Brigadoon: Marin to Melan

Marin is a typical junior high school girl with a sunny disposition and a loving adoptive family. Her life takes a drastic change when a mysterious mirage is seen in the sky above the entire earth. Killer androids called Monomakia descend to earth from the formation in the sky called Brigadoon and begin to hunt down little Marin. She discovers a blue bottle in a shrine as she seeks escape and from the bottle comes a protector, a sword carrying gun slinging alien called Melan Blue, together they must save the earth and deal with family crisis, school prejudice and the police and come to an understanding of Marins past and Melans unexplained mission, as well as learn to trust each other. Set in 1969 Japan with a colorful cast of friends and enemies.

(Source: ANN)

Blue, Melan Main

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Asagi, Marin Main

Kawana, Midori Japanese

Lolo Main

Shintani, Mayumi Japanese

Kisaragi, Moe ing

Saitou, Ayaka Japanese

Nixon, Richard ing

Iizuka, Shouzou Japanese

Mano, Midori ing

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Marine ing

Kawana, Midori Japanese

Asagi, Moto ing

Aikawa, Rikako Japanese

Kurihara, Chiasa ing

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Lele ing

Itou, Kentarou Japanese

Kouchiyama, Takashi Producer

Kunisaki, Hisanori Producer

Yonetani, Yoshitomo Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics, Planning, Original Creator

Ookuma, Akira Sound Director

Reviews

Sep 15, 2010

Maverynthia

Recommended

As others have reviewed before, this anime is very hard to categorize and it's due to that, which makes this anime shine. It's not simply a clone of another series. It's what every anime should aspire to be.

First of all, it has the human weapon as male (a rather good looking one at that) rather than female as seems to be the standard in anime, seemingly push this from an ecchi shounen aspect to a more shoujo one. Most series if they want to reverse it, either make the human weapon as some ugly robot, as some monster hybrid or some female cute monster. That's ... what attracted me to this series in the first place. I was wondering where they would go with this.

After getting hooked to Melan and wanting to see more of him, it's then that the story hits. It really doesn't pigeonhole itself into the "Proxy battle", "Mecha" affair that it seems like it's going to shove itself into. The mystery deepens when we find out that Melan is protecting Marin for a reason. You want to find out why. Toss in a magical transformation device and some romance and you really feel for the characters. It's stops being about a formulaic trope that so many anime base themselves on.

Others have mentioned the ecchi aspect, but really the way it's done in this series more or lets blends it away. Yes you see Marin's panties, but she's underage and they don't really point to it and say "HEY LOOK!" like every other ecchi and non-ecchi anime does and make it the focus of the anime. You find out that the reason you can see them in the first place, is probably because she's poor and doesn't have any money to buy new clothes. Even the scenes of nudity is for a reason and they don't parade it down the street like it's the point of the episode. People are simply nude because they have no clothes, or they can't wear them at the time.

Really over all, the story is VERY original. It doesn't have an aspect you can plop into a category. Similar to DT Eightron in that respect. The ones who came up with the story actually sat down and probably did some world building versus sit down and go "Yeah let's make another anime about a harem... with ecchi. Yeah, like those other five hundred out there." It's really want I want to start seeing in anime. More original stories that don't ruin the experience by having ecchi parts all over the place (Umi Neko and a few other mecha shows), toss in a harem aspect for no good reason (yeah, let's have a bunch of women... for no real reason. If anyone asks... we'll say it's SCIENCE!), or simply be on long string of colosseum battles (YuYu Hakusho, Shaman King, Yu-Gi-Oh, Bleach, the list goes on). It even averts the tried and troped "Let's have a guy... that controls a woman... but she's really a sword/demon/mecha/killing doll/dingo/familiar!" It really doesn't want to make me watch another master-slave relationship being played out on TV where the master is male and the slave is female. I see that in real life too much thanks.
There are anime where the master is female of course, but they add so much ecchi to it that is shoves it back into the shounen, ecchi, boin, harem category. This averts it by making the master female and a child and the slave a good looking bio-mecha type where you don't see the romance coming until the characters start to get closer to each other. It's played more realistically.

Overall this anime is good, because it doesn't try to be like every other anime out there. It makes it's own path in the world and doesn't rely on tropes and cliche out there to get it done.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 16, 2014

gedata

Recommended

If you were to ask me to fit Brigadoon: Marin and Melan into one dominant category, I would honestly be at a loss. This is a series that doesn’t tie itself down to any specific genre, Brigadoon instead opts to include a wide variety of elements into its grand stirring pot. You want series mech (or very mech-like) battles? Heartwarming family drama? A world endangering conspiracy? Goofy comedy? Yuri undertones? Dark psychological drama? Brigadoon brings all of these ingredients together. This type of blend will likely prove off putting to those who aren’t a fan of one or more of the aforementioned areas, an will ... probably end up too jarring for some folks to get into. Even then there can be little doubt that once the wheels of the plot start spinning, that Brigadoon is at the very least a highly imaginative title.

The storytelling of present here isn’t something that can be judged based off of the first couple of episodes. While the monster of the week format persists throughout the 1st half, there are other serious elements at play here. What sets Brigadoon’s earlier episodes apart from other proxy battle titles are the actual repercussions that come with a child summoning a monster to combat other monsters. Lives are damaged/destroyed, thus people grow fearful and act on their fear. This is where the more tragic elements come in to play as not only does Marin become a pariah in the eyes of her peers, she is also targeted by the police as well for being at the centre of all the madness she never asked for. This is a series that won’t pull it’s punches and knows how to use shock factor as a means of getting points across.


Once the 2nd half hits, Brigadoon plunges head first into its own strange mythos and slowly reveals elements, those that are both entirely new and those foreshadowed earlier on. The story picks up a greater sense of urgency as well, as its plot-twists suggest that there is more at stake than just the lives of Marin and Melan. Although there are many elements at play within the setting of Brigadoon, some of the more vital ones do not receive much attention and feel pulled out of thin air with last minute explanations during the last episode. Another somewhat annoying trait this series adopts is use of cliffhangers sometimes. Very rarely will there be a cliffhanger that isn’t resolved via disappointingly simple means. It’s these somewhat cheap tricks that put a damper on what is otherwise a rewarding experience.

The true heart of Brigadoon lies in the intriguingly handled relationship between Marin and her alien guardian Melan. It develops from protector/protected, to father/daughter, and finally to the kind of relationship that should by all s feel wrong. The progression of their love feels gradual and given their extreme reliance on each other, the destination feels justified. The actual ending as a result gave me what as the “feels” even though the path to that ending came about could have gone smoother, as I’ve already mentioned. The wrapping up of their character arcs as a result feels cathartic enough to bring one to tears. Helping Marin get through her hardships is her makeshift extended family. Their personalities often rely on one-note gags, but the levity they offer is welcome in the face of the looming despair hanging over the story.

Brigadoon’s aesthetic, while dated visually, evokes a feeling of uniqueness not unlike the story itself. Although the visuals are by no means amazing, the overall cartoony style gives the show its own look. The series is set in 1969 and it certainly shows since special attention is given to make the locations give off that kind of vibe. Though the fight scenes are fluid enough, still, the OST is much more remarkable. “Kaze no Ao, Umi no Midori” by Ikuko is a damn good opener with an appropriately sorrowful feel to it. The rest of the track is diverse enough to accommodate for the range of tones that series employs. My only gripe lies with the ending theme, which on its own is pretty decent, cutesy stuff. However when an episode ends with a serious cliffhanger, it only serves to damage the mood with its cheery tune. It’s better to just not watch it once the second half hits.

It’s to easy see why Brigadoon: Marin and Melan incapable of achieving any more then cult status. I believe that the quirky look may have given off the wrong message to many anime watchers as to what this series is all about. It’s a “something for everyone” sort of show to the point where it ends up being an acquired taste, if that makes any sense. Perhaps the best recommendation I can make for this series is that you should watch it if you’re the sort of person who can live with having their emotions jerked about. If so then prepare for a game of Genre Roulette the likes of which you may never see replicated to this success.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 20, 2012

ggultra2764

Mixed Feelings

Brigadoon was a series I wasn't sure what to make of it considering it doesn't entirely following a specific genre or appeal to a targeted viewer demographic. The art style, Marin's manic behavior and bizarre comedy would have one think this was a light-hearted comedy geared for children, yet the show's dabbling into some pretty dark territory with Marin's tragic past, portraying humanity at its worst in dire circumstances, the occasionally brutal violence from Monomakia and humans, Marin and other girls frequently being nude and the things Marin puts up with in both her family and her connection to the Monomakia would be things you ... would expect to be geared for older viewers. I found this mish-mashing to be a bit of a mixed bag throughout my watch of Brigadoon.

What I did enjoy with Brigadoon was how effectively it went into its more serious elements. Marin is portrayed as a believable tragic heroine whose tragic past, current upbringing and connections to the Monomakia regularly put her at odds with classmates and others among the human populace throughout the show. She gets regularly bullied for her social status as an impoverished orphan and this worsens throughout the show as her bond with Melan Blue against the Monomakia threat leads classmates, the police and citizens to lash out at her at points thanks to personal tragedies and thinking she has something to do with the problems humanity is struggling with thanks to Brigadoon. Melan also makes for an interesting character as well as he adapts to living life on Earth and tries to maintain his loyalty and growing bond with Marin as he comes at odds with other Monomakia, a few of which being former comrades he used to coexist with before going rogue.

Brigadoon is also good at keeping you hooked on its plot developments as the merging of Brigadoon and Earth leads events to worsen throughout the show. The series slowly reveals more about the world of Brigadoon, Marin's possible connections to the world and characters taking their own different routes with trying to manage the problems between both worlds. Mood whiplash happens quite frequently throughout the show as Brigadoon juggles between light-hearted moments and shocking plot twists that worsen the situation faced by Marin and other characters. The series isn't afraid to kill off major characters or put said characters in life-threatening situations stemming from the Monomakia threat.

Still though, my praises for Brigadoon's serious elements still suffer from the title's more comical elements. I found the show's attempts at comedy as a breather from the more serious moments to be quite hit or miss as I much rather enjoyed the light-hearted moments of bonding Marin had with other characters over the show's comedic moments. With its comedy, the show quite often gets in the annoying habit of fooling the audience with Marin have a bizarre dream over her thoughts of any serious moments that take place throughout the show, and they are quite often a mood killer following the show's serious moments.

Brigadoon's more serious elements are also not safe from criticism from me. Many of the shows' early episodes tend to follow a "monster of the day" type plot that do nothing to advance the title's plot and I did often find myself getting creeped out with the frequent occasions of seeing Marin and a couple other girls around her age being nude. The final episode of the series was quite a letdown as well, having a good amount of deus ex machina to undo any major character deaths taking place, leaving Marin's connections to Brigadoon unclear and any details concerning the major foes of the series rather vague.

Visually, Brigadoon is rather average as character designs are on the simple side with details and look a bit rough with their lining with the childish-like style to many designs taking away from the seriousness of the series. Scenery is well designed having vast shots and a nice amount of detail applied to them. Animation shortcuts happen rather frequently throughout Brigadoon with speed stripes, still shots and reused frames being the norm with it.

Musical tracks do their part in accompanying the show's calm, comical, serious and dramatic moments. However with exception to the anime's OP musical track "Kaze no Ao, Umi no Midori", the soundtrack to the series isn't too memorable for me.

Overall, I felt Brigadoon's mixture of comical and serious moments in exploring Marin's ordeals with her everyday life and the Monomakia to be quite hit-or-miss for me. While I did enjoy much of the show's serious approach to its story, the comedic moments were too much of a mood killer for me and the final episode felt too convenient and open-ended with how it resolved its major plot elements. I suppose your mileage will vary with how well you warm to the series since it looks like Brigadoon has a cult following among anime fans.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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