Anime Review: Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Review Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Justy Ueki Tylor is one of the laziest men in anime or anywhere else. There I said it. Like most lazy people Tylor wants an easy job where he can sleep all day. So what does he do? He joins the military. Yes you read it right. Not only does he successfully join the military he is put in charge of a ship in the space of three episodes. Things won't be that easy though since right as he joins the military the united planet space force begins a war with the alien race known as the Raalgon.
As Irresponsible as Tylor is, his command does not go unnoticed. First off the ship that Tylor is sent to is the Soyokaze (Japanese of Gentle breeze), also known as the dumping ground for united plant space force. Not only that the high command of the space force continually tries to take Tylor out of the picture. Not only that the Raalgon also have set their sights on Tylor. How does he survive? Well Tylor is a great charmer. Not only that, underneath his lazy exterior Captain Tylor is genius. Either that or he just some lucky idiot. It is hard to say. Actually most of the cast can't figure out if he is a genius or and idiot either.
Based on the description I gave you, you can probably tell that Irresponsible Captain Tylor is a comedy. And what a comedy it is. I have seen the series several times but there are still some jokes that make me laugh out loud. Even though this show is incredibly funny it never breaks reality (although Tylor's luck sometimes bends it) just for a joke. It never breaks the mold of a space opera with a main character that has none of the seriousness that a space opera entails.
Even though I have been talking about Tylor up to this point there is a whole cast of interesting personalities in the show. First off there is the crew of the Soyokaze, who are a motley crew of a spaceship. Transferred to the Soyokaze at the same time as Tylor Lieutenant Yamamoto, a square jawed foil of Tylor, and Lieutenant Commander Yuriko Star, the disciplinarian slash intelligence officer that Tylor falls for. Coming in a bit later is the oh so sexy nurse Harumi (as can be told by the saxophone music that plays when you first see her) who is much more than meets the eye. Even the Raalgon have interesting characters, including Dom the commander who suspects that there is more to Tylor than meets the eye, and Azalyn the teenage empress of the Raalgon empire.
The artwork of Irresponsible Captain Tylor is good but nothing amazing. The style is quite typical of a space opera especially some of the older ones like Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Galaxy Express 999. The opening and closing songs for the show are standard J pop fare. However, the background music is rather good with a couple of memorable tunes. My personal favorite is Lt. Yamamoto's theme.
Irresponsible Captain Tylor is a good show and a great comedy. Unfortunately it is not as well known as it should be. I give Irresponsible Captain Tylor a rating of very good.