![]() In the reboot manga and its sequel Birdy is also extremely opposed to any sort of killing even if her own life is at risk, this trait is not shared with her other incarnations where she will kill if necessary.īirdy has multiple appearances throughout the different continuities, however some elements remain similar, her eyes are light blue, she has long hair colored with some combination of white and pink, her uniform is a revealing one piece leotard with long sleeve gloves and stockings and she usually has some form of headpiece, her outfit is generally a shade of blue or purple combined with white elements. Despite these traits, Birdy can also be a very sharp detective and recognize details others cannot partially thanks to her heightened senses, she is very caring, appreciates anyone friendly towards her even those who are only mildly helpful, she will do anything to protect the lives of the innocents including sacrificing her own life if it means saving others. I'm sure the Japanese track would be easier on the ears, but it wouldn't solve the problems with the shallow script, tame direction, or lackluster concept behind it all.Birdy is a energetic, quick to anger, self confident young adult who has a strong sense of justice and at times lacks common sense and etiquette, depending on the continuity, Birdy is tactless and very blunt about her feelings and intentions which usually leads to comedic conversations with others around her who are aware of her blunders. The actor who does the voice of Tsutomu speaks in a grating high-pitched whine that kills off any sympathy we might have mustered for the character. To make matters worse, the English dubbing is some of the worst I've ever heard. When I learned that no comments had been posted to IMDb about it, I watched the series again in its entirety to see if it had improved any. I never liked it enough to want to upgrade to the bilingual DVD edition that came out in 2004 and which is now out of print. ![]() I remember taking a long time to see the whole thing back then, if I ever did. I have this series on a two-tape VHS edition in its English-dubbed version, which I purchased in 1999. My guess is that these two had a contract to fulfill and a short deadline and dashed this off without a great deal of thought or effort. Nor would you imagine that this was written by Chiaki Konaka, the man who gave us the scripts for "Serial Experiments Lain," "Armitage III," "Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040" and any number of highly imaginative sci-fi series he is connected with. There are absolutely none of the graphic stylistic touches one would associate with the director of WICKED CITY, NINJA SCROLL or VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST. (Didn't "Ranma ½" mine similar territory successfully for 161 episodes?) It's hard to believe that Yoshiaki Kawajiri is credited with directing something this bland and undistinguished. But even then, it's not staged to be funny. And there is one scene where Tsutomu's father barges into the bathroom as the boy is supposedly bathing only to encounter a nude Birdy. Yes, there's a scene or two where he switches genders in front of his high school girlfriend, but it's never played for laughs. Besides, the comic potential of a high school boy coping with the presence in his body of a beautiful, voluptuous intergalactic space warrior is never adequately explored. There's never any suspense as Birdy fights one android or cyborg per episode in the first three episodes, none of which represent any significant threat to her. ![]() ![]() It's slow going and lacking in any of the excitement that we usually find in anime sci-fi action. Nor is it ever clear why some space federation is involved in all of this. Her motive is never spelled out and the implications of Japan's involvement in research like this is never dealt with. Eventually-and way too late in the narrative for anyone to care anymore-we learn that it all has something to do with secret experiments in creating super-soldiers that were begun by the Japanese during the war and are now being revived by a high-powered villainess, Christella Revi, who comports herself like a fashionable corporate head and directs her team to poison Tokyo's water supply with a serum derived from those experiments. In the first three episodes she fights various cyborg and android creatures, for reasons that are never terribly clear. "Birdy the Mighty" is a four-part anime OAV (made-for-video) series about a super-powered intergalactic policewoman, Birdy Cephon Altera, who takes over the body of a hapless Tokyo high school boy named Tsutomu and has to switch back and forth with him when danger approaches.
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