Blue Gender Review
ブルージェンダー

Since the Community Anime Reviews site has lots of issues, I’m republishing some of my OG reviews from there. I have corrected obvious spelling errors though. I will add new notes in parenthesis, labeled “ANB  note.”  😅 I won’t count these as part of the “Back to the Vaults” series as I have not rewatched them.

–> Buy Blue Gender DVD Collection on Amazon.com!

Community Anime Review of Blue Gender

(ANB note: This series was originally reviewed on 10-June-2003.)

As I write this review (2003), I initially gave it a “Buy” rating despite knowing that there are many things in this which will make people not wish to purchase or even watch this. Then I saw it a second time and discovered that I had no interest in seeing this again. The moral of the story is so EVIL that seeing it again really annoyed me. (Thus I dropped my rating to “Rent”.) But I digress…

Starship Troopers Movie Comparison

First, this is a very graphically violent and gory title, so much so that I am stunned Cartoon Network even attempted to play it. Secondly, there are several instances of strong sexual content and one episode with mild hentai levels of sexual content. If you saw the live action movie Starship Troopers, you will get some idea of the levels of violence and sexual content. I think Blue Gender is a little higher on the scale for both accounts, but if you were OK with Starship Troopers, you should be OK with this.

Comparing Blue Gender to Starship Troopers is a good one. On the surface, Blue Gender is very much like Starship Troopers with a touch of Aliens thrown in for good measure. However, Blue Gender goes well beyond that. First there are the characters. When we meet Yuji, he’s just been accidentally awakened from cryo-sleep to the nightmare that is now Earth. For several episodes, he is scared out of his mind and that’s very understandable. Watching his character develop and grow is very enjoyable and despite his hideous sideburns, I really liked him.

Then there’s the female lead, Marlene. She’s part of the team that is tasked with recovering “sleepers” like Yuji. She starts off as cold and heartless, only wanting to get the precious “sample” (Yuji) to the space station known as 2nd Earth. Like Yuji, her character grows too. Yuji is forced to fight for his life and become something more while Marlene discovers her humanity.

Supporting Cast

The supporting cast are very good and mostly memorable. There’s a large supporting cast as one might expect with all of the death and destruction that goes on. Still, all serve a useful purpose in carrying the story. And the story is very good too, though the “moral of the story” (technology is EVIL) sucked (IMO). I couldn’t wait to pop in the next DVD to find out what would happen next. While there’s TONS of action, it is the learning of how and why Earth is the way it is that puts Blue Gender over the top.

Problems I Experienced With the Series

Problems — first, I didn’t like all of the graphic sexual content. I was more tolerant of the violence and gore, but it can be bad at times. Second, the series got a tad slow for a few episodes after episode 12, but that is to be understandable. After going 100-mph through the first 11, going 55 doesn’t feel right. 😁 It is a minor complaint though.

Third, I hated the conclusion of this anime. Apparently, the author’s thesis is that technology and those who pursue it are the root of all evil and must be destroyed. Bah! I did agree with the author’s point on executives who are so blinded by their goals/ambitions that they can’t see beyond the end of their noses. I guess I’ve worked for too many big companies in my life!

FUNimation DVD Release

A word on the DVD. As usual, FUNimation does a great job with the subtitles! The characters in Blue Gender don’t use honorifics very much, but when they do, FUNimation has them in the subtitles! Plus, they are pretty spot-on with their translations and don’t just do a script re-write like “other” American anime distributors do.

Bottom line:

(This series is) riviting, exciting, gory, violent, sexual, and preachy at the end. Good, but not for everyone. Not worth a 2nd viewing though as far as I was concerned.