Ranked #874

Tetsuwan Birdy Decode

I will freely admit that I'm a fan of the original Birdy the Mighty. I watched the original OVA back in 1997, and I loved the show for it's surrealistic sci-fi premise. When I heard that the show was being remade into a 13 part TV series, it goes without saying that I was looking forward to it.

The original Tetsuwan Birdy manga was created by Yuuki Masami (who is more well known for his Mobile Police Patlabor series), and ran in Shounen Sunday Super magazine. However, Yuuki's work on Kyuukyoku Chojin R (The Ultimate Esper "R"), for the same magazine eventually led to the manga being abandoned. The original manga was received rather well though, which led to it's adaptation as a four part OVA.

It wasn't until a few years later that Yuuki went back to the original Tetsuwan Birdy series, and instead of continuing with the series from the time it was abandoned, he decided to do a complete revision of the series from scratch. The new series, Birdy the Mighty II, began serialisation in Weekly Young Sunday magazine in 2003.

The story for both the original OVA and the new series generally follows the same path. Intergalactic police officer Birdy Cephon Altera and her cyborg partner Tute arrive on Earth in pursuit of a wanted alien criminal and, whilst chasing that criminal, she accidentally kills a high school student named Senkawa Tsutomu. However, this is not the end for Tsutomu as the Federation that Birdy works for will provide him with a new body. In the interests of not causing undue alarm to the people around him (and letting him continue with his life), Tsutomu's "soul" is merged with Birdy's body (allowing them to switch between each other), whilst his new body is made.

In all honesty, I preferred the story in the OVA. The new series, whilst being more in depth, also tends to drag its heels with regards to the plot. The OVA had a much tighter story, and the pacing was far better because of the time constraints. The new series, whilst giving more information, is also guilty of not using the extra time in the series to drive the story forward. Indeed, there are to many occasions in the new series that can only be described as "filler" moments (thankfully though, there's no real filler episodes).

The most noticeable thing about this series is the quality of the artwork and the animation. The character designs are very much in keeping with both manga, however the level of detail in the designs is superior than that of the OVA. The backgrounds are often very well done, and the CG sequences are very smooth, especially during the sequences in space. A-1 pictures have done some excellent work animating the show, and nowhere is this more noticeable than in the various action sequences. The various fights and chases are extremely fluid and surprisingly detailed.

Sound is another big plus for this series, and is definitely better than that of the OVA. The sound effects used throughout the show are generally very good, although some of the effects can be a little odd in their usage. The OP is a pretty good J-rock track by Hearts Grow, entitled Sora. I have to admit that I much prefer the track used for the ED though, as it seems more in keeping with the slightly whimsical nature of the show.

Birdy is actually a pretty good character on the whole. During her time on Earth she moonlights as an up-and-coming idol named Arita Shion. The nice part about giving Birdy a "secret identity" is that it allows more of her playful personality to come to the fore.

Tsutomu, on the other hand, is more of a typical high school boy of the type that appear in many anime. The relationship between Birdy and Tsutomu works surprisingly well however, especially during the time they share one body. There is a definite chemistry between the two characters that was never really developed in the OVA, and the conversations between the two are often lively.

The downside though, is that a number of the other characters aren't developed well (or at all in some cases). Some of the more prominent characters (Nakasugi Sayaka and Satyajit Shyamalan for example), could have received a great deal more development than the show provided, especially in the case of Shyamalan.

That said though, this is still a entertaining series. There's enough going on in the show to keep you interested, although the end of the show was rather predictable. I did enjoy the series on the whole, and whilst it may be superior to the OVA in many respects, it doesn't have the same pacing or the tight storyline of the original.

This is a show that action fans may enjoy, but it may also appeal to those who want to see a strong female lead. If you simply want a show that's got action without being too serious, then it may be worth giving this a try.

Given a choice though, I would go for the OVA before watching this.

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The original Tetsuwan Birdy manga was written by Yuki Masami back in 1985. The manga ran for three years before it was abandoned by Masami. In 1996, the single manga volume of Birdy was adapted into a four episode OVA series by Madhouse. The OVA covered what little material there was from the original source before seeing it's end in 1997. Now fast-forward a few years to 2003 where Masami decided to pick up the series again. Instead of continuing where the story left off almost 20 years ago, Masami decided to give the series a complete overhaul. While some elements of the plot and characters were kept the same, the new Birdy series, called Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode can be looked at as a series of it's own. Finally, in 2008 after the manga finished serializing, A-1 pictures decided to adapt Decode into an anime series. As of 2009, two seasons adapting Masami's new series have been animated.

Enough of a history lesson for you? Then let's start!

The first season of the remake of Tetsuwan Birdy, called Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode, is a 13 episode TV series loosely following the original events of the OVA. The story starts out fairly similar to the OVA, Birdy is in hunting down a wanted criminal on the planet Earth. In the meantime, Tsutomu Senkawa and his friends are exploring some destroyed buildings to get material for their journalism club. Unfortunately for Tsutomu, he appears in the wrong place at the wrong time and is thrown at Birdy by the alien she is fighting. Surprised by the attack, Birdy defends herself by electrocuting Tsutomu, thus killing him in the process.

The next day, Tsutomu wakes up in his room completely unharmed. He assumes that last night was just a dream and rushes off to school. After a rather normal and uneventful day, Tsutomu returns home and heads off to bed until he hears a voice. Looking around, Tsutomu is unable locate where the voice is coming from until he realizes that there is someone in his head, or rather his body! In order to save Tsutomu from dying, his and Birdy's conciousness were merged together to exist as one entity. So now Tsutomu resides in Birdy's body and Birdy resides in Tsutomu's. All of this comes with the great addition of both characters being able to communicate telepathically and switch bodies with one another at will.

For the most part, the first few episodes' plot are nearly identical to that of the original OVA. Tsutomu and Birdy now co-exist in one body and must fight against alien criminals as one. Beyond the initial premise though, there are many numerous changes and adjustments made to the plot and characters to further flesh out the characters and their universe. One might normally think that more detail is always a better thing. However, in the case of Decode, the extra detail and characters added aren't necessarily beneficial to the plot or it's pacing in the long run.

First, lets look at the characters in Decode. Birdy is almost unchanged personality-wise from the original OVA. She is still her upbeat, hot-headed self that dives head first into things without thinking. The main change with Birdy in Decode is that she now has an alter-ego as pop-idol, Shion Arita. While it's nice to see another side of Birdy, this false personality only serves as a way of allowing her to conceal her identity in modern day Japan. The main problem with this addition is that it does nothing to really develop Birdy's character further. The series makes very few attempts to go into any depth about how Birdy enjoys the idol culture of modern day Japan or if it's had any impact on her. Actually, considering that Birdy is the title character of the show, very little of Decode is devoted into delving into her backstory or fleshing out her personality. Sure, the same mistake was made back with the original OVA. However, with 13 episodes instead of 4, there should have been more opportunities available to do so. Regardless of all of this, Birdy is still a strong-willed female character and you'll enjoy watching her kick some major ass.

The other half of Decode's driving force is Tsutomu Senkawa, your average, everyday high-school student. Despite the fact that Tsutomu's character remains largely unchanged from the original OVA, most of the series focuses on the problems that he faces in his new life with Birdy. With more episodes comes more flexibility in allowing the production staff to flesh out Tsutomu's thoughts and character. And while it is a welcome addition in comparison to the little that was done to improve Birdy's character, there is a glaring flaw in such a decision. The main problem doesn't lie with the extra time allotted to developing Tsutomu's character but rather with Tsutomu himself. The matter of the fact is that Tsutomu isn't exactly a horribly interesting character to begin with. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with his character, there is nothing to make him stand out from any other male, teenage lead. And since so much of the series is devoted to Tsutomu trying to adapt to his new life and his romantic interests (I'll get more into this later), it really doesn't make Decode that interesting or fun to watch.

There were quite a few more characters added into Decode. Some of which include Tsutomu's new classmates, numerous inhabitants from Birdy's planet and Muroto, an occult writer. None of the new characters introduced in Decode are really anything special, but they do help to further flesh out Tsutomu and Birdy's respective lives. The main addition to the cast comes in the form of Sayaka Nakasugi, another one of Tsutomu's classmates. Sayaka is your typical nice, quiet girl that was born with a weak body. Unfortunately for her, she gets into a car accident that ends up putting her in critical condition. By some miraculous twist of fate, Sayaka awakes the next day as if nothing had ever happened to her. As the series progresses, it starts to become apparent that something is not completely right with Sayaka. Aside from being a walking plot-device for the show, Sayaka also serves as the main love interest for Tsutomu (instead of Natsumi in the OVA). While the fluffy romance between the two is nice in small doses, it really doesn't do anything to develop Sayaka's character or surprisingly the way she feels about everything happening to her. If anything, Sayaka's screen time and romantic development with Tsutomu only serves to make the plot feel more disjointed than it ever was in the OVA.

Sound and animation are just as strong as they were back in the original OVA. The visual highlights of the show, the Action scenes are well animated and choreographed. The colour palette used this time is much more colourful which gives the series a different feel this time around. The soundtrack used is more reflective of the current decade and is composed mainly of upbeat pop and synthesized tracks. While nothing original, the music fits well into the numerous action scenes and mood of the show quite nicely. Chiba Saeko (Birdy) and Miyu Irino (Tsutomu) both do an excellent job at portraying both of their respective characters. While purists may prefer the original voice actors in the OVAs, the ones in Decode are still able to convey each character's personality effectively.

While Decode had more than triple the amount of time to introduce the viewer to it's characters, universe and plot than the original OVA, it didn't necessarily do a better job. More often than not, it just made the pacing feel awkward and disjointed. My main criticism with Decode compared to the original series was that it lacked a definitive focus. Some episodes were devoted to introducing Birdy's home planet while others focused on Tsutomu's school life and classmates. Even as the series progressed towards it's climax, there wasn't the same sense of urgency as in the original series. This is likely the result of too much time being allotted to minor side characters and Tsutomu. And while it is still an entertaining watch, one can't help but feel that the extra time could have been put to better use. Still, Tetsuwan Birdy: Decode is a decent re-envisioning of the series that should be watched by any action-lover or fan of the original OVA, if only just to prepare oneself for the more together second season.



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