Blue Gender - Complete Series and Movie

Let me begin by saying that Blue Gender is a creative, well-done, edge-of-your-seat anime series geared towards a mature audience; Blue Gender is certainly one of the more unique apocalyptic, military sci-fi animes in my opinion. That said, if you want a synopsis of the show, you can easily find those elsewhere. Here is the breakdown of the actual DVD set:Overall Breakdown:-Total Running Time: 750 minutes-Languages: English & Japanese-Subtitles: English-Region: 1, 2, & 4 NTSC-Format Ratio: 4:3-Sound: English 5.1 Surround, Japanese 5.1 Surround, Dolby DigitalDisc 1:-Episodes 1 through 7-Episode 1 Commentary with commentary from Laura Bailey, Eric Vale (Eric Johnson), and Christopher Sabat (voice director and voice of Keith)Disc 2:-Episodes 8 through 14Disc 3:-Episodes 15 through 20Disc 4:-Episodes 21 through 26Disc 5:-"Blue Gender: The Warrior" movie-Original Trailer (US trailer)-Rough Sketch Collection: collection of pre-production sketches-Blue File 1: profiles of the various types of blue-Blue File 2: more profiles of the various types of blue-"Break Free" Extended Version music video (the English opening theme song)-"Love Taught Me" Extended Version music video (the English closing theme song)-"Tokihanate" Remix music video (the Japanese opening theme song)-Armor Shrike File: profile of the various types of armored shrikes-Original Japanese Media Commercials-Textless Songs-Trailers (basically just previews for other Funimation shows).Note that almost all of the special features with the exception of the commentary are on Disc 5.One of the nice things about this set is that not only has Funimation condensed the entire series into a sleek, 5-disc set, but Funimation has avoided using the much dreaded double sided DVD's (thankfully all of the DVD's are single-sided, in case you were wondering). The special features are an added bonus for any true fan of Blue Gender. Another positive for this boxed set is the big improvement over both the Complete Collection and the Viridian versions. The sound is smooth, and in 5.1 the sound comes across clear, loud, and concise. The original Japanese dialogue is maintained, but it should be noted that the subtitles are off from the English dialogue, meaning that the English subtitles are direct translations from the Japanese. Perhaps the only thing I dislike is the fact that discs 2 through 4 automatically begin playing previews when loading the discs. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this box set for any true fans looking to own the complete Blue Gender series. Lastly, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them and I will try my best to address them.

I came into this anime with a background of Gundam and Eva. Which means I love mecha and generally shows that are trying to say something greater than just robot fights (which is also perfectly fine). Blue Gender is an incredibly bleak show. It reminds me of Bokurano, tonally. There are very rarely moments of levity or lightheartedness. The action in this show is so good and chunky. Back in the days of no cgi, the mecha and violence are rendered beautifully. It's very satisfying watching the creatures be blown apart. The first half of the show is its strongest point. You are genuinely wondering how things are going to be able to turn around. It really convinces you that humanity is hanging on by a thread, and I loved that. The second half of the show is good too, but I didn't like it as much. The ending was unintentionally hilarious at a first watch. If you're on the fence about sub or dub, this is one of the rare occurrences where both are great. I would definitely recommend this show. I enjoyed it, even if it made me feel uneasy after finishing a session of watching it. It hits that sweet spot of great action and classic anime animation that oozes nostalgia of when days were much better than they are now.

'Blue Gender' is a nice little series I first discovered some years ago on Toonami late one night. The story is pretty simple, mankind fighting giant bug-like creatures. Think 'Starship Troopers' and you are on the right track. The animation quality varies from decent to great. The episode length is apx 20 minutes per episode.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------***Specs***26 episodes and one movie on 5 Discs (apx 700 total minutes runtime)Special Features: Original Trailer Rough Sketch Collection (Images) Blue File 1 Blue File 2 "Break Free" Extended Version (Song) "Love Taught Me" Extended Version (Song) "Tokihanate" Remix Armor Shrike File (Info on the Mechs you see in the series) Original Japanese Media Commercials Textless Songs (Openings for episodes) Trailers (For other anime series)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------***Pros***Entire series and movie come in a space saving release hardly bigger than a standard DVD case. Great for those of us running low on real estate for movies.Good transfer of media to DVD.No dreaded double-sided DVD's. All disc's are singled side media with silk screened tops.Episode/Disc guide printed right inside the case for easy reference.Great selling price---------------------------------------------------------------------------------***Cons***Movie the "Warrior" is nothing more than the series re-cut into a film with a different ending.Case is cheap. The O-Sleeve rips easily and is nothing special. You like me will probably discard it. Be careful with the spindles the discs sit in, they can snap if too much pressure is applied to them. The "pages" the inner discs sit in can come loose if your not careful. Mine is in tack, but this design can break easily.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------***Final Thoughts***Overall a great release of this series. The case may be cheap, but don't let this deter you from buying. Handle it with care and you should be okay. Series is quite enjoyable to watch and you can knock it out pretty quickly. I have just about finished it myself and definitely will be done before I go back to work.Well that's my thoughts on this product. It's great to see good Anime series getting affordable releases. Here's hoping the 'Bleach: Hell...' movie is good. I am looking forward to that one.

MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW : This version is uncensored and perfect as it is! Its violence is graphic, but not gratuitous and never to the detriment of the storytelling.I have no idea how this escaped my radar for so long... We bought this rather randomly after falling on some pictures during a google image search for entirely something else. The design seemed cool enough, the trailer was intriguing.We figured... at least it looks like an anime from the golden era; a production really deserving the name of "anime".Plus... it wasn't too costly to buy on an impulse.Oh... we didn't knew what we had found until we started to watch it. It is a rare pearl indeed. Not often did I have seen an anime with so many layers of matte painting used to create the illusion of depth. One scene even used matte painting *cells* in order to preserve the suspension of disbelief and the surprise effect while a wall was getting thorn down!And while the character design itself might seems weird on still images, while animated, it is a sight to behold. The emotions are conveyed like I've rarely seen in animation, Japanese or otherwise.But mainly, the OST is perfectly matching the action and animation, from start to finish. Something that is often advertised with anime, but not as felt as here.A lot of other comments here speaks of a depressing ending... I do not agree. While the scenario itself is really gritty and uses rather erotic themes to depict the "humanity loss" resulting from the military confinement of society, and while there certainly seems to be one or two references to "A Brave New World" thrown in, Blue Gender does a fine job to balance hopes and despairs in its vision of a future where mankind has gone the way of the panda...Meaning, evolving past the point where it is relevant to its environment. As all things will eventually do according to the laws of entropy...The science of its science-fiction is solid, though sometime used more philosophically than realistically.And as far as the Mecha part of it goes, the fighting style of the Blues does manage to make the armoured suits believable solutions more than eye candy. (Though I'm still unsure with the placement of the wheels under the feet and the way they all glide so gloriously, even on irregular terrains...)I said "we" before, and we did watch it entirely as a group. We where, the three of us, in agreement that Blue Gender can and must be praised on the same pedestal as "Cowboy Bebop", "Trigun", and "Code Geass". Though it might not have the complexity of a "Ghost in the Shell : S.A.C.", or the sheer madness of a "Tegen Toppa Gurren Lagan".It is also not as obscure as the original "Evangelion"... which is way more depressing.But it is a masterpiece... And as far as this "Anime Classics" collection goes; this is one gem you don't want to miss.(We did however watch it in subtitled Japanese... English Voice Over is of a definitely inferior quality despite the main duo being done remarkably. Especially Marlene. All the supporting cast of secondary characters is just not up to it.)The box-set is rather standard. We were pleasantly surprised with the bonus content. (A rather rare breed for anime.)However... all that was said previously can only apply to the series itself.The movie is another beast entirely."Blue Gender : The Warrior", is entirely superfluous. Though it is good to have it here in order to avoid the trouble to search for it in order to finally learn how terrible it is. Mostly a butchered re-cap OVA with very little new animation, the movie takes out almost everything that made the series good... (And I'm saying this even while having liked some other attempts at reducing anime series to the movie format.)From the psychological disaster that are most of the characters, to the mundane attitude toward sexual intercourse as a mean to suppress human instinct and put them in a box; saying that only a shell is left would still be kind... "The Warrior" is more like a crushed bug, really. The explanation for the Blue is done differently, more religious-like, and while it might help some to better understand the meaning of the show itself... it doesn't really give the movie a great sense of accomplishment, nor of poetry.But the most terrible part is... it doesn't make any sense.Trifled with continuity errors, the warrior attempt to justify an entire relationship on a red earbud. (There might have been a pun to be made here?) It also manages to make the main character the single sleeper warrior, which becomes utterly incomprehensible when he is given a mecha which should only function using a sleeper pilot... and that the entire cast receives the same model for no given reason.While the alternate "ending" can be described as having the exact same meaning... or even a be a darker take fusing the main character and another sleeper from the series, it doesn't feel as complete as it should. Probably not helped in this by the fact that they took the exact same OST as for the series while not cutting it anew to fit the re-arranged animation.And while the new animation is fun to watch, especially since it better showcase the mecha from the series... I'm still unsure it's worth the deception of this poorly written re-cap.

Just finished watching starship troopers and wanted to watch more movies with giant bugs vs space marines, but alas there's not a hell of a lot of decent films out there in that genre, so a quick look online and I was directed to blue gender, I was surprised how good this show was! it has great character development, great single plots and overall the story is great, full of serious plot twists that leave you wanting more and the ending will have you wishing your friends saw this show as it needs to be talked about with someone, the reason I gave the show 4 stars is only because it's a bit slow in the first couple episodes but it really picks up so stick with it and watch to the end and you won't be disappointed............... also this dvd is region 1 but it worked on my dvd player, ps3 and xbox so no need for a region free dvd player :)

Schneller Versand aus den USA. Funktioniert einwandfrei auf meinem Blu-ray-Player (LG BP250), da die DVDs als NTSC Region 1, 2 und 3 ausgeliefert werden.

What can I say? This is just awesome. Grim at many points but has a nice ending (if a bit inexplicable). Must buy at this price if you're into action, adventure, sci-fi, monsters, mecha or even romance (in the 2nd half anyway).

ディスク5枚にTV版全話＋劇場版（総集編＋α）。リージョンに関しては、ケース&ディスクに北米リージョンの《NTSC1,2,4》と有るので、問題無く国内版プレイヤーで再生出来きました（日本のリージョンは2）。私の再生環境は日本国内版SONYの2015年以降製造最廉価プレイヤー『BDP-S1500』）です。音声に関しては、英語/日本語共に、5.1SURROUND。普通は日本語のみステレオで英語版だけ5.1なので、嬉しい仕様です。映像特典は5枚目の劇場版にてんこ盛り入ってます（OP＆EDノンテロップVer、エクステンデッドVer・日本版トレイラー・各設定資料等）。格好良いシルエットの人型兵器に、大型（中途半端?）クリーチャーと人類存亡をかけて戦うサバイバルＳＦアクション…とこれだけ聞いていると、そこそこ万人受けしそうな感じなんですが、はっきり言って人を選ぶ奇作です。第1話目で登場する主人公とヒロインが、「なんじゃその髪型は!!」って感じなんですが、その点に突っ込む間もなく、主人公の失禁＆ゲロ＆延々絶叫。そして、虫達による人類皆肉団子化計画という一般人ドン引き展開です。加えて、1話目に登場するいかにもな軍人や、ヒャッハーなイカレ軍人、なんか良い感じの軍人等々、無茶苦茶キャラが立っているのに、男女分け隔てなく切り身かミンチに…。基本、このアニメはシートベルトをしないだけで死亡し、機体のカラーリングや新型・旧型に関わらず人型兵器はスクラップになるので、最初っから最後まで諸行無常です。加えて、敵も味方も無双する奴はいませんし、少々無双した奴は、その後敵味方関係無く大体ミンチになりますので、ある意味で厨2キラー的作品とも言えます。ちなみに、主人公とヒロインを除く登場人物は、最後までボロ雑巾を使い捨てるぐらいの感覚で消えて行くので、後半主人公が心身共に歴戦の兵士みたいになりますが、全く違和感を感じなかったのは良かったです。オチが少々「？」って感じですが、TV版と劇場版で違ったオチを用意してくれていたので、まぁ有り…かな？…いや、やはり微妙…。近い作品だと『スターシップトルーパーズ』や『進撃の巨人』でしょうか。まぁ、そっち系の人類が蹂躙されるのがオッケーの方ならば、最後まで鑑賞出来る作品です。兎にも角にも、この奇作が全話＋劇場版でお安く手に入るのは有りがたいです。正直、国内版は洒落で買うには厳しいお値段なので、北米版とは言えマイコレクションに本作が入るのは嬉しいです♪