Tiger & Bunny - Episode 2

You couldn't really ask for a slicker introduction to Tiger & Bunny's premise than its rather spectacular opening instalment, but now its united our titular duo as a new crime-fighting force in the name of TV ratings and justice (in that order) can it continue to impress?

Inevitably given the chalk and cheese nature of its double-act Wild Tiger and Barnaby's first mission, to stop stop a moving statue from wreaking havoc, ends in disaster with Tiger serving as the fall guy as he completely screws up the use of his wire-slinging powers with nearly fatal consequences, saved only by the statue stopping at the decisive moment.

Despite both parties complaining that they can't work without one another, their double act continues as first the original giant statue goes on the move again before being replaced with a smaller, more nimble cultural artefact which threatens the populace and, more importantly, one of Tiger's daughters.  As the culprit of these crimes is revealed, so another difference in Tiger and Barnaby's handling of situations is brought to light, with Tiger looking to go easy on the young NEXT responsible as he recognises his own young self within the lad, while Bunny is only worried about scoring points and pleasing the sponsors and his employers.

After that rip-roaring first episode, it was pretty obvious that Tiger & Bunny wouldn't be able to continue down that same jaw-dropping road every week - instead what we have here is a chunk of story-telling with a rather old-school vibe that certainly fits into your typical expectations of any superhero series (complete with slightly moralistic ending) while still turning it on its head slightly via the concept of sponsorship and TV money giving an ugly capitalistic tinge to proceedings.  This week's outing wasn't as slick as its opener (to the point of being downright clumsy at times), and its CG is still occasionally jarring, but Wild Tiger remains an incredibly likeable character at the forefront of a scenario which feels somewhat fresh despite its obvious influences - most importantly though, it was still pretty fun to watch, and although I continue to worry about it having the "legs" to last an entire season without becoming repetitive or outright dull I'm still enjoying the right at this early juncture.