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.
“What do you think you’re doing to my brain?!” That’s my line, fucker! Welcome to Brain Damagd: Yoshiyuki Tomino’s mentally handicapped potential answer to Evangelion. Comparing the latter to the former is comparing Hyperion to a satyr. Perhaps that isn’t strong enough to indicate the sheer gap between the two, or what an utter waste of time this dreck is for those not seeking to witness every single Tomino, mecha, and post-Eva anime out there. The writing is more detrimental than a lobotomy, and more nonsensical than lobotomizing an infant. Their horrendous Eva-inspired attempts at biomechanical pseudoscience and Gundam-inspired attempts at terminology, are as convoluted as they are nonsensical and inconsistent. The show is also spectacularly blunt to the point of telling you exactly what a character is like constantly despite how obvious it is just from the interactions, yet next to none of these characters have any real consistency. Half of what “characters” say and do, particularly early on, directly contradict what was told and shown to us prior, as early as the end of episode 1. Hell, the “characters” can’t even be called caricatures, let alone what I put in quotation marks, with the exception of a fucking scientist side-character and a boring yet remotely competently-written purple-haired girl. None of the rest have concrete personalities and all of them dramatically at the drop of a hat, often within the same scene. This is especially problematic at the beginning, not only because this is where it is most prevalent, but because this is supposed to be the first impression, where we get to know these “characters”. Whenever they even try to give these characters backstories and conflicts, they come from the most hackneyed and unforeshadowed of places, and that’s excluding things done offscreen. Then again, this series has a real penchant for introducing things right out of thin air. Not only do the aforementioned characters engage in excessive last-minute flashbacks as a result, but they also reveal themselves to humongous hypocrites...and we’re supposed to root for the protagonists when they suffer from this almost exclusively. The main protagonist (and yes, none of these cunts deserve to be named) is the worst offender of this, going from kissing to harassing the female deuteragonist -whom he barely even knows let alone seems to like- in a split second, constantly, and goes from acting like an insufferable jackass to an idealistic kid who can’t even get his reasoning straight for why he defected from an organization he previously white-knighted like it was his girlfriend -not like he had one to begin with but damn if they’re gonna try to make him seem like an actual human being worth keeping alive-. Then again, this is partially because they constantly try to play coy with why he left and make it such a mystery, much to the obvious detriment of absolutely everything. He is honestly one of the worst protagonists in anime, and out of all the nothing characters who leave next to no impression in your mind, he stands out simply by virtue of being toxically broken and hateful. Maybe Tomino should have thought twice before trying to do Eva backwards. The visual presentation is unfortunate as well. The mech designs are bland and generic, without any thought into making them look like anything other than unmarketable drones. The character designs are, if nothing else, pleasant for most part, and they are generally on-model, even if actual animation for both the characters and mechs is somewhat limited, if not incredibly awkward in some cases. Fight scenes are downright horrendous, especially since in these particular sequences, shots almost never flow into each other, and they either have very stilted and limited animation, or try the kind of shorthand that could only ever work in DBZ. Even outside of fight sequences, the editing is generally horrible and nonsensical. Whatever CGI techniques they used such as trying to make ocean water CGI, is almost embarrassingly done as well, but that is the least of the visuals’ problems when the show can rarely do rain in a way that isn’t mortifyingly obvious that they drew lines and moved them back and forth for ten seconds. When your opening sequence begins with a borderline laughable static moving background effect, you know you’re in for a production misfire. The music is honestly the least atrocious aspect of it, not that it says much, as even Yoko Kanno couldn’t operate at full capacity. The music is largely, and said music often doesn’t fit when it tries to be more than just stand-in fluff, particularly in the first half. The OP theme is barely any better, and while the ED theme is probably the best piece of music here, it is hardly memorable past the first 10 seconds. The voice acting is also subpar at best, with line delivery that ranges from mediocre to terrible for a majority of the characters. Then again, the script they have to work with is honestly abysmal, so much so that some things just could not work, regardless of acting quality. Brain Damagd is honestly a bothersome experience that stops being bizarrely horrible and just becomes a slog filled with a detestable and borderline nothing cast, and a narrative that works on absolutely no level. Even the audiovisuals are not worthwhile. I wouldn’t even recommend screenwriting enthusiasts to go in for a full autopsy of this disaster, or recommend it to anyone who desperately needs to suffer through every post-eva show out there. I'm not even sure why I’m talking about it or why I watched it; this braindead travesty is an absolute waste of time that should have never been made, barring its ridiculous concepts and some laughable moments. To be perfectly fair, there were moments when the show clearly tried to be meaningful and even human, but they are mere blips in a sea of embarrassment. Unless you plan to watch every Tomino, Post-Eva, or mech anime out there, or watch this with friends, you’re probably better off not acknowledging this show’s existence, unless you want a cheap laugh here and there. Perhaps someone can make a best hits of this show's schlockiest moments; that would be the definitive Brain Damagd experience. Wait...the fuck do you mean it’s not called Brain Damagd?!
Brain Powerd is one of the more unique and out-there mecha anime I've ever seen and although it wasn't the easiest watch in the world, it's stayed with me months after watching and certainly deserves more praise than it usually gets. Penned and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, famous creator of the Gundam franchise, Brain Powerd shows his thematic writing in full force. This show is easily Tomino at his most, well... Tomino. Those that hate his erratic emotional characters and somewhat odd view of relationships will be frustrated and I would never in a million years recommend this show to such people. Anyone willing to put up with a lot of emotion, though, can find some genuinely interesting relationships written into Brain Powerd. There's a significant focus on character & world building over the series' 2-cour run and by the end I was more curious seeing how characters would turn out rather than the plot itself. There are a lot of metaphors and implied deeper meanings, and overall I think it was handled pretty well. This show is significantly more subtle than Evangelion, a show it is often compared to purely due to it having organic mecha and a few psychological themes. Brain Powerd is about the relationship people have with their parents and about the identity you forge for yourself as you grow up, both internally and externally. One thing not even those that hate the show can take away from it is a simply wonderful soundtrack by the consistently excellent Yoko Kanno. Ranging from [frantic tracks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r1aaX1997w&list=PLIUGcJrJ6JHP4TzE6ABiaPRs38r4z7w9D&index=4) to more [simple yet beautiful ambience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdeGSrpc1lM&list=PLIUGcJrJ6JHP4TzE6ABiaPRs38r4z7w9D&index=2) it all compliments everything near-perfectly. Voice actors deliver solid emotional performances to match their oft-neurotic characters, with Gou Aoba's unhinged Jonathan and Akino Murata's caring Hime as highlights. Visually, the show is more of a mixed bag. Animation quality is somewhat weak throughout, but it makes up for it with some interesting direction and artistic choices made to hide the low budget such a teleportation and a lack of traditional super flashy mecha attacks. The designs will be divisive as they're very unique and unlike any other series I've seen. There are a lot of deathless skirmishes in Brain Powerd all contributing to quite possibly the lowest body count in any anime that Tomino's ever had a major hand in. Overall I think Brain Powerd is one for the more alternative mecha fans. It wont convert anyone to the genre or director, but to those already interested it provides a unique and interesting experience more focused on giving you something to think about than anything else.
The greatest piece of fiction ever made. Tomino's masterpiece and an achievement of what storytelling can do! He created a show that surpasses even the likes of Breaking Bad and Victory Gundam with Brain Powerd. Brain Powerd is a Japanese anime television series created by the legendary studio Sunrise. The series is set on a future, decimated Earth after the discovery of a mysterious, alien spacecraft dubbed "Orphan". A group of researchers scour the planet for Orphan's disc plates using mecha called "Antibodies" in order to revive the craft, an event that would result in the utter destruction of all lifeforms on Earth. The protagonists Yu Isami and Hime Utsumiya must utilize a special Antibody called "Brain Powerd" to counter the Orphan plans and save humanity. Brain Powerd was directed and written by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. The series features mecha designs by Mamoru Nagano, character designs by Mutsumi Inomata, and music by Yoko Kanno. The series was also adapted into a manga, with art by Yukiru Sugisaki, which was serialized in Japan's Kadokawa Shoten magazine Shōnen Ace and later published in the United States in English by Tokyopop. A series of light novels, music CDs, and other merchandise relating to Brain Powerd also exist. Tomino was joined by a team of writers at Sunrise under the pseudonym Hajime Yatate. Other staff included The Weathering Continent and Windaria character designer Mutsumi Inomata; The Five Star Stories and Heavy Metal L-Gaim mecha designer Mamoru Nagano; and Macross Plus and The Vision of Escaflowne music composer Yoko Kanno. Nagano had also previously worked with Tomino Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Its full of masterfully written characters, phenomenal art and animation that puts everything that proceeded it to shame and Yoko Kanno's best music score by a large mile. Brain Powerd is about the meaning of life and what it means to be born. Its best presented in wonderful characters like Yu, Quincy and Jonathan. Quincy in particular is my favorite and is the best and hottest girl in all of anime. Hime is fantastic as well though doesn't have as much depth as those 3. The battles are epic with some spectacular fight choreography and visuals that will keep you on the edge of your seat and the stakes are very high. Its easy to see why this is such a beloved classic thats still discussed even after more than 20 years of its release. Its a timeless product that will be celebrated for centuries to come unlike its shitty infirior version Evangelion. Brain Powerd is everything Evangelion should have been and a 1000 times more. Its grand, its epic, its sexy, its profound, its everything you could want out of a story and we honestly don't deserve such a perfect masterpiece.
Brain Powered has a reputation for being terrible. I know, with the little sense I have left, that group thought does not dictate what I will think about something. You don't hop on the bandwagon. You build your own and drive it. As a result, I entered Brain Powerd after watching all of Tomino's main Gundam anime available to me, and experienced A bizarrely passionate experience. Brain Powerd felt like Tomino's strongest interpretation of love to me. It's not just between people, but between the pilots and their machines as well. Unlike in Gundam, The Brain Powerd are organic machines that form a parent/child bond with their pilots. They can feel each others emotions, understand each other, and depend on each other in order to function efficiently as a team. When someone views the resurrection of a Brain Powerd, they see that they behave like babies, evidently so. It's made clear what they are supposed to be viewed as by the constant use of baby lullabies and baby cries that play in the background. At first, I was confused why they moved the way they did as machines. Eventually, I began to somewhat understand the method of presentation of the staff. That being, to remember that these are organic machines that look somewhat like insects. Unlike Gundam formations, the Brain Powerd spread apart in an unorganized fashion and stay still in the air near each other. I figured they were purposely animated to look like that to mirror how spiders in intertwined webs look like. It fits the organic and insect like approach the staff took with them. But there is a tragedy to the Brain Powerd. They can be used for good or bad purposes. They don't know any better, as all it takes is the good morale of the pilot, and their words to get them to synchronize with them. On the other hand, if the pilot develops a really low morale, the Brain can reject them. Still, it can be tragic to see a baby be born, be used wickedly, and then crumble and fall. Because of the way they'd twitch and express pain, I could feel it. Evidently so, this anime feels like a response to Evangelion. It almost feels as if Tomino took the synchronization idea of the EVA's even further, to the extent the Brains can feel like characters themselves as they to develop, hilariously gain passions for hobbies, act on their own much more, and continuously express their love for their pilots. By the end, I experienced true love and an optimistic feeling of inspiration. This anime took me places. Also, some of the surprise reveals in this anime did shock me. What also makes Brain Powerd special is how ridiculous it can get with its characters. Brain Powerd was made during a difficult time in Tomino's life, and it shows, for a large part of it. Imagine the most outrageous moments in Victory Gundam, but happening for an entire episode instead of a short moment. It is that out there. Many times, the actions of the characters feel laughably irrational. Like bringing vegetables to a gun fight, random kisses, insane mother issues, one of the most dysfunctional families I've ever seen, Obsessive mothers, Jonathan's psychotic snort laughs, some of the most outrageous facial expressions, sudden, almost random violent decisions I can't take seriously, goofy voice effects, etc. The story is among the most fascinating. I can see why even the most dedicated Gundam fan can get repelled by this. Just the OP itself is enough to raise eyebrows. Still, it will all make sense in the end. Trust me. Instead of being more focused on politics, the story is more about the science of the Brain Powerd, and how they, alongside The Orphan, work. It is still political, of course, though the amount of exposition about the science really makes you think. It's a story that picked at my curiosity and that left me with the desire to want to understand. Yuu is next in the long line of good and passionately written Tomino protagonists. Before this new age, where this new mass of anime protagonists who are usually cowards and crybabies storm, there was a time were these types of protagonists had a real backbone. Not only that, his attitude and behavior feels as it can surpass Kamille at times. Misunderstood, he tries to make his appeal to humanity to not get involved with cosmic machines that can destroy them all. He looks for reason and logic, though sometimes he betrays those, and makes questionable decisions out of the emotions of his childhood trauma with his parents. He is from Orphan. a "relic" that is more a ship that is not from Earth. The crew of the Orphan want it to take off into space and to take them to a new world. In order to do this, it is theorized that it would cause all humans on Earth to perish, in order for it to gain the energy to do so. As terrible as that sounds, it's because many of the people at Orphan are terrible themselves, and have grudges against humanity for different reasons. Yuu realized this, as the only one who questioned it, and left to join the Novis Noah. The Orphan has powerful abilities, and is a sort of judge with incredible powers that reminded me of the Ideon. Novis Noah is an obvious reference to Noah's Ark, and is a ship made to counter the Orphan, and save the people. The problem is that the research they have isn't very reliable as they cannot prove many of their theories. The way the ship functioned in this anime reminded many times of the White Base from Gundam. Besides Yuu, the other character I got the most from was Jonathan. Definitely the most memorable, I couldn't even bring myself to see him as the antagonist he was supposed to be. It feels now as if every moment he was in was amusing and entertaining. The first thing the viewers notice that tells them something is wrong this character is that he walks around like a T-Rex, rubbing his chest casually in public. Still, I could understand the pain he carried over his mother, and why he was the way he was. He was a lonely and tragic man who was born to weep. Interestingly enough, Brain Powerd feels like a stepping stone towards Turn A Gundam. The theater influence on Tomino beings to really explode here. The voice actors here mirror their Turn A Gundam characters. Yoko Kanno also composed the music to this first, before Turn A. Her music did well to add to the mysterious, tense, organic creepiness of the Brains, and cosmic feelings of Brain Powerd. Watching Tomino's journey, specifically from Victory to Turn A, with Brian Powerd in the middle, was an uplifting experience because of where his mind was going with each series. I took a gamble with Brian Powerd early on and had something to say that I wanted to wait on until I completely finished it to say. Sometimes an anime can feel great, you'll praise it, then it blows up in your face at the finale, and you feel like a fool. I was nervous. I thought Tomino might let me down, as it is understandable and normal for a director to make both hits and misses. However, I gambled correctly, and was brought to tears by the end. The anime I finished before this did blow up in my face, but this time I won. And now I can say it. Brain Powerd is good.