Gzerble

What can I say, Brigadoon doesn't hold up well. The story and sound hold up, the animation and characters don't. Still, many people gush about it for good reason, and others hate it for good reasons, but say what you will, it is outside the norm. What I can say about it is that it has style. A style that aged badly, but a lot of it nontheless.

OK, so some of the characters seem utterly boring by today's standards. Once again we get a protagonist that is a poor bullied orphan, that is energetic and confident all the same. The monster-of-the-week thing is tired to the extreme, and while other things exist in the show, that part is unimpressive. Actually, when you break down the show to elements, every single one is a cliche of some sort. Not only that, but one that has been done to death. Done to death, and better technically. And yet, this combination is a unique one. It is a unique one because it isn't particularly synergetic. What can I say, it is obvious that people have learned since. In a way, there is an unintentional parody here with all the things that seem badly mismatched and overdone.

In a way, this is one of the shows that proves that unless a show is a tightly knit package, in fifteen years it will become an unintentional parody of itself. One cannot take Brigadoon too seriously nowadays. Luckily, there are enough moments of fluff and humor to make sure the viewer doesn't have to (Evangelion, I'm looking at you). But don't let that fool you, the fluff and humor is to take the edge off. Of what, you might ask. There are moments where the show will hit you in the face with a crowbar with nasty things happening.

Nasty things happen to good people. Sometimes, very nasty things. Say what you will about Brigadoon, there are very little in the way of half measures in the show. It bounces back and forth from black to white, and has very little in between. It makes for both moments of greatness and for ones which feel forcefully bad. It is a very hard thing to judge a show like this in an objective way, due to the style being so different than most anime from the past twenty years. In many ways, I am still not sure if I liked the show more than I disliked it... for one thing, I can say that just for it being special, this show deserves a lot of credit.

Writing (Story and Characters):

Calling the writing of Brigadoon "uneven" would be an understatement. There are moments of brilliance swallowed by what by today's standards are endless overused tropes. The complete lack of cynicism will catch seasoned viewers by surprise. When nearly every show feels like a product for viewers rather than a creative endeavor, the honesty of the Brigadoon is unheard of in newer anime.

While honest, the story does not hold up well. It has all the elements of a great story, but each element is executed in an extremely simple way. There is drama, hope, action, darkness, romance, humor, and every element you'd want in a story. There are character driven elements, there is an underlying story, and there is the episodic structure. All of these have been done more convincingly since. Not only that, the lack of grey areas is borderline painful. But still, Brigadoon manages to be interesting and unique. There is just something that works very well that I can't put my finger on.

Character-wise we don't get anything too special. There is a surprising lack of development in most characters, as well as anything more than one dimensionality. But hey, the "sure, why not" attitude that makes the story so fun also alleviates a lot of the character issues. Still, despite the earnest execution of a cast that is a cliche made of cliches, the cast is still a cliche made of cliches. So all in all, while the cast fits it is still not worthy of being called good. Effectiveness only goes so far.

Brigadoon's writing is original and unique, despite each distinct element being as far away from that as possible. This creates a very unusual mix that is quite enjoyable despite parts of it being laughably bad. There are moments of greatness, there are twists which catch most people off guard... and there are moment when one will bang their head against the wall due to stupidity of it all.

Art (Animation and Sound):

In one word: dated. In two words: not bad. The artwork of Brigadoon has some incredibly strong sides along with some that are downright silly, and at times both.

There are moments of over the top gimmicky shots, there are moments of stilted and outdated movement. Some of the drawings are crude and childish, which is particularly annoying when it comes to character designs. Still, there is some charm to the style, and some of the gimmicks work so well (especially when use to humorous effects). The animation is still below par and has aged horribly. 

On the other end of the spectrum the sound is great. The voice acting is well over the top and cliche, but fits the earnest feeling of the writing. In particular, Marin is voiced magnificently. The soundtrack is a wonderful blend of standard and Irish folk, giving a magnificent feel to it all. The effects are at times well over the top. There are childish moments, but overall, the sound just does a magnificent job at making them work.

The blend of the animation and sound gives a lot of unique character to Brigadoon where it is desperately needed, which is great. That same blend gives a lot of unique character where the show doesn't need it, which is bad. The artwork is annoying at first, but once it grows on the viewer, it is effective at creating a unique world that makes the writing work.

Overall:

I am not sure whether I love Brigadoon or not. It has moments where it annoyed the hell out of me. Somehow, despite being a combination of things I dislike when so extreme, I just couldn't stop watching it. Recommended for someone looking for a show that's different, with a huge amount of fluff between blunt force trauma in the way of horrible things, and some monster of the day moments.