The very last cast watch party for episode 25 of TIGER & BUNNY 2 has ended, where the cast and production staff discussed about the final episode, like Katsura story boarding for an anime for the first time and about the final act of Yuri Petrov. They gave their heartfelt thank yous and appreciation for all the support that the fans have given to this series for these 10+ years.
The live stream can be watched here (note - no subtitles).
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There were no new anime continuation announcements at this time.
Although there were no continuation announcements, there was an update of the recent one-shot manga that had released in November. This saw the return of series' Main Character Designer, Masakazu Katsura and Main Scriptwriter, Masafumi Nishida, collaborate once again to write/draw a few new additional pages, which are set after TIGER & BUNNY 2. This can be viewed at the link:
There was also an announcement that TIGER & BUNNY 2 will receive a Japanese weekly TV broadcast over on the NHK channel from April 2023. Personally I am thrilled to see this, as it will allow the season to outreach a much more broader audience than the Netflix exclusivity allowed it to, so hopefully the season will garner more potential viewership and attention!
TIGER & BUNNY 2 The Comic illustrator, Hiroshi Ueda, also contributed art for the event:
Although a sequel/follow up anime may have not been announced at this time, we still have plenty of content to enjoy right now. Some content such as the on-going 2 manga series (by Mizuki Sakakibara and the other written by Erika Yoshida and illustrated by Hiroshi Ueda) the audio dramas with the Japanese home Blu-ray releases, the upcoming artbook that's expected to be released in March and hopefully more books and interviews announcements to follow, The Jazz of TIGER & BUNNY 2 event and the Museum in January and the endless collaborations and merchandise that keep on flooding through.
It's never been a better time to be a TIGER & BUNNY fan 🐯🐰
Wow, what an experience! It was such a huge honor to be part of this panel by being on the stage with other cosplayers, Viz staff, and Ichigo's JP voice actor, Masakazu Morita!!
I wanted to write about my experience with it in case anyone is interested!
One of my best friends and I were cosplaying Rukia and Orihime (in a shihakusho) this day and we got in line early that was outside for the Bleach panel. As the line moved, we got stopped by Viz Media staff who handed us these numbers (7 and 8) and told us to enter to be part of the "Bankai Contest". At first, all of my friends and I thought it was a raffle because they first mentioned that we can win prizes. But when they told us that we get up on stage, I got nervous and was so hesitant that I almost said no, but thanks to my silly friends peer pressuring encouraging me, I chose to take it, thinking that if I changed my mind later I could just not go up.
The panel started and after about 3/4 of Morita's Q&A, there was a brief pause and the cosplayers who were given numbers were asked to come up to the front for the Bankai/Cosplay contest (There was a total of 11 of us). I thought, "Okay, I'll come up, I'm nervous as hell, but maybe I just stand there. I don't have my glasses on so I won't be able to see the audience's faces or see the sheer amount of people there, right?"
But we were told that the contest is more so who gives the best "Bankai!" shout and Morita will be the judge, and I was like oh no, I have to use my voice?! My mind was racing with how I should deliver my "bankai", trying to get a sense of how Rukia would say it. (Because well, we haven't heard it yet, but soon!)
At this point I think I astral projected because it was truly an out-of-body experience. After my silly and cringe "bankai" I stood next to my friend and the other cosplayers, as depicted in the photo above, while my brain and body were processing the shock of everything.
The Tosen cosplayer accidentally got chosen as being part of the Top 3 but to be fair he was really good so it wouldn't be surprising if he got chosen anyway! Morita then had to choose another cosplayer but when he said "Rukia", I physically turned my body slightly away from him because my brain was like DO NOT PERCEIVE ME, there are 3 Rukia's up here so surely I wouldn't be perceived, but he came up to me and picked me, and I was pretty much dying inside. ;;w;;
The winner out of the Top 3 was chosen out of audience applause, and the Tosen cosplayer won! The prizes were an autographed poster from Morita for each cosplayer, and the Top 3 received Bleach merchandise in a Bleach tote bag.
I didn't even realize I got 2nd place, I only found out about it when my friends told me after the panel ended LOL
Afterward, the panel showed 3 scene previews from Season 2 and they were phenomenal! Anime-only (new) scenes, the visuals, the sound design, it was so good! The cosplayers got front-row seats so my eyes got to drink it all up >:)
Sorry if this was too long of a post, but this was my experience at the Bleach TYBW panel at AX this year! It was absolutely crazy but a lot of fun, and it's crazier to think that I almost refused the number to get up on stage.
Thank you so much for reading!!~
So I meant to throw this screenshot in my earlier shitpost dump, but I forgor. I guess you can argue it's more a cute piece of trivia from the Cour2 Watch Parties than a shitpost...
「タルタルソース」 - Tartar Sauce
In watch Party Ep 20, Hirata Hiroaki (Kotetsu's seiyuu), and Morita Masakazu (Bunny's seiyuu), have a discussion about the Underworld's Tartarus (from Greek Mythology), because Luna tells Kotetsu and Bunny they're headed there for trying to help the robbers who killed Origa.
Tartarus is the region of the Underworld where the most evil go to suffer and is also used as a prison for the Titans.
Anyway, Hirata pulls out sheets of written facts about Tartarus and reads them to the audience. Morita gets a kick out of watching Hirata get through the terms, and Hirata is rather pleased with himself for learning something new.
In Watch Party 24, Yusa Kōji (Yuri/Luna's seiyuu aka "Yusatic") 🤣 is their guest. Hirata and Morita bring up the Taibani Cour2 pv. Hirata actually calls his character's appearance in the pv "Yuri", but Yusa corrects him to say "Lunatic". Then Hirata calls Tartarus "Tartar Sauce"!! to which Yusa replies "Tartarus."
Hirata is absolutely adorable in all of these, and is a friggin treasure. Also I love whenever he puts on his reading glasses.
Also in the TaiBani server I belong to, we discussed other inclusions of Greek Mythology (outside of Yuri's mentions of Thanatos and Tartarus - also Themis if you count his character single).
The agencies that represent the heroes other than Jungle and TopMaG are also based on Greek Mythology. (Thank you Saint Seiya for making me such a fan of this topic).
Helios - the god that personifies the Sun
Poseidon - Presides over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses. Also sometimes governs Atlantis as part of his domain such as in Plato's Timaeus and Critias.
Odysseus - King of Ithaca and hero featured in Homer's Odyssey
Apollo(n) - The Greek god of archery, healing, music (and the arts), light, the Sun, knowledge, herds and flocks, and protection of the young.
Titan - elder gods who ruled the earth before the Olympians over threw them.
Kronos - Ruler of the Titans and Zeus' (ruler of Olympus) father
Hesperides - Nymphs of evening and golden lights of sunset
Ouroboros is actually not a Greek Mythology term. Its an ancient symbol from Egyptian iconography, Greek magic, and alchemy, that represents the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth.
On the 24th December, the final episode of TIGER & BUNNY 2 will be live streamed into the Marunouchi Piccadilly theatre with a live audience, hosted by Hiroaki Hirata (Kotetsu) and Masakazu Morita (Barnaby) and also the production staff, Director Mitsuko Kase, Main Screenplay Writer, Masafumi Nishida and Main Character Designer, Masakazu Katsura!
Tickets will be sold for 4,500 yen over on the i-tike website, acceptance period from 3rd December until 11th November, 23:59 JST.
Masakazu Morita: What kind of pictures did you draw?
Tite Kubo: When I was really little, I drew things like dinosaurs and insects. I moved on from that, and for a while, I was fixated on drawing a lot of wrists on my drawing paper. And so, when I looked at my childhood notebook years later as an adult, I was creeped out by it and thought, “I’m surprised my parents didn’t try to consult someone about this.” (laughs)
Masakazu Morita: That’s true. That would be a bit.. concerning. (laughs)
Tite Kubo: If a kindergarten child was only drawing wrists, I would be concerned!
Masakazu Morita: You really are a unique type of individual. (laughs) Normally, once you’ve moved on from drawing dinosaurs or insects, you’d draw manga characters. They wouldn’t go to wrists. (laughs)