Fridge / Tiger & Bunny

Fridge examples for Tiger & Bunny.

Fridge Brilliance

• Kotetsu's Good Luck Mode amplifies his fist, while Barnaby's amplifies his foot. Kotetsu is "Wild Tiger" and his nickname for Barnaby is "Bunny". Tiger's claws and Rabbit's feet are both considered good luck charms in some cultures.
• Ever noticed how inconsistent Barnaby's Troubled Backstory Flashbacks are (e.g. the same event taking place in separate locations; Barnaby's statement that Albert Maverick raised him while his official employment profile says he was raised in an orphanage; the murderer's clothing changing from a trench coat to fatigues)? Those would be the result of Maverick regularly messing around with his memory. Likewise, it seems rather strange that the murderer left Barnaby alive when he clearly knew he witnessed the crime until you realize that he could just tweak his memory and make him his loyal Tyke-Bomb — which he did.
• At the beginning of Episode 17, Barnaby says to Kotetsu while he goes off to visit his family that he'll be fine for a little while. Later on, Kotetsu flashbacks to the same conversation, except with the last part of the sentence dropped. It shows just how much Kotetsu thinks he is a hindrance because of his gradual Power Loss.
• What with how recklessly Tiger and Barnaby attacked the bad guy in Episode 5, they were this close to destroying the necklace he stole... imagine how much they would've had to pay for that!
  • Well, that's not as much Fridge Logic as is the normal Kotetsu approach. Admittedly less typical of Barnaby - but he was having a bad day.
• The sequence in Episode 2 where Tiger powers up couldn't possibly have been just five minutes long, even if Talking Is a Free Action. He even turns out to have a good extra minute of power left after he claimed to have run out — which is implied to have been a bluff meant to give the NEXT of the episode a chance to use his powers for a good cause.
• Edward's imprisonment for 'murder'. You'd think that accidentally shooting a bystander would be classified as manslaughter...it seems the judge didn't go easy on him. Petrov was the judge; but considering what he does to actual murderers, it still counts as a merciful sentence.
  • Moreover, makes sense that they'd try to make an example of him since superheroing is a highly regulated thing in Sternbild. They would have a very strong punishment for unauthorized use of powers.
• Lunatic appears for the first time in NC 1977, this could be a really clever reference to another Knight Templar Anti-Hero who also happens to be a judge taking in account that Judge Dredd first appearance was in march 1977. Also, a reference to the Anti-Hero trend of the 70's with the creation of The Punisher in 1974.
• What color are Wild Tiger's eyes? Tiger's eye.
• How can something like the Mad Bears be such a huge success? Kriem bought them all, of course!
• Normally, anime shows have a still a few seconds long saying something to the effect of "this show was brought to you by [a] and the following sponsors [x, y, z]." However, this doesn't seem to be the case here. Why? Because the characters are showcasing the sponsors instead.
• In Episode 15, Keith's relationship with Cis is presented as tragic. But since she doesn't have a personality, just a set of programmed responses, it seems more like he's projecting his own feelings on her. This is best exemplified in the scene where he confesses his insecurities, and stares into her eyes... only to see his own reflection.
• At first glance, the extent to which the murder of Barnaby's parents has affected him might appear a little excessive and overstated...until you look at how it's affected him; diminished interest in ordinary day-to-day activities, emotional volatility, recurring nightmares and insomnia, extreme social withdrawal, no interest in the future (beyond attaining revenge), avoidance of factors related to his past trauma; Barnaby displays the exact symptoms of someone suffering from prolonged, untreated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. And why was it 'untreated'? Because of Maverick, of course.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Kotetsu still wears his wedding ring, even five-six years after his wife's death.
  • Which goes a long way to explain why he's so Oblivious to Love where Blue Rose is concerned. Between that and the age difference, the idea of Blue Rose as a romantic interest has probably never even occurred to him.
• In the Chinese Zodiac, people born under the sign of the Tiger are said to be unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, and generous, as well as reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, and aggressive. When the Year of the Tiger ends, it gives way to the Year of the Rabbit; people born under this sign are said to be sensitive, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, and thorough, but also moody, detached, superficial, opportunistic, and stubborn.
• In Episode 17, Kotetsu finds a stash of Barnaby pictures in his daughter's room, including one with himself cut out. This is obviously a punch in the gut to him. But how did Kaede not recognize the man standing next to her hero as her father, even with the mask on? Because she never saw him: her Grandma removed all the pictures of Kotetsu without his suit on from the Hero merchandise before giving it to her in order to keep up his masquerade.
• Why do some competent Heroes have very poor rankings despite having very useful powers? Well due to the nature of Hero TV and the strong adherence to Thou Shall Not Kill, Heroes with very lethal powers have a much harder time of it than they would have otherwise. Rock Bison could break every bone in a criminal's body but is ranked dead last because Super-Strength is not as useful in catching crooks as say, Super-Speed. Fire Emblem also seems to be in similar straights; he usually has a low ranking because the ability to control fire is too dangerous to employ safely in many circumstances.
• During his arc, there are a couple of times where Jake makes a point of noting/complementing something new of Kriem's (like a hairstyle or recipe). Considerate boyfriend? Yes, but it is also because he can read minds, and so would know she was hoping that he would comment on those things.
• Contrived Coincidence? The day Barnaby decides to see Jake Martinez in Abbas Prison, Ouroboros strikes, which forces Barnaby to make a change of plans and save his partner on the way. Then they reveal their revendications: nothing less than Jake's freedom. And they get it, since they have Sternbild held hostage. Now why does their demand come right as Barnaby is about to see the man? Maverick somehow got wind of his protégé's plans and, wanting to hide the truth, made arrangements to set up the whole crisis. Not only did it allow for some interesting show, but it also prevented Barnaby from learning the truth by asking Jake about it. However, Maverick didn't plan for the situation to get out of hands that badly ...
  • Barnaby calls Maverick to tell him that he's found the murderer, so Maverick didn't really need to do any digging.
• Kriem's hair was completely shaved off during her time in the hospital. It could be because the doctors needed to treat her but it was more likely that they took precautions to make sure she wouldn't be able to use her NEXT abilities to control anything nearby.
• In episode 11, when Jake inquires about the helicopter pilot, Kriem introduces him as Chuckman, then says he probably already knows it, but Chuckman isn't a NEXT. Why would she assume that Jake knows Chuckman isn't a NEXT even though it was never mentioned? Because Jake would have read his mind and found out.
  • And in episode 12, when Jake appears in the main council room with all the important figures in the city, he never, ever takes his eyes off Maverick during his monologue, not once. It's noticeable during the part with him talking about NEXT supremacy that he's looking directly at Maverick.
• Listed as a funny moment for episode 13 is a conversation between Fire Emblem, Blue Rose, and Dragon Kid. Emblem wants to show off their girl power, prompting Blue Rose to point out one of them doesn't fit that description, and Dragon Kid Comically Missing the Point and assuming Rose is referring to her due to being a Tomboy. Listed in Heartwarming for The Rising is that Dragon Kid highly regards Fire Emblem as "strong as a man, but caring as a woman." From the latter, we can infer that Dragon Kid regards Fire Emblem as more womanly then she considers herself to be. It's no wonder it didn't occur to her Blue Rose was referring to Fire Emblem as the one who didn't fit the Girl Power theme.
• A subtle one, but Blue Rose's only sponsor is Pepsi (Nex), and since Pepsi came about after the advent of refrigerators it was supposed to be made to taste better colder. Blue Rose's powers are ice-based, so her sponsor makes a lot more sense.
  • In Season 2, Blue Rose is sponsored by Coolish, a brand of on-the-go milkshakes. Considering that many of the companies featured as sponsors in Tiger & Bunny actively campaigned to be advertised on specific heroes...
• Maverick killed Barnaby's parents to push him into professional hero work, what can that be called if not a Batman Gambit?
• The decoy big bad, and the actual big bad are someone who can read your mind...and someone who can rewrite it. Certainly an appropriate pairing...as well as a terrifying one.
• The Technicolor Fire is fridge brilliance. Fire Emblem's fire is mostly orange with red and yellow. Lunatic's fire is mostly blue with green and white. It is pointed out that Lunatic's fire is much hotter than Fire Emblem's fire. Guess what color a super hot fire burns? Blue! Fire is orange at around 1,100°C, and Blue at around 2,600°C.
• Police in the city seem to be unable to deal with NEXT or even to a large part ordinary human criminal activity. Which makes sense given that the city's superheroes are corporate-sponsored and compete on a reality show that's a huge moneymaker for said corporations. Of course they don't want a police force that's capable of catching the bad guys without help.

Fridge Horror

• In Episode 16, one of Yuri's flashbacks has his dad hitting his mother in shadow. However, a closer look at this shadow reveals his mother's erect nipple, suggesting that not only was Legend verbally and physically abusing her, but verbally, physically, and sexually abusing her at the same time.
• In Episode 19, Maverick reveals that he is a NEXT with the power to erase people's memories. Because of this, he openly admits to killing Barnaby's parents, then erases his memory of the whole conversation. Which makes you wonder... is this the first time Barnaby has found out? Just how many times has he found out...?
  • And considering the influence Maverick has had on his life, exactly how much of what Barnaby remembers about everything that has ever happened to him before the series is genuine? In episode 23, a profile on Barnaby reveals that Maverick never actually raised him; he was brought up in an orphanage. But the fact that Barnaby thinks the man cared for him throughout his childhood just goes to show how extensively his mind has been messed with.
    • In the BD version, the info on Barnaby being raised in an orphanage has been removed.
  • Word Of God took it even farther when the director said that not even Barnaby's precious memories of his parents could be relied upon. Maverick really knows no boundaries. And with the perpetrator dead, Barnaby may never have his memories restored — seeing as how no-one, not even he himself, has any idea of the extent of mental manipulation Maverick used on him.
  • Who is to say that Maverick only manipulated Barnaby's memories? What if the entire series was a huge The Matrix and Maverick isn't really a brain-dead vegetable by the end of it but fooled the entire cast of characters — and by extension, the audience — into believing that he was responsible for killing Barnaby's parents or that he actually wiped his own memory, among other things?
  • Also, considering just how broken Barnaby gets at the revelation that Maverick is responsible for his parents' deaths, it's pretty clear that Maverick's just doing it to taunt him. If Barnaby has found this out before, he's probably learned it a lot of times by now. It's not hard to imagine Maverick repeatedly revealing this information to Barnaby just for shits and giggles because he knows he can get away with it.
• If Maverick has been setting up criminals for so long, who's to say how many innocent people are framed on a regular basis just like Kotetsu was?
  • Worse still, considering how Lunatic acts in episode 21, specifically first looking for Kotetsu and Wild Tiger's records only to be extremely annoyed when the former have disappeared and the latter he can't access, and then saving Kotetsu from arrest because he knows he's innocent, this may have contributed to his decision to become a vigilante: this could have been the first of many frame-ups he had a chance to fix.
• Some Fridge Brilliance that sort of becomes Fridge Horror regarding Origami Cyclone and Jake Martinez. In episode 13 we learn Jake has two powers, and one of those is reading minds. If that's the case, surely he figured out Origami's plan in episode 11 the moment he laid eyes on him. If that's the case, why doesn't he just kill him right there? Perhaps he planned to use Origami to lure the other heroes to his hideout. But if that's the case, why does he just taunt them and let them go? If he does know who he is in the helicopter scenes, he's offering alcohol to someone who is more than likely underage. He also says that Ivan could "never be a NEXT." Considering Ivan's somewhat self-conscious about the usefulness of his powers, this is dangerously close to "you could never be a hero." And then the whole taunting thing with the magazine? Basically, he's just screwing with Origami Cyclone the whole time. Y'know. For the Evulz
• At the beginning of episode 25, the other heroes escape from their cells and find Barnaby holding Kotetsu's supposedly dead body. It makes a point of showing Kaede's reaction and then Barnaby in tears. Imagine what Barnaby might be thinking here. He's spent twenty years hunting the people who killed his parents. And now, through no fault of his own, he believes he's killed Kotetsu, essentially orphaning Kaede. He's unintentionally done to Kaede what Maverick did to him. He's become what he most despises. Ouch.
  • Softened slightly by the fact that Kaede at least would have had her grandma and uncle, but considering this comes shortly after she finally learns the truth of Kotetsu's job, and they're starting to fix their relationship... It's still a major punch in the gut.
• Before Braehe dies, he releases the heroes from their petrification. If he hadn't, they may have been petrified forever.

Fridge Logic

• Where were the Second League Heroes during the fight with Hugan and Mugan? Yeah, they may not have been much help but with more than half of the First Leaguers petrified, the whole situation would've been Too Desperate to Be Picky.
  • It's more than likely the Second League Heroes simply weren't prepared for Mugan and Fugan, they were shown to struggle with a simple mugging, there was no way they were equipped with such a dire case.