Forum - View topicNow Streaming: Birdy the Mighty DECODE 1-26 (s)
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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That's it? The blurb seems kind of short. Could it be that part of it is missing? It is under the "article" section so I don't think it would be a news item. Me confused. |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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What did you want? A paragraph of violent sobbing, punctuated with equal parts vitriol at how life compares to neither fiction nor childhood dreams, and alcohol-addled semi-coherent musings on whether God exists?
Because I can do that. |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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I throw my vote in for this! In fact, you should do this for every streaming announcement, no matter how obscure. 
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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My thoughts exactly. That would be epic. And sorry Justin, I hope I didn't offend you. I don't usually click on these things, so my expectations were wrong. I thought it would be structured more like a news article. When it wasn't, I assumed there was something wrong with the article rather than wrong with me. |
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Oh, wait, you're in NZ. You shouldn't even be able to see it. I did make a mistake when it first posted, but it's supposed to go directly to the video page... That's why you were confused.
Sorry for the bait-and-switch. 
And no offense taken, I was just being a snarky dickhole. (deletes long drunken screed about socioeconomic inequities and Jungian symbols) |
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tojik
Posts: 13 |
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I just finished watching this the other day on Funi's site.
This looks like the kind of anime I usually pass on (too fanservice-centric), but I gave it a bit of time and found myself drawn in by the story and characters. At first, it was "just barely good enough to keep watching", but later (especially in the second season) I was positively floored by how well some of it plays... especially a certain "awakening to power" sequence. If you're impressed by the premise, but don't like the first episode, give it another chance or two. |
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garfield15
 Posts: 1533 |
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Really? Cause that's not exactly the first flaw I'd think against the show. I mean, except for the skin-tight outfit. |
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tojik
Posts: 13 |
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I'm probably far more sensitive to fanservice than average. But I didn't give the second episode a try until months later, so ep 1 is kind of a distant memory. (I think things were toned down after that.) I'm curious... what do you think are its most glaring flaws? I could name some, but right now I'm more impressed that I ended up liking the series so much. |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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I gotta finish this series. But I'm deciding whether I should finish it while it's streaming or buy it and watch it. As I did enjoy what I saw back when fansubbers had it posted around. I own the original OVA series on DVD. I'd been wanting to finish it for years. And I enjoyed it which is the only reason I'm coming back for the rebirth.
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garfield15
Posts: 1533 |
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I think the only problem was some inconsistent character/set designs (in exchange for more fluid animation) and some characters in season 1 could have gotten some better development. Other than that, the show is great! |
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Stretch24
Posts: 107 Location: Ohio |
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I'm a big fan of the original Tetsuwan Birdy OVA series, and was therefore delighted to learn that Birdy would be getting a TV series as well. The problem was that my expectations were artificially inflated by what I thought were excellent OVAs and I found the TV series disappointing in comparison. OVAs tend to enjoy a good deal more money and talent (Yoshiaki Kawajiri, for example) than TV series, so it was probably unrealistic to expect the quality of this show to be as good. At first glance, the modified character designs seemed like a borderline sacriledge, but I won't complain too much. One thing I'm uneasy about is that in this version of Birdy seems to have a good deal less self confidence than her predecessor--she makes foolish mistakes at times and must beg for forgiveness. The original Birdy would never have done that; she had a sort of "coolness" that stemmed from her toughness, her aloofness, and her ability to think quickly. Tsutomu's personality had changed, too, from the beloved shy, geeky kind of guy (he's hard to describe), to a more average sort of male teenager. It's as if the principal characters have been stripped of their eccentricities and made more generic, to streamline the anime making process. Tsutomu's hilariously disfunctional family has been ommitted altogether, which is appalling.
By necessity, this first TV episode deals with the origins of Birdy's curious relationship with "Stomu". I assumed that this version would retell the same story as the OVAs, at least as the first arc. But other than this opening it is a completely different plot, which took awhile to dawn on me and left me confused. There are some new characters ("Geegar" and "Bacillus") and some familiar ones (Gomez and Revi). Action scenes were fairly wild and neatly animated. All-in-all, definitely not as good as the OVAs. To be honest, as much as I would have loved to enjoy this show, I had a hard time staying interested. The plot seemed to be dragging (partly because I was wondering why it was taking so long to begin duplicating the OVAs), and I had little idea where it was going. Not until episode four did I realize that the plot of this series might well be radically different than that of the OVAs. I can't help suspecting that this is not a faithful retelling of a manga that exists somewhere. The numerous odd aliens that are briefly encountered seemed like hasty add-ons to thrill small children. They are often laughable; some seem to have come from Futurama while others are just talking, anthropomorphized animals from earth (even though we're visiting another planet). This wasn't a complete loss, since there were amusing touches, but by-and-large I was disappointed. I didn't understand this "Riunka" business, and had a hard time taking it seriously. I guess you can't just say "the entire Earth is in danger!" and expect viewers to automatically be excited--not unless some sort of plausible explanation has been offered. The OVAs, in contrast, had a story that moved swiftly along and kept me interested; here the story seemed muddled and weighed down by simple gimmicks. In a way, I was both pleased and disappointed to learn that Decode 1 would end with just 13 episodes. Pleased because it had become tedious and I dreaded the thought of watching another season's worth, and disappointed because that meant that, barring a fantastic conclusion, the series as a whole would wind up as a major letdown. I had kind of assumed that this would be a 26-er, because Gomez had played a small part and I assumed he would do more. spoiler[Stomu getting his original body back pretty much undoes the basic premise of the show--it's almost like, "this isn't Birdy anymore"!] I'm left frustrated that an opportunity to expand on one of my favorite anime sub-genres seems to have gone largely to waste. Fortunately, the ending was fairly good. I got a distinct sense of surprise (mild, though) and revulsion at what had happened to Nakasugi. I didn't completely understand everything, but a clever trick (which I should have been expecting) saved everything. Despite all my complaints, based on unrealisticly high expectations going in, I feel more pleased than displeased at the end and don't regret watching. I think the four OVAs packed more entertainment value than the 13 episodes of Decode 1, but any expansion of the subgenre is better than none at all. Perhaps if I hadn't already seen the OVAs the plot here would have made more sense and flowed more gracefully; but then again I shudder to think of the first impressions newcomers might get of Birdy from watching this version. I'd say, watch the OVAs first, and this series only if you love them. My expectations for the second season were lowered considerably. My first impressions were that the quality seems pretty much the same as last time, with credible quality but for the most part a lack of the spirit and style which such a colorful character demands. Still, Birdy put her skills to good use a couple of times, and the plot might prove interesting. I like the fact that the alien criminals have all disguised themselves as humans. I get the feeling that this show is trying to be "cool", but the music, timing, dialogue, etc, just aren't up to it. There is some pretty nasty violence at times, which seems unjustified by the overall mediocre quality of the series, and thus gratuitous. In other words, a modest quality series doesn't justify intense violence. I found it hard to maintain interest. Nobody would have been happier than me if this had turned out to be a major improvement over the first season, but somehow this show manages to be so downright boring that I think I would prefer to leave my pleasant memories of the OVAs unsullied as much as possible, so I'll skip this second season altogether. |
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Andarel
Posts: 5 |
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This may not be true for you, but I found the second season to be much better than the first. The first had its moments, sure, but all in all it suffered from being...well, boring. Not always, but it seemed to let the drama slip away at inopportune moments.
It's a shame, because the second season gets most things spot-on, but you still need to watch the first to understand what's going on. |
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tojik
Posts: 13 |
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Now I'm curious about that OVA, sounds very different.
FYI, season 2 ratchets up the violence to a whole other level. And it's not just more gore (though there's that too), there's some weighty and sadistic emotional revenge. On the other hand, season two takes a serious look at the aftermath of the events of season one. Long story short, there's a lot of violence, but it's more of a theme and not just violence for violence's sake. But in the end, and something true for both seasons, the show leaves you with a pretty high body count and without a lot of assurance that "justice" has been served. It's unsettling and maybe not intentionally food for thought, but it's definitely there. |
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Ian K
 Posts: 250 |
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The strong point of Decode, for me, was never the characters or even the plot, I was watching for the beautifully animated fights. The rest - the look of the show, the soundtrack, the story - were entertaining enough, and generally kept the show interesting while I waited for the next showdown.
Unfortunately, Season 1 slows down in the middle, and end for me felt like a bit of a cop-out (not to mention the action scenes felt a bit flat in the finale). Fortunately, Season 2 more than makes up for it. I still didn't really connect to the characters (except for episode 7 - oh man, EPISODE 7), but the plot is leaps and bounds better, with the main focus being on Birdy and the aliens, instead of Senkawa and his girlfriend. The show also gets major points for building on the foundation laid in Season 1, and setting up hints for a Season 3 that will probably never be made - it's clear that the screenwriters are thinking ahead and not just making it up as they go. And best of all, rather than blowing the fight scene budget on the first three episodes, this time they lead into them gradually, building up to an epic finale that has to be seen to be believed. So, to Stretch24 and anyone else on the edge, I highly recommend giving the second season a shot. At the very least watch the flashback to Birdy's childhood (eps 6 and 7 of season 2), which is probably the highlight of the entire series, and shouldn't be missed. I truly think you won't be disappointed. |
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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The first season has its merits, though I do think the second season was an improvement as far as action is concerned. The first season does a bit more development of Tsutomu, though I think not quite enough. At points he does become the stereotypical vessel for the righteous monologue type speeches of the author that we often see with male leads in anime. He has more screen time in season 1 tho. In season two, there's a lot more development of Birdy which was very very nice. However, I really thought the way they ended it bordered on Deus ex Machina.
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