Tetsuwan Birdy

as someone who has not interacted with the manga or decode, i think its pretty good! its nothing too special, but i enjoyed watching it! i liked the artstyle, the music is real good, the characters all have memorable moments. its fun! its a very neat fusion of a schoolboy slice of life, and a sci-fi magical girl anime. i do kinda wish that this anime was able to escape the OVA mines because i would have loved to have watched a longer series of this anime, and from a glance im not as much of a fan of decode's artstyle. episode 1 was a ... little bit of a slog at times, but the rest of the episodes are paced pretty well. if you wanna watch a short, sweet 80s action anime with good characters then you'll probably enjoy it!

Looking through the gender-bender anime options I found this one and wasn't expecting too much, but I was pleasantly surprised and the short run of four episodes makes it easy for me to recommend it to people. But what makes it good? Well...

- Story & Theme
The story is simple. A spacecop accidentally kills someone, which is a big no-no, and the only way to save him is to merge their bodies together. Hijinx can ensue, right? Sure, too a degree, but the story actually comes off as surprisingly serious and the theme is more sci-fi action mystery then gender-bender rom com. There is a romantic ... interest, but she is handled in a different way than one might expect and while I wouldn't call the story anything more than generic it all just simply works. Part of that is that the story plays to its strengths, but a large part is also...

- Characters & Writing
If anything really shines in this OVA it's the characters. Even the over-the-top aliens and monsters feel like relatable characters and instead of going for tired cliché copies of characters we've already seen the characters are written more believable and normal. They act and talk in believable ways and they all feel like actual people than just tropes. They're clearly not just there for comedic purpose but to flesh out the world and provide an anime that draws you in.

- Graphics & Style
While this is clearly not a high budget animated movie the style still evokes the same kind of idea. There's a lack of animation in many scenes, but a good use of storytelling and cinematography makes the cost-cutting measures blend in as well as they can. The style is less cute and stylized than many other offerings and it feels well balanced against the more serious storytelling. Its clear that this anime is a product of the 90's and I'm all for it.

- Music & Sound
A tad more tracks wouldn't have hurt as the heroic theme is played to death during the action sequences, which there are a lot of, but fortunately what is there is good enough although a bit generic. The ending themes do the job, but not more than that and I wouldn't really listen to them outside the anime.

- Conclusion
If there is one thing I would point out that makes this show really good it's that everything feels cohesive and works well together. I think anyone who likes a solid down-to-earth sci-fi anime would like this and the biggest problem with it is that four episodes is not enough to pull all the threads together and come to a satisfying conclusion. It feels like a solid start to what should have been a 24 episode series and there are a lot of things unfinished storywise and characterwise. At this time I haven't watched Decoded yet so I'm not sure how that plays into this, but it's still a solid recommendation from me.

“Birdy the Mighty” is what happens when the 80s hit a little too hard.

This mini-series is unapologetically 80s (the 3rd episode even starts with a woman swimming in a pool) and I love that about it. Does it make it good? Not even close. Does it make it enjoyable? Well… I had fun at least. Unfortunately “Birdy...” cares more for the rule of cool than anything that could be called a competent story or plot.

Before we start I would like to explain something. I will be talking about “plot” and “story”. Many people use those terms interchangeably. I’m not one of those people, so to ... make sure everyone is on the same page…
PLOT are the surface level events. What, when, where, how and why (externally) things are happening.
STORY is why (internally) things are happening and what internally happens to the character during the plot.

I think I would like to test out a new style of reviews. Lately I’ve been stuck in a lab and had some time to read and analyse data. So as a result I will make this review in bullet point format to make it easier for people with AuDHD (like me) to read. I would like some opinions on this so if You have time and want to help out a fellow anime fan write me a message about what You think about this format, please and thank You.


MAIN PLOT POINTS:
• Birdy (an intergalactic cop) kills Tsutomu (a high schooler and for all intense and purposes a civilian) during her chase after an alien criminal.

• To save Tsutomu Birdy is basically fused with him, creating a character that houses two minds in one body (kind of, the body can transform at will to be either one of them)

• They need to work together to capture alien criminals and keep Tsutomu’s life as close as “normal” as possible (for some reason, probably as a cover but it’s not explained)


THE GOOD

• The dynamic between Birdy and Tsutomu is actually not bad. They communicate with each other and even work together. Birdy isn’t as stuck up as to not listen to Tsutomu during a fight and Tsutomu isn’t as spineless as to avoid doing what must be done for the greater good. Their interactions outside of fights are pretty solid as well. Birdy teases Tsutomu about a few things and Tsutomu actually tries to understand his new situation and obligations. The story (at least what is shown) is actually interesting. To be fair there are 3 stories:
◦ The story of a high school student that became a SF version of a magical girl / Hulk.
◦ The story of a hot headed, reckless cop that has to not only take responsibility for her actions but also still do her job.
◦ And a story about two detectives solving a mystery straight out of the X-Files
◦ Personally I like the last one best

• Birdy isn’t an OP AF main character. Despite her having physical abilities far beyond a human she gets her ass handed to her pretty regularly and actually struggles through some fights. I like that. I really hate when the MC can just decimate everyone and everything with a snap.

• Tsutomu has a scene where he’s actually more mature than one might expect of him up to that point. Natsumi - a girl he knows (probably a poorly written love interest) is aware that he can transform into Birdy. Instead of pulling her in to this world like a lot of shitty anime protagonist from the last 20 years would do, he actively keeps her at arms length. Granted, the girl is still willing to wait for him and he doesn’t shut that down immediately but I still count that as a small win. It shows that he understands that his new life is not a safe one and anyone who gets too close will be in danger. Solid scene, not so solid outcome of it.

• Tsutomu’s family is actually in the picture. He’s not just another highschooler living alone for some idiotic reason. He has a father and sister that like to tease (almost bully in one instance) him and a mother that tries to keep the status quo.


THE BAD

• Tsutomu’s blasé reaction about his new situation. One might think that being killed and fused into a new body with an attractive alien would give him some sort of existential crisis. What has he become? Is it him or just the information from his brain? Does a soul exist? Is he truly alive? What will happen to him in the long run, will he ever have his own body and life again or will have to live as part of Birdy until she dies? There is nothing of the sort. The show wastes an amazing opportunity to explore a philosophical aspect of life, what it means to be alive and what makes us what we are.

• Birdy and Tsutomu become competent partners way too fast. There is no friction between them almost from the get go. Birdy even helps Tsutomu get into the school he wanted by doing the entrance exam for him. Why? They are two different people forced to inhabit one body. Not only that but they are of different gender and species. They should have conflicting needs. But they don’t. They actually act like room mates a lot of the time. I really would prefer to see them have to work on their differences and slowly become partners. As it stands it just feels unearned.

• Natsumi is a wasted potential. She has the making of a pretty interesting character. She seems interested in Tsutomu, she knows that he can transform into Birdy and yet she doesn’t tell anyone and doesn’t push when he refuses to explain anything to her. She could have and should have been a great support character but instead she’s just background noise until she’s needed as a damsel in distress of a girl with complicated feelings toward the MC. What a waste.

• The whole Yamazaki and Yagihashi plot. Those two police officers are trying to solve a mystery that is intertwined with the main Birdy/Tsutomu plot. In the beginning I was pleasantly surprised. I was hoping that a story with naive children as protagonists (You will not tell me that Birdy and Tsutomu are mature) will have some mature pov. Something that would show that the main duo might be doing things in a very inefficient way. Maybe even those two pairs would become some sort of allies and help each other out in their missions. Nope. The detective side plot is just exposition dump to things that give some context to the viewer but mean nothing to the protagonists. This one pisses me off. I would love a full show of normal detectives trying to solve a case straight out of X-Files and actually get involved with aliens and Birdy.

• Birdy and Tsutomu situation isn’t explained well enough for my taste. It seems Birdy can transform at will and even control the body when it’s in “Tsutomu mode”. Yet we don’t have any evidence Tsutomu would be able to do the same. This asymmetry should be part of the conflict between them. Tsutomu should be angry about it and at least try to establish borders and rules. Nope. Fuck That. He just rolls with it.

• Birdy seems to be familiar with earth and its customs from the get go. She doesn’t need Tsutomu to guide her through the city or anything. From her point of view there is probably no benefit of being fused with him. Shame. If he was needed they would have a more interesting start of their relationship. The girl that killed him now needs him to do her job. I would watch a show like that.


THE UGLY
• The world building is absolute garbage. There is no other way to say it. Despite having a lot of dynamic elements the show doesn’t seem to give a damn about giving the minimum of exposition.

◦ We know Birdy is a cop and has a hideout but… why is she working alone? Is it a punishment? A test? Is she just first to the party? I doubt the last one. She has a functioning base and contact with her superior. Why the hell is she alone on this? Is it standard protocol for the space cops? WHY?

◦ We have an alien “evil” organization that needs to be stooped but why? What is their end game goal? They help a mad scientist in his genetic research but why? They allow him to use Tokyo as a testing site but to what end? We don’t know what they want from his research.

◦ Speaking of the mad scientist… he’s an idiot. He wants to change everyone into a mutant super soldier… Why? He doesn’t state anything about having control of them so what’s the point? All it would do is make the city quarantined (if there is a functioning world outside that is) and its people turn into lab rats. On top of that there would probably be violence and riots. I don’t see anything that is to be gained. It’s just evil for evil’s sake so that the good guys will have something to do.


CONCLUSION:
Is this show some sort of hidden gem? Not really. It’s incomplete, has a pacing problem and rushes a good 80% of plot points it introduces. It is far from being competently written… and yet. I liked it. Birdy herself is an interesting character with a solid but boring motivation (revenge). Tsutomu is below average in design and character but thanks to that he has room to grow. Shame he only gets 2 scenes (one in episode 3 and one in episode 4) that shows that growth. If you are fond of buddy cop plots, don’t really care about world building and just want to watch something light I guess You will have a much more enjoyable experience than I did.
That said, I did enjoy my time in this mini series. It’s not a masterpiece in any sense of the word but the execution of what they gave it, is competent.