is a Japanese
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series produced by
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon.
Terminology
Although the S ...
. It was directed and written by
Gundam
is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ...
creator
Yoshiyuki Tomino
is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise.
Early life and family
Tomino was born on November 5, 1941, in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, to an old family of regio ...
and features mecha designs by
Mamoru Nagano, character designs by
Mutsumi Inomata, and music by
Yoko Kanno. The 26 episodes of the series originally premiered on the
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
channel
WOWOW between April and November 1998. The series was also aired across Japan on the anime network
Animax
, stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...
, which also later broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide, including its English language networks in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
. Animax aired
Bandai Entertainment
was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Most of the anime and ...
's localization, the series' English language television premiere. The anime series was licensed by Bandai and distributed across the region on DVD under the title ''Brain Powered''.
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
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...
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.
It was adapted into a
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
, with art by
Yukiru Sugisaki, which was serialized in
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
magazine ''
Shōnen Ace'' and later published in the United States in English by
Tokyopop
Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...
. A series of
light novel
A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging.
The abbr ...
s, music CDs, and other merchandise relating to ''Brain Powerd'' also exist.
Plot
''Brain Powerd'' is set in a future time in which Earth has been afflicted by earthquakes and floods. The source of this is a traced to a gargantuan, alien spacecraft dubbed "Orphan", which sits deep beneath the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. Scientists
Kensaku Isami and
Midori Isami work within Orphan in order to uncover its vast knowledge, reach the Earth's surface with the craft, and travel the galaxy, resulting in the annihilation of all lifeforms on Earth.
Their agents, the "Reclaimers", pilot living organic
mecha
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...
s (or "Antibodies") in the army Grand Cher, and seek to retrieve Orphan's vital disc plates which are scattered across the planet. The series begins with the teenage lead
Hime Utsumiya venturing upon such a disc plate, which revives into a unique Antibody, called "Brain Powerd", with which she forms a deep connection. Within a year, Hime joins a group wishing to counter the ideals of the Orphan researchers, stationed aboard the battleship Novis Noah. She is soon joined by
Yu Isami, an ex-Reclaimer who leaves Orphan after learning of the catastrophe his parents seek to unleash. Hime and Yu soon enter upon an adventure which may decide the future of humanity.
Production
''Brain Powerd'' was produced by
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon.
Terminology
Although the S ...
and directed and written by
Yoshiyuki Tomino
is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise.
Early life and family
Tomino was born on November 5, 1941, in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, to an old family of regio ...
, the creator of the long-running ''
Gundam
is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ...
'' franchise. ''Brain Powerd'' is often compared to the
Gainax
Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; , Hepburn: ) was a Japanese anime studio famous for original productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue ...
's popular ''
Neon Genesis Evangelion'', a 1995 anime series with similar themes to ''Brain Powerd''.
He was enthusiastic about his first attempt at the "organic" mecha subgenre in place of the purely metallic robots he had worked with for so many years in his career.
He wanted to write an interesting story for ''Brain Powerd'' in order to allow those who watched it to do so without "having a nervous breakdown" and to show fans "that there were often other things out there better than anime".
Tomino has wished that more animators would see themselves as entertainers, though he admitted that he felt that ''Brain Powerd'' was not very entertaining and thus a failure in this regard.
Tomino was joined by a team of writers at Sunrise under the pseudonym
Hajime Yatate
is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Bandai Namco Filmworks#Sunrise, Sunrise(Bandai Namco Filmworks) animation staff.
Name
"Hajime Yatate" is considered to be named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's ''Oku no Hosomichi'':
...
. 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
is a four-episode anime Original video animation, OVA and theatrical movie in the ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross'' series. It was the first sequel to the original ''Macross'' television series that took place in the official ...
'' and ''
The Vision of Escaflowne'' music composer
Yoko Kanno.
Nagano had also previously worked with Tomino ''
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam''.
Kanno described Tomino as "not detailed at all" when compared to other directors with which she worked. She found that he was concerned with human "age" in regards to each piece of music so that viewers of all ages would understand.
The opening theme "In My Dream" was written and performed by
Eri Shingyōji.
The ending theme was composed and arranged by Kanno, with lyrics written by Rin Iogi (a pseudonym for Tomino), and the song performed by
Kokia.
Media
Anime
The 26-episode ''Brain Powerd''
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
initially aired weekly on Japan's
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
channel
WOWOW from April 8 to November 11, 1998.
The series was also broadcast on the Japanese
Animax
, stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...
and the
Bandai Channel.
Bandai
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...
first released the series on DVD in two halves on June 25, 1999, and September 25, 1999, as the ''Brain Powerd Perfect Box''. Seven individual DVDs containing fewer episodes of the series each were released from July 25 to September 25, 2002. A "remastered" box set was released on August 24, 2007. Finally, Bandai released the entire series on DVD as ''Emotion the Best: Brain Powerd'' on April 7, 2011.
The English-dubbed version of ''Brain Powerd'' premiered on Animax in South Asia and Southeast Asia. In late 2000,
Bandai Entertainment
was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Most of the anime and ...
acquired the rights to distribute a dub in North America with the spelling ''Brain Powered''. As with the licensed ''
Silent Möbius'', only the first few episodes were released on VHS in the region as test marketing for the show. The original opening sequence, which largely depicts nude women, was completely redone for the release. Three separate bilingual DVD sets totaling all 26 episodes were made available in North American retailers May 21 to September 24, 2002. The unedited opening sequences was restored for the DVD version.
On April 26, 2006, the company compiled and released the entire series as ''Anime Legends: Brain Powered Complete Collection''. Following the 2012 closure of Bandai Entertainment,
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon.
Terminology
Although the S ...
announced at
Otakon
Otakon ( ) is an annual three-day anime convention held during July/August. From 1999 to 2016, it took place at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland's Inner Harbor district; in 2017, it moved to the Walter E. Washing ...
2013, that
Sentai Filmworks has rescued ''Brain Powerd'', along with a handful of other former BEI titles.
Manga and light novels
A
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
prelude to the ''Brain Powerd'' television series, featuring the original story penned by Tomino and illustrations by
Yukiru Sugisaki, was serialized monthly in the Japanese
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
magazine ''
Shōnen Ace'' beginning in the January 1998 issue.
A total of four ''
tankōbon
A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...
'' chapter collections were released from May 27, 1998, to January 29, 2001. The original manga was licensed for English translation and publication by
Tokyopop
Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...
in early 2003, also with the spelling ''Brain Powered''. All four volumes were published between June 17, 2003, and January 6, 2004. Tokyopop replaced the Japanese version's color pages with highly saturated monochrome for their English release. As of May 2, 2005, the manga is out-of-print in North America.
A series of three
light novel
A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging.
The abbr ...
s written by Tomino and Akemi Mende were also published in Japan by Kadokawa Haruki Corporation:
CDs and other merchandise
A two-volume soundtrack featuring a total of 38 background and vocal tracks from the ''Brain Powerd'' anime series was published by
Victor Entertainment
is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...
in Japan on August 5, 1998, and November 21, 1998. CD singles featuring the opening theme by Eri Shingyōji and the closing theme by Kokia have also been released.
A non-scale model kit of Hime's Brain Powerd mecha was released by Bandai shortly after the show's debut.
A Brain Powerd line of colored plastic non-scale model kits was released starting in November 2022 under Good Smile Company's Moderoid line. The line includes You (Yu) Brain, Hime Brain, Quincy's Grand Cher, Jonathan's Grand Cher, and a generic Grand Cher.
A single
artbook titled ''Brain Powerd Spiral Book'' was published by
Gakken
is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales are reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US).
Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces othe ...
in Japan on June 28, 1999. Characters and mecha from ''Brain Powerd'' have been featured alongside other Sunrise properties in
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s published by
Banpresto
(formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Ba ...
including ''
Another Century's Episode'' for the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
, ''
2nd Super Robot Wars Alpha
This list provides an index of video game titles in Banpresto's ''Super Robot Wars'' franchise, known as ''Super Robot Taisen'' in Japan. Most of the games in the series are tactical role-playing games, but several games representing other genres ...
'' for the PlayStation 2, and
''Super Robot Wars J'' for the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
.
Reception
Jonathan Clements and
Helen McCarthy of ''
The Anime Encyclopedia'' summarized ''Brain Powerd'' "as if Tomino and his crew were thrown in at the deep end and told to wing it", though they found it "curiously watchable, thanks largely to Yoko Kanno's wonderful music".
References
External links
Official Website''Brain Powerd''at the
Bandai Channel
*
{{Monthly Shōnen Ace
1998 anime television series debuts
1998 Japanese novels
1998 manga
Animax original programming
Anime with original screenplays
Apocalyptic anime and manga
Bandai Namco franchises
Bandai Entertainment anime titles
Kadokawa Shoten manga
Light novels
Mecha anime and manga
Post-apocalyptic animated television series
Sentai Filmworks
Sunrise (company)
Television series created by Yoshiyuki Tomino
Tokyopop titles
Wowow original programming
Yukiru Sugisaki
Real robot anime and manga