Episode 8 of the Tiger Mask W cartoon featured a series of flashbacks and memories. Naoto first recounts the sad story of a tsunami that wiped out his village, killing his entire family. Only his attendance at his first pro wrestling event was able to take his mind off that tragedy and convince him to find enjoyment in life again. This experience inspires him to want to become a wrestler himself.
Naoto is overjoyed when they invite him to train at the wrestling gym — he sure is eager to wrestle. These cartoonists are killing me with those huge puppy-dog eyes on Naoto! He is cuter than a baby panda, his face reflecting utter euphoria.
Next we fast-forward to modern day where Naoto (wearing his fearsome Tiger Mask) has partnered with a new friend named Tanahashi, who is a real life Japanese wrestler. Their evil opponents are also real life wrestlers, now transformed into cartoon characters.
This blurred line between fantasy and reality was used in earlier versions of the Tiger Mask cartoons. Real wrestlers would make appearances in the cartoon world. This excites the viewer’s imagination, encouraging fantasies of a hologram world full of fantastic heroes and villains you can rassle with whenever you want.
Tiger Mask and Tanahashi easily destroy the two villains in under a minute of screen time.
I wonder how these real life Heel wrestlers feel about their pathetic loss being depicted in this cartoon?
Will their defeat and humiliation in the Tiger Mask W universe tarnish their reputations as Bad Asses?
Even after a successful victory with new partner Tanahashi, the only person Naoto can think about is his old friend Takuma — now missing (actually hiding under the Tiger the Dark mask.)
Naoto recalls when he first met the young and still unblemished Takuma at the gym.
Takuma tells Naoto to never quit, no matter how rough the training becomes. He then points at Naoto, and I can’t help thinking that his erect finger, rising at an angle from outside the frame, resembles a big stiff dong. Is it just me, or does the end of that long finger resemble a cock head?
We see those giant eyes again as Naoto promises to stick with their training — or perhaps, to stick with his relationship with Takuma.
The scene really feels like a marriage ceremony with the sincere vows being exchanged between them.
Whoa — watch where you’re grabbing there, bub!
Next, Naoto flashes back to his first training session, which is highly sexualized and erotic. Wearing a snug pair of maroon briefs, Naoto is shocked when the trainer reaches right under his nutsack and slams him onto his bloodied back. Takuma watches shirtless from ringside, rhythmically lifting and lowering his weights which has the look and feel of masturbation.
Is this really how they train new wrestlers — by brutally kicking their asses?
I believe in most pro wrestling gyms, they wear workout clothes — sweat pants and cut-off tees.
However, this federation wants the rookies to understand how it feels to wrestle nearly naked, so everyone trains shirtless in their trunks and boots. Or maybe it’s just way hotter to see the wrestlers practice in gear, so that’s how the cartoonists drew it. Thanks cartoonists!
We see Naoto wracked with grief, tears pouring from his pretty eyes as he sobs into his folded arms. He is crying over his aching muscles, over the loss of his family in the tsunami, over not having anywhere to live except a dingy back room in the wrestling gym.
And here Tiger Mask W delivers another of those tender moments that kill me and make me love this cartoon. Takuma sees his new friend in anguish and comes to comfort him. He speaks softly and boasts that he will soon surpass their trainer in order to cheer up Naoto.
We see a little smile from Naoto, his sadness forgotten now that he is making eye contact with his new friend. And Takuma, as usual, responds to Naoto’s smile with a friendly and flirtatious grin of his own — just as he did back in Episode 3 after a really rough and exhausting session, and after their first match which left them both panting and spent. Alas, Takuma never smiles anymore now that Naoto is out of his life.
As their eyes meet, they raise their fists, both stiff and erect.
The male-male relationship being modeled for the young viewers is a tender, supportive, but still competitive partnership that brings smiles of pleasure to the two friends, and will encourage them to be the best and strongest they can be for each other. This depiction of a healthy male bond should be presented in all cartoons targeted to boys!