Review of Birdy the Mighty: Decode 02

Ladies and gentlemen, Birdy is back! And this second entry (or third depending on if you include the original OVA series) in the Birdy franchise certainly is a much different entity than the one that viewers encountered in the first season. The second season kicks off with a bang and a surprisingly high amount of gore not seen in the first season. These first few moments end up setting the tone for the rest of the season, which is much darker and more mature than the first. The pacing of the story, which was somewhat slow and drawn out in the firstseries, feels a lot tighter and more focused this time around. The plots initially feels similar due to the continued central focus on the Ryunka, but as the series progresses and with the introduction of Birdy’s childhood friend Nataru, a lot more focus is on the characters and their development. The fights and intense action that appeal to adrenaline junkies like myself are thankfully still present and still play a pretty significant role, with the action being much grander and surprisingly violent and gory at times this time around.

While Tsutomu clearly was the main protagonist of the first series, this time around it is evident that attention has greatly shifted over to Birdy, with Tsutomu’s actions and relationships taking a back seat. This ends up being a lot more unique and engaging as the viewer is treated to a significant amount of fleshing out of Birdy’s character while also getting a lot more insight on the inner workings of both her role and development as a Federation officer and the Federation itself (in the end though is it really all that surprising that the story of “your average male high school student” is less interesting than the story of a super-powered intergalactic police officer?).

The show’s writers did not forget the events of the first season, with the sight of the Ryunka-decimated Roppongi ruins being a constant reminder of the friends, family, and homes lost during the conclusion of Tetsuwan Birdy Decode, further contributing to the more serious overtone of the second season. This is not to say that the second season is entirely depressing and dark. The lighthearted and comedic moments that were more prevalent in the first season do surface from time to time and are just as enjoyable, they just don't occur as often.

In spite of my above praise for the more developed plot in this season, there was one facet of the story that I have an almost unforgivable problem with:

The ending

Now this is not to say that I have a problem with the direction that the story took, I actually quite liked it. What I am talking about here is that Tetsuwan Birdy Decode:02 has quite possibly one of the most open-ended conclusions of any series that I have ever seen, it really felt like the story just sort of dropped out at the end. This is mostly due to the fact that the source material at the time was not completed, thus there was no more story to be animated. However, this leaves only a few questions that were raised during the first season sufficiently answered and the apparent main villain, Christella Revi, has yet to make an appearance for longer than 30 seconds. Seeing as how it as already been over two years since this season aired, it is becoming more and more unlikely that a third, conclusive series will ever be in the works. Even though I really enjoyed Birdy, if you desire solid conclusions in your anime, then you may want to stay away from this one.

As I said before, characterization is much more present in this second incarnation and it really does serve to drive the story almost as much as the action does. By means of “flashbacks,” the viewer is finally given the opportunity to see a lot more about the events and people that shaped Birdy’s character and how, despite being a biologically engineered war machine, she still has normal thoughts, desires and emotions like any person. For the most part, Tsutomu gets pushed toward the back of the action this season much like Birdy was in the first and thus plays a much smaller role this time around. Those times when he does resurface and give his two cents though, it’s amazing to see how much he has matured and grown as a character. As for significant character development, that is about it I’m afraid. The introduction of Nataru and the Ryunka escapees does keep the rest of the cast from feeling stagnant and uninteresting as it seems that, along with Tsutomu, most of his friends have also become pretty insignificant to the story and do not add much this time around, despite still being featured pretty heavily.

I found the art for the first season to be absolutely amazing and this second season certainly did not disappoint. The artwork this time around is much more refined and the artists work the darker tone very well. The characters are all drawn beautifully, the backgrounds were detailed and interesting and the fight scenes looked spectacular. The one criticism is that, much like the first season, there are periods of clunkiness and a marked drop in quality for some of the fight scenes. This clearly was intentional, as a certain distinct impression was supposed to be left on the viewer during these moments. However at times it worked for me and I really enjoyed the contrast that could be made, while at other times I desired the cleanliness and attention to detail evident throughout the rest of the series. In spite of this, Birdy is still hands down one of the most visually appealing series I have ever seen.

Musically, Tetsuwan Birdy Decode:02 also has a much more mature tone. Not that I didn’t enjoy the music of the first season, it is just a matter of that it was more lighthearted and peppy, while the new opening and ending themes were much more in line with the smooth, refined feel of the second season. The opening theme, “Kiseki” by Nirgilis was delightfully grand sounding and the accompanying animation meshed perfectly, while the ending theme “Tane” by pop trio No3b sounded smooth and uplifting.

Additionally, I would like to mention that for those of you viewers out there who are fans of good English dubs, Birdy has one of the best ones to come out in recent years. And for those of you fans of the original Japanese version, it is also one to be applauded. In particular, Saeko Chiba does an rather great job as Birdy and her pop idol counterpart Shion Arita.

Despite an incredibly open-ended conclusion, the more focused storyline of the second season and the excellent artwork are good reasons to give this title a try. If you disliked the first season’s slow, easygoing pace or are unfamiliar with the Birdy franchise I believe that you will be in for quite a treat, at least visually if nothing else, if you give this one a chance as it has some sort of appeal for all viewers.

This is itsthatguy signing off, saying you stay classy MAL users