Tiger and Bunny/Headscratchers

• So is Barnaby supposed to be nearsighted or not? His voice actor says his glasses are just Purely Aesthetic Glasses but the director and producer says that he is and the helmet fixes his vision problems while he wears it. While I would be more inclined to believe the latter, in episode 23 he fights just fine in his suit after his helmet comes off.
  • Director trumps voice actor; at any rate his prescription seems to be fairly mild. It's not unknown for people who wear glasses or contacts to remove them before sparring, it makes things fuzzier but crisp clarity isn't exactly needed to punch someone.
    • According to the hero gossips, his vision is actually pretty bad. But I guess in episode 23's case his hundred power could correct his vision enough to see well, like how Kotetsu was able to amplify his hearing once.
• What does the orange/red NEXT glow represent? Originally it was thought to be associated with Ouroboros but then Kotetsu glows that color when his powers get boosted to signal their decline. Another theory is that it could represent an overflow of powers because of Kotetsu's power boost and Jake having two powers, but why then does Kriem glow the same color when she has only one?
  • Maybe the glow is tied into mental state; Kriem and Jake are insane for one. Or maybe insanity and power boosts simply trigger the same aura. At any rate, we don't actually know that the aura appears when NEXT activate their abilities or if that's just a visual shorthand for the convenience of the audience.
  • In the flashback, Kriem's glow is blue.
    • Nope, the glow is in universe. See episode 2 where child Kotetsu says "I'm not suppose to be touching people while I'm shining like this."
    • And that is the only time it's ever referred to in the entire series, and it might simply have been a miscommunication on the development staff. At any rate don't forget the trio of sisters in Episode 9 who had glowing green eyes to show their NEXT abilities which apparently were constantly active. Seems like either different glows represent different types of ability or there might just be a wide natural range, and blue is just the most common.
• Why does Karina go to a normal school when it has already been shown that there's a school specifically for NEXT?
  • I suppose she just prefers to interact with 'normal' people more, since up until episode 4 she viewed the hero scene only as a means to get into a 'real' career.
  • Yeah but it's not a question of her choice, it's a question of safety, Even NEXT with harmless powers were at the Hero Academy, so unless Karina had some sort of training already, the fear of Power Incontinence would mean she would likely be forced to go to the Hero Academy.
    • That may well be so, but there's never any indication that NEXT are obliged to attend Hero Academy due to some kind of law/rule -- as the name implies, the school is a place providing training for those aspiring to become heroes; whether their powers are harmless or harmful doesn't seem to matter (and the application depends on the user, anyway). Tony from episode 2 and Kriem both attended normal schools.
    • Ah fair enough! Kotetsu and Antonio both attended normal school as well, but I assumed Hero Academy hadn't existed yet.
• In episode 8, why is Ivan teaching a group of students without his costume on/disguising his identity?
  • He's a graduate of the school; his identity was likely on file there anyways.
• Why would Maverick concoct a whole such a complex and fragile plan to get rid of Kotetsu when he could have easily altered his memory like he did with Barnaby and all the other heroes?
  • He tried that already by attempting to drug him when he came by his office in episode 20. Going by how he used his powers before, he can only alter memories when his victims are in a state where they won't fight back. Two, the people who knew about Kotetsu's identity who weren't altered was people he didn't think would cause any problems (remember he doesn't know that Yuri is Lunatic or that Kaede has copy powers). Three, he's overconfident and figures he can do whatever he wants because he's gotten away with everything for the past twenty years.
• Kaede was Badass Adorable Plucky Girl, undoubtedly, but there is a great contrast between how she's able to control the first few abilities she picks up, and then what she manages to do with Karina's. Granted activating Maverick's memory power was accidental, but she takes Karina's ice power and is able to cut her bonds with a shard of ice, and then able to freeze two people to the spot. Subtle and powerful, when she's never used the power before, you'd think she'd end up freezing everything in sight and escape purely by Power Incontinence. But that would be considerably less awesome.
  • While is not explicit how much she can control those powers is understandable that she might have practice to make her daily life (and her grandma and uncle's too) bearable and while she didn't know that she had Maverick's powers she was well aware when the famous heroine Blue Rose touch her in the roof so she was already conscious about having freeze powers helping in the issue.
  • She may have also gotten a little practice using that power by trying to fight against HN-01 but ultimately gets captured along with the rest of the heroes. There's also a difference between her first two abilities (Hundred Power and Magnetic) and the latter ones in that she couldn't shut off her early abilities when they were active as easily.
• Where was Ivan during episode 5? He's the only hero missing from this episode and no explanation is given (Maybe off photobombing somewhere?).
  • Dragon Kid wasn't there either if I recall correctly, maybe it was their day off.
  • This was addressed in the Miracle Jump manga - both Ivan and Pao-Lin were busy with an event at a cattle ranch.
• While he'd naturally suggest something than the media hype ("Let's Believe Heroes!") Maverick wanted, why was Petrov's response to Lunatic's debut to recommend 'his' arrest? It seems he'd only be making trouble for himself, even if the whole 'crime-fighting' business is under Maverick's thumb and so the focus would ultimately end up on Hero TV anyway.
  • Perhaps it was just to pacify the CEOs worries about Lunatic, hence he just shuts up when Maverick suggests something else that doesn't involve him being captured. Plus, he is a judge and it would be a more natural expected response for him to be brought to justice.
  • It's also worth noting that Yuri kind of hates himself, so that may have informed his decision as well. Crazy people do nonsensical things.
• Just what is the deal with Barnaby's black ring? It's removed in the DVD/BD versions of episode 5 and no explanation is given. Kotetsu is also wearing a similar ring on the first cover of the limited edition BD. Was it a dropped plot point or are they doing it as foreshadowing to something that is going to happen in future continuations?
• Are any of the heroes trained in first aid? I know it would have ruined the tension at the end of episode 24 and into 25, but taking a pulse is one of the easiest things to do. And I just can't imagine that people whose job involves lifesaving and going into highly dangerous situations would not be trained in first aid and CPR. (At least Kotetsu hangs a lampshade on it, but STILL.)
  • My best guess would be that while they are trained in basic first aid, they were just too riled up to remember to do so.
  • Its likely they are but Barnaby was probably too upset and really did believe Kotetsu was dead (otherwise Kotetsu wouldn't act like it) to check. By the time the other heroes got there they assumed Barnaby had already done what he could to revive him.
• Another BD edit mystery but why was the information about Barnaby being raised in an orphanage removed in the BD version of episode 23?
• Considering Kaede's powers, if Lunatic hadn't killed Maverick, wouldn't she have been able to copy Maverick's powers and reverse his self-memory erasure, therefore restoring a source of information about Ouroborous?
  • Maverick used his memory-altering powers on himself, wiping everything in his mind and turning him into a drooling vegetable, so no information would have been extracted from him. He could have also, by extension, even wiped his ability to USE his memory manipulation, rendering him completely useless. (It's also doubtful that Kotetsu would let Kaede near the bastard again after she was held at gunpoint.)