Product Details

• Actors: Hiroyuki Yoshino, Yumi Kakazu, Julie Maddalena, Fumiko Orikasa, Yu Asakawa
• Format: Animated, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
• VHS Release Date: January 22, 2002
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005RZQ3
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,748 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In this sophomoric sci-fi series, men and women live on separate planets (Talac and Majel) in a state of mutual hostility and ignorance. Mechanic/third-class citizen Hibiki stows away aboard the new Talac flagship and gets caught by the attacking Majel pirates. He's thrown into contact with Dirda, a girl it would be charitable to describe as ditsy--during a battle, she cries, "These guys are really bad aliens!" The women are forced to enlist the aid of Hibiki and two other male prisoners when they're attacked by unknown aliens who look like something made with a high-tech Lego set. The visuals are a jarring mixture of 3-D computer graphics, flat monochromatic artwork, and 2-D drawn animation. With its many explosions, mecha, scantily clad women, and underdog hero, Vandread is clearly aimed at adolescent boys with raging hormones, despite the male-bashing humor. Contains the first 4 of 13 episodes. Rated 13 Up: Nudity, violence, risqué humor. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this anime!, September 22, 2004

By 

T. H. Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vandread - Enemy Engaged (Vol. 1) (DVD)

I admit I was never a huge fan of anime shows. But one dull night at home and nothing else to watch on tv changed all of that. I couldn't find anything else to watch and I came across a few late night anime shows on Starz action channel. I would usually watch for a while just to pass the time. Until I saw Vandread. It was already near the end of the first stage but the episodes I saw were amazing! The story was interesting, with the women and men getting to know one another after years of being separated from the other and the 3D action was outstanding! It totally blew me away. Ever since then I watched the rest of the first stage and all of the second stage and it just kept getting better and better, I didn't want the series to end and I had to see how it all started so now I'm in the process of buying the series DVDs.

Unfortunately the DVDs don't really offer anything on them: all you get is a language choice (English & Japanese), English Subtitles, Scene Access, Promo videos, Design Gallery, Textless openings. Plus four episodes: Boy meets girl, And...I lost my way, This is the path I choose to live, I want to know more about you. Even though I love the episodes especially in letterbox version the DVD itself isn't worth twenty-six dollars.

But that's okay, I still want the entire series on DVD and will pay for it, the series is that good! LOL! It also turned me on to watching other anime shows like Inuyasha, cowboy bebop, et al on the cartoon network and other late night starz action channel anime shows. So I guess it opened up the world of Anime to me.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Those who will buy this video - you know who you are, March 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Vandread - Enemy Engaged (Vol. 1) (DVD)

Vandread is a fun, unpretentious series that doesn't aim to be sophisticated. The loser hero, Hibiki, is found in many other anime shows, but this guy grows up to be a fighter. I admire this hotheaded fool for trying his best. Unlike in other boy-surrounded-by-girls shows, Hibiki eventually takes control over his predicaments. Some will find some annoying Shinji-like traits in this fellow--this show is another one catered to angry young men. Others will find the heroine, Dita, to be annoying--it depends on how much cuteness and idiocity you can tolerate. The assortment of other female cast members is among the best found in the multiple-girls anime genre.

If only the doctor Duero and the helmsman Bart can pilot Vanguards, things will become much more interesting. As it is, only Hibiki can combine with Dreads.
Though the CG designs, a major selling point of the show, are easily overtaken by those produced by American and Canadian studios, the execution of the space fights are so fast and the camera angles are so perfect that you know this can only be done in 3D. When it comes to moving CG camera angles, Gonzo studios is the best. So, if you're unashamedly male, buy this video. If you're female and really want to understand why men are so stupid, buy this video.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Boy-meets-girl space theme, April 12, 2002

By 

Joe (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vandread - Enemy Engaged (Vol. 1) (DVD)

I like boy-meets-girl space themes with action and decent graphics, with slinky gals, occasional jiggling, people who aren't [bad], and this has them. I prefer anime where the genders mix and goofs happen and comedy occurs and sometimes there is heart break. The plot and story aren't necessarily new: Martian Successor Nadesico and a few other series have similar plot. There are pirates, transforming mecha, battles, glitzy affects, and so on just like others. But, it is told with enough original details to make it fresh (beleive me, I have watched a lot of shows, and a lot are pretty dull, so I won't say that without need).

Perfect? No. I am also looking for mature (not twisted nor peverted, just mature) themed anime along the lines of boy-and-girl-have-already-met-and-married-and-have-kiddies to get out of the kiddies in high-school level most are, but since most anime is intended for young kids and serial TV showing, I don't really complain that I don't find it. Series like these make the wait okay.

Nudity? Hmm, gotta look harder I guess. Haven't seen any real nudity in it. Maybe some of the reviewers haven't seen the show? (Or maybe they think of nudity as something other than really naked people?)