2011/07/19

CXXII: "Vandread" series

Aliens and pirates, men and women... The only name that comes in mind dealing with this is Vandread, and I'm quite fond of it. It's a mecha and a harem, both of which I'm drawn to these days.

In Vandread, the female and male species are at war with one another. The women reside on the planet Mejere, while Taraak houses the males. In the midst of battle, Hibiki Tokai tries to steal a Vanguard, a new weapon Taraak planned to use against the Mejerian females. Things sort of go to hell when the females attack the very ship Hibiki is stuck on, and he, along with two others: Bart and Duelo, are captured and treated with abuse. Over time, these three and the female pirates develop some sort of understanding, whereas they fight alongside each other, with Hibiki on the frontlines with his Vanguard. However, should one of the female ships, a Dread, contact his Vanguard, it undergoes a fusion, due to a reaction affecting both sides when the Taraakan battleship collided with their pirate vessel. The first fusion is done when Hibiki meets with Dita, a girl who named him "Mr. Alien". Doing so formed a new power, known as a Vandread.

Together with different female pirates, they plan to head to Mejere, and learn about the sentinent beings known as harvesters, and discover why they're being attacked by them. Of course, Hibiki, personally, has to deal with the 3 pilots in particular: Dita, along with the cold Meia, and the spoiled Jura. If neither of them tires him out, he may come out of this alive!

Vandread has 2 series as well: Vandread and Vandread: The Second Stage. Separately, the anime is 13 episodes a piece, making 26 in all, with 2 OVAs, each being a compilation of the events of each season. Both were made in the Gonzo studio, and were licensed by Geneon, and licensed currently under Funimation. In terms of Englisn networks, Encore WAM has shown this title, the same channel that featured Street Fighter II V. It's recent showing was on Encore Action's Animidnight block, which has most likely ended at this point. I point out often that some anime has a good difference compared to the manga, but the changes seen in here are radical. The majority of characters seen in the anime never show up in the manga, and the characters that do appear are a huge difference from their anime counterparts, such as Dita being mature in the manga, while seemingly childish in the anime. Dita is voiced by Jule Maddalena in the anime, while Tony Oliver voices the male protagonist, Hibiki.

Vandread was wacky in the harem department, but I feel curious to read the manga knowing the difference in the nature of the characters, as well as those exclusive to the manga. The anime is satisfactory, so a 7.8 of 10., which isn't too shabby.

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