I see it's been six years since anybody commented on this nifty little series, so I'll toss out my opinion just to keep the page fresh.
This series was suggested to me by Netflix's preference engine, so I took a look at the first episode to see what it was about. The Netflix version is dubbed, of course, and the first character you hear, right off the start, is The Premiere, voiced by Beau Billingslea (Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop) at the top of his lungs, exhorting the men of Taraak to go forth into battle against the evil women of Mejere. Hearing ol' Jet again was a plus mark that kept me going for a bit longer, at least.
The story is that at some point in the past the human race in this solar system split off into "The Planet of the Men" (Taraak) and "The Planet of the Women" (Mejere), and are engaged in constant warfare. We see how the women are portrayed from the men's point of view: as medieval-looking demons sending men into helpless fits of terror.
Next we're introduced to our hero, Hibiki Tokai, a loud-mouthed "third-class citizen" who labors on the assembly line of the Vanguards -- the mecha fighter of the men -- and has bet his fellow workers he will steal one right off the ship in which they are being loaded for the latest assault against the women.
I was not crazy about Hibiki's English voice actor, who I thought was overly loud and all shouty-like, but he's supposed to be a hothead, so OK. Hibiki makes his way onto the ship, and just as he's about to climb into his Vanguard, the ship launches early due to the excitement of The Premiere, who advances the launch by two hours.
The ship is launched, Hibiki is discovered and tossed into the brig, "for immediate execution," and then the women attack, in the form of pirates assaulting the just-launched battleship. The pirates take the ship, manned as it is only by trainees and cadets, and immediately (and humanely) evacuate them off the ship. The Premiere, not wanting to surrender the ship to the women, orders it to be torpedoed instead.
Hibiki and two other men -- Bart Garsus, the fast-talking son of a food contractor for the ship, and Duelo McFile, a doctor (voiced by the immortal Stephen Blum) -- are left on the ship in the confusion of the torpedo attack and are quickly rounded up by the women. The explosion sends the pirate ship and the battleship into a wormhole, leaving them far from home, and also activates the mysterious power center of the battleship, the Paksis Pragma, which both combines and transforms the two ships and their equipment.
The mutual discovery of the reality of men and women to each group give the show its dramatic engine, but is not treated in a simplistic manner. Both sides actually believe the propaganda they've heard about the other group, and aren't aware that they are really just male and female humans... except for the pirate's captain, an older woman who seems to have knowledge of a time when men and women weren't separated.
What I enjoyed about this voyage of mutual discovery is that, even in the generations that the sexes have been separate, the spark of interest hadn't disappeared. Almost against their will, the men and women find one another interesting -- especially Dita Liebely, a young pirate Dread (the women's mecha fighters) pilot who takes an instant liking to Hibiki, calling him "Mr. Alien," much to his annoyance. Young doctor Duelo also finds himself forming a friendship with Parfet Balblair, the pirate's chief engineer, while Bart develops an unrequited interest in the pirate second-in-commend, Buzam Calessa.
There are space battles galore, and the surviving Vanguard piloted by Hibiki demonstrates a new ability to "merge" with the pirate's Dreads to form hybrid Vandreads with new, superior capabilities. Lots of humor is derived from the pirates' eagerness (with one notable exception)to "merge" with Hibiki in battle -- at one point Dita spreads her arms and joyfully shouts "Come and get me, Mr. Alien!"
All in all a fun, two-season ride with a group of young men and women rediscovering their human heritage as they battle an implacable enemy intent on destroying their home planets. Season One shows the discovery of The Harvesters and their ultimate goal concerning Mejere and Taraak, and Season Two covers the return home, their reception by their respective planets, and the final battle.
There's humor, sadness, combat, sacrifice, and pretty much every other human emotion in this series, and good English voice acting as well.
My favorite all-time moment: in episode five, "Sweet Temptation," Dita tries to spray-paint another Vanguard pink for a mission in which the women will be flying them, because of their ability to land on a planet's surface. Hibiki, horrified, jumps between her and the Vanguard to stop her, and takes the pink paint full-blast. As Dita coos "A pink alien! How cuuuuuute!" the animation zooms into her delighted face with the absolutely most super-cute expression ever in anime. I swear. Check it out, you'll agree with me.
Catch it on Netflix while it lasts.
This series was suggested to me by Netflix's preference engine, so I took a look at the first episode to see what it was about. The Netflix version is dubbed, of course, and the first character you hear, right off the start, is The Premiere, voiced by Beau Billingslea (Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop) at the top of his lungs, exhorting the men of Taraak to go forth into battle against the evil women of Mejere. Hearing ol' Jet again was a plus mark that kept me going for a bit longer, at least.
The story is that at some point in the past the human race in this solar system split off into "The Planet of the Men" (Taraak) and "The Planet of the Women" (Mejere), and are engaged in constant warfare. We see how the women are portrayed from the men's point of view: as medieval-looking demons sending men into helpless fits of terror.
Next we're introduced to our hero, Hibiki Tokai, a loud-mouthed "third-class citizen" who labors on the assembly line of the Vanguards -- the mecha fighter of the men -- and has bet his fellow workers he will steal one right off the ship in which they are being loaded for the latest assault against the women.
I was not crazy about Hibiki's English voice actor, who I thought was overly loud and all shouty-like, but he's supposed to be a hothead, so OK. Hibiki makes his way onto the ship, and just as he's about to climb into his Vanguard, the ship launches early due to the excitement of The Premiere, who advances the launch by two hours.
The ship is launched, Hibiki is discovered and tossed into the brig, "for immediate execution," and then the women attack, in the form of pirates assaulting the just-launched battleship. The pirates take the ship, manned as it is only by trainees and cadets, and immediately (and humanely) evacuate them off the ship. The Premiere, not wanting to surrender the ship to the women, orders it to be torpedoed instead.
Hibiki and two other men -- Bart Garsus, the fast-talking son of a food contractor for the ship, and Duelo McFile, a doctor (voiced by the immortal Stephen Blum) -- are left on the ship in the confusion of the torpedo attack and are quickly rounded up by the women. The explosion sends the pirate ship and the battleship into a wormhole, leaving them far from home, and also activates the mysterious power center of the battleship, the Paksis Pragma, which both combines and transforms the two ships and their equipment.
The mutual discovery of the reality of men and women to each group give the show its dramatic engine, but is not treated in a simplistic manner. Both sides actually believe the propaganda they've heard about the other group, and aren't aware that they are really just male and female humans... except for the pirate's captain, an older woman who seems to have knowledge of a time when men and women weren't separated.
What I enjoyed about this voyage of mutual discovery is that, even in the generations that the sexes have been separate, the spark of interest hadn't disappeared. Almost against their will, the men and women find one another interesting -- especially Dita Liebely, a young pirate Dread (the women's mecha fighters) pilot who takes an instant liking to Hibiki, calling him "Mr. Alien," much to his annoyance. Young doctor Duelo also finds himself forming a friendship with Parfet Balblair, the pirate's chief engineer, while Bart develops an unrequited interest in the pirate second-in-commend, Buzam Calessa.
There are space battles galore, and the surviving Vanguard piloted by Hibiki demonstrates a new ability to "merge" with the pirate's Dreads to form hybrid Vandreads with new, superior capabilities. Lots of humor is derived from the pirates' eagerness (with one notable exception)to "merge" with Hibiki in battle -- at one point Dita spreads her arms and joyfully shouts "Come and get me, Mr. Alien!"
All in all a fun, two-season ride with a group of young men and women rediscovering their human heritage as they battle an implacable enemy intent on destroying their home planets. Season One shows the discovery of The Harvesters and their ultimate goal concerning Mejere and Taraak, and Season Two covers the return home, their reception by their respective planets, and the final battle.
There's humor, sadness, combat, sacrifice, and pretty much every other human emotion in this series, and good English voice acting as well.
My favorite all-time moment: in episode five, "Sweet Temptation," Dita tries to spray-paint another Vanguard pink for a mission in which the women will be flying them, because of their ability to land on a planet's surface. Hibiki, horrified, jumps between her and the Vanguard to stop her, and takes the pink paint full-blast. As Dita coos "A pink alien! How cuuuuuute!" the animation zooms into her delighted face with the absolutely most super-cute expression ever in anime. I swear. Check it out, you'll agree with me.
Catch it on Netflix while it lasts.