It took me forever to finish this series, and I probably would have dropped it if it wasn’t only one-cour. After a decent start, this show really went down the crapper and never pulled itself back out. The main problem with this series (aside from poor directing) is Tsutomu and since we’ll be seeing more of him in season 2, I’ll probably pass on that one completely. I’m pretty amazed I even managed to finish this season to be honest.
Story
The story is complete rubbish. The scourge of the universe turns out to be an anti-social ball of phlegm and we get a reset resolution at the end. The pacing was absolutely horrible and after the initial exciting episodes we get some weird adventure in dog world. There was a half-assed attempt to make us feel sorry for Birdy, even though she doesn’t seem any stronger than any of the other investigators. This completely derailed the story, and took away from what could have been an intriguing mystery about Sayaka being the Ryunka.
Morevoer, the bad guys were unnecessarily complex with their alliances (although everything tied up much too neatly at the end). What was the point of the marionettes? Why in the hell would Capella think that the Aijivant System could teach anyone anything considering that it was a complete failure in the test run? The storyline was rubbish and the directing was abysmal.
Characters
Birdy and Sayaka were good (not great), and the rest of the cast was really forgettable. The real problem was obviously Tsutomu. His whining is so annoying through the entire series and he doesn’t do anything useful all series long. Tsutomu’s interference causes all the problems that Birdy has to clean up, and his eventual sacrifice is cheapened by the fact that it is so easy to get your body repaired. You don’t even have to do physical therapy (BTW, I don’t understand why he doesn’t get Lasik while he is being repaired). Then after all that talk of love for Sayaka he just let her go and didn’t really care. Tsutomu bedeviled me through the entire series and he pretty much insured I won’t watch the sequel.
The villains were pretty stupid as well. For the majority of the series I didn’t even know who they were, and by the end I didn’t really care. Shymalan ended up being just as useless as Tsutomu and all he ever did was brush his hair back and laugh. Every aspect of his marionette plan was a complete and utter failure. Capella basically did all the work! As for the rest, I guess they will show up in season 2, but there was no real reason to have them play any part in season 1.
Tilt
The production values dipped occasionally but generally I didn’t have too many problems with the art. It wasn’t anything special, but there were so many things wrong with the series that the production values could be considered a bright spot. I eventually warmed up to the OP and grew to really like the music, but I didn’t like the ED and I don’t remember the BGM being that great. Even that dumb doll song they kept playing was stupid since the Aijivant System was a total piece of crap and a complete waste of time/money.
Verdict
For a second I was thinking that this show might clock in at merely “below average” and then I realized that the last 10 episodes or so were a complete drag with no redeeming entertainment value. Even if you don’t hate Tsutomu, the story is pretty loose and yet overly complicated.
Kabitzin’s Rating: 1/5
Related posts:
This post was written by...
Kabitzin – who has written 1938 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the founders of Sea Slugs, I handle most of the blog admin tasks while wearing my I AM BOSS shirt. I like my action series well choreographed, and my romance series extra trashy. I also have a soft spot for puns.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
This was entirely foreseeable due to Birdy’s messed up hair styling.
I personally blame Tsutomu’s glasses. I’ve been against that style ever since I made fun of it in Mai Hime.
There was probably some confusion about who or what was supposed to be topless.
I’m not quite sure whether I should applaud you for gutting it out to the end, or just be sad.
It’s just really hard to ignore sunk costs I suppose.
I preferred the old OVA version. It at least stuck to the essentials, ie. ass-kicking.
I agree with what Watchman said… OVA was a way lot better.. than this new series.. I couldn’t get past the six episode.. so that’s a wrap then?
1/5? Wow you really hated this show! I marathoned the last 7 episodes after losing interest in the show for a few months, and so it wasn’t so bad. I could see how it would have been worse if you had to see it in order week by week.
Woah, calm down. I mean, I know the series is shit but ouch.
Well, at least I enjoyed some of the recent captions you did for episode 12-13 :3
and you can’t go wrong with the OVA! Very old school, if ur into that sort of thing.
Personally I really Enjoyed Tetsuwan Birdy Decode. I’m more of a fan of the orginal work, but in a world filled with Emo series like Death Note and Code G getting so much media attention it’s refreshing to see remakes of older series that were cult classics, like this and Casshern Sins.
Color me old school, but this new twist on an old series was a breath of fresh air for this guy who’s been a fan of anime for 14 years. I was getting really tired of Shinigami and Pretty boys ruling the scene.
I love reading your blogs Yab, but while I didn’t agree with you on Birdy’s reviews (seems like you over read into some parts and missed out on others in perception) you’re a riot to follow. Personally I liked Birdy as something simple and enjoyable. I hope you’ll check out Birdy Tetsuan Decode 2, the second season is better and makes things much more interesting. C’mon intergalactic mystery and intrigue! You can’t miss it, and guess what! c=Character developement is included! Birdy looks extremely cute as a child and gosh darn if ya don’t fall in love with the lil tyke!
is there going to be season 3 ? both of the series Was GOOD i like i like me big fan so im just wondering if theres season 3 ??????????
I competely enjoyed the series, especially birdy herself. i loved her hair and cant wait if theres a season 3 <3