SUMMARY
Many years ago, Yuji Kaido was diagnosed with an incurable disease. Placed in
suspended animation until a cure can be found, he is violently awoken from
his slumber. He finds himself in the middle of a fight between giant
monsters called "Blue" and a human resistance from New Earth, a
space colony in orbit around the planet.
Yuji, Marlene and the rest of his "rescue" squad have fled to
Korea after the destruction of their space transport. While trying
to find a satellite uplink, Yuji encounters Yung, a 12 year old girl
living in Seoul. After saving her life, he follows her to a near by settlement.
The survivors don't like him or the military guys very much. Yuji
learns from Marlene that everyone on Earth is considered dead.
Angered at her cold response, he decides that he is going to save these
people, no matter what.
Unfortunately, neither the Blue nor Marlene agree with him. Now
Seoul is under attack, and nothing he can do will stop Marlene from using
the survivors as bait!
DVD
VISION TEST
VIDEO: The video quality is pretty good. The
transfer is sharp and clear, with full and vibrant colors. There was
some light wrinkling, and edge enhancement, but it does not detract from
the overall presentation.
AUDIO: The
Japanese 2.0 had a fuller and stronger sound than the English 2.0. There
is a richness that the English track lacks. Yet, the English 2.0
had better directionality.
EDITS: The best of both
worlds. Thanks to the use of multiple angels, you can watch the open
and close with English titles, or the original Japanese versions. No
edits to the episodes have been made.
EXTRAS: Quite a bit in the extras department. First up is bios on
the characters, and on the English voice actors. There is an
extended version of the opening theme song, clean open and close, along with
a 1 minute montage of Blue sketches.
WIDESCREEN
REVIEW
STORY: Perhaps not one of the
most original stories in the anime world, it is one of the most
intense. Katsumi Hasegawa's flair for the dramatic combined with
director Ryosuke Takahashi (Gasaraki) awesome
"mecha action" really keeps you on edge.
ACTING: The characters are not
exactly the most in depth characters you will meet. Marlene is cold
and emotionless, and Yuji always screams. Both sets of voice actors
play these parts exactly the same. I will say that Laura Bailey's
portrayal of Marlene is starting to show some emotion, which is good.
FAN SERVICE: Well, other than Marlene naked in the closing credits,
nothing exciting in the fanservice department.
CONCLUSION:
Welcome to the seventh level of hell. Yuji is quickly learning
that in this big bad world, no one gives a damn about anyone else.
Yet, even in this world of death, there are stories that have yet to be
told.
At first, I didn't feel much sympathy from Yuji. He whined,
bitched, and rushed head long into danger. In many ways, he acted
like a child. After this volume, my opinion of him has
changed.
I don't blame him for reacting the way that he does. How would
you like it if you were told that you are nothing more than an mission
objective. Then, your rescuers tell you that while you are
"special" everyone else on Earth is dead. You are not even
supposed to help them. I sure as hell couldn't stand by and watch a
12 year old child get eaten by a giant bug. While Yuji can't let
that happen, Marlene and the rest of the squad, plan to do just
that. Even Joey, who is a gentle soul, agrees with this
philosophy. If I were Yuji, I wonder what exactly are the people of
"New Earth" fighting for?
For Marlene, she doesn't fight for justice or to save the
world. Her reason to fight is her hatred for the Blue. In the
first real break since the series started, episode 6 (Relation) puts'
Marlene's past into context. As she talks, her story helps
Yuji come to grips with the world he now lives in. It's the first
time we learn something about another character. It also provides
some light moments, and sets the stage for the future of Yuji's and
Marlene's relationship.
While episode 6 slows things down, there are plenty more "Oh
DAMN!" moments in episodes 4 and 5. The attack on Seoul was
really rough, with lots of violence and heart wrenching action. After the
DVD was over, I was exhausted from all the mayhem.
In the first volume, I said that this is the anime version of
"Apocalypse Now". The more I watch, the more it resembles
"Mospeda" (Robotech: The Next Generation). What really
solidified it for me was how similar Marlene and Yuji were to the
characters of Stick and Rei. The situations they faced reminded me
of parallel events in Mospeda. Add in the ever evolving Blue (which
could almost be cousins to the Inbit), and you have a "Genesis
Climber" series.
The more I watch "Blue Gender" the more I like it. A
taught, nerve wracking thriller, this series truly exemplifies the old
saying of "War is hell!"
I hope I never have to face this kind of fight in real life.
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