Blue Gender

Blue Gender is from the same guy who did Gasaraki. He also did Armored Troopers VOTOMS, which I haven’t seen. Like Gasaraki, the visual style of Blue Gender could be described as “harsh”. Deliberately unpretty, dark, drab colours. The hero guy looked kind of weird, but I got used to it.

The action was okay, but felt a bit removed. The alien “core” that you had to shoot to kill the bugs seemed silly after a while. I was amused to see a reviewer complaining that the series cheaped-out by having the mecha run on wheels in their feet – I think it’s actually a sensible idea for moving on level surfaces, using less energy and causing less wear-and-tear.

The opening music was awful, but in-episode music was pretty good, when I noticed it – dark low-key techno or somber orchestral, which suited the mood. OST might be worth buying. Acting and sound were okay, not special.

The back-story was interesting, with the hero woken up into a horrific post-apocalyptic world occupied by giant bugs, but I had some problems with the script, which was sometimes cliched or contrived. In a way the story seemed over-extended at 26 episode. They kind of spun it out without adding anything much to the story. The end was the usual mystical hoohah.

I admit I’m a bit torn, because I like to see anime that does something a bit different. But while I found the show interesting in parts, I think the not-good bits ultimately outweigh the good bits. If you had to choose one, I’d say Gasaraki would be the more satisfying viewing experience.