins;Gate eventually propelled it to become the long series anime of the season, I still maintain that Tiger & Bunny is the next in line to receive the award if S;G had taken a misstep. When it comes to animation, the 2D and 3D blending could really use a lot more work, but I still think Tiger & Bunny is worthy receiving:
Action-Drama of the Season for April 2011 Season
Final scoreboard:
Drama: 94 (Super-powered dramas)
Comedy: 97 (Brilliant moments)
Action: 90 (Exciting)
Art/Animation: 88 (Could use better 2D and 3D blending)
Sound/Music: 91 (Great)
Character: 100 (In-depth development)
Plot: 92 (Complex)
Ending: 88 (Ended well, too well)
Re-watch value: 70 (Could still be interesting)
Overall: 96 - Product Placement Power
Recommendation: In my opinion, this needs to go on the "must-watch" anime of 2011 list. If you haven't seen it, you should start.
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