Forum - View topicBlue Gender: Ending Explained (Revisited 2023)
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BlueGenderLove
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Hey everyone,
I just finished rewatching Blue Gender, one of my first and all-time favorite animes. After a decade and a half since my first and second viewing, I have a new understanding and appreciation for the ending. Although I do not agree with everything the writers (seemingly) were trying to say. I’d like to give my interpretation of their message. Below, I will summarize the plot and provide the perspective and ultimate message I believe the writers had. I will respond to this post with my own counter perspective to the writers and I encourage anyone to respond with their own take and perspectives as well! SUMMARY (SPOILERS): spoiler[Blue Gender takes place in the not-so-distant future of 2030 after the Earth created B-cells and a new species called the Blue. B-cells and the Blue are the Earth’s response to humanity which has overdeveloped, overpopulated, and poisoned the land. The Blue are the Earth’s B-cells and cure to the disease that was humanity. Throughout the series we see the militarized portion of humanity which escaped to Second Earth, a space station, try to use people infected with B-Cells to fight the Blue. This is unsuccessful. Second Earth, after being attacked by B-cell humans leading the Blue, tries to reform itself and its dogmatic and militarized society. It fails. Second Earth is destroyed by itself while our protagonists Yuji and Marlene find love and eventually the solution to the germs that was humanity and Blue. In the end, the people who truly thrive live life in small nomadic and communal tribes living simply and harmoniously with the planet.] ENDING MESSAGE EXPLAINED: More spoilers… After a revisit, I’ve noticed that the series does a great job of setting up the ending. It is made clear that the Blue are primarily a threat in cities and places of heavy development. When Yuji enters the Earth’s flower of light and connects with Earth, he comments how the Blue lived primarily in cities and suburbs where they ate people and literally the infrastructure of mankind. This ultimately shows how Earth was countering the human-plague and forcing people to live simply. The people who remained in the cities, were either eaten, or starved to death, then eaten. However, we never really see the small tribal communities and nomadic people terrorized by the Blue quite like the military and people in city centers. This was done to show that people living industrially cannot live sustainably. Similarly, even after the reform of Second Earth to a peaceful, free, and largely equal society, the people raised in space who were dogmatic, militarized, and industrial, could not sustain themselves. I believe the ending was the writers’ way of showing how humanity cannot have it both ways. Humans can’t live industrially in space even if peaceful, equal, and free, and humans can’t live on Earth without peace, equality, and freedom. In this way the message is clear, the only way to survive, is for humanity to live on Earth, where the Earth can keep us in check and requires us to live simply and communally. The problem could not be escaped simply by moving somewhere else, because, as the writers showed, the problem was within the minds of the people the whole time. The decade of subjugation and militarization in space by egotistical leaders made a functioning society not at war impossible in the end. Violence and self destruction was inevitable for Second Earth. Even when the plan of the B-cells are thwarted, humanities new developed home in space is still destroyed, not by the B-cells, but by the poison that is dogma and ultimately a lack of purpose. By living on Earth, the purpose is to live and love. By living on the newly reformed Second Earth in space, the purpose is further industrial development to survive. The theme of purpose plays a huge role in the series and we see Marlene transition from the motivation of military doctrine, to love, and Yuji conversely go from love, to militarization and insanity, back to love. However, the purpose everyone on second Earth truly had, was foundationally militaristic and dogmatic. Without the military machine to give purpose, peace could not be obtained. With the military machine, love and happiness, conversely, could not be obtained The ultimate destruction of an industrial society was shown by the writers to be the only solution to the problems caused by humanity. The selfish, overpopulating, and ever spreading development of humanity was stopped by its own intrinsic unsustainability and the Earth’s B-cells. The writers’ ultimate message was that communal living where no more is taken from the Earth than what is needed, is the only way to truly live successfully. So only after enough people died, cities were destroyed, the military stops fighting back, and only tribes and nomads remained, did Earth stop its eradication through B-cells. Last edited by BlueGenderLove on Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:14 am; edited 3 times in total |
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BlueGenderLove
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While I agree, humanity has a pretty poor record when it comes to the treatment of the Earth, the environment, and ultimately, ourselves, I do not believe that sustainability of humanity on Earth requires regression and some sort of apocalypse that throws us into tribal living. Solutions for our society’s worst attributes exist and there are a lot of people actively trying to implement them. Whether through science, politics, or personal lifestyle changes, as we learn and understand more about the impacts our current lifestyle and social behavior has on our planet, we change.
I believe that without balance, there is no sustainability, without sustainability, there is no humanity. Our future on Earth will require us to live intelligently and considerately. Overconsumption is a huge problem, but it is definitely not a product of overpopulation. Overpopulation is not really a thing in a global sense, population increases with medical advancements, but inevitably, birthrates go down as people’s living standards and access to education increase. Besides that, overconsumption is not a product of high population, the places where its most prevalent never have the highest populations. So the idea that a number of people need to die before human life on Earth is sustainable is not realistic. The pollution caused by humanity is largely product of economic and political incentives by wealthy corporations and people who refuse to allow the sustainable alternatives to impact their share price and portfolios. However, the sustainable alternatives have existed for a while and eventually, will have to replace the less sustainable status quo. Blue Gender was written and released in the late 90s when people really realized just how unsustainable our society is. The good news is we still have time to find and implement the solutions, it will just require more people to realize they have the power to create change and that those changes are required for our species. I totally understand if you (whomever is reading this, wow you’ve read a lot) disagree, however, I will never agree that a society-resetting apocalypse is a better solution than a gradual but eventual socio-political implementation of the peace, equality, and technological progress. |
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