Birdy the Mighty Decode (First Impressions)
Tsutomu Senkawa is an average high school kid who is busy studying for his senior entrance exams. Tsutomu goes out for some fresh air, after a hard day’s work studying for a big test, when he runs into a guy fleeing from a pretty young lady. The pursued man is actually an interplanetary criminal on the run from a Federation agent called Birdy Cephon Altera. Caught in the midst of this chase, Tsutomu gets thrown by the man at Birdy, which kills Tsutomu. Fortunately for Tsutomu, there is a way to keep him alive, although it comes at the price of discarding his body. He ends up merged into Birdy’s body.
So Tsutomu is stuck sharing a body with a rather attractive, yet very strong but impulsive, space police agent, while trying to keep his apathetic family and more importantly, his girlfriend, from finding out about his woman problems. In the meantime, to make matters worse, Birdy still has to do her job. Together, they take on a rather secretive group of evil aliens planning to perform maniacal experiments on the unsuspecting inhabitants of Tokyo.
I see they are bringing back all of the golden oldie anime shows that I enjoyed so much first it was Slayers and now Birdy the Mighty, not that I am complaining as these shows was and still is truly awesome as they set the bench mark for the anime shows that followed after it. For those of you who haven’t heard of Birdy the Mighty before here is some background information about the original series to get you up to speed on the current series entitled Birdy the Mighty Decode.
Birdy the Mighty is manga by Masami Yuki, who is best known for producing the long-running series Patlabor. His initial work on the series was quickly abandoned, but it was made into an anime, which was produced and, on the last episode, scripted by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who is known for anime titles such as Vampire Hunter D, and Ninja Scroll. The character designer and animation director for the series was Kumiko Takahashi. An yes the original show is more than 13 years old!
So what is the difference between the 1985 version of Birdy the Mighty and the new Birdy the Mighty decode? Well it is basically a re-telling of the original shows story, the series also features a different seiyū cast (Voice acting.) from the original OVA series. And of course a fresh new animation style that is very reminiscent of a show called Neoin, with awesomely animated action scenes that are truly amazing to watch.
Now the question is does it deliver on the pure amount of action that the first series was known for? And does it pack the same punch as the original series? After watching the first episode I am more than happy to report that it does in fact deliver the goods and then even some more. It basically follows the original series frame for frame, but delivers a bigger punch with improved visuals, character designs and sound.
I can highly recommend watching this if you missed the original 1985 show, or if you are one of those people who don’t like pre 90`s anime shows due to either the animation or story. Birdy the Mighty Decode is a perfect re-telling of the original show and does it great justice in brining a late 80`s anime to the current generation of anime viewers. I shall definitely be keeping a close eye on the show.
On a side note I was looking for a proper sub group for the series, so I downloaded the first episode of each fansub group that has subbed the series so far. And the only sub group that strikes a good balance between quality and subtitles was ChromaSubs, you can find there website here. And what makes it even nicer they have direct downloads for those of you who don’t want to use torrents.
