Tetsuwan Birdy

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.

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 I ... saw. 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.

Was scanning the list here and came across this old chestnut. I'd almost forgotten I'd seen it many years ago.

Birdy is the main attraction here. she's pretty much off the chain. All the rest of the characters are highly meh. The artwork was pretty good for back in the day, but would likely be considered mid by a more modern crowd. The animation was all over the place. Some of the action scenes were well above average, but too many shortcuts were taken across the board to make the overall animation quality much more than mid. The plot is kind of fuzzy, but it ... is there, and eventually makes it's way to a conclusion. Whether that conclusion is satisfying or not, I suspect, is going to be highly subjective.

I had the feeling this was meant to be a much longer series, but the producers pulled the plug on it. While it wasn't horrible by any means, it leaves a lot to be desired. If I was grading this, it would get a D+ at 69/100. The overall production was very forgetable. It might be safer to just fly away.