Um yeah. That’s possible too. I really kept wondering on how the creators would end up solving the memory alterations of Maverick. The previous episode built up an epic plan to do that, and it really looked like Tiger was going to have to try his best to both convince everyone, while not being too cheesy at the same time. Or just wait for Kaede to show up and zap everyone back.
It’s a bit weird at first, but as the episode went on I really appreciated what a great anti-climax this was. After all, this episode did avoid exactly what I was afraid of: cheesy monologues for every single one of the side characters. Instead, Tiger’s attempts were shown to have some subtle influences, but they just weren’t enough for the team mentality of the heroes who worked together. In the meantime, Sky High’s brilliant action of touching Kaede on the shoulder still leaves the perfect opportunity for Kotetsu to really scrape the barrel in trying to get the memories of his friend back: for a lot of different characters, this indeed would have been rather weird.
Added to that was that the characters were just incredibly enjoyable throughout the entire episode. Just about everyone shined and was fun to watch. The cast of Tiger & Bunny really has what I’d like to call the X-Factor for me: it’s hard to describe, but beyond well developed and acted, they put in this extra bit to make them even more interesting, and make them consistently enjoyable, even when they’re not doing anything. For me, this is one of the greatest heights a cast can reach. This series has had episodes that hinted to that very much in the past, but this episode sealed the deal.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
The biggest hint that Kaede was about to do something was when they slowly revealed Maverick as the person who patted her on the head. I can see another why they would’ve done such a long lingering shot. Kaede might still have another part to play in this yet with this fight against fake Tiger. I can easy imagine some sort of multiple ability absorption ultimate attack type thing happening.
I’m kind of left wondering what would happen if all the heroes were to touch Kaede at once, would she get all their powers at once, if so she’d probably be able to blow robo-tiger away (something inside wants me to think the person driving the suit is that weedly little guy who dressed up as bunny and blue rose earlier in the series, but he’s probably in jail right now, so it wouldn’t be, if so it would take from the who Cis episode)… now to convince barnaby… kotetsu must be buying time to power up again, but will that phone photo have any play?…is it next saturday yet?
In the last scene of this episode, my husband and I burst out laughing at how dramatic the “jump over the bridge at sunset with a boat coming” scene was. xD
I still thought Kaede being there is a huge Deus Ex Machina
I really love how they built up the tension, mood, and atmosphere in this episode, I also like how they handled the situation. I was worried at first that the whole “Kaede fixes everyone’s memories” situation might feel too deux ex machina, especially since some fans were speculating that she was going to fix *all* of the heroes, even Barnaby.
But the way they went about it, having Kotetsu try his Power of Friendship way first, and having at least on success with Karina, and a bit of success with the others, was nicely done.
There were many small things that I liked about this episode, and they all basically had to do with the characters and their personalities and all those little quirky things about them that make them such great characters. For instance, all the little secrets that Kotetsu knew about them was highly amusing (especially Nathan’s and Keith’s), and the scene with Saito was great too.
Really, this series isn’t so much about the plot, but about wonderfully crafted characters and how they bounce off of each other. It is their reactions to the situations that are occurring in the plot that makes it so good and interesting, even when the majority of the concepts have been done to death. It all comes down to the execution.
Outside of adoring Karina and Keith (even with his stupid blunder) this episode, both Kaede and Kotetsu were awesome here too~! I can’t wait for next Saturday!
It was obvious that Kaede would fix the memory erasure, but the way they went about it was not particularly creative. The use of flashbacks was also a little irritating.
The cliffhanger was pretty funny, though, because of how cheesy it was. This show can switch between funny and serious instantaneously, or be both at the same time.
Wriggles here and there aside, this is the best original Sunrise work in terms of entertainment value in a ages. I’d have to check release dates to even ascertain the number of years it’s been since I’ve liked something about a Sunrise work besides the animation. It’s funny that in this case the story is entertaining enough that I don’t even care about the animation, and haven’t since the first episode. Off-centered eyes? Meh CG compositing? Whatever, this show is awesome.