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RIP - Blue Gender


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lhernan02



Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:47 pm Reply with quote
I just saw TRSI listed the ultra-cheap all-inclusive thinpak of Blue Gender as out of print, so I guess that is the end of releases for this series.
Since it is one of my favorite series overall and my favorite SciFi series, I figure I would at least give it some public props.
Blue Gender was a great series, probably the most realistic of its genre. There was no forced humor, mechas looked militarily plausible, and characters acted normally (no fake heroics, no ueberangst, etc.). It had plausible character growth and you could relate at a human level to almost every character. Additionally every character was well rounded (a feat when you consider that most characters appear in at most two episodes). The series was not without its faults: animation quality being the main one and a rushed ending (series should have ended in ep 24 or stretched to 28 or 30 eps) being the other.
Anyway, just my 2 cents of praise for a great series I don't think ever got the praise it deserved and now will probably be confined to fansubs and ebay.
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demonroach



Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:53 pm Reply with quote
Blue Gender was ok at best, but hardly realistic. Keep watching more anime.
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cloud1989



Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Posts: 274
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:59 pm Reply with quote
NOOOOO, I wanted this, but I'm still trying to get all my geneon crap, this OOP stuf is killing me.
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lhernan02



Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:34 pm Reply with quote
demonroach wrote:
Blue Gender was ok at best, but hardly realistic. Keep watching more anime.

Obviously not realistic in the true sense (I don't see it as future history), but the way the characters acted seemed to me exactly the way regular people would act if thrust into those situations (not the annoying whining of NGE or the instant superhero mecha pilot of almost every other mecha series). And I have over 250 series, OVAs, and movies under my belt, so I can speak with some authority on this topic (at least from my point of view of what is realistic and what is not).
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6901
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:35 pm Reply with quote
lhernan02 wrote:
I just saw TRSI listed the ultra-cheap all-inclusive thinpak of Blue Gender as out of print, so I guess that is the end of releases for this series.

Anyway, just my 2 cents of praise for a great series I don't think ever got the praise it deserved and now will probably be confined to fansubs and ebay.
Don't panic just yet, Blue Gender is getting a re-release sometime this spring as part of Funimation's cheaply-priced/cheaply-packaged Viridian lineup. I am mildly interested in the series, but I want to get one of the OOP collections (thinpack or boxed set) since the Viridian packaging is allegedly full of fail.

However, Blue Gender is old enough (1999-2000) that there aren't any fansubs of it circulating anymore.
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:36 pm Reply with quote
Places that say they still have it in stock.

Circle red
Anime Arena
Anime Doctor

Note: I don't guarantee any of those sites are bootleg free, haven't used a one of them. But the link itself is to the official product.

I myself enjoyied Blue Gender. I agree about the ending, but I didn't think it was horrible either though. I can't help but think that this will eventually get re-released in some sort of even cheaper set than before. But you never can tell.

Edit:
Oh nevermind, Zalis has the good info.
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HMMcKamikaze



Joined: 20 Jul 2006
Posts: 189
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:39 pm Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:

However, Blue Gender is old enough (1999-2000) that there aren't any fansubs of it circulating anymore.


I beg to differ. I was able to find the complete show with subs not too long ago. It is definitely harder to find them than a newer show but they're still around.
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lhernan02



Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:52 pm Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
Don't panic just yet, Blue Gender is getting a re-release sometime this spring as part of Funimation's cheaply-priced/cheaply-packaged Viridian lineup. I am mildly interested in the series, but I want to get one of the OOP collections (thinpack or boxed set) since the Viridian packaging is allegedly full of fail.


Great to hear it is not dead yet, it seriously deserves a rerun on [as] (with less editing this time (seeing what the comedy block gets away with) although "Calm" will still need heavy editing).
I have the original boxed set (I recommend it if you can find it), I never bothered getting the movie because I saw the fansub and that was truly "full of fail."
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:29 pm Reply with quote
I'm a huge Ryousuke Takahashi fan and really enjoyed Blue Gender. You might want to check out his new series Flag which is currently being released by Bandai if you like harder sf mecha series. I agree that Takahashi mecha shows are amongst the most realistic in the sub-genre. His series define "real robot" (more than Tomino's shows) for me.

One thing that I also appreciate in most of Takahashi's series is that the humor is minimal. Blue Gender does focus more on characters than Takahashi's other works. Most of his series are real hit or miss with people here, but I have been a fan of this since the early 80s.
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7994
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:40 pm Reply with quote
I'm also a fan of Blue Gender particularly for the reasons stated above. It's got the best character development I've seen in an anime thus far. The two main characters are basically two completely different people by the time the series is over (changed for the better) after all the stuff they go thorough togather. The romance was pretty good and I was thoughly entertained by the non stop story which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Mechs were a plus too, the Double Edges are one of my favorite designs in their realistic nature.
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Jih2



Joined: 24 Jul 2007
Posts: 403
Location: East coast
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:56 pm Reply with quote
I actually bought one of the original boxsets at Otakon 3 years ago. I'm really sorry I did after watching it. Too much forced drama and the animation was pathetic. I liked some of the ideas but most of it was painful. Yes, I like harder mech stuff so that's not the reason I hated it.
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Richard J.



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 2:44 am Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
I am mildly interested in the series, but I want to get one of the OOP collections (thinpack or boxed set) since the Viridian packaging is allegedly full of fail.
Just keep in mind if you get the series, spoiler[a lot of characters die.] For a hardcore, brutal war story that really puts a movie like Starship Troopers to shame, Blue Gender is an easy pick. For something with lots of happy endings, it is very not good.

Great series, I own the box set that's kind of like a book, but holy hell the body count is high. I marathoned the series and it nearly killed me too it was so intense.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 3:59 am Reply with quote
Wow, I guess I got lucky. I got the complete collection just a couple months ago. I ordered from TRSI and they eventually cancelled it because it was out of stock. I then got it from RACS who are now out of it.

Quote:
Blue Gender was ok at best, but hardly realistic. Keep watching more anime.


I have to be honest here. You're probably the one who needs to watch more anime if you didn't think Blue Gender was very realistic because by anime standards Blue Gender is right up there for realism.

Zalis wrote:
Don't panic just yet, Blue Gender is getting a re-release sometime this spring as part of Funimation's cheaply-priced/cheaply-packaged Viridian lineup. I am mildly interested in the series, but I want to get one of the OOP collections (thinpack or boxed set) since the Viridian packaging is allegedly full of fail.


I must say, I don't know if the thinpack is much better. I got mine and almost immediately one of the clips that holds the outer case to the inner part broke. The little little round parts the DVDs go on (I don't know what exactly you call em) are really small so the DVDs constantly fall off.
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the Rancorous



Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 2248
Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:21 pm Reply with quote
Richard J. wrote:
For a hardcore, brutal war story that really puts a movie like Starship Troopers to shame, Blue Gender is an easy pick.
Starship Troopers was nothing but shame Razz
Netflix seems to be refusing to let me rent the 2nd volume, but I'm pretty sure I'll be buying this series some time soon. I remember liking what I saw on AS, and I really enjoyed the 1st volume when I recently rewatched it.

Zalis, what exactly is wrong with this Viridian packaging?

[EDIT: Fixed quote attributions.~Zalis]
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Zalis116
Moderator


Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6901
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:37 pm Reply with quote
the Rancorous wrote:
Zalis, what exactly is wrong with this Viridian packaging?
See here. (Perhaps "lurk moar" is appropriate in this case? Surprised )
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