Tiger & Bunny Vol. 1 TP (Manga)
Publisher: Viz Media
Release Date: 4/9/2013
Price: $9.99
Creator: Mizuki Sakakibara
Format: 168 pgs., B&W, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9-781-4215-5561-4
Age Rating: Teen
ICv2 Rating: 2 stars out of 5
 
In the city of Stern Bild there are certain people with super powers called NEXT.  These people help protect the peace as heroes while competing on a reality TV show called Hero TV for points and sponsorship dollars.  One of these heroes is Wild Tiger, an aging veteran who is forced to team up with a young rookie hotshot with the exact same power.  Even though the two don't get along at all, they must put their differences aside in order to work together for the peace of the city and their corporate backer.
 
I'm a big Tiger and Bunny fan and have been since the anime premiered a couple of years ago.  When the opportunity came along to review the manga adaptation, I jumped at the chance.  Now that I've finished it however, I'm left with a sense of disappointment and emptiness that I didn't expect.
 
Being as familiar with the story as I am, it was impossible to not compare the story of this manga to the original source material and realize just how uneven the two really are.  For the most part, this is a decent first volume but there are so many little things that are bothersome about it that it's hard to recommend it to others.
 
First off, the pacing of this volume is absolutely terrible.  Even with so much action, the pages and story seem to fly past with chapters only taking mere minutes to read.  Even if you slow down to appreciate the artwork done by Mizuki Sakakibara, the book itself is a very quick read that you can complete in an afternoon if you so desire.
 
The second thing that I noticed about this volume is the severe lack of heart present in comparison to the anime.  In the anime, there are entire scenes dedicated to Wild Tiger and the sadness he feels after losing his sponsor and being forced into this new situation. In the manga however these scenes are missing entirely which eliminates a lot of Wild Tiger's development right off the bat.  With how quickly it moves, it's impossible to sympathize with the character because it's all about the action leaving no space for story and character development.
 
If you're looking for a solid action series, I can't recommend this one.  Action and shonen fans are going to be the ones who get the most enjoyment out of this but even they will be forced to admit that the story just doesn't create enough bang for the buck in this case.
 
If you're really interested in the Tiger and Bunny story, I highly suggest you look toward the anime which was recently released by Viz Media on DVD and Blu-ray.  This manga is good but it's not good enough.
 
--L.B. Bryant