Welcome to Astral Animations, where we'll examine the imports of Japanese animation currently available in the United States.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the movie.

That said, on to the review!

After being diagnosed with an incurable disease, post-teen gas station attendant Yuji Kaido made the decision to "go to sleep" to await a time when a cure would be available. Finally, after making a promise to his best friend that, no matter how long he slept, they would find one another when he awoke and would go out to see the new (to Yuji) world together, Yuji reports to the installation where he'll be sleeping, enters his capsule, and sleeps, thinking about the day when he would awaken to a cure for his illness and see his friend again. Unfortunately, what he prematurely awakens to is a nightmare.

While he slept, the mysterious life form known as the "Blue" have overrun the planet. North America, Europe, Africa, Asia...civilization has crumbled before the continually evolving menace of these huge monsters. Humanity survives, but only just. A small population has escaped into outer space, and now lives on Second Earth, a collection of space stations. Their goal is nothing less than the eradication of the Blue and the restoration of humanity to the planet Earth. To that end, all the inhabitants of Second Earth have undergone rigorous education and training in using new technology--the Armor Shrikes--developed and designed to defeat the Blue in battle. But with the Blue constantly evolving at an amazing rate, the humans of Second Earth have their hands full. Now, for some reason, they have been sent to Earth to recover as many Sleepers as they can and bring them back to Second Earth. It is into this world, and this situation, that Yuji awakens to.

Somehow, some way, Yuji must adapt to this new world. But the Blue is not the only thing he must accept into his new reality. The surviving Earth-dwelling humans he meets are timid, scared beings, seeking safe havens in the ruins of civilization, barely surviving in a world with rapidly decreasing supplies of food. The humans from Second-Earth are cold, reserved beings who care nothing for the humans they see around them, focused wholly on their recovery of the Sleepers. Love no longer has any meaning for them; sexual couplings are nothing more than ways to relieve tension and stress, with nothing of emotion or feeling in the acts. Good will and feelings have been subordinated beneath the military machine, and nothing, not even the death of comrades, will deter them from their missions. Yet, Yuji manages to find others who are able to change, who are willing to be his friends. But in a world where death may be just around the corner, are friendships really the best things to form? How will the deaths and downfalls of so many trusted allies and comrades affect Yuji? Will he be able to bear it? And just why is Second Earth so desperately seeking to collect and revive the Sleepers?

I don't normally like post-apocalyptic anime or movies. Never mind that Suikoden or Demon City Shinjuku veer in that direction; I like those more for the magic and the good-versus-evil plots. Blue Gender, however, involves more science than fantasy, and nothing at all involving magic. There are the good-versus-evil elements, but it's hard to say precisely which characters classify as "good" and which are "evil." The situations they involve themselves in are so constantly in flux that a character can be on the side of angels one moment, then condemning hundreds of innocents to death the next. Even Yuji, the main character, teeters between those two absolutes, although more often than not he's mired in the confusion and indecision of being an innocent to war and this strange new world.

I think the saddest part of the series takes place towards the very beginning, when Yuji makes his first real friend, only to lose him soon after. For Yuji, Joey's humming of a tune he recalls offers a strong link back to his past, and perhaps the last connection to the world he remembers. In a way, Joey is perhaps more of an Earth human than a Second Earth human, despite being well trained in the use of the Armor Shrikes. He is more open and accepting of Yuji than the other members of his team, even Marlene, whom Yuji later falls in love with. Joey sort of replaces Yuji's former best friend; his death serves as a sort of wake-up call or catalyst for Yuji, forcibly impressing upon him that the world he so desperately wants to cling to is dead and gone. As symbolism goes, it is a stark image. As a story element, it is painful and compelling, as well as character shaping and developing. Still and all, I wish Joey had survived a little longer (say, maybe, the entire series). Of course, that would have changed the storyline significantly and Blue Gender would no longer be Blue Gender.

Twenty-six episodes hardly seems long enough to tell such a terrible, post-apocalyptic story. To my mind, the series leaves several questions unanswered, and develops subplots that remain unresolved. What could be long, drawn out scenes are conveniently abbreviated and left to the viewer's imagination, which may or may not be a good thing, especially since many of those scenes involve a great deal of blood and gore. I almost wish they'd shown the scenes in full; then again, what they'd show might end up being more graphic and horrific than I could imagine. Then again...well, you know how that goes, right?

This eight DVD set encompases all twenty-six episodes. They're all hybrids, so you can choose between Japanese or English dialogues, and of course subtitles. In addition, one of the extra features includes character profiles of the main characters: Yuji, of course, and Marlene (the Second Earther who finds him). Others come and go as the series progresses, determined by which episodes appear on which DVD. You don't really need the profiles to understand about the characters. Still, they do come in handy.

Interested in buying the series? You can! Just follow the links to order the different episodes in VHS dubbed or DVD format. You can also visit the Stellar Video Store for other titles.

This page posted February 16, 2002.

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