blue gender - the complete collection

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-27
I would have prefered sleeping through this catastrophe myself!
Blue Gender(BG) is a very good anime series that slightly misses excellent in my view. Despite its small short comings, BG delivers on several levels. The action is definitly one of them plus it's supported by realistic characters. Those searching hard for a mecha series where dialogue and psycho babble is overshadowed by action. Most likely won't be disappointed with BG.

After a very long slumber, Yuji Kaido awakens in a world he does not recognize. He finds himself running for his life from giant creatures. He is then brought up to speed by a mecha pilot named Marlene. Yuji learns that the human race is on the brink of extiniction after being attacked by giant bugs called Blue. He then finds himself fighting for survival along with Marlene and what's left of her recovery unit.

First things first, the action. Blue Gender delivers with loads of combat. The battles with the Blue are gory and action packed. This is one mecha series that trys hard to limit the talk. The series does a really good job with its setting. The war torn earth speaks for itself.

Several people mention that Yuji's whining is pretty annoying. Well, I don't think anybody would easily digest waking up in a world where giant bugs just destroyed everything they knew. And on top of that, the civilians are being treated worst than trash. So Yuji's b***hin' makes alot of sense. There is some character development. To include the story progresses nicely and little subplots take place. Now there is a bit of filler but the story picks up again. Plus the last few episodes and ending does deliver.

Now some people actually said the animation is outstanding. I would like to know did we all see the same series. This is BG's biggest fault besides it's questionable science(which I still think is cool due to imagination). The animation is not very good at all. Most of the effort is put into the mechas and the creatures. Almost everything else takes a serious back seat. The animation does get better on episode 17 and a few times during the episodes afterwards. Still, when compared to series that came out around the same time. BG doesn't hold up. The soundtrack is done pretty well and works really well with the scenes. The opening and ending themes are pretty good.

BG also has a bit of nudity and a few soft sex scenes. Plus a small bit of girl on girl action much later on. Someone may find it offensive, so it's best to mention it.

Even though the story and some elements is seen that before. I was still entertained by this series and it's something I can watch many times. People looking for a mecha series that's less blab and more blast should check this out.

Rating:
Date: 2007-12-05
Marlene . . . your'e to good for Yuji.
I am very conflicted about this show. I don't know if I found it addictive because I liked it or because I was fascinated by the relationship between Yuji and Marlene and wanted to see how it ended. The premise behind the show, kind of a starship troopers forgery without the bitter political satire and brainwashing, is okay. I didn't find it that tantalizing, but I am not a big mecha fan. What makes this show stand out for me is the relationship between Yuji and Marlene. Even if you can handle the predictability of the mecha battles (Marlene saves Yuji at the last minute, or vice versa), it is worth watching to see what I consider one of the best love stories in anime. Marlene and Yuji start out at polar oppisites, slowly converge, and then cross paths. Marlene becoming more like how Yuji was at the beginning, and Yuji becoming a hardened, bitter veteran of war. The end is heartwarming and makes me happy for them, even if it is just colored pencil drawing processed into digitalized animation. Recommended if you are like me and have started to run out of options regarding quality anime.

Rating:
Date: 2007-09-23
Laments of the Living Nightmares
Unfortunetly I got what appeard to be a boot leg copy of Blue Gender. Beyond that though, the series as a whole is highly fufilling to adults, and I do mean adults only. Blood,gore, and sex are intrecitly laced in a story of utter sadness and hope overcoming the dark. Although this may possibly be the most depressig anime I have ever seen, there is no such thing as "filler episodes" in Blue Gender, all moments are useful and precious.

Rating:
Date: 2007-08-20
Humanity at the brink of Extinction
To begin, I should express that I have watched a lot of anime. Berserk, Cowboy-Bebop, Gungrave, Samurai Champloo, Ghost in the Shell, Le Chevalier D'eon, Ninja Scroll (movie) and others.

All of these anime have a dark and mature tone. That is my taste, something that is well thought out in a adult manner rather than the typical childish or perverted anime.

So of course, it's not for your typical teenager and especially not for children.

Berserk would have been the best but it was cut off, so I say Blue Gender may very well be the greatest of these anime AS A WHOLE. This series is actually more like an epic movie. It's a saga of 26 episodes that are entirely connected from one episode to the other. For that, it is as if watching a full motion film. Berserk is done in the same way, but Blue Gender has closure with no holes while Berserk ends at a critical point with 2/3 of the story missing.

Expressing further, the music score is also very well done. Dark, eerie, action-like, suspenseful. The english voices are excellent for all the cast. There is not a single character that has a misplaced voice nor are any of them poorly created. Actually, most of the beginning cast remind me of the G.I. Joe squad.

The series itself is a melting pot of genre, that is to say, it contains everything. Action, suspense, science fiction, mecha, fantasy, drama, some adult humor in the later episodes, and more.

Well, for those people that gave positive reviews I agree with them but don't want to repeat what they wrote, so I'll explain a brief idea of this series in the form of a prequel so I don't give out any spoilers or seem repetitive:

Yuji Kaido is a normal young adult just like anyone of us trying to make it in this world. He has his whole life ahead of him, working in a gas station while finishing up high school, he has dreams to see the world with his best friend Tekashi.

He worked at a gas station in Tokoyo in the near future (2009) until a life-threatening disease required him to make a decision to either die young or be put into cryogenic stasis so that his physical state would not worsen.

He decided to be put in cryogenic stasis, truly because he believed in humanity and had faith in the future. With high hopes, he figured it might take only about 2 or 3 years and some kind of gene therapy would exist. Then he could return to his normal life.

"Hey, do what you have to do man; but when you beat this thing, you and me should get away for awhile...see the world."

"Yeah...when I beat this thing, it's you and me Tekashi, you and me...."

Well, things didn't go exactly according to plan. From 2009 it became 2031. Yuji's years of hibernation are finally ended only because a group of soldiers from an orbiting space colony called Second Earth are ordered to recover "sleepers" around the Earth.

He awakens in the later future of 2031 to find that an unknown race of creatures known as the "Blue" have destroyed everything he knew. In fact, he awakens while one of these creatures are attacking the soilders.

Clearly, all that he loved and knew is gone.

Just what would you do in that situation? Do you think you're going to wake up from being a high school gas station attendant to suddenly being Spike Spigal, Brandon Heat, Gatsu, or Terminator? Sorry, that's not realistic.

Yuji's emotions are very real. Frightened, in shock, depressed, angry...not to mention surrounded by humans that are entirely cold and indifferent...empty of their humanity in a bleak world.

Still, Yuji is determined not to be baggage for the military group that saved him in the sleeping facility. With due time, in a realistic time frame, he evolves to become a more efficient soldier and proves his worth.

A great soldier while still maintaining his compassion and values, he is a balanced human being that has the potential to make a large impact to the new world that awaits him.

However, this is a world infested with Blue to which have been destroying all of humanity (with purpose).

More so, why did the cold hearted military send recover squads around the world risking their lives for these sleepers?

Will Yuji and this military squad be able to survive? In a crude world where countless people are murdered and places destroyed, one cannot be so sure.

You have to watch it to find out. Do yourself a favor, save fifty dollars and purchase this epic 26 episode movie. Treat yourself and watch it as a whole. After and only after watching it in its entirety, judge it.

Rating:
Date: 2007-08-17
So there are three genders now?
I've had this boxset for a couple of months after being recommended by anime pulse.

I come from a background of Evangelion and Ranma 1/2, so I am a bit critical on character design. The story is pretty good for the last 2/3 of the series. The first part of the series seemed a bit stretched, and a few loose ends never got tied by the end.

There is some romance between the two main characters that is somewhat graphic (nudity), so I wouldn't suggest this for under 17. The action and effects are awesome. Full out.

All in all, the $50 is worth the cost of this series. IT is not epic like Evangelion, Ranma, Naruto, or Bleach....but it is good for the general distraction from the billion other action animes out there.

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