Monday, August 15, 2011

Blue Gender

SYNOPSIS
       It is 2031, man kind has abandoned earth after being invaded by the insect like monster known as blue. But there are those still on earth fighting to keep what they call home, who are deemed unfiting by the masses in space. It is 2031, and one man will be awoken from his slumber to find the horrors of this new world, both from the blue, and man.

STORY
       If there is one novel I could take on a dessert island, It would be Fahrenhiet 451. I love totalitarianism in a sci-fi setting. Its not like I am into anarchy or anything, I just find the idea of a moralless society driven by a "perfect rule system" intriguing. Blue Gender presents its self as a Starship Troopers Esq show, big alien bugs, mecha, blood, sci-fi. But as the show progresses It shows itself as somthing more deeper than the typical big aliens bigger guns scenerio. Our Hero Yuji is a sleeper ( someone who has the B-cell disease, and is put under chryogenic stasis till a cure is found)
who is awakend by a group of soldiers, incuding the lovely Marlene.  Though it plays out as  save the world by extermination ( didn't see that coming) We also see the moral issuses that have unfolded on society in such post apocolyptic times. From simple acts of compassion to the complicated area of Love, this show goes to great depths exploring the human mind and how drastic changes can morph ones look on such basic concepts of social interaction. For instance (I will be bringing this up in content as well JSYK!) sexuality becomes a kind of past time for humanity. As Marlene puts it towards Yuji who is shocked to find Marlene not devestated by a soldiers death who only a night before was intament with, She looks a at Yuji and states that no one knows when one will die so why not give them at least a little pleasure before they meet the end (that is not a direct quote by the way).
This of couse is brought up later, but this is not the only social issue discussed in Blue Gender, to put it simply think 1984 if it had giant bugs. In every since of the word blue gender is one thing, classic.

PRODUCTION
      Brought together by the famous Production AIC (Anime International Company) legendary for the works Megazone 23, Bubblegum Crisis, Ah! My Goddess, Silent Mobius, And El Hazard. They pull off together quite an amazing peice. Though animation tends to get a bit sloppy from time to time with some choppy and some times odd movement, This ultiamtly dosn't ruin the animation in a whole. With music brillantly conducted by Kuniaki Haishima (who also composed the scores for shows such as Alien Nine, Legend of Himiko, Macross Zero, and Monster, to name a few), the score for Blue Gender really sets the mood for the action (and some time the horror) of this epic serise. All in all Production is pulled together quite nicely.

DUB
      Eric Vale and Laura Bailey shine as the lead roles of Yuji and Marlene, and Jerry Jewel proves once again he is the ultimate psycho for anime (The Dennis Hopper of anime if I may be so bold). Another glowing preformance is that of Sean Schemmel as Rick, who really shows his range proving he can be more than just DBZ's goofy Goku! A very well dubbed serise that show the dramatic talents of these wonderful voice actors!

CONTENT
       Super violent and bloody, language, sexual content, and nudity. This may say 15+ but this is somthing I would only show to a 17+ audiance, this show is an animated R movie. Now luckly the sexual content/nudity is only apparent in 4 or 5 episodes and does not go to the element of porny and in one instance is used to show the disgusting lack of morals mankind now practices. Language is pretty much everything except F, and The Violence/gore is very heavy depending on the episode and scene. Oh minor note the ending songs video has Marlene walking in a pool of water naked, which I think is about the only pointless fan-service you can find in the show, so if you want to not roll your eyes press the skip button.

EXTRAS
A commentary with Eric Vale, Laura Baliey, and Chris Sabat on episode one, Cast bios, music videos, select music tracks, Image and sketch gallerys, and Funimation trailers.

OVERALL
A epic adult sci-fi that gives a look at not only the decay of earth but the decay of ourselves as a socity, a must see for any sci-fi junky!
4 2/4 out of 5

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