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Buren Pawādo is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed and written by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino 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 channel WOWOW between April and November 1998. The series was also aired across Japan on the anime network Animax, which also later broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide, including its English language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia. Animax aired Bandai Entertainment'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 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, with art by Yukiru Sugisaki, which was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten magazine Shōnen Ace and later published in the United States in English by Tokyopop. A series of , music CDs, and other merchandise relating to Brain Powerd also exist.
Tomino was joined by a team of writers at Sunrise under the pseudonym Hajime Yatate. 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 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 lit. "Field of Love" was composed and arranged by Kanno, with lyrics written by Rin Iogi (a pseudonym for Tomino), and the song performed by Kokia.
The English-dubbed version of Brain Powerd premiered on Animax in South Asia and Southeast Asia. In late 2000, Bandai Entertainment 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 announced at Otakon 2013, that Sentai Filmworks has rescued Brain Powerd, along with a handful of other former BEI titles.
A series of three written by Tomino and Akemi Mende were also published in Japan by Kadokawa Haruki Corporation:
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 in Japan on June 28, 1999. Characters and mecha from Brain Powerd have been featured alongside other Sunrise properties in published by Banpresto including Another Century's Episode for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, 2nd Super Robot Wars Alpha for the PlayStation 2, and Super Robot Wars J for the Game Boy Advance.
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