Brain Powerd, is it worth it ?

[Ouroboric]

So I've read nothing but bad reviews on this one, i finished episode two and I'm actually enjoying it so far, some of the characters seem a bit insincere in there actions and the female protagonist irritates me a bit, but the concept and story and quite interesting so far. I've heard though that the action is almost non existent throughout, and that the story falls apart. I'm wondering about the opinions of others who've seen it. I did'nt find Turn A Gundam slow in the least, and enjoyed that level of action, especially how things got more and more intense as the show went on,slowly building up, if that could be a good point of comparison to see if i would like it or i not, I'm not sure though, i would love peoples opinions on it so i don't end up wasting my time.

[DuelGundam2099]

"We must stop Orphan from rising!"

-Takes 13 plus episodes to get off their butts and do jack squat, long enough for the US TO INVADE AND TAKE IT OVER; seriously, where the hell is the initiative?-

I just described the series for you after Edgar gets a grand cher.

Spoiler

and dies in combat as it berserks in hyper mode.

[TakaTahuNuva]

It has some hilariously bad moments (particularly if you watch the dubbed version), sure, but there are some genuinely good episodes towards the end. Unfortunately it suffers from inconsistency and total lack of focus (it jumps from one scene/character to another without any warning) , and the ending is somewhat disappointing IMO. I'd recommend it only if you're a hardcore Tomino fan and have nothing better to watch.

[DuelGundam2099]

Or if you want to see how early attempts at ripping of Evangelion started off, although this series has more in common with Betterman than NGE (which is strange since Brain Powerd came out years earlier). Mech wise Baronz is the only likeable ahem "mech", the other depend more on what is your favorite color/shade of yellow (more of these later in the series) more than anything. The series itself isn't bad and is good, but the problem is really really horrid execution (much like any post-Victory Gundam stuff from Tomino, sadly).

[Ouroboric]

Hmm, the only post V Gundam Tomino series I've seen is Turn A, and i would probably consider it my favorite anime series now.I guess I'll see how bad the execution is. and just move on if it starts getting irritating to me. I know not to hold out too long now though, thanks guys.

[DuelGundam2099]

The last episode is quite good though and had a nice twist to it. Just saying.

[Quiddity]

Or if you want to see how early attempts at ripping of Evangelion started off, although this series has more in common with Betterman than NGE (which is strange since Brain Powerd came out years earlier). Mech wise Baronz is the only likeable ahem "mech", the other depend more on what is your favorite color/shade of yellow (more of these later in the series) more than anything. The series itself isn't bad and is good, but the problem is really really horrid execution (much like any post-Victory Gundam stuff from Tomino, sadly).

I find it hard to buy the Brain Powered is an Eva ripoff thing considering Eva was so heavily influenced by Tomino's work.

Anyway, I didn't care for the show. I actually owned it for a few years before even watching it and when I did, aside from the occasional good Yoko Kanno song there wasn't much there worth paying attention. Tomino's weakest full series in my opinion (although nothing will ever top Garzey's Wing as his worst work period).

[Destiny_Gundam]

I'd say Brain Powerd is worth a watch. I never really caught the problems people point out, but the whole experience was pretty 'meh'. Doesn't stop me from using the units in SRW though.

[Mu La Flaga]

I'd say Brain Powerd is worth a watch. I never really caught the problems people point out, but the whole experience was pretty 'meh'. Doesn't stop me from using the units in SRW though.

And here I thought you weren't much of a SRW player?

As for Brain Powered I've seen bits and pieces of it, it sounds more confusing then bad.
I know a friend who really likes Brain Powered and comes here to mechatalk and big in to SRW anyway.

[Imperial]

I would characterize the show as "blandly inoffensive."

There are few things about the show that really bug me (the pointless adult bashing and child worship being among them), but it doesn't impress me on any real level either. It's a pretty typical Tomino show: Broken families, neurotic leads, obnoxious rivals, children inexplicably everywhere on a battleship, a message that tries to be meaningful but gets lost somewhere along the way, etc. If you've seen another Tomino show, you've probably seen Brain Powered in some sense. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but with so much stuff out there, it becomes a question of why you should watch this show over all the other things he has written or directed.

Gundam has its reputation and lineage. Dunbine has its unique swords-and-sorcery aesthetic. Brain Powered is just sort of...there.

[Chris]

Brain Powerd is a very flawed show, and while it has some good parts, the whole is not greater than the sum of those parts. It has pretty much every cliche you'd expect from a Tomino show (bad family relationships, masked person, etc), but not in any way that's particularly entertaining. The story is pretty much a mess, and starts out in such a way that you feel like you've been dropped into the middle of a series that's already been running for 10 or so episodes. The best part of the series is the soundtrack by Yoko Kanno, but obviously you don't need to watch the show to listen to the music. I only recommend the show if you want to be a Tomino completist and see everything he's directed.

[Destiny_Gundam]

And here I thought you weren't much of a SRW player?

I can play it if it's in english. SRW J is in english and Brain Powerd is one of the main storylines.

[AceWhatever]

This is a show where you really need to ignore the people who worked on it and just walk away. It's incredibly forgettable and combines all the bad cliches of Tomino plus whatever tacked on elements that studios felt needed to be added to give it a NGE level of pretentiousness.

[NewtypeS3]

Honestly, it's something that should be watched if you're a fan of Tomino. Not necessarily because it's his best work (it should be noted it's not his worst, either. That might well be Garzy's Wing, frankly), but because it's still an interesting show.

Long story short, Brain Powerd can essentially be distilled as Tomino's answer to the bio-mechanical "robots" seen in Evangelion and the fact that they were all piloted by people with serious emotional defects. Is it really his answer to Evangelion? Eeh. It's been tossed about a lot, alongside a rumor that Evangelion was somehow similarly done in comparison to Ideon. Not a lot of evidence to back it up, but it makes some level of sense (although a stronger case can be made for EVA being a deconstruction of Ultraman, of which Hideki Anno is a big fan, but I digress).
But, wannabe/ripoff/what have you or not, the big question is this: does it work?

Kinda.

As a mecha show... Brain Powerd kinda fails. The budget Tomino had had to have been pretty dang low, as the combat between Antibody units (the generic name for our bio-mechs) is mostly told through very still images or stilted animation. It's rare when we get some really good animation for them and it's a real shame. At least it's well-detailed, though. The conflict between Orphan and the Novis Noah isn't really fully explained, and certain plot twists sorta erupt from nowhere. And then, keeping it spoiler-free, the ending just sorta... happens. And then the show ends without a whole lot of explanation as to what in the name of all that is Tomino just happened. Sorta like Ideon's ending, but without the movies to show what happened.
The music's great, though.

On the level of characterization, Brain Powerd is pretty much awesome. Characters feel simply human, and while some may be completely freaking insane... they still have rudimentary human motivation for acting like they do (I'm looking at you, Reccoa). And unlike Evangelion, even the mecha themselves are characters - and the growth of some of them is really interesting to see.
Although the character designs are a little on the odd side. Seriously, Hime. Eat a freakin' sandwich already.

However, like many have said about Seed Destiny, SRW has done the plot better. The Brains and Grandchers move about with far more energy in SRWJ, despite being just sprites... and the plot in the Alpha Series makes good use of the show, from what I've heard. It's a bit of a shame Tomino didn't have more cash... and time, considering the series feels compressed from 52 to 26 episodes.

I just wish the dub had been better.
Thanks to being dubbed in the "early golden age" of anime (ie: 2000), the localization and subs are pretty good and get the point across well, but the dubbing was done on the cheap. And because it's a Bandai dub from that time, we get something on par with the Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy dub... sans amusing bits like the "Roboton Invaders."

But you know what? If you like it, keep watching. Who are we to tell you to stop enjoying something? I started watching the show because my Ex was on a Tomino kick and demanded we watch it together. We had just finished Turn-A Gundam, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Besides, since when has Tomino done something horrible? (...note I thought this before seeing Garzy's Wing)
And yanno what? It's honestly become a guilty pleasure of mine. I actually own several of the animation cels used in the show (some went to the Ex for a birthday, though. Wonder what happened to those) and I currently own the entire manga run from Tokyopop (a slightly more compressed version that answers a bit more) and the DVDs despite also having digital copies on the hard drive as well.
Wonder how those Light Novels were, though.

So I might be a bit biased... sure. But at least finish the series.

[flamingtroll]

Eeh. It's been tossed about a lot, alongside a rumor that Evangelion was somehow similarly done in comparison to Ideon. Not a lot of evidence to back it up, but it makes some level of sense (although a stronger case can be made for EVA being a deconstruction of Ultraman, of which Hideki Anno is a big fan, but I digress).

I am pretty sure Anno himself mentioned Ideon as an influence and also something about wanting the audience to be interested in good old anime (like ideon). Ideon is referenced everywhere in the show from the soundtrack to the howling of the mech, to the repeating zeros you see on screen during the third impact in EOE (referencing the scene where they analysed the Ide and showed that it had infinite power with repeating 9s on the computer screen). Brain powered was Tomino's response to Eva, saying how it would be better than Eva. He had said more then once how he didn't like Eva being too negative and such.

[Kenji]

Gosh, Brain Powerd (can I add the missing "e?" Please?) sure started out interesting. In many ways, it never really stopped being interesting. It did, though, stop being coherent around the time

Spoiler

America claims Orphan as the 51st State.

If not before.

I must admit, it's been awhile since I last watched it. I must also admit I preferred it when I thought Hime was the main character. The music rocks, too.