Vandread

Genre: Drama/Action
Format: 13 Episodes
Allegiance: Gonzo/Media Factory
Director: El Capitan
Vintage: 2000
Intelligence Agency Report by: Drake
For many years the men of Tarak and the women of Meger have been enemies due to a conflict involving their ‘Grandparents’. All these years, man and woman have found ways to survive on their own without help from the other gender. One day when the men of Tarak reveal their latest weapon, the Vanguard, to defeat the women in war, the lone 3rd class outcast, Tokai Hibiki, is given a dare by his comrades to steal a Vanguard While attempting to steal the weapon, a pirate ship of women approach and a battle breaks out which leads Hibiki on an odyssey and a discovery of an unlikely alliance to survive a new threat…

Field Agent Report by: Drake
Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio
8.75
7.75
9.50
9.25
8.50
Overall 8.50

Man and Woman locked in war for three generations, a deadly threat to mankind, an unlikely alliance between man and woman to survive an unknown threat to humanity. In a nutshell that is Vandread Stage 1. Though as diverse as it may seem it still holds much in similarity with many other anime.

Perhaps the greatest quality of Vandread is its unique ideas of a war between man and woman and how both survived, continued living in isolation from each other, and carried out their daily lives. Not only didStage 1 have good concepts of man versus woman it also has the standard feel of a typical shounen anime that will remind numerous fans of the popular Love Hina and Tenchi Muyo. However, the plot was decent enough, though the characters fall behind on development. The director made good use of the episodes to give a little insight on some major characters’ pasts and inner feelings, but still falls short on fleshing them out. Not only was the development below my expectations, the show stops at one of the most critical points of the anime, but hopefully this problem is fixed with Vandread Stage 2.

The plot was not the only major element that pulled viewers to this anime, but also its beautifully drawn CG in the numerous battle scenes in outer space and the beautifully designed characters. However, no anime is complete without a good OST. The Vandread OST really pulls viewers into an adrenaline rush in the fight scenes.

Given that the only major flaw was sub-par character development the animes comes back with unique storyline, and the right mix of CG and digital animation, with a sprinkle of good adrenaline pounding music gives off the aura of a great anime in the works. No anime is perfect, but given what was in the series, I feel Vandread met most of my expectations. I pray this carries over to Stage 2 and gives the answers to the many questions left unanswered.