Anime: Blue Gender

This anime is an Evangelion clone about a species of mostly Green and Brown bugs called "Blue" that are overruning human civilization whose remnants fight them with mechs called "Armor Shrikes".

Its main focus is a somewhat excessive use of gore and sex, however for some reason, the way they've depicted it, none of it is exciting, so don't say I haven't warned you, sex&violence haters! ...And fans!

Art & Animation: 5/10
The animation is under-budget, and it will affect your enjoyment of the series the most.

Now, the animation is often very clumsy. In fact, so clumsy that the first few episodes remind of the early few Legends of the Galactic Heroes eps made by the standards of 80ies! Like... was this really made in 2000!? I was seriously shocked when I saw the production date.
They obviously set a quite high standard for shading details however as for the rest of it, the lineart and animation frames per second - it's terrible, and the composition of the surroundings is pretty much infantile.

For example:


+ all hand-drawn
+ shading is awesome but it's a wasted effort

- horrible sense of composition
- low-budget lineart most of the times, sometimes it's really good
- sliding stills, derpfaces even at close-ups
- hand-written computer screen images and labels in hardcore Engrish (try to pause and read it all.)
- has a feel that this anime is way older than it really is (it's not meant in a good way.)
- overall quality makes the whole anime seem rather silly

Sound: 5/10

There was one simple and eerie melody which recurred often throughout the watch and was pretty memorable. Then again, there wasn't a lot other tunes asides that. Pretty low budget here as well.

+ simple bg melodies but they add a distinct eerie feel

- LQ sound effects and music
- not much variety in terms of BG music
- voice acting either just okay or pathetic

Story: 6/10
Uhh... well, as for an Evangelion clone, this definitely goes below Rahxephon whose story I'd rate around 7 or so. Even though the Blue Gender had much more differences in contrast to being a complete ripoff, and even though Blue Gender has a more understandable and explained setting than both Rahxephon and Evangelion itself, the execution is what's seriously dragging this show down.

The story itself might have been fine if it had not felt so forced and artificial at most of the times. Also, the focus on human frailty as opposed to humans always winning and surviving against all odds is fine as a concept but here, it's OVERDONE.

"...wait, how can that be?", you ask.
Well, let's take one scene from the show. Bugs emerge from the ground at a surprise attack and start killing people. When a bigger one emerges, a truck tilts slightly to the left due to the earth shifting. The driver then splats his head in a pool of blood against the windshield, and people inside fall and break their necks, ending in similar 2L puddles of blood in an instant. Like... didn't anybody invent seat belts!? Plus, from a little move slightly to the left? Imagine if Han Solo and Skywalker had DIED from moving slightly to the left when they evaded frikin' destroyers in their Millenium Falcon!? What sense would that make? That's right, it's going from one extreme to another.

The credibility, or course, is also pretty low. When we regard the technical realism in Blue Gender, along with the setting and storyline, it IS more plausible than Evangelion itself, actual technologies being not so far from current ones and the bug invasion also being somewhat credible as compared to near occult. But the way impossible was depicted in Evangelion was nearly a perfection, making it the most impressive anime of the time, while the quite possible events depicted in Blue Gender were delivered in the most subpar manner possible.

+ A plausible technological basis
+ A somewhat credible setting
+ An okay storyline
+ Show sticks to its setting until the very end

- Too much Evangelion likenesses
- Bad execution
- Bad directing
- Several odd plot turns
- Over the top and badly executed violence
- Development feels forced at times, especially the very end

Character: 4/10

What mostly offended me was the often incomprehensible actions characters were taking, notably the main character himself.

So who is the main char? Eh is a pretty sporty guy who hangs out with his pals, rides around with bike, has some muscles but then gets diagnosed for an incurable disease and goes into cryo-sleep. Okay, well, and then he wakes up, and it's all Halo 3 around him, with future spec-ops, and mechs, and... bugs to shoot.
Okay, he freaks out once, it's understandable, but then he continuously keeps on doing that and acts completely inadequately, like some kind of a man-baby that everybody has to pamper around for the first 3-5 episodes! It doesn't make any sense!

But, once you think of it as trying to force-feed an Ikari Shinji into the plot, all the misfittings suddenly start making sense. The guy suddenly gets forced into a fight against unknown enemy whether he wants it or not, mans up and decides to fight, decides to run away but can't help but to return and save friends that would otherwise all die, goes berserk and starts sitting in the corner like a misfit without answering but then goes to save the day.

Now... which of the two series was I just talking about? Blue Gender, or... Evangelion? See what I did there? -.-

In Evangelion, it MAKES SENSE that Shinji doesn't want to fight because he was completely sure he was coming there to be in a family again and visiting his dad at work, not to be sent out to die just like the people he saw dying earlier that day.
In Evangelion, it MAKES SENSE that the 01 goes berserk because of it in fact being alive while here in Blue Gender, the guy is just trying his best to compete with the best guy of his team and kills bugs just like the rest but everybody freaks out because of it for some reason, and it turns out he really IS going berserk by doing that!

Because, you know, Evangelion did that. And it's not in Japanese spirit to stray away from the original, right? It's fine that the guy you made your protagonist acts like a 12yo even tho you made he's A FREAKING ADULT because Shinji acted that way, it's fine that his main love interest looks just like Ritsuko because somebody among the devs fapped at this pairing, it's fine that when you arrive at the cosmic space station and meet the secret Evangelion council there's 3 people looking like Gendos... THREEE!!! YOOOOOOOOO!!!!! o_O

AND THEY EVEN MADE THE GENDO FINGER CROSSING POSE AT ONE POINT!!!

- devs forgot that their main hero isn't a teenager
- too much cloning
- too many Gendos

+ I like Gendo too, but that's just overdoing it.

Value: 3/10
Uhh... I would not say that the time was completely wasted by watching this. It's mediocre, and memorable mostly because of the often use of sex scenes. At the same time, the story behind it all wasn't so bad. Still... it's a tribute to another show we all know. What do you want.


Enjoyment: 5/10
The main reason to watch this is blood and sex. And there is a lot of it.

Alas, I already told you - none of it feels really exciting. Mostly because it's so badly drawn.
Like, sure, there's so much gore. Most of it is coming from bugs which we don't feel bad about squashing in the first place - no offense, religious believers, but we all really DO have an instinct to squash bugs drawling on or around us and feel good about it. So this should be pretty satisfying to watch, right?
Naw, because they all seem so artificial.

Then, the sex. Yeah, it's there, and way more than you would usually see in a non-hentai anime. But although plentiful, it's all happening somewhere in the corners, in the backgrounds, and gives you a "nothing special" feel. Yup, that's right, everybody's doing it, only in the future nobody will care about doing it in the broad daylight.
So you will have no memorable sex scenes whatsoever from this show, just the memorable fact of sex being there as such so often that it feels bland.

+ Lots of blood and gore
+ Lots of sex

- But it's bland and unexciting.

In my humble opinion Blue Gender is one of the most underrated anime, maybe because its style is a far cry from the usual anime tropes. When I bought the DVD many years ago, I knew very little about anime and chose this series on a whim. I consider myself lucky. Now that I've re-watched it, as an anime veteran, I can fully appreciate it for what it is and what it tries to do.

What is it ?

Blue Gender is a story about a young man of today waking up in a brutal futuristic world. Yugi Kaido was one of many people in the early 21st century, who were diagnosed with a strange genetic disease. With the absence of a cure, they had no other option but to enter cryogenic sleep, until one was found. Suddenly, Yugi is wakened into a future where the Earth is overrun by an insectoid species called "The Blue". Their vast numbers and ability to adapt to all situations have made them an almost unbeatable foe. The remnants of mankind have been forced to leave Earth and make a huge space station their new home. Those not smart or rich enough to be given a ticket to space, were left behind and are considered dead. Humans only come down to earth to fight the Blue and gather resources. In one of those expeditions Yugi is accidentally awakened and he is forced to face the fact that the world he knew is gone and a horrible nightmare has taken its place.

Blue Gender is a post apocalyptic / Sci-fi series that shares similarities with movies like Aliens or Starship Troopers. I'd have a hard time finding many anime counterparts. It shows us a dark future where humans live in perpetual danger and are constantly hunted down by a relentless foe. The soldiers that come to Earth to fight, have to shut down their emotions in order to cope with the atrocities they have to face. Yugi on the other hand has to face the terror of a new, haunting, reality and has to try to cooperate with people that have forgotten how to be humans. He has to deal with the fact that they don't even consider him a person but rather they think of him as a "sample". This series isn't just a dystopian action thriller though, it's also a critique on humanity and its constant urge to expand and devour. It's a study of human psyche and how it reacts in conditions of isolation and desolation.

On the other hand, we have Marlene. She experienced the infestation of the blue at a very young age and can only remember this devastating world. She was assigned a role in the combat devision and she was the one that found Yugi. In order to survive she has shielded herself from everything and can only think of her mission objectives. She considers Yugi as just another objective and a hindrance that he's awakened, since now she has to babysit a pathetic remnant of the past. In time she will change her opinion of him and she will change herself, not only because Yugi will help in the fight for survival, but also because he will break down her barriers with his hopeful demeanor. The interesting thing here is that these two characters will even exchange roles. It's one of the few cases in anime where "Character progression" isn't the usual unrealistic and forced fare, but it actually feels right. So, eventually Blue Gender is also a story about love and newfound hope.

How does it look ?

You wont find colorful scenes and shiny mecha here. The world is painted in bleak colors, with crumbled cities full of Blue nests and ugly monsters roaming the streets. The mecha actually look like human exoskeletons designed for combat and not like plastic toys. I really liked the character designs, especially the two protagonists who look completely distinguishable from other anime characters without being caricatures. The animation quality is good, not top notch, but for a 1999 anime you've got nothing to complain about. It could use a bit more fluidity in the combat scenes, but I don't recall any still frames, or any early 3D and that's a plus. In the audio department things look even better. Both the opening (a powerful hard rock song) and the ending (an atmospheric ballad) are beautiful tracks and it's one of the few times where their English versions are equally good. As for the Voice Overs, both the Japanese and English are professional, without being anything exceptional though. The actual soundtrack consists mainly of ambient tracks that never take a prominent position, but they usually add to the atmosphere. I especially remember a haunting tune that played when we were first shown the ruined cities, it was very fitting.

What it tries to do ?

Thankfully, this anime isn't based on an on-going manga, so it has a start, a real ending and a normal length.

This is an anime that tries to cater the adult crowd, or should I say the anime crowd that would like some less childish entertainment. The protagonists are adults (or almost adults) and they have to face life threatening situations in realistic --in the context-- environments. Gone are the schoolboy protagonists, gone is the teenage angst, gone are the awkward Japanese attempts at slapstick comedy. Ok, we aren't completely ridden of cliché. The main character does have a special ability, but at least he isn't the only one, it's not really a blessing and he doesn't save the world or something like that. Yes, the anime tries to be dark and gritty and it's mostly successful. There is a lot of gore but it never feels too excessive. Also, there are some showings of sexual acts, and some of them do feel a bit unnecessary, but in a world where people drool over bouncing ecchi boobs and pantie flashing, I'll take a god to honest sex scene every day, thank you very much.

Let's set aside the grittiness though, because it's just a wrapping. The anime is ultimately trying to convey a message. It's trying to criticize many aspects of human behavior. And it does this successfully, without being didactic, without being naive or forceful. It's a simple message, it's not an overly optimistic message, but it's a good one and it's refreshing to see it in such a story. Blue Gender isn't a masterpiece. It could have had a more fleshed-out story, it could have had more interesting side-characters (and one less annoying side character), it could also use a couple more episodes to make the pace better in the second season. It's not as deep as Ghost in the Shell and it's not as stylish as Cowboy Bebop, but it's a very good series, one that deserves better recognition. It's a post-apoc/sci-fi action thriller, it's a love story and it's a critique on humanity's faults all wrapped up in a neat little 26 episode package. If you like post apocalyptic, or sci-fi settings and won't shy away from a bit of gore, give it a try, you may find more than what you were expecting.

The main themes and story in Blue Gender are grim and handled with more maturity than most anime, and that alone is enough to give it praise. Unfortunately the pacing is also very slow and mostly episodic, thus it’s hard for most to go through it, especially today when most anime fans prefer shameless fantasy isekai over depressing sci-fi.

The art quality ain’t bad at all. The animators went for realism instead of flash thus the weaponry feels fairly realistic despite including bulky mecha. That tends to make most battles to feel slow or simple, although the goal was always a down to earth approach instead of spectacle. It depicts better themes of survival and existential horror when the heroes can’t solo armies using broken powers. And boy, does this anime excel at atmosphere.

The setting is post-apocalyptic, with most of mankind having been exterminated by grotesque monsters and their corpses having been turned into big green meatballs, sort of food storages for the monsters. Most cities now look like giant bee hives and the streets are filled with said meatballs, full of faces writhing in agony on them. It will give you the chills. The surviving humans are actually affected by all this. Have you noticed how in most anime the characters act happy-go-lucky no matter how grim their world looks like? Like, there is always a high school and cosplayers and beach episodes even if the whole world has gone to hell? They have no touch with reality. Blue Gender is not one of those anime because all its characters are cynical, pessimistic and do not act like typical harem leads in some school comedy. Their faces are expressionless, devoid of hope, and they even have sex in random moments with random people just to feel they are alive.

Obviously, the number one reason for that is because the demographic the show is aiming for is seinen (adult males) instead of children who still like Naruto and Spy Family. But there is more to that, since most moe anime are also seinen and they are nothing like Blue Gender. There are erotic scenes and numerous gruesome deaths of major characters, and they don’t feel like they are done just for edgy schlock entertainment in the likes of Akame Ga Kill or Mirai Nikki. They mostly respect the viewer and exist to serve the narrative instead of destroying it with crap like fan service or comic relief.

With that said, the grim atmosphere of the setting overlaps most of the appeal of the characters, since the latter are almost average people with no broken superpowers. Even the special ones with the blue cells aren’t supermen. So it can be hard to bond with the cast, especially when they seem to have stopped caring anymore and turned into cynical materialists who just eat, fuck, and die. There is character growth for the major characters, by the way. One learns to deal with reality, another finds hope by falling in love, a third one embraces who he is meant to be, and so on. It’s just that they will be mostly overshadowed by the imposing sceneries of the bug-infested world.

There is also a bit of mystery concerning the origin of the bugs and how they correlate with the once-sick main characters, although the answers will be mostly for the heck of having a twist near the end than for developing the themes any further. The pro-ecology angle of Blue Gender is one of its weakest aspects.

The biggest issue is the run-down budget on animation which makes a lot of scenes to feel stiff and dull to look at for long. It is not something you can’t excuse if you have accepted it’s mostly about the atmosphere than the action, but newer anime watchers who were spoiled by shows like Demon Slayer will have a hard time staying focused for long. That aside, Blue Gender is a good anime that was unfortunately never given much attention because it came out at a time when Cowboy Bebop and Trigun were the gold standards. The industry moving away from dark sci-fi in favor of silly school romcoms and isekai made it even harder to recommend, especially when the plot is slow and semi-fillerish, while the characters are mostly un-relatable. If, though, you are in a mood for super slow and super depressing anime, this one is one of the best B-grade series of the 90s.

Introduction:[br]Blue Gender is another endtime scenario anime . This time giant human-eating bugs dominate the face of the world. All the former human societies have virtually been stomped out and apart from an organized - but comparatively small - high tech faction on a space base there is no active resistance left.[br]The anime explains this apocalyptic world and the future for mankind from the perspective of Yuji and Marlene. Yuji is a japanese "sleeper", a person which has submitted himself to some cryogenic slumber due to a new and incurable disease caused by a genetic alteration (before the bugs appeared of course). In the first episode he is woken up only to find himself in this rather hostile environment. It's in the same episode that Marlene (the female main character counterpart) is introduced. She is a skillful soldier type character, who, in the beginning at least, prioritizes survival above anything else. Marlene's objective is to bring Yuji safely to second earth (the space station) and Yuji actually has little choice but to follow her. From there on starts a very intruiging story about survival and compassion which ends midway through the series and is replaced by a number of smaller plots which are all connected with each other and ultimately lead to the last few episodes which are meant to clarify the future of mankind. To my surprise a lot of things were already explained before the last episode which I thought to be rather refreshing and therefore a good thing (I just hate waiting till the last episode just to get some poorly done explanations on questions that have been on my mind from the first episode onward - quite common nowadays...). However, that doesn't mean everything was explained or that all questions were answered in a coherent way. Additionally the last episode was a rather disappointing experience (a mere timekiller really). But they probably just didn't have much to say because most things were already brought into some order...[br]In general I'd say Blue gender had a good feeling to it. If you like endtime scenarios you should not miss out on this one. I should probably also mention that this anime displays a lot of gore (which is why some people compare it to berserk) and some disgusting horror scenes / shock effects in the beginning (part of its charm / atmosphere - a shame that this really just goes for the first few episodes).[br][br]Animation:[br]Oh well... To be honest I never really know what to say about the animation part and it's not too important for myself. I guess when compared it to other series of that time the animation was probably average, although the way characters and backgrounds are drawn seem to be somewhat old fashioned. It's probably also worth mentioning that there are a lot of static events taking place (just a picture, nothing happens for quite a while). And fighting scenes didn't appeal to me in particular because they were not very fluent (example: monster appears, short break, everyone looks around stupidly, short break, someone shoots, monster is hit but still looks around stupidly instead of attacking, monster suddenly kills an unimportant side character) and because they were so horribly unrealistic for the most part (see afore mentioned example...).[br][br]Therefore, I hereby grant this series a 6 in animation, which I deem "slightly below average". Actually I'd go for a 4 or 5 if 5 were the middle but since most people tend to rate everything a lot higher, a 6 seems a fair compromise to me (4 and below are reserved for abysmal performance).[br][br]Sound:[br]Not much to say here either. The sound worked for me, the character voices seemed fitting and the intro theme was somewhat catchy (jap. version).[br][br]I hand out a very average 7 for this one.[br][br]Story:[br]Hm... Actually I liked the first twelve episodes the most and those were more about giving an impression of this apocalyptic world and character introduction & development rather than about an actual story line. The whole "what will happen to mankind" thing afterwards could have been a lot more interesting. As usual they throw in some philosophical questions, mix it up with weird arguments (some of which of course seem completely wrong but are handled like some undeniable truth) and in the last episode(s) they come up with a cheap solution. Basically they just add some super-natural stuff to make up for logical flaws.[br]Here comes another issue: as I said under "animation" already the fights were pretty boring from my perspective. Unfortunately fights and weird emotional scenes (you know, the type where for example characters just repeatedly say the name of another character while behaving completely irrational...) are somewhat abundant in this anime.[br]Still, there are some good points about the story as well:[br]- some questions are already answered on the way to the ending[br]- the whole setting is very interesting[br] - although unsatisfactory the answers given are not as bad as in some other animes (Trigun, Last Exile, ...)[br]- the short sub plots connect quite neatly and somewhat keep the story refreshing (contrary to clinging to one main story and artificially stretching it out to no end)[br]- due to the sub plots a lot of changes take place and leave a (good) feeling of story development[br][br]All in all I will reward the story with an 8. I would prefer a more sound story for once but comparing it to the general impression I have from other similar (in the story department) animes I'd say it is still above average.[br][br]Characters:[br]This series is plagued by sudden character deaths, so the only characters that are given serious consideration remain Yuji and Marlene. It's not necessarily a bad thing because you never know whether a side-character you like will die (makes you hope for them to survive). The totally unspectacular deaths are somewhat appealing as well. Usually characters die in a heroic way, like fighting till the end and taking some enemies into the grave even in the moment of their downfall. Here they just die, no heroic deeds, no last words! A claw might suddenly come out of the dark and cut someone into half for example. For some reason I just loved that.[br]A lot of deaths, disappearances and farewells also means that a vast amount of side-characters are introduced. On the one hand this variety is obviously good to add some different colours (some of which should better have been left out...) and make the world more lively, on the other hand of course this means that there is not much character depth. Like I said, Marlene and Yuji are the only ones whom you will follow from the beginning to the end and, unfortunately, often enough they just act odd (really odd sometimes...). They also develop throughout the story but it somehow didn't have much impact on me. I'd actually love to go on about a few things I didn't like about their development at this point as well but saying more would probably just result in spoilers. [br][br]Considering the good and bad points I'd say the whole character thing deserves an average 7.[br]I like the concept of disposable side-characters a lot but they should have given them more depth at times, so the loss of a character would have a stronger emotion to it. And maybe they should have spared a lot more characters, so a death would be less predictable (you could feel for them more often instead of expecting them to be gone sooner or later anyway).[br][br]Value & Enjoyment:[br]I will probably never understand what the difference between value and enjoyment is (too lazy to ever look it up)... therefore I simply rate them as one. As I said in the beginning I had a good time watching this anime. It's not a masterpiece but certainly very unique in many respects. The first episode is quite well done (the shock effects and overall atmosphere) that it will probably win over the heart of most endtime lovers. If you are one, do not hesitate to check it out![br][br]Well, well... I think it deserves an 8. Above average entertainment, but many things could have been so much better.[br][br]By the way, the rewatch value is quite low I guess. I can't imagine that I will experience the atmosphere of this anime as intense as I did when I first watched it. Same goes for the story of course - as always. Once you know it, it won't be a reason to watch it again. But this is probably not very important for most people. At least I am a person who rarely watches an anime again (only Banner of the Stars could win me over several times so far).[br]

This is the show that got me addicted to anime.
I have seen few other animes before this but I wasn't impressed, but after watching this I began to look for more animes like this.

I wasn't impressed with the animation. It made the show look dated. Many scenes were reused repeatedly as well.

Sound was great. I watched this show with English Dub which now days I would never do. I was impressed with the voice actors. They did a superb job. The main female character's actress (Laura Bailey I believe) also sings the ending theme, and it is my favorite anime theme.

Story was the big reason why I love this show. It got me hooked from the beginning and it got me glued to my computer until the end. Only complaint is that ending could have been better.

Characters were great. I cared for the two main characters. The character development was great. I disliked both of main characters in the beginning but as they both evolved through each experience I cared about the fate of both characters.

I would recommend this to everyone who enjoy sci-fi, action, and romance.

This anime had the potential to be an amazing anime, but unfortunatly falls short.

The animation wasn't terribly good, especially for an anime made this recently. Re-used fight scenes and awkard looking creatures combine to make the animation sub-par. However, the character models are decent enough, and the animation does seem more fluid in the later episodes.

The sound is nothing special, seemed very generic and un-inspiring for the most part.

The story was very intriguing for the first 10 or so episodes, but then disintegrates into a mesh of political controversy and psychological and scientific conflicts. While it was by no means boring, it also seemed sort of rushed and the ending will have you scratching your head. However, I found the plot satisfactory and it didn't do much to detract from my enjoyment of the series itself.

The characters were all very interesting, though most side characters appear on the show only briefly, they all fulfill their purposes and are each unique and individualistic in their actions. The two main characters, Marlene and Yugi, experience the growth and development to create two very special characters you can really get attached to. It is especially interesting to see the growth in each character occur as their relationship with each other grows simultaneously.

Overall, I enjoyed this anime, and would reccomend it to anyone who likes sci-fi dramas with good small-unit military action scenes and an enjoyable plot with intriguing characters.