Vandread

epicadventure389 May 19, 2012

9

Vandread: At first glance this seems like a classic sci-fi mecha, then it looks like a baffonish comedy, and finally like an epic romance anime. Now let me say i am no fan to any of the 3 genre's i just listed.I am also not a fan of ecchi or the classic 15 year old boy becomes all powerful scenario.What this title does perfectly is bind some of the best things of all those genre's together.It makes you feel for most of it's characters in a way that i couldn't understand. it seems like they are all shallow or repetitive at times but you can't help caring when one falls from grace or get's their heart smashed. even if you don't like comedy in your anime you will chuckle occasionally at the great male vs female jokes. the cliche let's work together and beleive in yourself stuff gets alittle old but its important to the show's message.If you are looking for deep fight scenes and intricate mecha homage, look elsewhere, because the fight scenes cool as they were, are really just a way to progress the growth of the characters and the overall story arch. Story: the overall story arch is impressive, not really deep and twisting, but what you would expect right when you should get what you need. the characters are so lovable and by the end i felt a kinship with all of them even the ones i hated to begin with.Animation: this anime wasn't really ultra new, but for when it was made it looked and still looks fantastic. This anime was made when sci fi series were still debating on hand drawn and artsy vs computer animation. this one went with computer and it was the right choice for the show.Sound: alot of care went into the quality sound production for this show, especially for the english dubs, however the voice actors were the usual crew we see everywhere.Overall:this show is like a friend that hugs you when your down, it's heart warming and interesting. You find yourself falling for it's flaws and its triumphs, and hanging on to every little interaction between it's characters. that being said if your a cynical bastard or a fan of one of the mecha genra in particular skip this show, its more for people who like to feel things, and love people shows.

Epimondas Jul 2, 2015

7.5

First and foremost this anime is a comedy.  As a comedy, it is hilarious, but if you have hang ups about stereotypes than you may want to avoid this show.  It plays on gender stereotypes and uses that as a source of humor.  It does an excellent job of twisting stereotypes into good humor.  The opening line kind of spells out the direciton of the anime in how it likes to poke fun at such silly things.  There are a few annoying drawbacks such as the uber squeaky voice of Dita or her annoying repetitive dull habit of refering to Hibiki as "Mr. Alien" even after he and others tell her different.  Or the annoying overly gung ho way Hibiki repeatedly, selfishly, and self centeredly enters combat and ofte ignores any attempts at teamwork.  His overbearing drive to appear masculine ultimately has a reverse effect and make him seem the most insecure of annoying bothersome brats ever seen in any anime.  His voice is almost as annoying and repetitive as Dita's.  Like I care if he proves his existance, given his personality I'd rather he didn't exist.  He has a few funny lines however but his terrible voice and personality almost ruin the show.  Dita's creepy squeaky bubbly aura isn't much better, but most of the other characters seem pretty solid.  This is probably one of the few animes with the top two lead characters you might want to hate wholeheartedly.   If they could recreate these two as decent characters this would easily be one of the best and funniest animes ever.  But these two only serves to hold this show back from greatness.  One other modest draw back is the totally uninspiring, unappealing, mutant teletubby excuses for enemies the show presents.  They are clearly one of the crappiest looking sets of villains I ever saw.  It makes me worry and feel sorry a bit for anime when the best enemies they can come up with look so stupid or attrocious.  If you are ok with LGBT themes then this show poses no issues, if not then you might feel a bit uncomfortable.  There is never really a strong focus on the nature of the LGBT themed elements present in this world beyond a modest back story and a few characters talking about family until near the end when a surprise might shock you.  As a show with such elements of LGBT themes, this is an excellent show well with respect to the 3 negative traits listed above.  It also creates a relatively plausible setting by which such a LGBT themed leaning world might exist.  The banter between the different cultures is constantly a source for amusement and really illustrates how far apart they grew over time.  Some of the best one liner jokes appear in this series.  Be aware however, some of the humor is quite adult oriented and may not be suitable for all ages.   The theme song is pretty good as well though the closing theme video oddly enough seems to mimic the opening video of To Love Ru season one.

jypsel Apr 23, 2012

4

Oh, Vandread, Vandread, Vandread.  What the hell did I just watch? What on Earth is the STORY in this anime?  I really missed it.  I mean, other than the whole boys and girls being separated and then reuniting after growing up with fear of each other. I think that could have been a lot of fun, and the first part of it was, but then it became boring.  How do people manage to make a 13 episode anime boring?  I mean... there's on thirteen episodes!  But I felt very bored and was web surfing from episode 9 on.  The end of the anime began to tell a story with the harvesters, but it seems like season one was just set up expllcably for season two.  Unfortunately, there is no way I will be watching the second. The ANIMATION for a 2000 anime was pretty fun!  I loved seeing the early CG with their battle ships and such.  It was sort of cute, ha.  The anime itself was very cartoony and very 90's reminiscent.  I liked this particular style because it reminds me of my favorite era of anime.   What an OP!  I swear, early anime used to have such great OP and Ending songs.  What on Earth happened?  I feel like nowadays the anime songs are either slow and tedious or high pitched and annoying.  The OP for Vandread was really fun and a song that I would probably Youtube for back ground music. The CHARACTERS... oh gosh, what can I saw about the characters?  I honestly don't remember any of their names except Hibiki (although I basically refer to him as Mr. Alien).  The characer designs were vastly different, which was fun, although they all shared ridiculously huge boobs.  There were just so many characters and it was hard to keep track.  Why introduce such an abundant amount of characters in such a short anime? My PERSONAL ENJOYMENT of this series is probably around the same as the actual score (a first!).  I didn't enjoy this anime after the first three or so episodes, and while the last two episodes might habe been interesting, I had lost all will to actually pay attention. OVERALL, this anime is a 4/10, thanks to the animation and sound.  I really wouldn't recommend this anime.  Ever.  But if you're intrigued, go and watch and let me know what you think!