Birdy the Mighty Season 1 Review

Anime

TL;DR

Birdy the Mighty: Decode

鉄腕バーディー DECODE (Tetsuwan Bādī DECODE)

Synopsis

Birdy the Mighty: Decode starts when Birdy secretly entered Earth to track down an alien criminal named Geega as an Earth Federation police officer. In the midst of her work, she accidentally kills a Japanese national named Senkawa Tsutomu. To save his life, Birdy merges her body with his. As the two work together on maintaining their lives, a mysterious person wishes to uses the Ryunka in order to commit genocide on the entire Earth.

Directed by

Kazuki Akane

Written by

Masami Yuki

Screenplay by

Hiroshi Ōnogi

Music by

Yugo Kanno

TV

13 episode(s)

Tones

Serenity

Genres

Action, Drama, Romance, Science Fiction

Demographic

Boys (Shōnen)

Language

Japanese

Premiered

July 4, 2008

Run-time

325 minutes

Rating

Good

Poor < Fair < Good < Great

Animation

Good

Poor < Fair < Good < Great

Story

Good

Poor < Fair < Good < Great

Pros

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Cons

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Overview

Birdy the Mighty (鉄腕バーディー Tetsuwan Bādī) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Yuki. In 2003, Yuki began the second serialization under the title Birdy the Mighty Evolution in Weekly Young Sunday which ended in 2012.

An anime television adaptation, titled Birdy the Mighty: Decode (鉄腕バーディー DECODE Tetsuwan Bādī DECODE), was animated by A-1 Pictures and produced by Aniplex, premiered in Japan on TV Saitama and other broadcast networks on July 4, 2008. The series is directed by Kazuki Akane, written by Hiroshi Ōnogi, with its character designer and overseeing animation director being Ryo Timo.

Alternative title

– Birdy the Mighty: Decode
– Могучая Берди
– Tetsuwan Birdy Decode
– 鉄腕バーディーDECODE
– Tetsuwan Birdy Decode 1
– Могучая Берди: Расшифровка
– 鐵腕女刑警Decode
– 鐵腕女警Decode
– 鐵腕巴蒂Decode
– 鐵腕巴迪Decode

TL;DR Review

Birdy the Mighty: Decode is a reboot of a sort for the original series. The OVA was adapted from the 1988 manga, while Decode is adapted from the 2003 manga. Kazuki Akane, the director for The Vision of Escaflowne, directed the Decode television series.

Birdy the Mighty: Decode takes on a much lighter tone than the OVA, especially in the art style. The animation is incredibly bright, to the point where any scenes in the day have a washout effect. The art is also a bit lazy as many none essential scenes lack any sort of detail, and the background is just a simple water paint backdrop.

The cheery opening theme “Sora (そら, Sky)” by Hearts Grow matches the new lighter theme of the series. The ending theme “Let’s Go Together” by Afromania is also uplifting and catchy.

More characters were introduced in the TV version with some tweak to the existing characters. For example, Natsumi Hayamiya, Tsutomu’s female friend and classmate. In the OVA she has a more prominent role and a love interest, while in the television show she is just a minor character. We also get to explore other worlds than just Earth.

Birdy the Mighty: Decode is an enjoyable anime, but its pacing is a little slow. The first arc is a bit boring and annoying as we mainly see our main character complaining a lot. This is a better than average anime and I recommend it to those that are fine with a slow-burn and chill anime to watch. This anime contains some graphic violence and mild suggestive themes/dialogs. Intended for young adults.

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