Forum - View topicBlue Gender.
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population_tire
 Posts: 588 |
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I didn't see a thread in the anime discussion thread, so I though I'd make one.
I have seen the trailer for this series (I think it was on my Yuyu Hakusho DVD) and read a few reviews. It seems like a type of story I would like. I rarely hear anyone talk about this anime, so it makes me wonder: Is this an anime worth checking out, or should I just stick with what I know is good? |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19164 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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If you went far enough back in the forum you'd probably find threads about it, as it was much talked-about during its time on Adult Swim back in 2003. Its condensed movie remake has now been out for more than 3 years, so it just doesn't come up that often anymore.
I would describe Blue Gender as a sci fi "bug hunt" with dark overtones; if you've seen the live-action movie Starship Troopers, imagine a horror-leaning variation on that, especially in its early going. It is fairly action-intensive (both mecha and non-mecha), quite bloody, and occasionally graphic in other ways. What makes it better than most of its type, though, is the development of its two central characters. Yuji (the guy) starts terribly afraid, basically helpless, and very emotional, but changes dramatically as the series progresses and he adjusts to the harsh new world. Marlene (the blond) starts as a cold, emotionless bitch but very gradually experiences an emotional awakening as she spends time with Yuji. What they are like in the later stages of the series, compared to how they are at the start, makes for a fascinating development. Basically, if you like dark, adult-oriented sci fi action series with a decided human element then this one is probably worth your while to check out. |
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Zewerr
 Posts: 539 Location: Tacoma, WA |
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Key pretty much got it all. I watched it myself probably less than a year ago, both the TV series and movie. I watched the dubbed version, which I didn't think was that great. The sub version may be a different story. The story itself was actually pretty strong and really good. I wasn't a much of a fan on how the story presented themselves throughout the series (I'm not really sure exactly how to explain it).
IMO, I don't think it's anything worth spending much money on, if any. Some people's opinions might differ on it, though. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 8016 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Blue Gender is a great series and one of my favorites for several reasons. The main one being it's got some of the best character development I've ever seen personally in an anime. What I mean specifically is that the two main characters start off as rather unlikable annoying people but the hell they go through togather changes them both for the better, very naturally and realistically until you find yourself really liking them. Secondly, it's also a romance, and a pretty good one too, which concludes rather well. Next is the fact that this is undoubtably a series for adults, it's gritty and full of harsh realities of war and death and there aren't enough of those to go arround it seems. It's full of extreme bloody violence, and softcore sex, however, balances it all with story power and reasoning for such things, as well as the afore mentioned character interaction and development. Finally, the mechs, I just really like the design of them especially the Double Edges which appear in the latter half of the show. They're very down to Earth, well thought out, and technically designed with attention paid to detail. Unlike some super robot shows they actually appear to be, I don't know...actual machines...they need maintanace, run out of ammo, break down, don't have any overly unbelievable sort of weaponry, are subject to physics, and generally are just treated like any other form of millitary hardware.
Also you can find the whole series and alternate universe/retelling movie in one package for a, dirt cheap in anime pricing standards, $30-40. |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I'm surprised at how low this excellent series is rated on the ANN polls. I love almost everything Ryousuke Takahashi has worked on. It feels like a cross between Votoms and Mospeada to me. I'm also a fan of Kuwashima Houka who also sings in this series. I'm really looking forward to Takahashi's Flag which I believe has recently been licensed for the States.
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Kruszer
Posts: 8016 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Maybe they all saw the gutted AS broadcast with most of the more extreme violence, sex, and language removed. I'll say while it is better uncut, the basic story and charater elements were intact so I'm at a loss as to why as well.
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EVA fiend
 Posts: 314 Location: Somewhere in the UK. |
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When I watched the first episode of this series last year, I thought that this was an anime version of the Hollywood bug hunt movie Starship Troopers (as Key has already mentioned). It has a lot of bloody violence, some gratuitous sex scenes, & an intriguing (if somewhat confusing towards the end) plot, but IMO the main strength of this series is the interaction & emotional development of the two main characters Yuji & Marlene; their growth over the course of the series is realistic, & it was this that compelled me to keep on watching. The former half of the series was more interesting IMO, as the latter half gets a little bogged down with all the political twists & turns of the back story, but I enjoyed the series a lot due to the character development. All-in-all, I thought it was a cool sci-fi drama series. And the end theme "Ai Ga Oshiete Kureta" ranks as one of my most favourite anime songs ever.
I've also seen the Blue Gender - The Warrior movie. It consists of clips taken from the TV series, reworked with new animation, has more emphasis on action, & a tweaked storyline that gets rid of most of the supporting cast & simplifies the back story. It's not bad as an alternative story, but it lacks the character depth that made me interested in the TV series in the first place, so it becomes just another generic sci-fi story. Oh, one thing that did bug me (pardon the pun) about the movie is that the sub track was either out of sync, missing, or just translated really badly. I didn't notice anything as bad in the TV series, so it kinda hacks me off that Funimation would let the movie version out with all the errors. |
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Lee1981
Posts: 109 |
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I love Blue Gender and consider it one of my favorite anime series. I'll admit when I watched the first two or so episodes I was afraid that it would be just them fighting the bugs throughout the whole 26-episode run, which might've been okay for a movie or whatever, but with 26 episodes, it would surely get old after a while. Thankfully it wasn't like that and a lot of it is basically what it is like living in that kind of a world. I will admit that the whole shooting at the weak spot to kill them does seem a bit like it would be out of a video game, but that aspect of it wasn't too bad and doesn't really hurt my opinion or enjoyment of the series at all. Character development for the two lead characters is very good and you really do care about what happens to them and hope for the best. All of the other characters usualy end up dead within a few episodes so you really don't care about them too much, though they do last a bit longer toward the second half of the series. Also, the quality of the artwork in the second half lessens, becoming inconsistent and not as detailed in some parts, and there is a lot of stillframes throughout the series so if that sort of thing bothers you, then it might turn you off. But the storyline is very well done. I guess on the surface a comparison to Starship Troopers might be good, but with Starship Troopers, I found myself mostly laughing at all the stuff that happened and all the people dying in that movie, whereas with Blue Gender that wasn't the case at all as that movie takes itself much more seriously. I'd definitely recommend it and its only about $40-$50 depenidng on where you get it. Haven't seen the movie and don't really want to even though its included in the boxed set. From what I hear about it and how it is only a condensed version of the movie, I'm not really interested in sitting through it. But the actual series is really good.
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 19164 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Yes, I forgot to comment on this in my earlier post. Hated the opener, but always loved the closer. (The song is better in its English version, but the lyrics synch better with the visuals in the Japanese version.) |
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Hiei77
 Posts: 192 |
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Blue Gender is pretty good, buti dont know if i would buy the big boxset if i were you. Try renting it and see how you like it.
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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Theron, you are going to make me cry. You and Zac seem to have very different tastes from me which I still find amusing. Kuwashima is my favorite voice actor, and I love her singing on Blue Gender. I like how the theme song is sung by Marlene. It reminds me of Houko's Stella song in Destiny. I like hearing her tough girl side (Kagura from Azumanga) which is so different from her girly characters (Rose from FMA) , Of course she did both as Natarle and Flay in Seed. The character of Marlene needs to be played by someone who is both strong and vulnerable. I have seen your posts about how the English VA also does this well, but I still have not gotten around to watching the English track. Houko was one of the reasons why I got into the series. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 19164 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Perhaps I should clarify that my previous comments about the ED more concerned the actual music (which sounded too synthesized in the Japanese version) than the singing. I had no problem with the Japanese vocals. The opener just didn't work for me at all.
The very talented Laura Bailey did the English voice for Marlene in what I believe was one of her earliest major roles. She used her "deep voice" on this one (see also Alv in Kiddy Grade, Lust in FMA) but she has shown in work in other softer-voiced roles (Tohru in Fruits Basket, Sana in Kodocha, Henrietta in Gunslinger Girl) that she has an excellent emotional range. It's been a while now since I've seen BG, but I do recall that she handled the more emotional parts convincingly well. |
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BrothersElric
 Posts: 1996 |
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Yeah I know! I know from what a lot of people say they believe it to be the most overrated anime series, but I believe it to be one of the most underrated anime series. In agreement with what a lot of other people have already said about it in this thread, it had some very great story and character development, and some great emotional elements, and it was very, very intense. I also loved how dark it was, almost to the point of being a horror series in fact. However it did get a little too confusing closer to the end, but I felt like I was able to understand it enough and was coherent enough that it really didn't pose any problems at all. It's a series I myself have rated Excellent. I've been considering buying it on DVD, but I'm just not sure yet. As good as it was, I just don't know if I had it as a favorite enough to actually buy it for my collection is all, even if it is supposedly better uncut.
I myself am one who only saw the [AS] version, and, well, obviously from what I just said about it I really did like it alot. Personally though, if it's only R-rated level content that got edited apparently, well I just don't see why it really matters that badly. I mean, I probably would have gotten the same feeling from the series watching it uncut as I would cut anyways. The only thing I could see though is that they did apparently cut the OP and ED and inserted they're own, and maybe that's the reson why. |
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Ningensei
 Posts: 333 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I guess I'll add another positive review to all the others so far. Key and some others have basically outlined why this show is so great, I myself rated it a Very Good, though I haven't seen it in a few years. I watched part of its original run on [as] but missed a lot of episodes, and my boyfriend absolutely loved this show. So I eventually bought the box set (an older one that cost about $70) for him as a gift and then got to watch it in its entirety. I don't know, I just really liked how the story and characters developed. I was surprised at how long they stayed spoiler[down on the Earth until they reached the space colony for the first time], but it gave a huge glimpse of the personality of the characters which allows you to appreciate how much they change later on in the show.
Great show and I guess I would say it is worth buying, since I did purchase it myself, although it was a gift. |
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Kruszer
Posts: 8016 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Yeah, that is what I was saying, that it was a suggestion but I didn't feel it would make any impact on the real good points of the series which were the characters and story. Only detriment to that is that they cut most of Marlene and Yuji's love scene in "Compass" which was much more extended and graphic. Also I liked the opening theme (the English lyrics one) a lot. The song doesn't sound as good in Japanese though. Never really cared for the ending too slow for my tastes. |
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