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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:582#1552] |
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Blue Gender is a series with plenty of cheese. What I mean by cheese is that I get visions of sci-fi horror movies dancing through my head like "Aliens" when I see this series. Graphic violence and sexual content is all over the place. Yet, this has some relevance through the bond between Marlene and Yuji as the two survive hell in this future of a series. Yuji and Marlene's bond was the major icing on the cake for me with Blue Gender. If it weren't for that, then I would have given the series a Watch at most. Both are characters who develop for the better as they connect with each other in the dire future they face. In Yuji's case, he is scared witless of the future he is living in and has to learn to adjust in order to survive. Marlene is a battle-hardened soldier devoted to fighting the Blue, yet this comes at the cost of her humanity. Civilian casualties mean nothing for her and she regards Yuji as nothing more but cargo. But as Yuji develops a backbone to want to fight the Blue, Marlene finds herself wondering of her own demeanor with Yuji's presence. As her comrades are killed by the Blue, Marlene finds Yuji as her only companion and the humanity she lost as a child reemereges. She comes to see Yuji as a person and the two slowly develop a relationship despite the battle hardened environment they find themselves in. The scenes of sex also add to the relevance of Yuji and Marlene's bond. In this future, Marlene and other soldiers are under the mindset that they never know when they're gonna die. So rather than seeing sex as something intimate between lovers, they think of it as something to casually do in order to kill time. If they're gonna die, they might as well do 'it' while still living. But as Marlene bonds with Yuji, later episodes show her wanting to live and save as many as possible. Being wiped of her old mindset, Marlene's thoughts on sex change as well. I won't go into further detail without spoiling things for later in the series. But beyond Marlene and Yuji's bond, everything else about Blue Gender is generic and dull. Other characters lack the depth that Yuji and Marlene have. Gratuitous violence is nothing but shock value in this series and that was a big turn-off for me. The storyline concerning the Blue was rather dry as I never felt hooked to that aspect of the series. And for an action series, Blue Gender's animation felt stiff compared to most action titles I've seen for late-1990s animation. Blue Gender is decent thanks to Yuji and Marlene's developing bond in a hellish future. Beyond that, everything else in the series is average at most. Last updated Wednesday, December 03 2008. Created Wednesday, December 03 2008. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
 Anonymous #2574
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[series:582#2574] |
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I remember watching this on AdultSwim and realized it wasn't an average anime that they would show on TV. It was pretty graphical and violent with the guns and minor nudity. I enjoyed the storyline and also the characters. I got attached to Marlene and Yuji within the first episode and the ending is quite sad compared to your average anime. One thing I liked about this anime is the fact that once someone is dead they are dead, there is no resurrection or miracle or reappearance in later episodes. This anime isn't a happy ending but that's what made it so memorable to me. Alot of guts, alot of drama, and I love the music they used for this anime. 10 thumbs up if I had 10 thumbs!
Last updated Friday, April 27 2007. Created Friday, April 27 2007. | ||||||||
| Avoid | 8 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
 adiree
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[series:582#1804] |
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i hold no love whatsoever for this series... these are the same characters you've seen in sixteen dozen other anime and movies, only not so nearly well done; the plot is trite and leaves nothing left for wonderment or suprise, and well, i was terribly unimpressed with the aliens... the battle scenes were okay, but that was the only thing even remotely watchable about the series... i've seen it three times - once on cartoon network, once in english dub, and once in subtitles, and it really didn't make any difference... the characters are flat, terribly stereotypical, and the plot, again, is so unsurprising that you can blink through four or five episodes and know exactly what happened when you left... marlene does have great hair, though, if that counts for anything :) but, seriously, you've seen this anime, you just haven't watched it yet Last updated Wednesday, January 19 2005. Created Wednesday, January 19 2005. | ||||||||
| Watch |
 Stretch
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[series:582#628] | ||||||
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There used to be some series, like Cowboy Bebop or Trigun, which were so good that I tended to rewatch whenever they were repeated on TV even though I knew I had them on tape somewhere. Then there was Blue Gender which when it began it's second run on Cartoon Network, I already felt I'd had enough. Judging from AstroNerdBoy's review, the version I saw must have been heavily censored, but I still feel no desire to rent the original edition. My overall impression is that this was one absolutely average series--nothing, not animation, charachters, plot, or music, left me particularly impressed. There were a couple of episodes which were better than usual, and left me hoping that the series was about to take off in a new, original direction, but these hopes never really panned out. The battles with the "Blue" seemed repetitive and confused--why is it that sometimes the shells from a mobile suit bounce harmlessly off them, but at other times a mere pistol will bring them down? I thought Marlene was an interesting charachter as she developed from a contemptible drill-sergeant bitch to a sensitive, likeable person. Yuji's charachter development was like Marlene's played backwards as he spirals downward to B-cell possesed maniac (though he does make a comeback at the end). The whole explanation of the B-cells (some sort of self-destruct mechanism contained within the genes of human beings?) seemed like nonsense to me. By now I have watched enough anime to know that the viewer is frequently expected to draw his or her own conclusions from the story, rather than having them spelled out, but I just didn't see much meaning at all to the way the series ended, unless we are to say "after all the horrible s--- which happened to Yuji and Marlene, they lived happily ever after". To be honest, I've already forgotten a lot of the details of how the story ended. No doubt I'll re-edit this review soon--no, on second thought, I'd probably have to rewatch at least part of the series in order to do that. Forget it. 9/03 #73 Last updated Wednesday, February 06 2008. Created Monday, September 29 2003. | ||||||||
| Avoid |
 dhrachth
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[series:582#962] | ||||||
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I'd like to nominate this anime for most irritating characters on the face of the planet. Yuji--Whine, whine, whine, then he's overly spunky. He's like a romance novel heroine. Marlene--Cold, very very cold. I hear she improves in later chapters, but I couldn't watch that long. And, by the by, aliens taking over earth <yawn>. Last updated Wednesday, September 10 2003. Created Wednesday, September 10 2003. | ||||||||
| Rent | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
 AstroNerdBoy
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[series:582#436] |
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As I write this review, I initially gave it a "Buy" rating 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. But I digress... 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 accidently 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 develope 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. 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 -- 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. :-D 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! A word on the DVD. As ususal, 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: Riviting, exciting, gory, violent, sexual, and preachy at the end. Good, but not for everyone. Not worth a 2nd viewing though.Last updated Sunday, September 24 2006. Created Tuesday, June 10 2003. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Blue Gender | http://www.bluegender.com/ |
| This is FUNimation's official Blue Gender site. | |
| Japanese - Blue Gender Site | http://www.anime-int.com/works/bluegender/tv/ |
