Vandread

Life sucks for Hibiki. Intergalactic society has broken into civil war between males and females; he's stuck on the assembly line for war mecha, relentlessly teased by his co-workers and unable to pursue his dreams of building his own mecha one day. He finally decides he's had enough though, and attempts to break in and steal a mech for his own purposes; this turns out to be a bad idea, thrusting him into the middle of a fever-pitch space battle that brings him face to face with the enemy and launches him into an adventure that will change his mundane life forever.

• Hibiki Tokai-Hibiki is the series supposed "hero." Considered a third class citizen on the male planet, Hibiki mysteriously seems to be something more. When trying to steal a bengada from the upper class males, their ship is attacked by the female pirates, resulting in Hibiki's capture. The ship is later affected by the "praxis" of the Nirvana. Hibiki was one of those affected by it. He is able to merge his Bengada with Dita, Jura, and Meia
• Dureo McFile-You are never sure what class citizen Duero is, but he seems like he is first class. He is really shrouded in mystery. He claims that he is a doctor and wants to help everyone, but he has to read how to do everything in books. He is also very interested in the women, especially Ezra and her pregnancy. He is also good friend with Parfet. They seem to be attracted to eachother but don't understand why
• Bart Garsus-Bart is a cowardly second class male citizen. His relatives are in charge of food pellet production on Taraaku. He was captured by the women because they find in hiding in fear. He is also a suck up, and brags that he is the Navigator to seem useful and get on the pirates good side. Surprisingly Bart is the only one that can navigate the ship. When he not trying to run away, he is a good navigator. Bart is also interested in B.C. making goofy attempts to get her attention. Unfortuately B.C. just seems to ignore him.
• Dita Liebely-Dita is a novice pilot for the female pirate ship. She has some kind of obsession with aliens especially Hibiki. She always trys to make Hibiki happy but seems to just annoy him (and me). Dita and Hibiki are the "love story" of the show.....I guess. Dita was exposed to the praxis when the women pirates attacked the male ship. Therefore she is able to merge her dread to Hibiki's bengada.
• Meia Gisborn-Meia is the quiet, reclusive, chief pilot of the female pirate ship. Meia was the daughter of a very famous political figure back on her home planet, making Meia a celebrity. When things go astray on her home planet and her "oma" (female father) was to blame, Meia was just as diliked. She lived on the streets until Magno came and invited her of her pirate ship. Meia was affected by the praxis and is able to merge her dread with Hibiki's Bengada.
• Jura Basil Elder-Jura tends to be the "slutty" pirate, and is also very conceded and vain. She won't pilot her dread unless her hair looks good enough or has enough make-up on. She frequently has Barnette, Jura's very good "friend," video tape her during fights so she can watch how great she is. Jura was affected by the praxis and is able to merge her dread with Hibiki's Bengada. For a lot of the series Jura is determined to have Hibiki only "merge" with her.
• Paiway Underberg-Paiway to the very young resident Nurse for the pirate ship. When she's not putting the other women in containment for male contamination she is doing her famous "Pai Check!" Paiway is very nosey. She has a habit of spying on everyone in the ship and everytime she learns something new she does her "Pai Check" and notes the activities in her log book. She is also always seen with her frog puppet *kero, kero*.
• Barnette Orangello-Barnette is almost like a secondary pilot. She tends to be too busy video taping Jura to be fighting. Barnette is very aggresive and is willing to foolishly jump into a fight. She is very much like Hibiki. Barnette really dislikes the men on board, you could almost say she is jealous. Jura seems very interested in the men and keeps getting less interested in Barnette
• Parfet Balblair-Parfet is the chief engineer and resident "brain." She very quickly starts a "friendship" with Duero. Duero tends to help Parfet fix different areas of the ship and they are usually seen together. They seem to like eachother but don't understand why.
• Captain Magno Vivian-Magno is the leader of the female pirates. She left the female planet Mejeiru. The women Mejeiru are very vain. The women would compete over everything from houses to flowers. It took a lot of energy to do all this work and they had to shut down one of their powers planets. This left Magno without a home, and therefore she left for the pirate life.
• Buzam B.C. Carassa-B.C. is the sub-commander second only to Magno herself. B.C. is very serious and never lets her guard down. Even during celebrations B.C. is the only one that won't leave the bridge. She is one of the few women on the ship that doesn't seem to mind the men. You also learn later that she is very skilled fighter and very good with a whip.
• Gascogne Rheingau-Gascogne and her trademark "Smile, Smile" is in charge of the Weapons and supply of the pirate ship. She considers herself and the girls that work for her "stage hands." And she takes pride in her work, truely believing that the pilots couldn't do their job herout her and her girls. She also plays continuous games of poker with Hibiki never losing once but always pissing Hibiki off.
• Pyoro- Pyoro is an old fashioned NAVI robot gone astray. He has personality, and has some strange connection to the pexis of the Nirvana. He is frequently used to work on the ship. He also likes to cause trouble for Hibiki, and is obsessed with Ezra's baby. He claims that the baby is Pyoro 2
• Rabat (Rat Bastard)-Rabat did not come from a world of separated men and women. He is not a regular on the show, but makes a few appearances here and there. He charms the women and beats the crap out of Hibiki trying to give him a lesson. You never know what side he is on. He tends to work for the highest bidder.
• Utan- Utan is Rabat's annoying "monkey." She has an obsession with Pyoro, treating him like her baby. Nuff said.
  
  
  

  RATING:***(Three Stars): Good series, silly but good. The Computer graphics are incorporated well with the standard animation. The series is somewhat short, but it still has an impact.I highly recommend this series for someone who likes comedy, action and sexual innuendos all roled into one

  
  

  Review: Gods, but this be a silly show. I think Vandread wins the award for best opening line in a series..."WOMEN ARE DEMONS!!!" That one line was all it took to send the whole club to the floor with laughter (and the images that followed of these horrific demon women eating the livers of men kept us all there for the rest of the show ^_^), and clue us all in to the kind of show we were watching. While the idea of a world full of nothing but men (ye gods, you should have seen the elf's face when she heard two men in the show talking about having a baby together...it was both priceless and frightening at the same time) has been done before in shows like Saber Marionette J, this time around the whole thing works much better as a setting as the characters act much more believably. The men have never even SEEN a real woman, much less had carnal thoughts about them, which makes the interactions very amusing. For example, after being captured, Hibiki wakes up with his head pressed up against something rather soft and supple that he's never seen before, so he does the sensible thing and pokes at these strange things and says "...what the heck is this?" at which point the woman whose arms he's in wakes up, noticing he's poking her breasts...Or the male doctor who, upon noticing the computerized exam table is non-functional states, "I guess I'll have to do this my way..." and flexes his fingers over his female patient. There really is no end to the lewdness of this show, it doesn't just ooze innuendo, it sprays it around like a fire hose.

  I can see some women being turned off about the fact that the women are portrayed as being all rather vain and obsessed with beauty, yet still dress as if they have men to impress (well, unless they all have really horny lesbian lovers...and no, we're not letting Havoc within ten lightyears of their planet) but really, it's all in good fun. Keiji Gotoh must be mighty busy these days, what with Gatekeepers AND Vandread both being out in the same year. Speaking of Gatekeepers, anyone who liked the quality of the CGI in that show will be very happy to see that level maintained in Vandread's excellent animation. Right from the slick and stiletto-like Dread fighters the women pilot to the ludicrously weapon-laden mecha the men use, the computer animation is expertly done. As for the characters, the interaction here is almost as great as in Nadesico, though the ditzy heroine, Dita, doesn't hold a candle to Yurika's flame. The music is as good as in gatekeepers and Nadesico before it, and both opening and closing songs suit the show very well (though the opening song sounds rather retro for something this new). The story is mildly formulaic, but interesting enough to keep things going. Of course, there is a crisis that pits the crew of the newly revamped colony ship against a vicious enemy and the men and women have to work together, that much is just expected, but it's the hilarity in each episode that brings us all back for more...well, that and the endless supply of cheesecake. ^_^ Great, completely filthy fun for all ages, this is a show with its head firmly placed in the gutter, and innuendo applied with a sledgehammer.

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