Wrestling anime are rare. If you're the average anime and wrestling fan (Yes, these people exist), how many anime series can you name that's based on the sport of "professional wrestling"?
I can name two.
Kinnikuman and Tiger Mask. The rest? I'll probably have to do some googling to find them out (And I just did). There's Plawres Sanshiro which I watched but actually involves toys, not actual beings and some slutty looking anime which I definitely haven't watched. Maybe I'll get to it one day if I'm horny enough for cartoon women in tight pants.
When I first heard there was going to be a new anime sequel to the original classic Tiger Mask animated series, I was stoked! Martial Arts anime are dime a dozen (Hello Dragonball), but wrestling? It's not something you see everyday.
Tiger Mask W by Toei Animation.
While Tiger Mask W may technically be a "sequel", this new production takes place about 50 years after the original 1969 series, and doesn't actually require that you watch it other than for the references for the already initiated.
Handsome, aren't you?
Tiger Mask may be a fictional character in the anime but in the professional Japanese wrestling scene, he's as real as he can be as several wrestlers have already adorned his mask and fought in his name.
This is the real deal, not some silly anime cosplay.
Which is why in Japan, when the anime was airing, they had a real Tiger Mask wrestling event.
But before I go on more about this new series, let me tell you a fun story which might warm your ice cold heart.
In Ikki Kajiwara's Tiger Mask, the main character who wears the mask, Naoto Date, regularly donates the money he earns with his wrestling matches to the orphanage he used to live in.
But the truth is that no one knows his real identity.
A few years back in 2010 and 2011, children's homes, social service facilities across Japan reported they were getting anonymous donations, and most of them were from a person named Naoto Date. As you've guessed it, someone was valiant enough to embody Tiger Mask, not with his (or her) ultra cool wrestling moves, but with his big heart (Source).
Naoto Date lies about how he got the money, but we all know he's giving his blood and sweat in the ring for it.
So now onto Tiger Mask W. What makes it great? What makes it dull? And what makes it worth your time?
The Good
+It's full of exciting wrestling action.
+The opening and ending are cool as fuck.
+The artstyle recreates the look of the original 1969 anime series.
+The characters are likable, and if they're annoying, they only are in a likeable way, see Kevin.
+The inclusion of real wrestlers is interesting to say the least. They are not just cameos, but fully developed characters who interact regularly with our fictional cast.
+The girls are cute and ripped.
The Bad
-Not enough women wrestling. What we had was great, but we needed more!
-It's Toei Animation. Don't expect some visual masterpiece here.
-The middling middle episodes. For a show that's only 38 episodes long, it had a lot of MEH! and downright terrible ones. Many people initially dropped the series because of them.
But fear not because I can confirm the show does get increasingly addictive, and good in the last third. We get to see Tiger Mask into all sorts of situations, as the stakes get higher and crazier.
And the Ugly
-Its biggest sin is that we're never getting a spinoff with Spring Tiger.
Queen of the Wild! Wild! Wild!
Overall, Tiger Mask W isn't the greatest sports anime ever made, but it was my bread and butter for the months it aired in. It was surprisingly enjoyable, comfy and made me actually look forward to it every week. What brings it down are the one-off episodes that add very little to the overarching plot, but once you're past that and into the final third, the series outdoes itself in considerable ways.
Thanks for reading and so long, Tigers!
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Check out my other posts on anime and manga here.