[MOVIE] Tiger & Bunny: The Rising – Opens 27/3/14 in SG

Unlike Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning which is a pseudo-recap of the first few episodes of the TV series with new scenes, Tiger & Bunny: The Rising is an all-new film that takes places after the end of the series. The duo’s pairing is short-lived as Apollon Media’s new owner Mark Schneider suddenly fires Kotetsu and moves Barnaby back up to the First League. And to top it off he gets a new partner, Ryan Goldsmith aka Golden Ryan, a new up and coming NEXT who was brought in to promote new heroes! Poor Kotetsu  is forced to move on and decide on what’s next for his future.

However, trouble is afoot as strange incidents similar to the city’s Goddess Legend starts appearing all around and the heroes are sent to investigate the issue as they discover new NEXTs plotting to bring terror and destruction to Sternbild.

For the uninitiated, Tiger & Bunny (T&B) is set in the city of Sternbild where superpowered individuals known as “NEXT” started appearing many years back and some became superheroes. These superheroes work for a sponsor company and whose uniforms are blazoned with advertisements for real-life companies. Their activities are being broadcasted on the hit TV show “Hero TV” where they accumulate points for their heroic deeds. The best ranked hero of each season will be crowned “King of Heroes”.

It stars Kotetsu T. Kaburagi aka Wild Tiger, a superhero past his prime with a penchant for destroying everything, and Barnaby Brooks Jr., a young up and coming superhero called the “Super Rookie”. These two contrasting heroes are forced to pair up with one another as they go through their daily routine.

The film gives you the basic premise of the characters at the start so that newcomers won’t feel too lost while watching the film. It also try to stay away from mentioning some of the important plot points from the series as best as they can. The movie will tell you that this particular scenario happened but they do not mention who was the cause of it so fans whom have yet to finish it won’t feel entirely spoiled by the film.

What I enjoyed most was that each hero does get their own fair share of spotlight from Blue Rose to Origami Cyclone, and even some of the non-superhero characters do get their own feature moment. While Kotetsu, Barnaby and Ryan are still the main focus, you won’t feel that your favorite hero didn’t get his own spotlight by the end of the film.

As for Ryan, he comes off as a very pompous, egoistical character which contrasts that of Kotetsu’s more laid back and caring nature so it’s really enjoyable to see Barnaby’s reactions to how Ryan plays out as compared to his former partner.

Who would enjoy it best?

Of course, T&B fans will definitely enjoy it the most as the entirety of this film is filled with great action and fanservice all around at each and every moment, and it only stops when the credits are done rolling! It also feels as if you’re watching an animated Japanese version of those big budgeted Marvel/DC Hollywood films so it may appeal to those American superhero fans who may want to give other superhero movies a try.

Anyone up for a great action flick or a good seiyuu cast will enjoy it as well. Definitely give Tiger & Bunny: The Rising a go since it debuts in theaters this week! “Tiger & Bunny, Over and Out!”

Movie Information:

Director: Yoshitomo Yonetani
Language: Japanese with English and Chinese Subtitles
Opening: 27 March 2014
Runtime: 100 mins
Rating: PG

Cast:

• Hiroaki Hirata as Kotetsu T. Kaburagi/ Wild Tiger
• Masakazu Morita as Barnaby Brooks Jr.
• Yuuichi Nakamura as Ryan Goldsmith/ Golden Ryan
• Minako Kotobuki  as Karina Lyle/ Blue Rose
• Taiten Kusunoki – Antonio Lopez/ Rock Bison
• Mariya Ise – Huang Pao-Lin/ Dragon Kid
• Kenjiro Tsuda – Nathan Seymour/ Fire Emblem
• Go Inoue – Keith Goodman/ Sky High
• Nobuhiko Okamoto – Ivan Karelin/ Origami Cyclone
• Koji Yusa – Yuri Petrov/ Lunatic
• Rikiya Koyama – Richard Max
• Nana Mizuki – Kasha Graham
• Mugihito – Johnny Wong
• Hochu Otsuka – Mark Schneider

Ticketing details can be viewed here! Tiger & Bunny: The Rising is scheduled for release on 27th March 2014.