Birdy the Mighty: Difference between revisions

Tsutomu Senkawa was an ordinary kid living in Tokyo. Birdy Cephon [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|Altirra/Altera/Altaria]] was a beautiful Space Federation law enforcement officer on a mission to stop a plot by alien criminals that involved Earth. One night, during a battle with the alien fugitive Geega, "Berserker Killer" Birdy accidentally attacks Tsutomu, fatally injuring him. To save his life, Birdy has to [[Fusion Dance|merge with him]]. Now, as Tsutomu gets used to sharing a body with a girl, they both have to work together for Birdy to complete her mission.

* [[Batman in My Basement]]: In the OVA, Tsutomu has to keep his situation hidden from his family. This ended-up making his family think he's crazy as he seems to be yelling to himself, his father (in an attempt at [[Bathtub Bonding]] with his son) [[Accidental Pervert|catching a nude Birdy in the bath after she switched with him]], his family to wonder why the son is [[Naked People Are Funny|running around the house in the nude]], and his sister accuses him of [[Cross DresserCrossdresser|crossdressing]] when Birdy decides to "borrow" some of her clothes. Averted in ''Decode'', where the sister has moved out and only checks in on him, and [[Parental Abandonment|his parents have left due to the father's job, leaving Tsutomu alone]]. The trope remains in the remake manga, though Birdy has her own clothes for being a little less conspicuous.

* [[Bio PunkBiopunk]]: The society from which Birdy comes has advanced organic technology (for example, their spaceships and some buildings being biological). Their medicine can fix people blown in half, and replace limbs and faces. Beyond that, {{spoiler|Birdy and Nataru are artificial bioengineered humanoid weapons, and the Ryunka is another, probably artificial, biological weapon}}.

** Bacillus is an oozing parasite that bonds and kills the host, then moves on to another. {{spoiler|In the OVA, he bonds himself to several dogs at once before before getting repelled by [[Mundane Solution|dish soap]], then bonds himself to some [[Mecha -Mooks]] that Birdy took out earlier. In ''Decode'', his then-current host falls apart, then moved to Geega, who also falls apart.}}

* [[Brother -Sister Incest]]: Questionable as we don't know how DNA is selected, but seeing as {{spoiler|Nataru was taken from a lab called "Cephon" as a baby and their origins, it would appear that at least he and Birdy came from the same lab}}.

* [[Camera Abuse]]: Early in the first season, Birdy kicks a piece of debris at the non-[[In -Universe Camera]], which nevertheless tumbles backward and cuts out with static.

* [[Cross DresserCrossdresser]]: Birdy (in the OVA) would sometimes shift into her form, but still wear Tsutomu's clothes.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: The basic premise is remarkably similar to a long-running arc in [[Marvel]]'s [[Captain Mar -Vell|Captain Marvel]] series, where an ordinary guy must share his body with a powerful superhero who has his own identity and motivations, right down to the two being able to talk to each other.

* [[Doing It for Thethe Art]]: ''Decode'' was commercially unsuccessful, but still produced a second season of excellent quality. Sadly, it looks like the series will have another cliffhanger ending.

* [[Earth Is the Center of Thethe Universe]]: Completely averted. Earth is considered an insignificant backwater planet in the ''Decode'' universe.

* [[Eyelid-Pull PulltauntTaunt]]: In the original manga, Geega does this to mock Birdy after she accidently kills Tsutomu.

** [[Barbie Doll Anatomy]]: Birdy in the first part of the OVA, somewhat justified in one case by [[Out -of -Clothes Experience]]. Subverted in the second part near in the end when the only view of her front is from the shoulders up. Averted in the last two parts as she's not in a situtation where she's nude.

** [[Full -Frontal Assault]]: A heroic version. As opposed to the OVA, Birdy in the original manga did not don her uniform when Bacillus was outside of Tsutomu's house and confronted him in the nude.

** [[Funbag Airbag]]: When Geega threw Tsutomu at Birdy in the original manga, Tsuotmu ends up slamming into Birdy and his face end up slamming into her chest.

* [[First -Episode Resurrection]]: Tsutomu, though depending on which version you watch, how far into the first episode he dies varies; in the OVA, he dies within the first few minutes while in ''Decode'', he dies after the episode is halfway through.

** [[Whole -Episode Flashback]]: Two episodes in the second season of ''Decode'', showing Birdy's past. Also an entire volume of the remade manga.

* [[Four Eyes, Zero Soul]]: {{spoiler|Shyamalan}}.

* [[Freaky Friday Flip]]/[[Man, I Feel Like a Woman]]: Happens in ''Decode'' -- {{spoiler|After obtaining injuries during a battle in episode five of the second season, Birdy passes out and Tsutomu awakens to find himself in Birdy's form and [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock|unable to change back]]. This lasts through Episodes 6 and 7, which are the aformemention [[Whole -Episode Flashback]] examples, where he journeys into her memories and is resolved by the end of episode seven when he finds Birdy and things are returned to normal}}. The manga is more appropriate to [[Man, I Feel Like a Woman]] since {{spoiler|the first thing Tsutomu does when he realizes he's in Birdy's body is to grab his chest and groin in disbelief. His time before journeying into Birdy's past is shorter, and he at least again checks his groin after returning to his body just to be sure that everything was proper again}}.

* [[Gambit Pileup]]: deconstructed. In the beginning, there are several factions involved, along with multiple wild cards, a chessmaster, and neutral but interested parties. And that's just the first season, on the alien side. However, instead of there being any [[JustAll AsAccording Plannedto Plan]] and [[I Know You Know I Know]], bad intel and lack of information reigns supreme, with things devolving into a chaotic world where the law of unintended consequences dictates the outcomes of events more than anything else. No one really knows what the hell is going on, except maybe the viewer, and even they, who see a lot more than any given character must think quite a bit and infer a lot to figure out what really happened and why.

** [[Fiery Redhead]]: Well, Birdy's got pink hair and it's only one of [[Multicolored Hair|two]] (the other being [[White -Haired Pretty Girl|white]]), but close enough. Similarly, Capella Titis has mostly pink hair with large sections of white.

** [[White -Haired Pretty Boy]]: {{spoiler|Nataru, when his using his powers. When he's not, his hair is brown.}} Also, Cashew Gaze, who briefly appears in ''Decode'' and plays a slightly larger role in the remade manga, fills this trope and [[Dark -Skinned Blond]].

** [[White -Haired Pretty Girl]]: Nejula Gate, who's also [[Dark -Skinned Blond|dark-skinned]]. Birdy's a partial example.

* [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard]]: Hikawa in the OVA and Shyamalan in the first season of ''Decode''. Hikawa was messing with a serum that was supposed to create [[Super Soldiers]] that had a history of mutating people into monsters and used himself as a subject, while Shyamalan tried to control the Ryunka, a weapon capable of killing everything on the planet. {{spoiler|Hikawa ended up being turned into a monster in the last episode of the OVA and Shyamalan, [[Too Dumb to Live|being literally in the same room with a not fully-mature Ryunka while messing with it in his efforts to control it]] was one of the first to die in the final episodes of the first season of ''Deocde''. In the remade manga, Hikawa also uses himself as a test subject, but ends up doing ''too'' good against Birdy causing her to go berserk and rip him apart before Tsutomu could calm her down.}}

* [[I Have Many Names]]: In a meta sense, the series of robots that {{spoiler|Violin}} and the [[Mecha -Mooks]] Birdy deal with. Depending on the incarnation, they're either called Arkazoids (original manga and OVA), Dolls (remake manga), or Marionettes (''Decode'').

* [[In -Series Nickname]]: Berserker Killer Birdy.

* [[Journey to Thethe Center of Thethe Mind]]: The [[Freaky Friday]]/[[Man, I Feel Like a Woman]] and [[Whole -Episode Flashback]] examples, the former setting it off and justifying the latter, where {{spoiler|Tsutomu had to rescue Birdy after getting stuck in her form and how he learned of her past. In the manga, this knowledge becomes very handy when some of Birdy's old classmates show up on Earth}}.

* [[Lawyer -Friendly Cameo]]: [[Keroro Gunsou|Giroro]] makes one in episode 5 of ''Decode''.

* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Birdy, and the [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|Undine/Ondine]] even more so.

* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Pretty much sums up Birdy's reaction to fatally wounding Tsutomu.

* [[Off -Model]]: ''Decode 02'', Episodes 7 and 12, due to serious budget problems.

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Hayamiya ([[Tomboy|tomboyish]] [[Fiery Redhead]] [[Genki Girl]]) and Nakasugi (blue-haired [[Ojou]] [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]).

* [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized]]/[[Well -Intentioned Extremist]]/[[Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters]]: In the flashback we see in the second season of ''Decode'', a lot of Revi's actions are an attempt to force the Federation to improve the lot of Altirrans so they aren't treated with racism and like lower class citizens anymore. A lot of her actions have included terrorist attacks on key government building, allying herself with members of the Federation's enemies, and {{spoiler|trying to obtain a [[Doomsday Device]]}} In the manga, the story is a little bit different. Revi is recognized as a genius, and quickly climbs to a high rank in the government science branch despite her race. Her terrorist attack on the central government is inexplicable, and followed by several more destructive bombings before disappearing to Earth.

** {{spoiler|Nataru}} is also starts out a [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]], taking out the group most of the group of escaped aliens for the role in what happened in Season 1 of ''Decode''. He slips into [[Moral Event Horizon]] when he kills two of them who disguise themselves as childern, one of them even deciding to leave the others in protest of what they're doing.

* [[Secret Identity]]/[[Wig, Dress, Accent]]/[[Clark Kenting]]: In ''Decode'', prior to being merged with Tsutomu and even afterwards, Birdy assumed the name "Shion Arita". This didn't stop a photographer, Tsutomu himself, or someone from her past from recognizing her. Averted in the OVA when Birdy's normal hair is visible and doesn't bother acting too differently.

* [[The Social Darwinist]]: Shyamalan ([[M. Night Shyamalan|no, not that one]]) in ''Decode''.

* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]]: The subtitles of the OVA prefer to romanize the last part of Birdy's name as "Altirra," though fans have also used "Altera." The English dub switched "Cephon" and "Altirra" around, resulting in "Birdy Altirra Cephon". Then there's "Altaria" ([[Pokémon (Franchise)|Uh...]]), used by Funimation on [[YouTube]] for ''Decode''. The DVD release was contradictory, as the subtitles used "Altira", but the credits used "Altera". Though technically, "Altirra/Altera/Altaria" is only used to identify where Birdy's from and her species and really isn't offically part of her name.

* [[The Masquerade]]: [[Zig Zagged]] to hell and back in ''Decode''. While the population at large is generally unaware of the aliens' presence, and many people don't believe in aliens, one may suspect that Masakubo's obsession with aliens and [[UF OsUFOs]] is more than crazy conspiracy theory paranoia. The non-humanoid aliens usually have some kind of disguise to make themselves look human and blend in, but many aliens have revealed themselves, making business deals with human companies and (possibly) governments. Even Birdy has the Shion Arita identity, but {{spoiler|she revealed herself to Muroto, though he may or may not have believed her}}. No cover up efforts are made at all when {{spoiler|the Ryunka demolishes the countryside}}, and everyone knows something weird happened when {{spoiler|the Ryunka completely trashed the Roppongi area}}. The government must have known something was up when {{spoiler|the aliens assaulted a military base and stole a nuclear bomb}}. But on the other side, some aliens living on earth might not even know they are alien, because they either were born there or moved when very small and their parents never told them. {{spoiler|For example, in ''Decode'', it is revealed that Chikira is an Altan, though he may or may not know this.}}

* [[Tokyo Is the Center of Thethe Universe]]: Natch, though in season 2 of ''Decode'' {{spoiler|out of all of Earth's cities Season 2's villains could have escaped to, it somehow just HAD to be Tokyo. While the city is indeed an apparent favorite for the series' aliens, the group in question were partly responsible for a narrowly avoided Class X annihilation event who's epicenter was Toyko, which led to the firing of a [[Kill Sat]] on the city, the resulting ruins of said firing being a major set piece throughout the season.}}

* [[Training Fromfrom Hell]]: {{spoiler|What Birdy goes through as a kid in preperation to be a Federation officer.}}

* [["V" Sign]]: In the first three parts of the four part OVA series, the credits would end with an image of Birdy flashing this.

* [[What Measure Is a Non -Human?]]: Both averted and played straight. Averted in that the various alien races pretty much agree they're equals (even though you can still spot a bit of [[Fantastic Racism]] here and there), played straight in that those very same alien races treat [[Artificial Human|Dolls]] as little more than a commodity, despite them being clearly sentient.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: In the remake manga, Birdy actually considered trying to cover-up what happened to Tsutomu before [[Morality Pet]] Tuto pointed out that he was recording what happened and hence it was impossible, so Birdy decides to help Tsutomu after all. How serious she was is questionable, but she's reprimanded by her superiors none-the-less.

[[Category:Studio Ghibli (C unit)]]

[[Category:Birdy The Mighty{{PAGENAME}}]]