Introduction

This one was surprisingly hard to write about. Probably because I have this idea that the fanbase is... vocal, if not an outright majority. Like watching Evangelion and coming away with the opinion that it wasn't a masterpiece, and then knowing you have put the expectation (admittedly, on yourself) to say as much, out loud, forever, in no uncertain terms. So let's get this over with.

To begin with, I didn't hate it. I rarely come away hating anything I watch. But I also didn't love it, and doubt I'll ever be compelled to watch it again.

If I were reading this the one thing I'd want to know is this: Tylor doesn't have an ending. It's composed of a 26 epsisode tv series and a 10 episode OVA sequel, and that OVA ends in a real awkward spot. It felt like they were gearing up for one final OVA episode (or even a movie) and it doesn't seem to exist. Instead it just stops.

You can be extremely generous and say that nothing more really needs to be shown. That you've kicked a rock down a hill and nobody actually needs to watch it tumble to know where and how it will come to rest at the bottom. But this isn't North By Northwest. I imagine that if you're really into the show by the end, you'll deeply miss not getting to see the climax, even if it seems inevitable.

This is a huge strike for me personally. It's rare that I embrace anything fiction that doesn't finish telling its story. (Only example I can think of right now is Bubblegum Crisis, which I loved even before I knew Crash was a thing)

All that said...

I watched Irresponsible Captain Tylor. The whole thing is posted sub and dub on youtube via the publisher's official channel (note: the OVA wasn't dubbed, but those episodes are included in the sub playlist). I'd heard good things about the dub, so I actually jumped around experiencing both. My feelings on the series as a whole aside, I can concede it's a very good dub for its time, and they even went the extra mile of recording an english cover of the opening.

Story/Characters

On a larger scale, the story is about an intergalactic war between the burgeoning human federation and the holy Raalgon empire. There's seemingly bad faith actors on both sides pushing for the war, and it has all the makings of an intergalactic quagmire.

Enter Tylor, a 20 year old slacker and possible hobo, who sees a military recruitment advertisement, jumps to the conclusion that it would be the key to an easy life, signs up and proceeds to blunder his way to success.

A Tangent

Before going any further, I'd like to epmhasize something: I like stories of underdogs thinking outside of the box, upending the status quo with their brand new unnorthodox perspective and finding sucess while uppending the status quo and teaching the old guard a new trick or two. Whether it's Down Perisocpe or Happy Gilmore. It's just gratifying to see the freaks and the underdogs get their day, especially when my opinion of the status quo (almost any status quo) has been going down the toilet pretty much ever since I became politically aware.

And that extends to anime as well. I love GTO. I kinda thought this was going to be GTO in space. Just as Onizuka gets assigned to a class of problem children and somehow turns out to be just the man for the job, here Tylor gets assigned to a ship of problem soldiers, and his unnorthodox command style nets him victory after victory.

But the formula just doesn't work here. Not for me. And I think I can articulate why.

The formula for the show goes something like this:

Tylor does something irresponsible + ??? = Success?

But ??? in this equation isn't an unknown. It's a variable, wherein the mystery element in this equation for success is always changing, and can never be accredited to Tylor, his skill, or his philosphy itself. (at least, not to my recollection). There is no method to his madness. The arc of this universe just... bends towards Tylor. He's less like Onizuka and more like... Homer Simpson (which I guess makes me Frank Grimes)

To the show's credit, it's fans seem to be aware of this. The question of whether Tylor is a genius or an idiot is a serious debate for them as near as I can tell. I have already chosen my side, obviously, but I won't be sticking around to make my arguments. (I'm in bad enough with some of them already because I tried to argue it shared a lot of DNA with GTO)

Tylor aside, you've got an deliberately wacky assortment of crew under his command, including a pair of straight-laced "by the book" officers just below him for contrast. These characters are simultaneously worth going into, but also not.

You can make the argument that they are introduced as one-note caricatures and mostly stay that way, but they are given some time to shine in the OVAs, the bulk of which split the crew up to give them solo stories (all in different genres too! it would have been cool if there was a satisfying climax it was building up to).

But this review is long enough and honestly the cast is big enough that it's not really worth my time to write it or your time to read it. The show is available for free after all, and none of these characters are so deep they're going to sell you on it if you're not on board already.

Random Thoughts

The one thing I can't ding this series for is its aesthetics. If you want gorgeous old animation, this is that
The flag of the human federation looks like a tomato. I honestly don't know if this was intentional or not. Nobody comments on it. Nobody makes a joke. It just exists and I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't be the only one who sees it, right?

Tylor does have one notable power besides "he always wins" that's worth mentioning I suppose: He can apparently seduce absolutely any woman in the show. He can even seduce an AI depiction of a woman. In the very first episode! Without even trying! And it's not the only time this very specific thing happens!
The OVAs following the different characters really are pretty unique honestly. The resident fighter ace feels very Top Gun, while the super serious first officers get spy thrillers. It's a shame (or telling?) that Tylor's episode is probably the weakest
If you don't like the idea of the OVAs not having an ending, you can always stop at the tv series. It's not a great ending, and I doubt I'd have the will personally to not watch personally, but it's an option.
I usually try to review things in my own words with my own ideas. It's probably fair to say though that this series was only on my radar because of a Mother's Basement video. If you want the counter-argument for this show, I would look up that glowing review.

In Conclusion

If we were playing Fuck, Marry, Kill, Tylor is definitely a "fuck". I couldn't stand making a long-term commitment to love this show, but it doesn't deserve to die either. It's lack of deeper messaging (unless you consider "everyone should do what they want" to be deep messagining) puts it pretty low on my personal ranking, but certainly that won't be the case for everybody.

It was fun (mostly) for a watch, but I don't see myself ever thinking about it again

But if you're interested, as I stated before, it's all out there on youtube, free and legal, sub and dub, from the Nozomi Entertainment official channel. It costs literally nothing to try it out for yourself (At least check out that pretty ~~decent~~ great English Dub opening)