Once upon a time when I was just starting out being an Otaku, I often found myself watching the preview sections of Anime DVDs continuously, getting my first glimpse of various shows id hoped to see one day. One of those was a Pioneer preview of Vandread. With a cool theme song and some cool looking mecha designs, I didn’t know what the show was about but I was definitely looking forward to discovering it one day. Well that day has come. Vandread is here to be covered at last and…well it could be off to a better start but it shows a lot of promise in several areas…just not some of the very important ones.
Let’s start with the feud that takes “Battle of the Sexes” to a whole new level. At the beginning of Vandread, it’s implied that Men and Women haven’t seen each other for at least 3 Generations and sometime before then, they had a massive falling out. Today, Taraak’s over hyped military presents women as demonized monsters, ones who consume the flesh of their enemies. While I definitely think that’s a stretch given what we see of the Mejere Pirates, Gascogne’s claim that the Mejere Military is pretty bloodthirsty does give cause for concern. Whatever the true case is, Vandread is committed to this rivalry and isn’t backing down, no matter how ludicrous the claims. It does result in a pretty freaking funny propaganda video by the Taraak military to inspire its troops though.
Vandread boasts a pretty huge cast, most of whom are Women. There are only three men left onboard the Nirvana following the chaos of the first episode. There’s Bart, a cowardly pilot; Duello, the coolest and smoothest Doctor you’ll ever meet (helped by his being voiced by a cool and confident Steve Blum in the English Dub); and Hibiki…who is basically Space Naruto. He wants to rise above his third class citizen status and become a man at the age of…idk 14-16 I assume. Hibiki boasts about being tough and is prone to showing off. He does have his moments of insecurity but theyre overshadowed by his loud and obnoxious attitude. Truthfully, were it not for his ability to fuse his horrible looking Vanguard unit with at least three different Mejere Dreads (get it, VanDread?), I’d kick him off the ship for being a pain in the ass.
Luckilly, the Women make up for any shortcomings of the Men, though even they have their more miss than hit crewmembers. There’s a lot so I’ll at least go over the main three female protagonists. First there’s Dita, who’s clearly being set up as Hibiki’s main love interest. She’s a happy go lucky and kind of scatter brained Alien loving Otaku who clings to Hibiki like glue. While she has a cute design (pretty much all the girls in this show do), Dita’s over obsessive nature and naievete can get grating very, very quickly. Like seriously, does she really need to watch Hibiki use the bathroom (with a smile) just to confirm a rumor about Male anatomy? Meia I like a lot better. She’s the no nonsense leader of the Nirvana’s Dread squadron. Meia reminds me of Rei from Evangelion except she has a lot more emotion to her. Lastly, there’s Jura, who’s meant to be the sexy one of the trio and she definitely is that, possessing the most voluptuous figure of any character in the show (save for BC). Others to quickly mention Mango, the wizened and actually pretty funny leader of the Pirates; the aforementioned BC, who’s design reminds me of a Guerdo Pirate from the Legend of Zelda Series, who serves as First Mate; and Gascogne, who acts as main supply officer and possesses the one name no one except Mango and BC can get right. There are obviously several names I’m skipping for now but I know I’ll get to every character in due time.
The mecha of Vandread are, for the most part, pretty impressive. This is an early 2000’s 2D/3D merging Anime and normally I’m against this kind of fusion as it never looks particularly pretty. Thankfully, this show looks way, way better than Pilot Candidate (which aired around the same time). The Dreads are sleek and awesome and can be outfitted with an array of weapons and perks courtesy of an interchangeable “Reg System” headed by Gascogne. Seeing these babies in action was a thrill, especially seeing them trounce the rather pathetic forces of Taraak in the first episode. The Nirvana is such a cool design, like four giant space swords held together by an engine. Then there’s the titular VanDread, which is something Hibiki’s mech can only do with Dita, Meia and presumably Jura’s fighters. On it’s own, Hibiki’s Vanguard is pretty pathetic, both in design and how it moves, so clumsy and silly and just dumb. But combine it with a Dread and WOW what an improvement. We got to see a super powered behemoth with Hibiki and Dita’s fusion and a Metal Gear looking speed demon with Hibiki and Meia. Obviously from the intro we know what Hibiki and Jura’s fusion will look like but we’ll talk more about that when it happens.
So the cast is ok for the most part and the mecha looks like it can deliver. What about the story and world building? Well there in lies a bit of a problem with Vandread. Beyond the basic “Men hate Women and Women hate Men” motif, we don’t know much about the galaxy these two sexes live in. I suppose that’s done on purpose to build up mystery. But it’s baffling to think we’ve gotten to a point in these fractured societies where they’ve forgotten about the act of sex and just resort to growing babies somehow…and somehow no Woman has ever given birth to a baby boy in decades? There’s also the giant enigma at the heart of the Nirvana: The Pixis. I assume Magno knew about it when she and her crew invaded the ship in the first place. But clearly she didn’t know much about it since no one expected the Pixis to fuse two ships from Taraak and Mejere together. Also, the Pixis is sentient and trying to communicate? The attempts at conversation seemed to be directed at HIbiki himself but the ship being alive can also be seen when Duelo and Head Mechanic Parfait put their knowledge of medicine and engineering together in order to basically take down a fever taking over the ship as its transforming. The Pixis…what the hell is this thing?
It's also worth noting that there are A LOT of nods to various shows from the Star Trek franchise in Vandread. The Pixis attempting to communicate with Hibiki reminds me of Captain Sisko trying to speak with the otherworldly Prophets of the Bajor Wormhole on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The Machine like enemies plaguing the Nirvana so far from home are obviously a nod to fan favorite Trek baddies The Borg, through we haven’t seen them try to assimilate yet, or speak in terrifying unison. They are adapting and learning though and aren’t making life easy for the Nirvana and her crew. Then, of course, there’s the fact that the Nirvana has been flung to the other side of the galaxy and needs to get back ASAP so the crew (two separate forces who don’t get along) can warn their homeworlds about an impending Alien attack. Save for the race against time, that’s the main premise of Star Trek Voyager. I suppose if you wanted to take things a bit further, Duelo’s calm and logical demeanor could be mistaken for that of the legendary Mr. Spock of the original Star Trek TV Series. I’d say we could call Hibiki a younger and far more bullish Captain Kirk…but no, I wont do that. It doesn’t affect the show but…weird to spot those comparisons that’s all.
All in all, Vandread has a decent enough beginning. The premise, despite a ton of unanswered questions, is simple: Men and Women are at war but a few put aside their differences to return home and warn their people about a new enemy. The mechas are actually pretty cool and the cast looks ready to handle the task set before them…if they don’t kill each other first. Well we’ll see how far they get come Friday as Vandread continues right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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