BLUE GENDER, Takahashi Ryousuke's (GASARAKI and ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS) latest director
ial effort, follows a trend in Takahashi's choice of the mecha genre. Instead of concentrating on the gee-
whiz factor of mecha combat (of which there is plenty), Takahashi explores the human condition and compl
ex plotlines. In BLUE GENDER, he uses a Rip Van Winkle premise to give the now hackneyed bug hunt plot
a fresh angle and to examine the human condition under such circumstances. Diagnosed with a rare termina
l illness, Kaidou Yuji was put into cold-sleep in the hope that someday a cure may be found. He receives a r
ude awakening when he is revived in the middle of a military operation to evacuate him out of the cold-slee\
p facility. The group is attacked by a giant bug-like creature which wrenches two members into a grotesqu
e cocoon before it is killed by the powersuit escort. It seems like a nightmare, but it's very much a reality for Yuji. He discovers that his abductors are humans under their skull-like masks and that
for Yuji. He discovers that his abductors are humans under their skull-like masks and that
his powersuited rescuer is a young woman named Marlene Angel. Marlene explains that it is now the year 20
fight for survival. The four come across a group of humans living in a ruined city. This settlement managed
to survive by isolating themselves on the island section of the city. With the paranoid reception that Yuji
receives because of his Second Earth uniform, he realizes that there is a schism between the people left b
ehind on earth and the people from orbit. The presence of a Blue hive nearby changes our heroes' travel p
lans. Their attempt to erradicate the local Blue population is successful but at a costly price, leaving only Marlene and Yuji remaining to continue their journey.