Brain Powerd

In the not so distant future much of the earth has been submerged under the sea or destroyed by earthquakes. At the center of the turmoil is the mysterious Orphan. Orphan may or may not be the original cause of the cataclysms. Orphan's goal is to raise a ship hidden deep beneath the sea to the surface, but doing so would result in the destruction of all humans except for the small number which are loyal to Orphan.

Orphan's agents pilot mysterious mecha known as Grand Cheres, and search the world for mysterious, giant disks which occasionally appear, flying at high speeds and wrecking much of the countryside, or cities, when they hit the ground. After a dying disc almost kills Hime, a Brain Powerd is born from the disc. Brain Powerds are another type of Mecha, similar to but not the same as Grand Cheres.

Hime becomes the Brain Powerd's pilot, forming a symbiotic relationship with the living mecha and joins an International Organization dedicated to stopping Orphan, or at the very least saving humanity should Orphan succeed.

(Source: AniDB)

Isami, Yuu Main

Shiratori, Tetsu Japanese

Utsumiya, Hime Main

Murata, Akino Japanese

Isami, Iiko Supporting

Watanabe, Kumiko Japanese

Green, Jonathan Supporting

Aoba, Gou Japanese

Isami, Midori Supporting

Kanoki, Shouko Japanese

Glass, Shiela Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Brankan, Edgar Supporting

Nanba, Keiichi Japanese

Maximillian, Baron Supporting

Isobe, Masako Japanese

Gimms, Kanan Supporting

Park, Romi Japanese

Dean, K.D. Supporting

Chiba, Isshin Japanese

Tomino, Yoshiyuki Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics, Original Creator

Urakami, Yasuo Sound Director

Kobayashi, Tomoki Episode Director

Iwasaki, Yoshiaki Episode Director

Reviews

May 30, 2024

Armio

Recommended

This show is overhated. But Im not going to call it great either. It's Turn A/Evangelion/G in Reconguista wrapped up into one atmospheric low-budget package. The soundtrack is one of the all time best (better than Yoko Kannos work that followed in Turn A Gundam), the mechs and world has a creepy 3am in a subliminal space feel to them, and the voice cast features the debut of Sai from Gundam Seed as well as Loran and Sochie from Turn A Gundam. (There are a lot for recognizable names on the list too.

If you are a big Gundam fan you can really see how this ... fits neatly between Victory and Turn A in terms of themes as well as art direction. It was a weirdly bingeable series and I could feel my brain working in hyperdrive going through each episode. Unfortunately you can tell they were short for time on some episodes, with really crap animation happening every now and then.

Now you may have noticed I haven't said anything specific about the plot. Well, the plot is actually simple at its core, but stuffed with so many asides and character moments that it can feel overwhelming despite it. Like G in Reconguista, it's a show that does not care if the viewer knows what's happening, and often we are given information by characters who ALSO don't know what is happening. However it does a better job at making most of it click by the end. I did feel the the end was somewhat unsatisfying though, as the focus shifts to the underlying plot rather than the weird cast of individuals.

If you watch a lot of Tomino-directed shows, or are a fan of the off putting apocolyptic atmosphere of shows like Evangelion or Gun Busters, you should check Brain Powerd out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 21, 2023

ggultra2764

Mixed Feelings

Will admit it's been a while since I've had some rather complicated thoughts regarding an anime series and looks like Brain Powerd has done just that with me. Being Yoshiyuki Tomino's answer to Evangelion in the late 1990s, the series is set on a future Earth where the planet is being ravaged by earthquakes and floods due to the massive power emitted from a massive alien spacecraft called Orphan that an enemy faction called the Reclaimers are attempting to learn more about how to harness its power and leave the planet, which would result in humanity's destruction should this happen. Opposing Orphan are those aboard ... the battleship Novis Noah, a resistance movement seeking to halt the battleship's restoration and flight from Earth, and whom our series leads, teen orphan Hime Utsumiya and Reclaimer defector Yuu Isami, are aligned with.

Many over the years have dismissed Brain Powerd as a shallow "Eva ripoff" attempting to take after similar complicated storytelling beats as Gainax's famous mecha series and as a result, reception to it has been quite mixed. While I'm not interested in knocking the series as such, I will admit that my thoughts on Brain Powerd are rather mixed. I guess I'll go over the positives to the series I have for it first.

First off is that the series does have a good bit of substance to its story and themes that it makes an effort to lay out, and isn't just doing things for aesthetic effect. While I do want to be careful on how deep I dabble into things to avoid spoilers, I guess the major element of the series to consider are the mecha used by both the Reclaimers (that they call Grand Chers) and the crew of Novis Noah (that they call Brain Powerd). The mecha within the series are shown to have an empathic connection to their pilots, which shape the relationships that the pilot and mecha each have with both one another and those around them. This is rather noticeable in the different environments that both the Reclaimers and Novis Noah have due to whatever beliefs and personalities are forming within the different factions. This empathic relationship also shapes events going into later episodes as more about the mysterious Orphan spaceship gets dabbled into. Plus, Brain Powerd is consistent with applying its themes and the abilities demonstrated with its various technologies, as I never got any sense of things feeling tossed in just for the sake of plot convenience. I'll just say that the series is rather cryptic and takes its time with how it develops its story and themes, hence it does require the viewer to be attentive to minor details with the series as they develop as it doesn't get into the habit of explaining things too upfront. Because of this angle to the series, I can see where folks could get frustrated and choose to ditch Brain Powerd during its earlier episodes.

Another high point is the anime's soundtrack. Composed by the legendary composer Yoko Kanno, the series consists of a good amount of lively and energetic insert tracks, even coming with a catchy opener in the form of "In My Dreams." My only real gripe with the soundtrack is the show's rather questionable placement of insert tracks at points, as they usually don't fit the intended mood and tone of certain key scenes throughout Brain Powerd.

Major areas I would consider weaknesses with the series are its characterization and melodrama. For the former, I'll admit that it is rather hit and miss with the quality of the character stories that are dabbled into. Yuu's character story gets perhaps the best development within Brain Powerd as the bonds he gradually develops with his Brain Powerd, Hime, and the Novis Noah crew help him get over his lone-wolf mentality and the hatred he has for the Reclaimers. Some other characters get reasonable fleshing out of their personalities and motives, though the series doesn't go deeply into exploring them. The more weaker character stories within Brain Powerd involve a decent number of those among the Reclaimers, whose motives for their alignment with the group border on the ridiculous with how simplistic and over-the-top they can get with their unhealthy family issues.

Melodrama is tied to some of the character backstory issues I have with members among the Reclaimers. But like many mecha titles directed by Tomino, this also comes into play when characters are in the annoying habit of angrily debating one another during heated mecha fights due to their opposing ideologies that can distract from the action.

In short, Brain Powerd is certainly quite a mixed bag in terms of quality as an entry in the mecha title. It does have a solid foundation for a story and themes that become more apparent and engrossing as episodes progress, though the slow pacing of its first half and the cryptic approach to its storytelling can turn away first time viewers. It comes with a catchy soundtrack from Yoko Kanno that unfortunately usually has some questionable insert track placements. Characterization is also a mixed bag, with the series also having the typical melodramatic beats from Tomino that usually rear their ugly head. While not the worst anime I've seen of the mecha genre or from Tomino (the latter honor would go to Garzey's Wing), I'll just say your mileage would definitely vary to Brain Powerd with how its storytelling plays out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 13, 2023

ThatAnimeSnobRE

Not Recommended

Man, was this one a drag! It gives you the impression that it will be an interesting and weird series but in reality it is totally boring and simple. This is one of the worst titles Tomino (the Gundam dude) ever made and studio Sunrise was out of its mind when it allowed for this thing to be made.

The intro was full of naked chicks and weird imagery. And the song was catchy too. It really managed to make me interested in the series. And then the series begins… And it’s nothing much to look or listen to. Where is the nude? Where are the ... weird / spiritual backgrounds?

-The general artwork is just your average looking mechas, military bases and rural countrysides.
-The character figures look very generic.
-Animation was kept at minimum.
-Colors and details are done simply, without multiple layers of shading.
-The visual effects are very crude. Just laser beams and energy barriers for a few minutes per episode. Even the funky disks that were creating meckas got old fairly fast.
-On the flip side, voice acting was decent. And the context of the dialogues was full of science, metaphysics, teen angst and more. Too bad even that was ruined by repeating words. Terms like ORPHEN, BRAIN and BIO-ENERGY were mentioned at least 20 times per episode, making the dialogues quite repetitive and tiresome.

The story? Alien powers threaten the balance of the world and a team of teens piloting mechas tries to salvage bio-energy disks and prevent the destruction. At the same time a secret organization plans to release an alien ship that will devastate the world, save for its chosen few believers that follow its cause. It’s not a typical “one-eyed monstrous aliens vs kind-hearted humans” story. It’s selfish people vs selfish people, so it is quite dramatic at times. The alien part is a plot device rather than the main story. The main theme is not really “saving the world”. It’s more like “mommy doesn’t love me” and “my family is obsessed and lost its way” kind of story. The several flavoring elements concerning science, philosophy and mystic powers help to create good foundations for an interesting story… But what was built atop was without the supervision of an architect.

-The characters are cardboards. Stereotypes that you can find in most mecha series. Undeveloped to the point of not caring about them. With generic looks and movements. There is no reason to remember any of them.
-The story is so slow-paced that could easily be summed up in 6 episodes. It didn’t deserve 26 boring episodes.
-The battles are awfully simple and short. I skipped them without missing a thing.
-The conclusion was sudden and rushed. The producers must have intended to create a movie sequel to wrap things up, but eventually didn’t; leaving us with a completely vague and dry ending.

TL;DR: I find no value in this series. Characters aren’t there, story is an illusion, ending sucks! It is boring, slow and anti-climactic. The only thing I really enjoyed was the one and a half minute opening song.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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