This is by no means a groundbreaking series when it comes to story telling. We have an intergalactic police officer sent to Earth on a mission to capture a wanted alien criminal. This leads to Birdy, the main character, having to live on Earth as an earthling and adapt to human life. You see? Typical. But as she comes close to her objective, she accidentally kills a high school student by the name of Tsutomu Senkawa. Not so fast! Poor Senkawa is not completely dead. Birdy absorbs his consciousness and sends his body to be repaired. Naturally, this creates a sticky situation. With both of them sharing the same body, the real story starts, a story about love, mystery, and death...
My first reaction of this series was mixed. On one hand I read several reviews praising its art work and characters, on the other there was mention of the story dragging and other nonsense. I took the bait and went ahead to watch it. Turns out its everything everyone mentioned. Id like to think of Birdy as one big giant mess that fits in so nicely your willing to overlook the mess. For example, you have the first seasons storyline which kind of goes all over the place but manages to fit in nicely at the last moment. Ironically, the second season is also somewhat of a mess, that just so happens to fit in with the mess season 1 was. Its one big giant mess of awesomeness!
Birdy is a series that drops foreshadowing hints now and then. Its not until the last episode that all these hints fit into place, and creates a nice "omg that's what that was!" moment. The artwork is generally great, but some might say the fight scenes should have been polished more. The naysayers are mostly referring to the fight scenes in season 2, as they are so fast paced that the artists had to go for a "sketchy" type of art work. Personally I think the "sketchy" art work during such intense fight scenes were just right. It captures the intensity of the moment and made the fights more impactful. The fight scenes in Birdy are just amazing, it gets the blood pumping and makes for a great feast for the eyes.
The characters in Birdy all have a role to play. The main characters all develop nicely, including our main male lead Senkawa. He starts out rather cowardly and shy but gradually matures and takes initiative. The lives of all these characters are linked, and these links make much more sense in season 2. Music-wise, Birdy has a nice OST as well. The OP & ED songs for both seasons are catchy. Throughout the series the composers made sure to place the right music at the right times. Overall very pleased with that. The romance is just right that it doesn't become all mushy and nonsensical. Senkawa has his moment, but so does Birdy. I liked how the love interests for both were separated by season. This creates less confusion in my opinion.
One small complaint about Birdy is the fact that Senkawa's personal life gets pretty much forgotten come the second season. The show becomes 70% about Birdy and the 30% Senkawa. I liked the balance the first season had, but oh well. Birdy is a great series that I highly recommend!
Note: Potential viewers, keep in mind this series has violence, and tons of it~
Score - 9/10
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