Birdy the Mighty Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2005-07-04 (updated 2012-07-15)
• 3.5 stars out of 5 (?)

Birdy the Mighty isn't original in any way, but it is a nifty little action romp with all the trimmings. The top-notch superpowered fights are the main course, with sides of awkward "kid with a secret feminine side" situations and a selection of can't-help-but-love-'em anime characters, and the whole thing is sprinkled with a couple of cool police investigators looking for the pieces of the convoluted plot that ties it all together. Serve in a visually appealing package (look for Birdy and Tsutomu's marvelously expressive faces), and enjoy. The only real downsides are the somewhat flatly-acted English dub and that it's a little too short.

Fans of action and good old-fashioned anime fun should find plenty to like in Birdy the Mighty--everything you'd expect from classic anime, done right.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2005-07-04 (updated 2012-07-15)
• 3.5 stars out of 5 (?)

Birdy the Mighty isn't original in any way, but it wraps plenty of action, just enough convoluted plot, and a selection of can't-help-but-love-'em anime characters in an appealing package, making for a thoroughly enjoyable little series. Add a few marvelously awkward situations with a guy trying to keep his "feminine side" a secret and a couple of moderately cool police investigators involved in their own little mystery, and you've got some good, old-fashioned anime fun.

The storyline--a basic mystery investigation with a sci-fi twist--isn't the high point of Birdy the Mighty, but it gets the job done. Birdy herself doesn't make much of an investigator; she pretty much just wanders around until some bad guys show up for her to duke it out with. That would have relegated the story to the afterthought department, but the two Earth cops pick up the slack. Their investigation, despite being spread thinly throughout the series, ties things together.

Interestingly, it's the viewer that gets to put the pieces together from fragments uncovered by the detectives and cutscenes with the villains, since the police and Birdy have almost no contact with each other. Giving these "backstory only" characters a small plot thread of their own is one of the nice touches in the series, and, if you bother to pay attention, connecting the dots that they find keeps things interesting enough.

The only major weakness in the plot is that it's left wide open for a sequel that didn't materialize as such (the later TV series is a reboot). Even so, the conclusion is sufficiently satisfying that it's not much of an issue.

More fun than the plot, however, is Tsutomu's social circle; his rather awkward relationship with his girlfriend provides an emotional hook, and the interactions between him and his somewhat dysfunctional family serve up most of the quirky humor. The raunchy jokes you might be expecting are actually quite sparse--it's a remarkably clean show given the premise. On the weaker side, the series takes a rather unsuccessful shot at giving Tsutomu some angst in coming to terms with his condition; a lot more could've been done with it than the brief internal struggle early on.

In any case, Birdy the Mighty offers a nice blend of story and humor, but the biggest treat is the action, which ranges from good to great. Fans of psychics will find plenty to like--an extended brawl in part 3 is one of the best superpowered free-for-all fistfights I've seen in quite a while. The rest of the series has its share of wild and wooly action as well, including some sharp-looking fights with an ongoing string of cannon-fodder robots.

The director, Yoshiaki Kawajiri (of Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, et al fame), probably deserves much of the credit here. Birdy the Mighty has little else in common with the dark subject matter of most of his films, though his style is likely where the two investigating detectives get their panache.

Fast and furious action is nothing without good animation, and the show manages to use a moderate budget to serve up speedy and smooth action throughout. The sacrifice is less-smooth animation elsewhere, but the character animation is so full of life that you aren't likely to notice. Birdy in particular has a wonderfully expressive face that adds tremendously to her character.

The expressive faces more than make up for Birdy and Tsutomu's character designs being the least original of the otherwise distinctive lot; some of the villains are particularly cool. The aliens, however, are a disappointment--with the exception of Birdy's superior, they just look like mean seafood.

There is really only one potential weakness in Birdy the Mighty, and that's the dub. In fairness, almost all of the voices are cast appropriately, which helps, but the performances throughout much of the series are just sort of flat. Not badly acted necessarily, but a wild action/comedy like this can really benefit from a little over-the-top acting, something the dub is conspicuously lacking. Alex McCord as Birdy is probably the best of the lot (particularly in the more emotional moments), but the general lack of force (overacting would have been an improvement) takes some of the punch out of an otherwise great action flick, and does a real job on some of the humor. Kudos, though, to Tsutomu's family--in part due to the language transition some of the jokes fall completely flat, but by and large they have an amusing sense of dysfunction to them, and I particularly love Kim Carrell as his dad.

The Japanese dialogue isn't spectacularly better, but it is much more even and appropriately energetic. Similar to the English dub, the most memorable performances are again Tsutomu's family and Birdy, voiced by the ever-energetic Kotono Mitsuishi.

Kow Otani's largely average soundtrack does kick in some rockin' and rollin' action themes at most of the right moments, though things seem a little on the quiet side early in the series. The end theme in the first three parts, by Cherry, is the exception--bubbly and very catchy.

In all, Birdy the Mighty is a fine little action series with a healthy helping of situation comedy in the grand anime tradition. The acting in the dub lacks force, and it's a shame the series isn't longer, but if you like solid action, fun characters, and all the problems that come from having a high school student and a space police agent sharing the same body, this one is definitely worth a look, and there's even a convoluted mystery thrown in for good measure. Everything you'd expect from classic anime, done right.

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