Brain Powered

Distributor: Bandai, Sunrise
Original Story: Yoshiyuki Tomino (Mobile Suit Gundam)
Volumes: 4
Rating: 13+ (Giant 10-story weapons of mass destruction)
Anime Class: A

It is the future (don't ask me how far in the future, I'm not sure). An ancient advanced (stay with me on this one) relic called Orphan is sucking life out of Earth. The U.N. has this ship called the Novis Noah. There's also two types of giant organic robots (think EVA but multi-gender), Grand Chers and Brain Powereds. A teenager named Yuu Isami was part of Orphan but he defected. He joins the Novis Noah and meets up with a girl of the same age named Hime Utsumiya. The Novis Noah tries to unravel the secrets of Orphan and Antibodies (what Brain Powereds and Grand Chers are called together).

Review: Yes, this is from the same guy and the same distributor who gave us the original Mobile Suit Gundam. And to tell you the truth, it's definitely Gundam-esque. Giant robots, reluctant teenagers, a rebellious ship all in the backdrop of a war. But I'm okay with that because Brain Powered has more than matched Gundam. I recommend this for anyone who likes Gundam or Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Action Level: 4/5
Giant robots beating the heck out of each other, how much more action do you need?

Romance Level: 3/5
It's one of those 'Start out hating each other but end up falling in love at the end' sort of things.

Comedy Level: 1/5
The funniest thing that happened in there is Yuu falling down the stairs in his underware.

Adult Level: 4/5
The entire opening theme song features naked women. Not to mention shot of a topless fourteen year old from behind.

Drama Level: 5/5
The feud going on between Yuu and his family is well-written and well-performed, all the way up to the end.

Overall Level: 4/5
If you like giant robots, get this one. 9 episodes on one DVD set. Definitely enough to keep the die-hard anime fan happy.