Vandread: The Complete Series
by Eric P. Sherman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Julie Maddalena, Julie Pickering, Melissa Williamson, Rafael Antonio OliverDirector: Eric P. Sherman
Brand: Funimation
Producer: Eric P. Sherman
Producer: Kaeko Sakamoto
Producer: Taku Otsuka
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language); English (Original Language); English (Dubbed)
Format: Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 600 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-04-07
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Funimation Prod
Movie Reviews of Vandread: The Complete Series
Movie Review: In The Future, Entitlements Gone Extremely Wrong And Then Some
Summary: 5 Stars
It is often in the world of anime that the viewer has no clue what is really the backdrop of the existing conflict until several episodes into the series, or in some extreme cases not until halfway through the series or, worse, until the blatant end. The opening of the first episode of Vandread says more than enough about the background: someone took a bunch of colonists headed away from Earth at high speed, divided them up between male and female, put them on separate planets, and forgot to tell them to play nice with their neighbors. Oops.
Fast forward seventy years, and the war of the sexes is in full swing between Tarak (male) and Majeir (female). Divided and petty in their own societies, both sides have really only one unifying goal: flatten the other side. Even still, there are some people here and there who don't believe in the war so much as they believe in doing what they want to do, like interplanetary pirates or a factory worker who thinks he can pilot the machines he has only built since he was young. And when one such male factory worker gets caught on a ship being attacked by female pirates, instant gender-bending conflict is a given. Throw in a stoic and observant male medical officer and a 'politically saavy' pilot officer into the fray, and it goes from 'conflict' to 'this isn't going to end well for someone'. Vandread plays every ounce and angle of that conflict for every bit that it is worth, and manages to play it completely without the air of a horrid 90's sitcom, unlike some other anime that have gone there.
-x-x- SPOILER WARNING -x-x-
And then, there is the reality of the conflict. Towards the end of the first half, an observant viewer would notice that there is something rather unusual about the other colonies they come across, and these strange automated enemies that keep attacking the ship and crew. Know how the colonists fled Earth almost a century ago? They fled for a very good reason, and herein the title of this review comes into play. The colonists (as well as dozens of other colony groups) were allowed to leave by the regime on Earth so that they could escape the hostile environs the planet had become, and would later be harvested for body parts to be used as replacements for the failing bodies of the inhabitants of Earth. Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Battlestar Galactica in a very macabre fashion, though for viewing sensibility the actual proceeds of the harvest are never really shown. Less is the better on that note.
The elitists of Earth believe they are entitled to the body parts of their colonists to sustain their lives theoretically forever. Thankfully, the Pirates step down the Jolly Roger and pick up their guns, ready and willing to stick it to the harvesting fleets from Earth. One ship of mismatched crazies, however, is not ample to flatten an automated mechanized invasion and harvesting fleet, so they go about picking up some heavier firepower from people they meet along the way home, and then try to convince their respective home planets that something evil this way comes. After much wrangling (and use of a whip in one case O.o) the battles lines are drawn and things get brutal quickly.
I'll leave the rest to your viewing pleasure.
-x-x- END SPOILERS -x-x-
Vandread is a bit unusual, in that it makes use of conspicuous CGI for the space combat scenes, but everything else is standard anime cel-shading. The first time or two you see this, it can be a bit jarring, but the battles are executed with flair on the part of the production staff and the cel-shading is not at odds with the CGI, but rather the CGI provides a very good compliment to the anime as a whole.
The storyline starts off on the anti-side of boy meets girl, and ends up asking more than one existential question by the end. Vandread comes off as one of those rare series that you can watch for the basic entertainment value of drama, gender conflict, or gratuitous space combat, or you can read into it as far as you want and come out with more than a few social-political questions that need better answers nowadays (or else fear that something this twisted becomes cold, hard reality for all of us, not just in a show).
For anyone who can stomach mecha anime as a whole, I highly recommend it.
Summary of Vandread: The Complete Series
The battle of the sexes may seem bad on Earth, but in a space colony far, far away, things are even worse. Men and women haven?t seen each other for decades, so they don?t just argue in the future ? they go straight for each other?s throats. Enter lowly Hibiki, a little guy with big dreams of adventure, who finds himself in the middle of a firefight after stowing away in a top secret mech designed to purge the galaxy of estrogen! But as the gender war rages on, a mysterious crystal weapon forever links their starships ? and their destinies. Time is running out as men and women explore their sexual differences, struggle to suppress raging hormones, and fight to survive the threat of a deadly common foe!The Complete 26 Episode TV Series!
Season 1 - Vandread
1. Boy Meets Girl
2. And? I?ve Lost My Way
3. This is the Path I Choose to Live
4. I Want to Know More About You
5. Sweet Temptation
6. What a Wonderful World
7. Easy Life
8. Impossible!
9. More Barbaric Than Heaven
10. White Love
11. Together?
12. They Don?t Care About Us
13. To Feel the Fire
Season 2 ? Vandread The Second Stage
1. Red Angel
2. Be My Baby
3. Blossoming Path
4. Everything
5. Somedays
6. Original Smile
7. Kiss on My Cheek
8. Reality
9. Embrace All
10. Easy Come, Easy Go
11. Paradise
12. Himegoto
13. Trust
Stills from Vandread (Click for larger image)
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