Vandread is an Ecchi. Which if you don't know is a Japanese slang term for Erotic Fantasy, which by some could be called the Softcore Porn of Anime. This is additionally Borderline-Harem Anime. Which if you don't know what that is; a Harem Anime is one where there is a guy who is sought after by 3 or more females. I call this a borderline-harem because there is more than 3 but it depends on the time of the show, and everyone kinda likes him eventually and everyone kinda wants in his pants but because one of the girls has kinda already claimed him from the beginning none of them go for it. So those are the main reasons I was haunted. The Ecchi part had them animate boobs in a rather pleasant way, as well as asses. And the fantasy of being on a ship with hundreds of women who all want me. Now to put my own stuff aside and go into an actual review of the show.
Vandread is, as I previously stated, an Ecchi, Borderline-Harem, Mech Anime. Oh wait did I not mention it was also a Mech show. Well it is. The show starts out with our hero Hibiki. He is a downtrodden menial worker on Tarak(wikipedia says Taraak, but if you watch the show with subtitles it always says Tarak). He apparently made some sort of bet that said he would steal the Vanguard Mech unit that he accidentally damaged during the building process. He sneaks onto the ship its on when it takes off into space. Stuff ensues when suddenly the fire nation attacked. Okay so not really the fire nation, but pirates. Which I now realize I am missing some back story that I should tell you about. So Men and Women are completely separate. In fact Men hate Women and Women hate Men. Apparently Men mix their genes or something and get a test tube baby which is then bred in a factory or something like that. With this both genders are so segregated that they are on 2 completely different planets. They are constantly at war and trying to kill each other. Mad rumors fill Tarak about these Women being vicious monsters who love to eat the Man intestines. So back to the pirate thing. So pirates attack, except their female pirates. Short scene made even shorter, the women win and take over the ship and kick all the men off except for 3. Duelo because he is a doctor and he offered to help their wounded, Bart because he hid in a place that they didn't discover, and Hibiki because well...he is the protagonist. The pirate ship and the mans ship end up fusing together and all kinds of crazy shit happens. Lies are told, lies are discovered, etc. But in the end the pirate women figure out that they need these men if they are going to succeed. Bart is the only person able to fully pilot the ship that will eventually be named the Nirvana. Another big thing is that Hibiki piloting his Vanguard and any one of the 3 main female pilots (Dita, Meia, and Jura) fuse their dreads with his Vanguard to create a Vandread. Each one is different in ability and strength.
Like many Animes, this show consists of 26 episodes. Luckily though there is no recap episode in the middle. Each episode is about 24 minutes.
So some interesting things. First is the animation style. When animating characters and normal show stuff it is your basic 2D Anime. But when they animate space and the fighting and what not they did it is a 3D format. This can be a bit jarring at first, but eventually you get used to the shifts. I must say it gives an interesting feel to the battle scenes and I truly cant say one way or the other if it worked for me. Next is some of the ideals within the show. The whole premise of the genders being separate is fascinating. And seeing the interpretation they have in response to that is interesting to see unfold. They meet many cultures and groups of humans on various planets along their travels and all of them have men and women together. So this group evolves with each step. The show also deals with death of loved ones. As well as one of the women turns out to be a man in disguise who has been spying for Tarak for years. I wont say who, and I wont say when he reveals himself. But let me just tell you hearing the mans voice come out of the attractive womans body was slightly disturbing.
So I really liked this show. But it was rather redundant at times. They did the same gag repeatedly. The same innuendo joke, the same annoying character doing the same annoying thing. And the battles were rather predictable. Plus these people were overly good at piloting their ships. Especially Hibiki, he somehow knows exactly what each Vandread is capable of. Even when it is the first time he has ever turned into that specific one. So it all comes down to my score of 9 out of 11. A good show.
