Blue Gender: The Warrior

casandra29 Apr 17, 2016

5.5

In order to truly review Blue Gender: The Warrior I am going to have to refer to it's predecessor multiple times throughout this review. The reason being Blue Gender is not a sequel, it condences the original Blue Gender into One Movie with a couple new idea's thrown in and a different ending. First Lets talk about the story. The story folows the same route as the original Blue Gender but it only has 2 hours to finish instead of 26 episodes, it's a given that they are not going to be able to include every awsome scene so I was curious as to how they would go about cutting and how things would progress. During the first 10 or so min. it follows the original pretty closely with the exception of Yuji not pissing himself and having long hair after coming out of those sleep capsules... during this first few min. I felt the movie was an improvement, and although the animation wasn't all that much better, (I think they may have even used some parts of the original scenes.) it still felt better condenced and changed that way. However, after that I started having major issues in how things porgressed. They left many MAJOR parts out of the movie and elected instead to start going into the sickness called Prophesy Syndrome which allowed the sleepers to see things that made people originally think they were crazy. I felt these parts were not a good enough improvement to the story to omit the other content they left out. Key characters such as Elena and the guy who took them to Vikanore space bace were ommited completely. The relationship between Yuji and Marlene was hastened in a not so great way and many of the best scenes between them were also omitted. Each secondary character on the team to rescue Yuji was not seen enough to be able to understand how humanity changed so much and Yuji's conflict with the new way humans were. If you were coming from watching the original, this could be okay with you, if you were only hoping to get out of it a different outcome in the end (no matter how lousy it is). However, as a fan, in my opinion, the movie as a whole was a dissapointment and the ending was one of the biggest disapointments out of the whole thing. I won't spoil it for you. However, should you watch this. Go into it without ANY expectations from the previous Blue Gender.  The animations was sadly not much better than the original... though to be fair it was only made in 2002 vs. 1999 so there's a difference in only 3 years. That being said, I've seen much better animation come out of the early 2000's. Also, it seemed like many of the scenes were just cut and pasted onto the new movie... especially the bacgrounds of some scenes. Overall, the animation did become slightly clearer though and some of the abnormalities had been taken care of in this version.  I rated the sound 5/10 because of a few different things. First, if they are improving things from The original they should have improved Keith's voice in his first appearance in The movie. I couldn't help but laugh at his rediculous speaking growl (english voice actor) which was the same reaction I had when I watched the original too cause it didn't change. Also, the background music especially the fighting blue music is the exact same as in the original. This should have been changed, it does sound like something that would put you on edge but at the same time, it sounds annoying and hearing it too much will give you a headache. Otherwise the rest of the voice actors did a decent job. I didn't really have an opinion of the opening or ending songs.  The Characters are another flaw here, I almost marked the character's above average because I like them in the original. However, based solely on what you get in this movie. Many of them are underdeveloped and lack justification. Also it's difficult to care about some of the characters who are very worth while in the original because they just don't spend enough time letting you get to know them. Also, as I mentioned before, there is a critical flaw in the development of the romance between Yuji and Marlene. Overall, I'd say don't bother with this one, unless Blue Gender is one of your favorite anime or, maybe it would be better if you don't see the original first, that way you don't have expectations... though you might be confused then.

SEGHE Sep 16, 2023

7

"Blue Gender: The Warrior" serves as a welcome addition to the "Blue Gender" universe, offering fans more of the thrilling sci-fi horror they love. Story (7/10): This movie provides a captivating extension of the original "Blue Gender" series. It continues to explore the struggle of humanity against the monstrous Blue creatures. The narrative remains engaging, with intense action sequences and a good balance between character development and world-building. However, it's important to note that while "The Warrior" enhances the lore, it doesn't provide a completely satisfying conclusion to the overarching story. Viewers may be left wanting more closure. Animation (7/10): The animation quality in "The Warrior" maintains the standard set by the series. The character designs are consistent, and the terrifying Blue creatures are as formidable as ever. The action scenes are a highlight, with well-choreographed battles that keep the adrenaline pumping. Sound (7/10): The sound design and soundtrack continue to complement the atmosphere of the "Blue Gender" world. The eerie and suspenseful music sets the tone perfectly for the encounters with the Blue. Voice acting remains solid, conveying the characters' emotions effectively. Characters (6/10): While "The Warrior" provides further insight into the main characters and their relationships, it doesn't introduce significant new character development. Yuji Kaido's journey and his relationships with Marlene and other survivors remain central to the plot. However, there's a missed opportunity to introduce new, compelling characters to enrich the story further. Overall (7/10): "Blue Gender: The Warrior" is a worthy addition to the "Blue Gender" saga, offering fans more of the intense sci-fi horror and action they enjoyed in the series. It successfully expands the world and lore, although it may leave some viewers craving more closure to the overall narrative. If you're a fan of the original series, this movie is a must-watch to continue the journey in this dark and thrilling post-apocalyptic world. As for comparisons with a manga counterpart, "Blue Gender" was primarily an anime series, and while there have been manga adaptations, they are typically considered secondary to the anime. Therefore, the core story and world of "Blue Gender" are best experienced through the anime.

Metalhead33 Mar 25, 2023

4

Basically a compressed mashup of the original 26-episode anime with an alternate ending, and not a good one at that.You see, the original anime series has 26 episodes, each of which are 23 minutes long, which adds up to 598 minutes. All of that got compressed down into a 90-minutes anime film. This is roughly 664% reduction, and it shows - with so much content being cut, the overall story feels incoherent, character development that was well-shown in the original suddenly feels very sudden and abrupt. Memorable characters were removed in the process too.I'm giving it a generous 4/10, because the animation, sound, voice acting, etc. are still good, and even as a standalone anime-film, it's not unwatchable per se, but it truly pales in comparison to the original anime series, to which I also meted out its fair share of criticism (I reviewed that one too).I didn't like the original anime's pacing after Episode 12, believe that it went really went downhill after Episode 20 and I believe that its ending was a real letdown... but the film basically took all of those questionable stuff that I just criticised, and replaced them with absolutely nothing, which is even worse.The first hour is of the film was made up of the first 12 episodes of the show (the parts from before our heroes visited Second Earth), albeit heavily cut, which makes it feel incoherent. The last 30 minutes - the parts after the heroes got to Second Earth - were changed, completely different from the original anime. The whole subplot about the Council Members being evil, or there being a schism against them, are gone. The whole subplot about the B-cells? Gone. Marlene and Yuji living happily ever after in a primitive village? Gone. Instead, we get the aftermath of a battle, which our heroes just barely survive, with the Blue retreating. It's literally a cliffhanger, and not a good one at that.All in all, I would NOT recommend this. Watch the series instead. If you've watched the series, I guess you can watch this if you're curious, but it's really not worth your time. None the less, I'm giving it an extremely generous 4/10, because I recognise some of its objective artistic merits, even if it's not really worth to watch.