Barnaby Brooks Jr./Kotetsu T. Kaburagi
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Barnaby Brooks Jr. x Kotetsu T. Kaburagi |
| Alternative name(s): | UsaTora, ToraUsa, KoteBani, BaniKote |
| Gender category: | slash |
| Fandom: | Tiger & Bunny |
| Canonical?: | no |
| Prevalence: | popular |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Barnaby Brooks Jr./Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, or Barnaby/Kotetsu for short, is a slash ship between two major characters of the Tiger & Bunny anime. It's also the most popular ship of the fandom.
Canon Overview
The pair are, at first, forced into a partnership which neither particularly enjoys or wants. Their teamwork is atrocious and their priorities frequently clash as Barnaby is more concerned with points and ratings, whereas Kotetsu simply wants to save people. Barnaby frequently grows irritated at Kotetsu's tendency to insert himself into others' affairs, but despite their rocky start they end up becoming a good team and eventually friends. Ten months after Jake's arrest, they have become a successful super hero team rising to the 1st and 4th ranks. Barnaby now understands Kotetsu's kind-hearted nature and seems to both appreciate and accept it.
A testament to the progress they have made as friends and teammates is the fact that Barnaby was the only person whose memory Kotetsu was able to jog manually following Maverick's memory manipulation. By the end of the series, Barnaby has grown so used to having Kotetsu as his partner that becomes deeply hurt upon discovering Kotetsu's intentions to resign. Nevertheless, they are able to reconcile a year later when Kotetsu decides to resume his work as a hero, thereupon continuing to work as partners as they did before. This is further cemented by the events of Tiger & Bunny: The Rising, wherein Barnaby discovers after working with Ryan that Kotetsu is the only person he would want to be his partner.
Various members of the Tiger&Bunny crew frequently referred to Kotetsu and Barnaby as romantic partners, but the official statement is that viewers are free to interpret their relationship as either platonic or romantic
Fans Reactions
Personally, I think Tiger & Bunny represent what a lot of long-time BL readers and lovers (me included) look for in tropes (rivals to lovers, saved each other, hot x cold, married couple a la Ace Attorney, etc.) and that's why it's so appealing to them. Coming as a pair doesn't make it any less shippable... There are also interviews from the creative team of T&B where some staff say that they see T&B as a couple in a romantic relationship.But many people don't ship T&B as a couple but see them as close friends, and that's okay. It all comes down to what you want from their pairing. You can see them as a supportive, caring and deep friendship. You can see them in a romantic way. A lot of it is in the undertone, so if you are more used to obvious and in-your-face gay romance (think actual BL and movies like Love Simon), T&B deviates far from that. And to be clear, T&B is categorised as either a shonen or seinen anime, meaning that romance is usually not the main point but rather a side-story.
The producers(maybe director?) has said that their relationship is up to interpretation, so it can be seen as either romantic or platonic, personally I don’t think that in season 1 that it’s romantic, however season 2 I can see it as romantic. There are moments in season 1 but I don’t believe either is emotionally available enough to be in a relationship.
So I have to say with very little doubt that I'm convinced Barnaby is IN LOVE WITH KOTETSU and aware of that fact by season 2, and Kotetsu is either aware of it and not saying it, or isn't aware of it because it's not something he's thought about or considers.He keeps Kotetsu's gifts and other items from when he was with Kotetsu, thinks about him when he's not there, makes Kotetsu the center of his new, happier life, to the point that even the newcomer Ryan makes a comment about how much Kotetsu influenced him and how when Bunny says "we're not partners anymore" Ryan gives him a very dubious "if you say so" like he knows they're still definitely partners in some other way that isn't on the job.
Given that viz has marked Tiger and Bunny a romance even when the only "romantic" aspects of the show were an teenage girl having an impossible but safe crush on a middle aged man, and Kotetsu missing his dead wife, and one episode in which Keith wants to ask a girl out . There's literally no other aspect besides the central relationship between Kotetsu and Barnaby that can be read as romantic
For me personally, while I get the idea of the trope “opposites attract”, but it’s not always true, sometimes opposites can lead to a more toxic relationship or one that is left with a shakey foundation if the people involved can’t have some grounds that they have in common. While Kotetsu and Barnaby have things that the other lacks, they don’t exactly seem like they could take each other without breaks or having the option of having some space from each other. Yes, they are close, yes, they work well together, but in a relationship it kind of seems like they wouldn’t have one that would survive for too long. And in all honesty, it happens, even to the best of couples.This one of my personal reasons for not really being on the ship, that’s just how I personally see it. But when I make that argument I try to look for the reasons why and have more substance to my reasoning. You might not agree with me, and that’s perfectly fine, I don’t expect everyone to nor would I want them to.
Honestly. I think Mattia and Bunny fit nice together. If you look at the chemistry between them in the second half of season two you can see what I mean. And don’t forget that tiger is like 20 years older than Barnaby so their ages are way too far apart for me to ship them haha. Tiger just has a dad instinct because he has a daughter and is used to take care of people.
Common Tropes in Fanwork
This article or section needs expansion. |
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfic
- Home Is Where the Heart Is by mikkimouse
- Cry, tiger child (I'll be here to wipe your tears) by RealmOfTenderness
- Two Step by feelslikefire
- Love Comes In by Barkour
- the transient nature of petals by onwords
Fanart
Fanvid
- tiger & bunny || I'll follow you by Mrseclipse555
- Kotetsu x Barnaby - Better Than I Know Myself by Tsukayasugi1014
- Die for You | Kotetsu/Barnaby AMV by FlowerVolcano
Meta
- The Defense for The Kotetsu/Barnaby Ship (Tiger & Bunny) by fuckyeahcontroversialcouples
Archives and Community
References
- ^ "Wild Tiger Tiger & Bunny Wiki Fandom". 2023-02-21. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21.
- ^ "Where is the Tiger X Barnaby evidence? : TigerAndBunny". 2023-02-21. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21.
- ^ "Where is the Tiger X Barnaby evidence? : TigerAndBunny". 2023-02-21. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21.
- ^ "I'm rewatching parts of Tiger and Bunny and back... - 🌟Mozzarella is…". 2023-02-21. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21.
- ^ "Stop blowing holes in my ship!". 2023-02-21. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21.
- ^ "Where is the Tiger X Barnaby evidence? : TigerAndBunny". 2023-02-21. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21.