Tiger and Bunny Comic-Con Panel Report
I was at the Tiger and Bunny Comic-Con Panel, so I decided to write up a report on it (mind you, this is all going from memory, so I may not have everything that was discussed down). Also, a large chunk of this was taken from a post I made on another forum, but I added some to it since. You can read the report under the cut:
So, yes, an English dub is currently in pre-production(and I have a feeling that they will be really good when it comes to it, since they also showed a video at the panel showing the process of how they did the simulcast, and they put a ton of work into the English that showed up in the show).
They also showed a video from Sato-san (the director), saying thanks to everyone there, and from Hirata-san (Kotetsu's voice actor), who only just found out about the large overseas following and stated that us, in America, actually got to see the final episode before he did! XD He was also really grateful for the large overseas fanbase.
Some other things that were asked and brought up concerned merchandise, basically, all those cute key chains and figures are going to be brought over stateside, along with Barnaby's jacket, Kotetsu's hat, the Kaburagi Wine and Spirits towel, and the 'Let's Believe Heroes' stash. They are also using the Tiger and Bunny Facebook page to really get a sense of what fans what when it comes to this series (as well as when it comes to merchandise) using polls and "likes" to see what merchandise is in more demand than others and whatnot. Viz seemed really eager to connect to the fanbase, so I highly suggest that all fans go over there and "Like" the Tiger and Bunny Facebook page, that way we will be more likely to have our voices heard by the company.
Some other questions that were asked:
Question: What is Kotetsu's age?
Answer: Besides the characters that you already have a set age for, such as Barnaby, the true ages of all of the other characters are never going to be released. It is up to us, the viewers and fans, to pick an age that we believe fits them/pick an age that we think they should be.
Question: What is the nature of Kotetsu and Barnaby's relationship?
Answer: Basically, the same as the above. We were told that the nature of their relationship is what the viewers want, see, and think it should be. So, basically, he said that if we saw them as being gay for each other, then that was correct, but if we just saw them as having a wonderful bromance, then that was correct, too (of course, he didn't actually put it like that, simply that however we saw their relationship was correct).
Question: Who is Ozaki-san's favorite character outside of Kotetsu or Barnaby?
Answer: Rock Bison/Antonio.
There were a few questions asked about the character designs and Good Luck Mode, but they didn't really provide any new information. He spoke a bit about the sponsors, most of the information concerning them can be found already (he didn't even bother to explain Pepsi or Ustream). Meanwhile some interesting tid-bits was how one of Origami's sponsors was a cosmetic clinic, and this connects to his ability to shapeshift, the another is how Livedoor is a website for blogging and such.
We were also asked questions about if we liked Kotetsu or Barnaby better (Kotetsu won), if we liked Kotetsu and Barnaby as a team (a large majority of the people raised their hands), and who we liked outside of Kotetsu and Barnaby (basically every character except for Jake got cheers (one or two people did raise their hands), though some such as Keith, Ivan, Nathan (which seemed to surprise Ozaki-san a bit), Lunatic, and Kaede got louder cheers than others). Saito-san also got some rather loud cheers, too.
There was also some talk about the Tiger and Bunny Hero Awards event (how the voice actors and actresses and the op and ed bands/singers are going to be there/they are going to try to get them all there), and a hinting that there may actually be some footage shown for whatever type of continuation they have planned. Hirata-san also told us to poke and prod Ozaki-san for some information when it came to a continuation (such as a second season or what have you) since many Japanese fans are wondering about that as well.
Finally, Ozaki-san was very sweet, funny, and adorable. He apparently took over 200 photos of New York when he was here last year for Tiger and Bunny, since he already was planning it and such then. He apologized for his cosplay not matching when it came to colors (his hat was a light green and his shirt was a dark green), and he took photos and did signings after the event (I got my comic anthology signed by him and took a picture with him along with my friends). Oh, and another thing, when he was talking about how Sternbild is based off of New York, he said how Sternbild was "New York in the future," or something very close to that.
Some other side information that we learned about the series as a whole:
-There was plans for a ninth hero called Zen Beast, who would have had one personality that was very silent and calm and another personality that was extremely wild. He would have been a very complex character, but they scraped the idea in the end and went for eight heroes (though over the course of production they had many different concepts for heroes and whatnot).
-When they were still finalizing the personalities for the characters and how they would be and what they would do, they discussed Kotetsu being the president/chairman of a small company. Obviously that did not happen! XD
-Originally, the higher-ups wanted the duo to be two young guys, but Ozaki-san always saw the pair as being an older and younger guy in order to really explore generational gaps and such.
-And, one of the villains in the series (that can be seen on the screen when Barnaby was doing research into who killed his parents) was able to make people go insane because of his wise-cracks and he got arrested for (the most heinous crime of ) stealing a desk, lol!
That was about it when it came to what was talked about and discussed in the panel. It was a real blast and I was so glad that this panel worked out okay (I was also pleasantly surprised by just how many people there were for this panel, there was a really long line to get in and the panel room was packed!) There were also two nice, big displays up for Tiger and Bunny, one of which had a cardboard cutout of Kotetsu and Barnaby in their suits, was playing episodes of the anime on a little TV screen, and had some of the key chains and figures out on display.
Overall, Tiger and Bunny was very successful at Comic-Con, which makes me extremely happy! ^-^
So, yes, an English dub is currently in pre-production(and I have a feeling that they will be really good when it comes to it, since they also showed a video at the panel showing the process of how they did the simulcast, and they put a ton of work into the English that showed up in the show).
They also showed a video from Sato-san (the director), saying thanks to everyone there, and from Hirata-san (Kotetsu's voice actor), who only just found out about the large overseas following and stated that us, in America, actually got to see the final episode before he did! XD He was also really grateful for the large overseas fanbase.
Some other things that were asked and brought up concerned merchandise, basically, all those cute key chains and figures are going to be brought over stateside, along with Barnaby's jacket, Kotetsu's hat, the Kaburagi Wine and Spirits towel, and the 'Let's Believe Heroes' stash. They are also using the Tiger and Bunny Facebook page to really get a sense of what fans what when it comes to this series (as well as when it comes to merchandise) using polls and "likes" to see what merchandise is in more demand than others and whatnot. Viz seemed really eager to connect to the fanbase, so I highly suggest that all fans go over there and "Like" the Tiger and Bunny Facebook page, that way we will be more likely to have our voices heard by the company.
Some other questions that were asked:
Question: What is Kotetsu's age?
Answer: Besides the characters that you already have a set age for, such as Barnaby, the true ages of all of the other characters are never going to be released. It is up to us, the viewers and fans, to pick an age that we believe fits them/pick an age that we think they should be.
Question: What is the nature of Kotetsu and Barnaby's relationship?
Answer: Basically, the same as the above. We were told that the nature of their relationship is what the viewers want, see, and think it should be. So, basically, he said that if we saw them as being gay for each other, then that was correct, but if we just saw them as having a wonderful bromance, then that was correct, too (of course, he didn't actually put it like that, simply that however we saw their relationship was correct).
Question: Who is Ozaki-san's favorite character outside of Kotetsu or Barnaby?
Answer: Rock Bison/Antonio.
There were a few questions asked about the character designs and Good Luck Mode, but they didn't really provide any new information. He spoke a bit about the sponsors, most of the information concerning them can be found already (he didn't even bother to explain Pepsi or Ustream). Meanwhile some interesting tid-bits was how one of Origami's sponsors was a cosmetic clinic, and this connects to his ability to shapeshift, the another is how Livedoor is a website for blogging and such.
We were also asked questions about if we liked Kotetsu or Barnaby better (Kotetsu won), if we liked Kotetsu and Barnaby as a team (a large majority of the people raised their hands), and who we liked outside of Kotetsu and Barnaby (basically every character except for Jake got cheers (one or two people did raise their hands), though some such as Keith, Ivan, Nathan (which seemed to surprise Ozaki-san a bit), Lunatic, and Kaede got louder cheers than others). Saito-san also got some rather loud cheers, too.
There was also some talk about the Tiger and Bunny Hero Awards event (how the voice actors and actresses and the op and ed bands/singers are going to be there/they are going to try to get them all there), and a hinting that there may actually be some footage shown for whatever type of continuation they have planned. Hirata-san also told us to poke and prod Ozaki-san for some information when it came to a continuation (such as a second season or what have you) since many Japanese fans are wondering about that as well.
Finally, Ozaki-san was very sweet, funny, and adorable. He apparently took over 200 photos of New York when he was here last year for Tiger and Bunny, since he already was planning it and such then. He apologized for his cosplay not matching when it came to colors (his hat was a light green and his shirt was a dark green), and he took photos and did signings after the event (I got my comic anthology signed by him and took a picture with him along with my friends). Oh, and another thing, when he was talking about how Sternbild is based off of New York, he said how Sternbild was "New York in the future," or something very close to that.
Some other side information that we learned about the series as a whole:
-There was plans for a ninth hero called Zen Beast, who would have had one personality that was very silent and calm and another personality that was extremely wild. He would have been a very complex character, but they scraped the idea in the end and went for eight heroes (though over the course of production they had many different concepts for heroes and whatnot).
-When they were still finalizing the personalities for the characters and how they would be and what they would do, they discussed Kotetsu being the president/chairman of a small company. Obviously that did not happen! XD
-Originally, the higher-ups wanted the duo to be two young guys, but Ozaki-san always saw the pair as being an older and younger guy in order to really explore generational gaps and such.
-And, one of the villains in the series (that can be seen on the screen when Barnaby was doing research into who killed his parents) was able to make people go insane because of his wise-cracks and he got arrested for (the most heinous crime of ) stealing a desk, lol!
That was about it when it came to what was talked about and discussed in the panel. It was a real blast and I was so glad that this panel worked out okay (I was also pleasantly surprised by just how many people there were for this panel, there was a really long line to get in and the panel room was packed!) There were also two nice, big displays up for Tiger and Bunny, one of which had a cardboard cutout of Kotetsu and Barnaby in their suits, was playing episodes of the anime on a little TV screen, and had some of the key chains and figures out on display.
Overall, Tiger and Bunny was very successful at Comic-Con, which makes me extremely happy! ^-^