Tuesday 26 July 2011

Tiger & Bunny - Episode 17

With nothing but bad news concerning his quickly dwindling NEXT powers, Kotetsu decides that it's time for him to take a break away from being a hero so that he can go back home and visit his family while he figures out what to do in his current situation.

Needless to say, walking back into his family's life after so long away doesn't run entirely smoothly, as he seems to get short shrift from his brother, nothing but concern from his mum, and as for daughter Kaede... let's just say she's in her difficult to handle teenage years rather early.  After rather a lot of prodding and probing, Kotetsu finally reveals his current problem to his brother, who doesn't really have any advice for him per se beyond the obvious reiteration that the loss of his NEXT powers isn't the end of his life.


As Kotetsu continues to fret about his situation, so his worries are soon shifted to other matters as his mother collapses, in turn sending Kaede into her own brand of despair - a turn of events which at least allows him to finally understand his daughter's worries and concerns.  When an incredible stroke of bad luck hits Kaede that same day, it's up to Kotetsu to save the day, bridging the father-daughter gap in the process and giving Kotetsu the platform he needed to see what he has to do next.  Speaking of NEXT, his daughter ends the episode with a bit of a surprise for her old man...

Although breaking away from the goings-on in Stern Bild felt a little odd (especially when things were becoming so deep, dark and engrossing), this week's episode of Tiger & Bunny worked pretty well overall with the exception of the disaster that struck Kaede, which was so overblown as to be bordering dangerously on the hilarious.  That aside, this glimpse into Kotetsu's worries and home life did what was required of it in a solid enough fashion, while also seemingly laying his path out clearly before him, so despite not being one of this show's stronger episodes it's very much a case of job done while continuing to build on one aspect of its story as we progress through its second half.

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