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Blue Gender
Home/Change Series
“Blue Gender” is a 26-episode TV series from 1999, with a peerless Macho-Action pedigree: Created by Ryôsuke Takahashi (“Votoms”, “Layzner”, “Gasaraki”), Directed by Masashi Abe (“Casshan: Robot Hunter”, “Tokko”, “Raoh Gaiden”), and Supervised by Koichi Ohata (“MD Geist”, “Cybernetics Guardian”, “Genocyber”). There is also a compilation movie, “Blue Gender - The Warrior”, made up of new and reused footage…but I like to pretend it doesn’t exist.
At the very beginning of the 21st century, a new apocalyptic genome, the “Planned Suicide” B-cell, is found within a very small number of people. With no known treatment in the form of gene therapy, and unsure of its implications and of what health problems carriers could contract, sufferers were put into cold sleep to wait for an answer from medical R&D. This B-cell is found within ordinary nice guy, gas station attendant, Yuji Kaido, and he becomes a “SLEEPER” in 2009.
A little over a decade later, Mankind is no longer ruler of planet Earth. The world now belongs to the “Blue”, Giant Man-Eating Bugs that live in nest riddled ruined skyscrapers, feast on our inorganic machinery and turn humans into contorted, green ooze covered balls of flesh. Humanity’s “superior specimens” have left the surface and escaped into space to board orbiting satellites known as Second Earth, as the “regular stiffs” were written off and left behind to keep the bugs preoccupied.
Twenty-Two years after Yuji was put into cold-sleep, 2031 AD, Mankind’s last stronghold, the orbiting, fascist military controlled hell, Second Earth, is preparing to retake our homeworld. President Victor has enacted operation “Cytokine”: recovery of the SLEEPERs, in order to form an elite team of Armor Shrike, “AS”, pilots. With the power of their B-Cells, it is believed they will be able to bring out the full fighting potential of the new custom “Double Edge” AS. Team Gran Seil is charged with securing the SLEEPERs at a facility in Japan. However, the bugs have gotten to the SLEEPERs first, and Gran Seil’s only recovered “sample” is Yuji. He unexpectedly wakes up in transport and meets Second Earth Citizen 2805 -- ice-cold, emotionally closed off, career AS pilot, Marlene Angel. Yuji and Marlene are thrown together, and wind up with only each other to count on against the monstrous Blue, as well as the inner political struggles of factions within Second Earth, and maybe even a sentient Planet Earth’s own plan to bring about its rejuvenation with the Armageddon of Man vs. Bug.
“…in the world I’m from, it’s only natural for men to save women…”
Bugs, babes, and blood … one badass cartoon! The relationship between Yuji and Marlene is slowly and expertly built throughout the series. And the political tension between the faction supporting scientist Seno Miyagi who wants to live peacefully in space, and that of President Victor who wants to retake Earth, is also believable and understandable. Unfortunately, the ending is somewhat rushed and slapdash, and, despite some foreshadowing, the concluding idea of Man’s salvation coming from his forsaking his urban comforts to live a life more connected with Nature, feels tacked on.
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