This is a great review. It tells what to expect without spoilers and gives reasons why you should or shouldn't watch it in an impartial way. Just what I expect from a MiniTokyo review as opposed to the list-of-characters-reviews that I've been seeing a lot of recently.
A screenshot to show off the CG in the anime.
Your main male protagonist, Hibiki Tokai.
Your main female protagonist, Dita Leibely.
One of the more comedic moments in the series.
Vandread tv Review
When Hibiki Tokai accepts a dare to steal the vanguard mecha he helped produce, he becomes involved in a story much greater than the conflict of men versus women in the Mejere system. Interacting with the strange reactor/energy unit called the Pexis, he and three Mejere pilots of the starship Nirvana become the only warning of the impending attack of a race of machines on their home solar system.
Credits: Norsehound
Story & Characters
Girls....Girls....AND MORE GIRLS! Wait, wait, I need to calm down and view this series again. Girls....Giiirlllss.....AND MORE FREAKIN GIRLS!! Okay, okay, you guys probably get the picture by now. This story was written in such a unique and original way that I'm actually impressed. Male and Females have been seperated to two different planets, with them being at war with each other. Its your typical battles of the sexes in anime form. Now we pick up the series following the main protagonist Tokai Hibiki and his uncanny ability of getting into trouble. Because of his unfortunate luck (or skill), he finds himself as a prisioner aboards a female pirate group's ship. Now granted he had help, what with Liebely Dita chasing him around all over the place calling him "Alien-san" (Mr. Alien for English dubbed) and the fact that the Men of Tarrock blew up their own ship because they didn't want the women to have it, of course Hibiki would have to find a place to go. If this sounds really confusing, better to watch the first episode, it makes waaaay more sense.
This series is a very simple, very cut-and-dry series. I can't quite say the same for the characters. Alot of the characters are pretty complex in alot of cases, but there are the occasionally one-track characters, but only in minor supporting roles. After the first episode however, we end up with more than one main character; we actually end up with four. Liebely Dita, Gisborn Meia, and Elden Basil Jura pretty much become a daily face in every episode. They're your stereotypical characters however with not too much originality, personality-wise. Dita, obviously, becomes your hyperactive, nut-job who has a total obssession with Hibiki (which makes me afraid for Hibiki considering the ending of the series). Jura and Meia on the other hand, are the mature types for the most part. Reason I say "for the most part" is because since Women and Men are seperated, none of the females on the pirate ship has ever seen or been with a man except for the Captain of the ship. Its because of this that Jura (after viewing a first generation video tape), gains this obssession for wanting to have Hibiki's baby. Lets just say this series is full of obssessed lunatic females.
Despite all the typical characters, each character and supporting character provides some complex depth and are dynamic. They change over time but the change is very slow. I'll elaborate more later in this review.
At the end of it all, the characters are unoriginal, however the story is original. Its a tough call. Its definitely worth a once through though, regardless if harems aren't your thing. Keep in mind the ecchi content is somewhat subdued after the first 7 episodes I would say. So don't worry if ecchi isn't in your list of favorite genres, because it disappears after a couple episodes.
Rating:
Art
The animation quality is top notch but it isn't perfect. Sure the style matches nicely and at the time of this being released, the style was a favorite but at the end of it all, there's problems. The major problem is in the 3D CG animation. Its too noticable. Now I'm able to look it over because I don't judge my viewing of anime just solely based on perfected 3D animation, but sometimes it detracts from the situation. The space battles are awesome in 3D, for sure, so is the transformations of the Vanguard and the Dreads to make the Vandread. However you can tell when they reused alot of the same CG work. It can get disappointing at times. I will say this though that the production quality was extremely high.
Rating:
Sound
The music is average in some areas. After not seeing this series for about 3 years, the only song I still actually listen to is the opening song from the first season called "Trust". The other songs like "Justice" or "Himegoto" are decent songs but just aren't the type of songs that can be listened to on a consistent basis. The soundtrack however provides some good background songs that fit for the characters and situations.
Now when I watched this series initially, I saw it in english dubbed. I have to say I quite enjoyed the english dubbed version. For those who recall voices like Wendee Lee (Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop, Yuruichi Shihouin from Bleach) or David Lucas (Eikichi Onizuka from Great Teacher Onizuka, Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop) then you'll get a real kick out of this series. Despite knowing alot of the voices in the series, it didn't change how I viewed the characters. There's something in their voices (not just with Lee or Lucas) that makes you feel like saying to yourself "Yeah thats how I imagine their voices". The english casting was excellent. Unfortunately I'm in that stance with this series that I can't watch Vandread in Japanese. Its disappointing but I guess thats a compliment for the English dubbed and how good it was.
Rating:
Presentation
Overall it was a nice 26-episode series, but there are a few things that bug me. First is the fact that they had to name the second half of the series "The Second Stage". When companies do that, it gives the misinterpretation that its a second season that has a time jump. There was no time jump here, it picks up where episode 13 ends. Another issue is that the character development is rather slow. Because of this slow development it makes some of the episodes you watch feel extremely stand alone. I mean the episodes connect to each other, but with slow development in the characters it feels as if you're watching each episode as if it was seperate from the story. Once the characters show signs of change does the series really feel like its one big story.
However I will say with the plot as simplistic as it is, you can already tell what the goal is and how long its going to take. Whats even better with this series is, despite being a fantasy sci-fi type anime, it provides the down-to-earth, slice-of-life realism. It really tries to take a dip in every single genre pool, but doing a good job at it. I would say my favorite episode was the Christmas episode. With this type of story, for them to have a holiday that we, as viewers, can relate to, it really brings to story home to us. Personally I find it hard to relate to any character or group of characters in a genre type because of the lack of anything that exists in reality, but this series drags reality into the sci-fi side and merges them into one. I give this whole series props on that.
At the end of it all, despite the slow character development at the beginning, it really does a great job to keep you laughing but also keep the story serious when it needs to be. The cast of characters round each other out, with some good background music to enhance each scene. Its the type of story that encompasses every genre but only double-dips in the genres that really help it stand out. Shonen, Romance, Girl's Love, Sci-fi, Slice-of-life, Mecha, etc etc; it takes all of these and more to create the story then does a double-take and bring back the best parts to continue it. This isn't an anime to pass up by any chance. It may not be one the best, but its definitely one of the most underrated animes. Vandread, go pick it up!
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.5000 (good)
Reviewed by SaitoHajime101, Oct 21, 2009
Comments
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jerry33 Oct 21, 2009
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SchRita Oct 27, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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Fanatik007 Nov 02, 2009
good mecha anime, thanks for review
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mona12 Nov 07, 2009
thanx for the review
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rukasu04 Mute Member Nov 10, 2009
Thanks ^^
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animalandia Nov 12, 2009
Gracias por el aporte muy buena rese
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SchRita Dec 22, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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yothsothgoth Mar 10, 2010
Good review. I like how thorough you are with all of your character descriptions and the presentation part of your review.
Thanks for submitting it and I hope you review more. :D -
SchRita Aug 27, 2010
I'm interested in this one.
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angelxxuan Banned Member May 20, 2012
nice review, I like how you mentioned the ecchi part. it's not there very much at all, it's one of those anime that showed it can be done and taken away and it doesn't mess with the flow nor favoritism of the anime itself. it is a classic without a doubt and I ran across this when Starz still played anime in their afternoon lineup. a must watch for those interested on a new twist on a mecha themed anime.
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back07 Sep 26, 2012
thanks for the nice review
:)
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