Birdy The Mighty VHS

Tsutomu Senkawa is a mild-mannered high school student who gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. While stumbling across a chase in progress, he is accidentally killed by Birdy Cephon Altera — a Federation agent pursuing an alien criminal through the streets of Tokyo. Birdy's solution to the problem she has created: merge Tsutomu's consciousness with her own body while his physical form is reconstructed, which will take some time. The arrangement means Tsutomu and Birdy must time-share a single body — Birdy taking control when her mission requires it, Tsutomu living his ordinary high school life the rest of the time, both of them fully aware of each other and unable to keep many secrets. Birdy is powerful, impulsive, and used to operating alone. Tsutomu is careful, quiet, and absolutely unprepared for the alien conspiracies, illegal experiments on human subjects, and cyborg enforcers that have now become his daily reality.

Birdy the Mighty is a four-episode OVA produced by Madhouse and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri — the director of Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, A Wind Named Amnesia, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust — making it one of his rare lighter-toned works. It is based on Masami Yuki's manga and was supervised by Yutaka Izubuchi, Yuki's friend and the mechanical designer for Patlabor and RahXephon. The screenplay was written by Chiaki Konaka, who also wrote Cardcaptor Sakura movie scripts, Catnapped!, and Serial Experiments Lain. The series aired in an English dub on Starz Encore's Action channel in 2000 before its North American DVD release. Originally released on two VHS volumes by Central Park Media in 1999; the two-volume North American DVD set was released March 9, 2004 (Vol. 1) and May 11, 2004 (Vol. 2). The series went out of print when Central Park Media discontinued titles in 2006 and filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, A Wind Named Amnesia, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust)
Screenplay: Chiaki Konaka (Cardcaptor Sakura movie, Catnapped!, Serial Experiments Lain, Digimon Tamers)
Supervisor: Yutaka Izubuchi (Patlabor mechanical designer, RahXephon director)
Original Manga: Masami Yuki (Patlabor)
Studio: Madhouse

Japanese Cast:
- Kotono Mitsuishi as Birdy Cephon Altera (Dragon Half, Sailor Moon, A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Noir, Maze, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Alien Nine)
- Tetsuya Iwanaga as Tsutomu Senkawa (El-Hazard: The Alternative World, El-Hazard: The Wanderers)
- Yukana as Christella Revi (Moldiver, Cardcaptor Sakura)
- Keiji Fujiwara as additional cast
- Akio Otsuka as additional cast (Saint Tail, Project ARMS, Captain Tylor OVA)

English Dub Cast (Central Park Media — New York):
- Justin Thompson as Tsutomu Senkawa
- Alex McCord as Birdy Cephon Altera
- Mary Alice McGuire as Christella Revi
- Brian Schneider as Geega (ep. 1)
- Debora Rabbai as additional cast (Maze OVA)
- Ted Lewis as additional cast (Pokémon)
- Tom Foral as additional cast
- Doug Markley as additional cast

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: 鉄腕バーディー (Tetsuwan Bādī / Birdy the Mighty)
Runtime: ~130 Minutes (Complete OVA, 4 Episodes, 2 DVD Volumes)
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
DVD Release Year: 2004 (U.S. Release — Vol. 1: March 9, Vol. 2: May 11 — Central Park Media); out of print since 2006
Original Release Date (Japan): July 25, 1996 – February 25, 1997
Publisher: Central Park Media (US Manga Corps)
Rating: 14+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Note: Out of print since Central Park Media discontinued titles in 2006; CPM filed bankruptcy 2009. Aired on Starz Encore Action channel 2000 before DVD release. Not to be confused with Birdy the Mighty: Decode (2008 TV series).
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy
Themes: Body Sharing, Space Federation Agent, Alien Criminals on Earth, Yoshiaki Kawajiri Lighter Work, Chiaki Konaka Screenplay

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.