Tsutomu, an average middle school kid busy studying for the final exams to enter high school runs into a man running from someone and gets caught up in the chase. In all the confusion he gets accidentally killed. Luckily Birdy (an interplanetary agent) knows a way to save him, unfortunately that means joining bodies to become one. So now he is stuck with this officer and along for the ride capturing criminals and saving lives.
(Source: ANN)
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Comentários
TheTaxiAE
Good old fashion space alien takes over human and fights evil show. Characters are believable and interesting to watch, attention to human motion is impressive in this animation and design style is rather nice not complicated by extra layers of shading. The music isn’t half bad either and usually appropriate to the situation. Guys family is fun to watch as they can be comicly sarcastic. Recommend 16+ because of brief partial nudity and some disturbing scenes.
lawlmartz
“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” - Roald Dahl Well, I'm back again with another obscure, bargain bin title review, this time: Birdy the Mighty. Preface: Birdy the Mighty 1996 is a precursor to the more popular BTM: Decode series, which aired more recently. Masami Yuki, a guy who's done literally nothing else of note, started Birdy way back in the mid 80s, which he mysteriously and abruptly stopped writing. (it was probably the cocaine, that he along with everyone else back then did, 'the 80's, mannnn'.) Well, Birdy was turned into a 4 episode OVA series by everybody's favorite studioMADHOUSE!
Unlike their peer Production IG, who had an absolute turd of a show in 1996 called "Panzer Dragoon" (we daren't speak that name), Madhouse delivered a quality animation. Unfortunately, the licensing in NA was handled by Central Park Media, known for their schlockiness and giving dubs a bad name.
Artwork and Animation: 8
Madhouse, true to form, delivers a very high quality, fluid, and fast moving product that looks great for a mid 90s show. This came before the big CGI boom in the late 90s/early 00s, so we're saved from those horrors, and blessed with some very slick hand drawn animation. While there are some lazy moments with stillframe, the action was as good as it was going to get for a show of this budget, and it is very easy to watch.
Sound and Voice Acting: 3
This is where the problems begin, and it's mostly on the voice acting front.
My biggest problem with this is on a technical level, and it's partially a result of the technology at the time, and partly because they used junk equipment. When there's no music (which is usually mixed at a higher level than the voices anyway, making it hard to hear), there's a slight static that everything made before the digital age has. It's there, just trust me.
Well, when the actors are speaking, you can hear hard mic cuts, where the only sound mixed is that of their voice, then it cuts back to "silence" which resumes the static scratching sound, which is a bit jarring. They also apparently didn't know what pop filters were, and you can hear their lips smacking together as they talk.
Half the VA sound really bored, or phoned in, it's just this side of bad cheesy, but not bad enough to laugh at, since it takes itself seriously. A lot of the music sounds like it came straight out of Super Mario Kart, but the ending themes are pretty groovy.
Story: 6
Being that Birdy the Mighty is incomplete, it's natural to say that it's got a poor story, but I disagree. It's "fair". The first episode is just an intro to Birdy and Tsutomu, but 2-4 cover the plot. It's nothing original- an investigation into a growing series of crimes perpetrated by an intergalactic criminal intent on creating psionic soldiers with which to destroy the intergalactic police organization hunting him. The mastermind has created a serum through a series of genetic tests on himself and others which turns the recipient of it into a hulking reptilian psionic rage monster (think Akira- it definitely had some influences here). There is another villain who is explored , but not resolved, which hurt the show, but in a way left it open ended for an eventual revisitation.
Characters: 7 ---*minor 1st episode spoilers*---
Tsutomu is a weenie and a giant loser who lucklessly happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up dead while the Intergalactic supercop Birdy is chasing a criminal. As punishment for ending the poor kid's pathetic life, Birdy is instructed by her giant Radroach of a boss to ressurect Tsutomu by morphing bodies with him. They're able to switch at will, and both have their own lives to attend to, which often leads to some pretty funny results.
Birdy herself is a confident and capable fighter, but impulsive and hot-headed, a trait she vehemently denies, then tries to fight someone over for saying, hah. She's tough, and she don't take no crap- which sometimes ends in billions of dollars in destruction of property, but she makes sure to kick enough intergalactic ass to cover the bill.
Enjoyment: 9
I picked this up on a whim, like most of my obscure titles, and while the first episode was pretty boring, the 2nd-4th were really good. There's some brutal action including arm and leg breaks, and several awesome sequences- one where an entire skyscraper is taken down in a battle, and a second where there's a telekinetic fight that ends with an oil tanker being thrown into a character who crashes through a 6 foot thick concrete wall! There's a few cheeseball lines of dialogue to snicker at too.
Overall: 7
It has some over the top moments, but overall it's a good twist on the typical superpower shonen. A handy female protagonist who shows the beta male how it's done, and a fun concept of the body switching made for a good little show.
Recommend?
Sure. It's a nice change of pace, and at 120 minutes runtime, not a big investment.
literaturenerd
Birdy the Mighty started as a 1980s manga that combined tropes of the "Magical Girl" genre with the Space Bounty Hunter genre. It is unsurprisingly about a lose cannon Galactic officer named Birdy. She gives zero fucks and often causes some massive collateral damage. However, after accidentally killing a random Japanese highschool student, her boss comically yells at her and forces her to save his life by binding his spirit to hers. Anime fans will instantly recognize the similarity to the relationship between Alucard and Seras from Hellsing, which came about 10 years after the Birdy manga concluded. However, the boy Tsutomu does not getto keep his own body like Seras. Instead he and Birdy share a body and switch during times of danger, much like Yugi and Yami from Yugioh. With this fairly interesting set up, our story begins!
Birdy the Mighty is largely episodic with our title badass taking down a new threat in every episode. There was supposed to be an overarching plot about Birdy chasing a famous alien criminal hiding out on Earth for unknown reasons, but the anime was scrapped after just 4 episodes! What is amazing is that Birdy actually had the makings of a decent show, but was never given a chance. Why? There are anime out there WAY worse than Birdy that are actually popular and have multiple seasons! Ikki Tousen is one of the worst anime I have ever seen and I believe that piece of shit has 4 seasons now! Several attempts were made to reboot Birdy, but none of them caught on in popularity. Perhaps because Birdy is a very shonen action series, but broke the rules by having a female main protagonist? I'm honestly not sure why this show did so poorly with Japanese test audiences.
Tsutomu is a bland, beta male that is easily forgettable. The character that is actually interesting is obviously Birdy herself. I love how she grins from ear to ear while tearing apart her opponents with her bare hands. She is gleefully psychotic and is sort of like a female Alucard, or if Revy from Black Lagoon was actually likeable. It is too bad we have likely seen the end of Birdy and her reckless police work.
One possible reason for Birdy's failure in the US was that it was adapted by the dreaded Central Park Media. Of all the companies to licence anime in the United States, no one had a reputation worse than the now thankfully defunct Central Park. This was a company that adapted the absolute WORST anime that NO ONE wanted to see, simply because they didn't have to pay very much money to adapt and bring over Z tier anime titles to the US. This was the company that gave us MD Geist, Mad Bull 34, Angel Cop, and probably 8 of the top 10 worst anime ever to see an American release. Like all Central Park titles, Birdy suffers from HORRIBLE voice acting and cheesy music inserted in. However, I didn't honestly think Birdy suffered that much from these flaws. It kind of made it nostalgic and fun.
Overall: 6/10
Birdy the Mighty was obviously not a cinematic masterpiece, but it certainly deserved more than 4 damn episodes before getting axed! Sometimes for whatever reason, good shows get screwed and cancelled WAY too early, while shitty shows somehow stumble on season after season. Birdy is one of those decent shows that had some real potential, but failed to find an audience and was never given the chance it deserved. Of all the garbage that Central Park Media dumped on to American audiences, this was EASILY one of their best titles.
barcaman101
one of my old school fav that just goes to show that know matter how short an anime is, it can still be packed with quality.This anime starts fairly straight-forward.Tomu is a loser teen with absolutely no hope for his future.He gets bad grades,he's unpopular and his own familiy think he's a prick.Cant get any worst right ? wrong ! as one day he unwittingly finds himself between an alien police officer called birdy and a evill alien thug.Tomu almost die in the incounter and in order to save his life birdy is forced to merge her body with his. Tomu life from therein gets evenmore complicated as he have to juggle his fleeting social life while sharing his body with an alien female and help her to uncover the mystery as to why an intergalactic criminal organization has come to earth.The action is great,awesome fight scenes,some good tasteful humour.the animation and sound is well done. Avoid the dub its absolutely awful.
Bizancio
Excuse me, I don't usually write in English. If you want you can read my review in Spanish. Masami Yuuki is known for being the author of Patlabor (1988-1994), but also of other works such as Assemble Insert (1985-1989) or Birdy the Mighty (1985-1988). The latter, like the previous ones, received its own anime in the form of 4 OVAs. The responsible was Yoshiaki Kawajiri, director of films such as Ninja Scroll (1993) and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000), although this time he did not have much creative freedom to shape his interests. Hence, it is difficult to identify the style of the prestigious author, withonly a few signs such as his predilection for action or spider monsters.
Birdy the Mighty is an action miniseries with science fiction elements that tells the story of a student and an interspace agent, both united in the same body due to an unfortunate incident, who must collaborate to defeat the evil extraterrestrial organization. The main attraction, therefore, is the fact that the main couple live together in the same body. An infrequent change because the usual thing is that the hero ends up in the body of his partner and vice versa, both having to deal with situations that he is not used to. See living the life of another completely different person who reaches the sex, age, occupation, etc.
On the contrary, here we speak of a different experience, in the sense that they must find a way in which both guests are satisfied. On the one hand, Birdy must preserve Tsutomu's life in the same state he was in before. On the other hand, the boy must accept Birdy's mission and collaborate with her. Contrary to what might seem, coexistence does not take long to take place, with some initial friction before Tsutomu's annoyance and Birdy's abruptness that are resolved by the need to cancel the threat. In other words, the dramatic and emotional dimension does not have much of a journey, despite the fact that the nature of the situation could be used to strengthen ties at a more intimate level. They also don't take much advantage of the comedic realm, settling for some jokes that Birdy plays on handling his body around the city or hugging his friend. At least, the experience serves to get us out of unnecessary romances and that the protagonist is an easy target in the face of enemy attacks.
In the same way, the potential of the couple did not reach its maximum either. Neither together nor apart. Like many others, Tsutomu and Birdy are a duo whose interactions are sympathetic, but lacking a singular team chemistry in the absence of contrasts or bonding elements. The exception is on the battlefield, as each brings their own: Birdy the strength and Tsutomu the decisive ideas. Which, by the way, one wonders where he gets them from because the boy is not the brightest or the most interested in science. Either way, the true pillar of the group is Birdy. Facing the ordinary student with no more conflict than recovering her previous life, we have a woman of action endowed with a certain spark due to her beauty, strength and fighting character. Unlike the teenager, the intergalactic agent has a personal goal: to get revenge on Christella Revi for the murder of a loved one. Hence her commitment and responsibility for her work since she is always attentive to any signal and patrolling the area. Unfortunately, we did not get to explore her personal drama because the story is incomplete.
Of the secondary my opinion is shorter. They serve mainly to configure the personal environment of the protagonist, allowing us to better understand why he wants to preserve his intact life. At the same time they also fulfill a comic function. Be it the family with the overprotective mother, the annoying sister and the clumsy father or the classmates who dedicate themselves to teaching you erotic magazines. In a higher place is Tsutomu's friend: Hayamiya. We can point out the same topics about her as about other classmates with the same role, but the most disappointing thing is the resolution of the conflict in which Birdy's identity is revealed. The reason is that he ends with a simple "tell me when you are ready", returning to the status quo.
On the enemy side we have something more of value, although nothing to make coherent. Starting off, we have the main village: Revi. Undoubtedly, the presence of women draws her attention because she is always surrounded by luxury and an interest in fashion and personal beauty, but by depriving ourselves of a direct conflict with her there is nothing more to say. Instead, we have the antagonist of the arc: Seichiro Hikawa. He is a researcher who experimented with human beings during World War II to create perfect soldiers, but after these events he could not continue and his "work" was never recognized until Revi's arrival. He is perfectly suited to the classic narcissistic scientist who trusts in his evil genius, but does not bring a fresh approach. At the very least, he does not stay in something more generic thanks to the background granted by the police investigation and the Machiavellian plan to transform the inhabitants of Tokyo into monsters with psychic powers.
Despite the fact that the work does not stand out in the previous aspects, at least it gives greater emphasis and attention to the action and the development of the combat. A very favorable point when the intellectual pretensions are of such a small size. The clashes involve Birdy and the organization's enemies, who are capable of using superhuman or psychic powers. In general, these encounters are remarkable for several reasons. First of all, it hardly uses limited animation resources. You will not witness static images or recycling of sequences or substitution of backgrounds. Instead the movement is clean and fluid. Second, the battles are free from the most obnoxious obstacles in fighting shonen like annoying exposure or deliberate slowness to stretch.
Afterward, he has enough choreography and visual effects to put on a little show. In this sense, some animators like Yoshiyuki Ito (Cowboy Bebop, 1998; and Soul Eater, 2008) have contributed some sensational action scenes. Of course, the action manages to be clear to the viewer. On the other hand, there is plenty and variety in the fights, changing the enemies and the locations (buildings, aquariums, amusement parks, train tracks, etc). However, they are far from perfect. For example, music is far from memorable, however fitting. Some impact on the action is also missing because Birdy is almost never seriously injured, even if they can put her in trouble. As a last detail, it would have been better not to omit certain punches or kicks at the moment of impact. If you asked me what the best battle is, I'd say Birdy vs. Ondine.
You can read my review here: https://elarmarioanimados.blogspot.com/2018/06/resena-birdy-mighty.html
AnimeTopScholar
Tetsuwan Birdy (Birdy the Mighty) is a 4 episode sci-fi OVA by studio Madhouse. It's based off of a short manga called Tetsuwan Birdy by Masami Yuuki. It was released from July 25 1996 to Feb 25 1997, and the OVA was directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (The Animatrix). At the start of the story we meet Tsutomu Senkawa. He's just an average middle school kid studying for exams. As he goes outside to get some fresh air and something to drink to stress down from all his studying, some man runs into him and asks Tsutomu to hide him. Something is chasing this man and Tsutomuends up being dragged into it. Turns out that this man is not a man at all, but rather an alien, and the thing that is chasing him is the Intergalactic Officer Birdy Cephon Altera. Tsutomu ends up being attacked in the confusion and killed by Birdy. The only way to revive Tsutomu is by having Birdy join Tsutomu's body. Now with Birdy in his own body, he gets dragged into a life of capturing criminals and saving lives.
Tsutomu Senkawa is our mian character. He's as blank slate and scared as they come, and the only things we know about him is that he's trying to get into high school. Other than that he's simply dragged around by Birdy, only being helpful when the situation requires something that is very rare on other planets, but extremely common on earth.
Birdy Cephon Altera is an alien who looks human. She is also an intergalactic officer who has come to earth to capture intergalactic criminals. She accidentally ends up killing Tsutomu when she's chasing down a criminal and ends up having to join his body to save him.
The animation in this OVA is very servicable, but falls just short of being good. The fight scenes are animated well enough that it's exciting to watch, and other moments are animated a lot less. It plays it very safe with it's animation, and while it doesn't exactly make it the most visually impressive show to watch, it does it's job well enough.
The music in this show I enjoyed. I thought it worked well with the show overall and I have no real complaints here.
Overall I have to say that I enjoyed this OVA. It was short and sweet. It got to the point very fast and still managed to make me interested in the situation and what was going on with the characters, with the exception of our main character as there just isn't that much to him in those 4 episodes. What I will say though, is that if this show suffers from one thing it's that while it mostly hits it's story beats without being too stupid or just plain uninteresting, there are moments where it goes 100% stupid for a few seconds. This is the case for two of the fights in the OVA where they end up having to be defeated by something that is very rare on other planets, but not that rare on earth. Things like detergent for example, or even electricity. I felt like this was a bit dumber than it needed to be, but overall it didn't ruin my enjoyment of this series. I would recommend this show if you're in a sci-fi mood and looking for something on the shorter side. And if you do end up enjoying this little OVA but you're still cracing more, you can always keep going with Birdy the Mighty Decode.
OddOtaku
If you've read any of my reviews on Birdy before, you know I enjoyed Decode. Not much has changed here. This is the original 1996 adaptation OVA of the manga and is a fun action miniseries. This one doesn't really try to go anywhere with heavy development of characters or any amazing plot but it works in its favor to get straight to the action and it's great, the parents are actually there. Plus the quality of the art never really plummets like the Decode series does and can even impress me at certain moments. The best way I describe the difference between the twois the OVA is all about fun and Decode is about the character and plot. Though they can both do well in the others specialty. If there's one problem, it's done and over with before real quick and leaves you wanting more. Would I recommend Tetsuwan Birdy? Yes, especially if you want to find a quick watch.
zstalnaker
This anime was so fun! I was pleasantly surprised! The characters were all very human and well-written, the animation was wonderful and thoughtful, and the soundtrack was cute when it needed to be and serious when it needed to be. All-in-all a really well done series. Quick synopsis. Cute alien waifu accidentally kills an earth boy and has to fuse her body with his to keep him alive. They have to work together to stop some evil villains from carrying out their evil plans. Think Ranma 1/2 mixed with Parasyte: The Maxim. I had no expectations going into this and I came out very pleased with what Isaw. Big recommendation! Plus, Birdy is voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi who is our queen, God bless.
TL;DR: Watch it. It's a very well done project and you can watch the whole thing in like two hours.
JonGall
Tetsuwan Birdy (or Birdy the Mighty) is a short and sweet little OVA series from original creator Masami Yuki and animated by Studio Madhouse. This show is some type of wild, and I had the unfortunate experience of getting to view it for the first time dubbed! Focusing on poignant, visually interesting action and the two central characters, Tetsuwan Birdy, though flawed, is a brief but endearing, inventive time sync. CHARACTERS Birdy Cephon Altera: Is the titular character of this series, and a rather enjoyable one at that. She is hotheaded, impulsive, possibly a narcissist, and unbelievably charismatic. Certainly not a role model, Birdy is an alien SpaceCop basically, and after accidentally killing a young man while on the job, she is forced to merge mind and body with him, at the dismay of them both. She has badass abilities, she has a badass body, she has it all, and is certainly the most captivating draw to this series.
Tsutomu: His last name is unimportant, he reeks of generic male protagonist, and quite frankly, he's a complete clown. His ass dies in the first episode, setting off the forced cooperation between him and Birdy as they fuse together. Though being a complete loser, he does try his best with the situation he unfortunately found himself in, and does make some sort of impact as the show goes on.
The other characters aren't that important, not even the villains really. One of them has literally no characterization, and the others play little to no importance in the grand scheme of things. Though this is not without explanation. At the time, the original manga run by Masami Yuki had gone unfinished for whatever reason, and the OVA had very little to work with.
STORY
Similarly, the story here also isn't much to speak of without spoiling anything, and even when spoiling it, I can't say it left a mark on my mind. But the story in this OVA is not what I believe to be the main focusing point anyway. And like I said, the story itself was never finished by the time this OVA was released.
SOUND
I remember nothing of the music, or if there was any to begin with. Like I said earlier, my first viewing of this show was the dub, and it left much to be desired. It's definitely got that 90s sound quality, and it seems maybe the crew over at Madhouse weren't too concerned about making the show audibly presentable.
ART
The art on the other hand is very nice. The old animation style is endearing for those who appreciate that sort of thing. Action scenes in general are of great quality, and are loaded here and there with unique shots, interesting scenarios, and lots of "gifable" moments. The action is where it's at, it's dynamic and entertaining all the way through.
Overall, I may find myself one day coming back to this on some sort of nostalgia trip. Tetsuwan Birdy is simply great entertainment. Some of ideas presented are fun to think about too. I mean, a show about a girl merging mind and bodies with a guy, and can switch sexes at will? How would that go down in today's culture if it was released today?
I recommend this show for anyone who knows how to enjoy themselves.
lamaraptor
I really like the premise here. High school guy gets trapped in a girl's body, what's not to like? Well it's more like they share a body but he still gets to look like himself. It's weird. The four episodes play out more like a single long movie, best to watch them back to back if you can. Beyond the sci-fi body switching stuff it's got a very noir detective feel. Birdy is basically a space cop investigating trouble here on earth. There's a lot of mystery and gritty environments. I would have enjoyed seeing more of this version of Birdy but the original authorbasically reworked the story from the ground up for his second version of the manga, and I don't think this one ever got finished. This animated version at least certainly feels like it could have done more, it leaves things very open.
It's a fun watch, I give it a 7/10
ADud
This is easily one of the best things I've seen in a while. Reminds me of why I watch anime to begin with. Let me explain why. The story is very basic and uncomplicated but compelling enough to drive itself. The animation is usually pretty damned good and I'm very fond of most of the character designs (and none of them are bad). The action is fluid and well choreographed. Fights have actual progression and a flow to them. What I really enjoy though is the relationship between the two protagonists. They have great chemistry together and they're both on helping one another. Neither is useless, even thoughone is just a regular human.
Now I was talking about how much I liked it but I feel I should mention the story just kind of "ends" all of a sudden. They also have this obnoxious "flashing" during some fights which ruins some moments (and could probably cause seizures in epileptics).
Overall though, it's just a well put together series of OVAs that are entertaining from beginning to end.
Szandor
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 romanticinterest, 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.
