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Blue Gender:
The Complete Collection
Anime DVD Review
Blue Gender is a hard-core science fiction plot with surprisingly realistic characters. This anime series delves into not only the face value of each character but also into the psyche of the person on a level most anime won't touch. The tone is dark and serious, with life and death hanging on the balance of each character, his actions, his fears, his ambitions, and his responsibilities. Not for the faint of heart, Blue Gender contains scenes of intense blood and guts action down to the last gruesome detail, which means it's worth an "MA" rating.
 It is a science fiction military anime series that revolves around Yuji Kaido, a recently awakened "sleeper", and Marlene Angel, a sniper pilot detached to the Second Earth Tokyo Recovery Squad. Yuji was placed in suspended animation in the hopes of finding a cure for his disease, expecting to be awakened one or two years later when a treatment program would be found. Instead, he finds himself revived twenty-two years later to discover that the world he knew is completely gone. Everyone he once knew and cared about is dead, and the world he knew has been transformed into a nightmare. The world has been overrun by giant insect-like creatures (called the "Blue"), and, for the most part, Earth has been abandoned, while the remainder of Earth's population lives in orbit.
Aside from the obvious changes this disaster has caused, Blue Gender explores mature themes and content that is extrapolated from such changes. Attitudes about sex, life, lifestyle and the nature of what it means to be a person in this time are presented through the view of the recently awakened sleeper (Yuji), who essentially acts as a viewer-pro-temp allowing things that are obvious to the other characters to be explained to the audience.
Watching Yuji's transformation over the course of the series from terrified newcomer to battle-hardened super-soldier is one of the highlights of Blue Gender and a tribute to the depth of the storytelling ability of the series. And of course, there's plenty of action, with plot twists that may surprise most viewers as well as leaving you hanging on the edge of your seat wondering who'll die next.
Blue Gender is refreshingly different. There are no cute kids, no big-eyed fan-service babes, no cuddly critters, and no magic technology. Give it a try and prepare to be impressed.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, May 2007
Below: Blue Gender promotional artwork.
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