Irresponsible Captain Tylor

Ratings:Top:Anime:Titles:Irresponsible Captain Tylor

 Info  Votes  Messages  More Stats  Up One Level
Name:Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Contains:
checked Comedychecked Mechsun-checked Drama
un-checked Violenceun-checked Shoujo 
un-checked Hentaiun-checked Explicit Sexun-checked Brief Nudity
Running Length:100 mins.
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Irresponsible Captain Tylor review

(Remember, if this review is helpful or well-written, please give me a good rating (down below)! Thanks for your support! *^__^)

Animation:
Somewhat bland, but this isn't exactly a new series. There were a few standout moments, such as Fuji and Mifune walking on the beach near the very end, but for the most part, the animation isn't exactly the high point of the show... Which is okay, because it's all about the plot here.

Plot:
Tylor, a normal 20 year old out on the streets of a futuristic Earth, decides to join the military after seeing a commercial that used a cute girl to get young people interested in signing up. Besides, as far as he's concerned, it's an easy life: Free food and daily necessities... If he gets on a ship, he can just sleep all day in cryo-stasis... And if he gets a desk job, what's easier than that?
Over in the military, two high-ranking officials named Fuji and Mifune, are having conflicts about what to do about the Raalgon, an enemy race whose emperor was recently killed. Fuji, the more underhanded of the two, insists that if they attack immediately while the empire is under the control of the newly appointed 16-year-old empress, Azalyn, they can win. Mifune, on the other hand, says that they could only sustain the war effort for one year before the Raalgon's arms production capacity would overtake them. With that said, nothing changes...
Except that as all this is going on, Tylor is busy taking a sort of virtual reality aptitude test to get into the military. Unfortunately for them, he ends up with an image of a female test taker and starts flirting with it, even giving her a name. The AI starts to think it's falling in love and the computer starts to get overloaded, the VR helmet short-circuiting off of Tylor. At that point, he runs, but it's too late: The entire system breaks down and some explosions go off throughout the area.
Naturally, this sets the military into a panic, thinking a Raalgon spy has attacked them. War is declared immediately, and Tylor's told that his qualifications don't matter anymore; it's a war and he can join. "Leave this war to me!" he says almost prophetically.
And that covers the first episode, except of course that the jokes are funnier to actually watch and hear than they are to just read about. There are more of them, too.
Anyway, through a twist of fate later, Tylor ends up saving the lives of three people in a hostage situation just by talking his way out of it in hilarious fashion. Fuji and Mifune realize that it's all just luck and, for the first of many times throughout the series, are reluctant to promote him, but there's no other choice; if they don't, it'll seem like blunders on their records.
Soon enough, Tylor's the captain of an old scrap heap ship called the Soyokaze, meant only for those who are practically worthless to the military due to their rebellious nature. No captain of the ship has ever lasted even a week, so Fuji and Mifune figure Tylor will be gone from their lives forever in no time.
However, Tylor's a lot more easy-going than all of the previous captains. He doesn't bother to enforce military regulations, his first order to the crew is to do whatever they want, and his lieutenant and commander, Yamamoto and Yuriko, are left puzzled as to how such an irresponsible man could be put in charge of a ship.

And that's just the surface of the show. The thing about Tylor is that it's really, really a deep show. If you're not into that, then you might want to turn away now, because as good as the comedy in this series is, it's all done in a "thinking man" way.
What it comes down to, really, is a story that's against war and against tradition. Tylor's an individual in a conformist military, believing that things will always work out and that he doesn't need to try and make them work out. While other ships in the United Planets Space Force (or UPSF) are unsuccessfully going up against the Raalgon and losing, he's accidentally destroying enemy fleets and battleships five times bigger than his space cruiser, with his only explanation being that "If you're meant to lose, you're going to lose no matter what." He relies heavily on luck and is constantly rewarded because of it. Although nobody understands him at first, Tylor ends up working his way into the hearts of his crew, an android on his ship, the rest of the UPSF, and even the Raalgon empress over the course of the story, and really ends up changing the views of everyone he meets. Not that that should be surprising - he worked his way into the heart of a computer program, after all.

But like I said, that's a pretty shallow overview of the plot. Really, there is just far, far too much stuff for me to go into detail about here. If you don't believe me, go rent any one of the DVDs, select the "Chapter" feature of practically any episode, and look at the liner notes.
The liner notes go into detail about every little quirk of every episode, pointing out episode title significance (every episode has one-six paragraphs with highly detailed notes about the process of giving the episodes their English names based on the context of the Japanese titles), storyline twists, tie-ins to previous episodes, tie-ins to later episodes, contrasts between character personalities in the beginning, middle, and end... And they all help you appreciate the story a lot better than I ever could.

Overall, Tylor's plot is an excellent one, and the message of not lying to yourself just for the sake of others, no matter what the situation, is well-delivered.

Humor:
A lot like the plot, the humor is witty, original, and constantly makes a statement. I'd have given it a "10" if it kept up the humor from the first 14 or so episodes (2 DVDs), minus an episode that slightly bored me that I can only guess must have been a Halloween episode on Japanese TV, but as the series progressed, it got decisively more and more serious.
Actually, it really didn't. It was more that as the Soyokaze's crew gets used to Tylor and his "irresponsibility," so did I. You come to realize that he's not ignoring most of his responsibilities as a captain just because he wants to be an idiot; he really believes in following his own path, and his actions are more serious than they let on at first. Every little thing he does has some sort of connection to his character, and is really a testament to the outstanding characterization in this anime. Again, I'll point to the liner notes, which explain things far better than I ever could.
(But remember... Go to "Episodes," go to "CHP" by pointing to the title of the episode (not the number, the title), and then go to "Liner Notes" down at the bottom. You'd never even know they were there if you didn't look at the chapter selection screen.)

Soundtrack:
It's done by Kenji Kawai. If you know who he is, you probably don't need to hear any more (except for an explanation on why I knocked off a point; that's because they started throwing in classical music at times from episodes 23 on and I really didn't think it was appropriate).
But if not, let me reassure you that he's a "big name" composer. Sort of like Yoko Kanno. The point is, there's a solid musical score behind this show and you shouldn't be disappointed with the background music.
And the opening? Between the music and the visuals, this is my favorite overall opening to any anime, managing to beat out even Rurouni Kenshin. Any music that can match "Freckles" or "Get Along" is already top-notch, and Tylor's "Just Think of Tomorrow" is a song that I really can't get enough of... In Japanese, English, or Spanish!
I haven't mentioned yet that, like the equally excellent Blue Seed, The Irresponsible Captain Tylor comes in three different languages. The big standout difference is that, in Tylor, so do the songs. A lot of shows don't even get one song dubbed into English, much less two dubbed in both English and Spanish. Keep in mind that a lot of anime doesn't even make it to Spanish-speaking countries, so the simple fact that Tylor got a Spanish dub to begin with seems to show a lot of confidence by the dubbers that it would be successful.
Like the rest of this anime, every detail seems to point to a good series - It has a Spanish dub, complete with rare opening and closing songs in Spanish, the composer is Kenji Kawai, the translator included dozens of liner notes on each DVD just to begin to help viewers appreciate the little things in the story, the translator spent days just to make sure the title of each episode was accurate and held the same hidden meanings for English-speaking audiences as it did for Japanese ones, and the basic plot summary on the back of every DVD or tape is possibly the best introduction you could hope for as far as capturing the spirit of the show.

Overall:
Considering how much detail I went into in the other sections, I don't think I have too much left to say. As I just said, virtually everything about this series is beautiful. Unless you don't have money, in which case I'll point you in the direction of some less expensive 5-star anime series like Battle Athletes Victory (revised review coming soon; it was late when I wrote the current one and I really didn't do it justice) and Blue Seed, there's no reason you should miss out on Tylor.
Highly recommended.

A list of my other 29 anime reviews:
Right here
All of the series I've reviewed are listed at the bottom of the Saint Tail review.

Overall Rating: 10
Animation:7 Plot:10 Humor:9 Sound Track:9
Weight: 40 (Reputable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=117628

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
The best space soap opera you've ever seen. It's a comedy, but it's not. It is absolutely brillant with the humor, insights, and the nature of war. The payoff ending is most likely the best ending of an anime TV series ever. It's only 26 episodes. There was an OAV that followed which was also very nice. It resolved the BIG issue. ^_^

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19147

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
If you didn't like it at first, try to stick with it. It gets better and better. The crew starts to grow, and you feel like they know each other and care about each other. I have to laugh just thinking about Yuriko yelling "Koncho" every time he does anything outrageous. By the way, certified babe or not, I saw her first since Tylor is going to ignore her.
He blew it when Soyokaze was in drydock and they were sitting drinking wine. Irresponsible, yes!

Another nice thing, the story is long.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19146

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Move over Bob! All hail the King of Slack! And bless that little elfy emperess, what's-her-face 0_0. you know who i'm talking about!

Dick Saucer was here

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19145

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
funny and uplifting. i'm not sure how to rate the animation itself but the plot is captivating and the characters have real depth!

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19144

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
A truly excellent character driven series with surprisingly good animation (for a TV series) and a great soundtrack. The last couple of episodes incorporate some incredibly moving moments when Tylor explains his outlook on life to Lt. Star, and the other crew members of the Soyokaze come to terms with the effect the captain has had on their lives. Great stuff!

By the way, Lt. Yuriko Star is a certified babe! It must be something about women in uniform...

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19143

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
One of my favs! I especially loved Tylor! How can anyone be that lucky...?! Even though I did have to watch it with subtitles... Hey, sorry if you like those things, but it's no fun trying to read them off a tiny tv screen at about 2:00 in the morning! (I always watch anime in the middle of the night...) ^_^ At least the dubbed should be coming out soon...

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19141

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
This series is a wonderous highlight for the rest of us Genius Slackers.
Tylor is obviously a very intelligent man, more so than most anyone else, he's not worried about stuff, he knows that it will all work out in the end.

I took a line of his as my moto.

"Do what you want to do, becuase you want to do it."

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19140

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Tylor is the classic Holy Fool. His luck is good, but his
karma is better. He treats everyone equally, whether it's the
Admiral of the Fleet, an Empress or a lowly robot. He sees
right through to the soul. At first he seems a bit stupid, but
that's his disguise. You start to notice that all of his major
decisions are correct. In a way he reminds me of Columbo, who
also creates a persona of civility and simplemindness. By the
last, and very moving episode, he see him as he truly is, both
as a fully human being and as a total fool. And it's possible
to look at each character is this series just as completely. One
of the best. And it's better the second time around, because you
can really understand what's going on behind the disguises.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19139

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
After watching the first 4 episodes of this series, I gave up on it. I found it to be an average, rather idiotic anime in line with the american movie, 'The Naked Gun'. The humor was freakishly moronic, and sometimes slap-stick in nature. Overall, a truly boring anime that I do not wish to waste any more time on.

Overall Rating: 4
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=19138

[Click Here to Login]
Don't have a login? Register!
How to use This Site
Why Register?
[Get rid of the ads!]
Voting Guide