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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/geneshaft2.jpg]]
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3It's the 23rd century. Humanity has had a series of devastating wars behind it, putting it on the brink of extinction. In an attempt to deal with this problem, human population has been put under control through genetic engineering. Everyone has a set destiny from birth and the ratio between woman and men has been brought to 9:1, since [[TheUnfairSex most of the problems seem to stem from male aggression]]. People are categorized according to their genetic profile, which leads to certain Skills. Love and passion are largely eliminated--but not fully.
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5Mika Seido is a 16 year old girl born into this world with a "white" genetic make-up, which means that her role has not been completely filled in at birth. Because of this, she often is treated as inferior, especially by Mir Lotus, whose Skills are far beyond those of most other people. Mika likes to write e-mails to her sentient dog on earth and is devastated when her "mama" dies because of an alien attack.
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7Humanity faces its largest threat yet when gigantic rings appear in the space around earth, one of which promptly destroys several large cities--one with Mika's mama in it. The rings are controlled by the advanced {{AI|IsACrapshoot}} Oberon, who has [[BigBadDuumvirate forged an alliance]] with an [[HiddenVillain unknown leader]] of an anti-government terrorist group in order to wipe out humanity. To fight the rings, a special space ship has been constructed: the Bilkis. On board it carries a special weapon in the form of one of the weirdest-looking HumongousMecha ever devised in anime: the Shaft. Mika is put onboard of the Bilkis and has to challenge both the alien and human threat and convince the crew--and herself--of her "white" potential.
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9''Geneshaft'' was released in 2001 by Creator/BandaiEntertainment in America. It is an interesting take on the "humongous mecha in space" theme in that it maintains a curious and intense dynamic between the characters. The men still appear to be very macho, despite having grown up in a society ruled by women. People who are very sensitive to the abuse of scientific themes might best steer clear off this series. For all the other viewers, ''Geneshaft'' can be a nice ride along all of the tropes that come with the genre--and they can enjoy the wonderful animation and the heart-warming ending.
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12!!Provides Examples Of:
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14* TheAce: Mir Lotus, thanks to her DNA, has perfect skills that she will not hesitate to brag about.
15* AIIsACrapshoot: Oberus, one of the [[BigBadDuumvirate two main villains]], is an AI of unknown alien origin who determines that humans are disrupting the order of the universe and plots to destroy human society.
16* AmazonBrigade: Thanks to 23rd Century's gender ratio favoring females over males, the crew of the Bilki.
17* AnyoneCanDie: By the end of the story, [[spoiler:Remmy, Mario, [[BigBadDuumvirate Oberus, Sneak]], and even ''[[{{Deuteragonist}} Sophia]]'' all die.]]
18* BigBadDuumvirate: Oberus, an {{AI|IsACrapshoot}} [[spoiler:disguised as [[GeniusLoci Jupiter’s moon Europa]]]] that is the source of the giant rings attacking the Bilkis ship, and [[spoiler:Lord Sergei the 4th Sneak]], the leader of the [[MisanthropeSupreme human anti-humanity terrorists]] [[spoiler:and the [[MoleInCharge commander of the ship]] using the terrorists for his own benefit]], are [[TheQuisling working together]] to [[KillAllHumans annihilate humanity]], seeing it as a “bug” in the universe that must be deleted.
19* BigBrotherMentor: Mario, who manages to ''actually'' be someone's brother, something rare in a world of DesignerBabies, and comes across as a [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann proto-Kamina]].
20* BodySurf: In one episode, a ring keeps copying crew members appearances.
21* BrandX: Karlboro cigarettes.
22* BridgeBunnies: Many of the crew members, some of whom are even "programmed" to operate it.
23* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Mir practically worshiped Lord Sneak and was obviously in love with him, looking up to him as a brilliant commander and even [[FirstNameBasis calling him Sergei]]. Then she learns that [[BigBadDuumvirate Sergei is working with Oberus]] to KillAllHumans, and she goes into deep denial and does a brief FaceHeelTurn before eventually snapping out of it, abandoning him, and cutting her hair to symbolize letting go of him]].
24* BunnyEarsLawyer: People are expected to put up with raving maniacs like Jean, loonies like Dolce, and haughty divas like Mir, because they are literally ''born'' to be the best at their jobs, and that's the only thing that matters.
25* ClonesAreExpendable: A tenet of the future society.
26* CloudCuckooLander: Dolce, who only communicates through her puppet.
27* CooldownHug: Between {{Humongous Mecha}}s.
28* CreepyMonotone: Beatrice.
29--> '''Beatrice:''' If you are unable to obey rules regarding personal behavior on the bridge, by my authority as ship's Register... I will execute you.
30* DramaticSpaceDrifting: [[spoiler: One such scene occured when Ryoko's lifeless body floating in zero gravity along with droplets of blood after she shot herself to allow more air for Hiroto.]]
31* ElegantGothicLolita: Dolce.
32* EmotionlessGirl: Beatrice, who suppresses her emotions artificially, being a Register.
33* FantasticCasteSystem: Entire humanity in 23rd Century is divided into genetic types named after colors that marked their professions. The known castes are: "white"--which Mika possesses--is considered inferior due to their lack of overt skills and traits, "Purple" enhanced physiques also complemented with beauty,
34* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The American space shuttle crew in one episode, whose appearance are connected to the rings. To contrast them with the Bilkis' crew, they are depicted as older and more realistic-looking but also brash and unrefined. [[spoiler: And they were projections made by the rings all along.]]
35* GeniusLoci: [[spoiler:Jupiter’s moon Europa turns out to be [[AIIsACrapshoot Oberus]] itself.]]
36* GratuitousItalian: The various scripts which control the Bilkis are all actually pieces of Italian football (soccer) jargon.
37* HateSink:
38** [[spoiler:Lord Sergei the 4th Sneak]] is the terrorist leader allied with the AI Oberon. A [[HeManWomanHater misogynist]] and misanthrope, [[spoiler:Sneak]] hates the woman-run society and plays both the government and the terrorists to destroy it. [[spoiler:Sneak]] is also abusive to his subordinates, most of whom are women, and is uncaring if they die, getting many of them killed in suicide missions and personally killing one. Utterly obsessed with perfection, [[spoiler:Sneak]] is a narcissist who orchestrates every death in the plot to KillAllHumans and replace them with a perfect new race.
39** Captain Jean Gedoo/Gedoux is a PsychopathicManchild who represents the corruption within the government. Ordered to capture the Strain crew heroines, Jean hounds them, abuses his subordinate, and disobeys orders by trying to kill the Strain crew to get at his rival Mario. When his subordinate accidentally wipes out nearly their whole fleet, Jean [[NeverMyFault blames her for his own recklessness]] and takes the opportunity to make himself the new commander. He then [[EvilGloating gloats about killing General Natalie]], a dear friend of Mario's, and ultimately gets them both killed.
40%%* HeroicSacrifice: At one point in the series it could become a drinking game. (ZCE)
41* HumansAreFlawed: The point of the show. The new system of shaping humanity’s future with DNA is doomed to fail because humans are imperfect, and constraints like that will only make things worse. Yet, despite humans having nearly destroyed the world in the past, there is still hope that humanity can thrive on its own, and [[spoiler:Lord Sneak]] wanting to flat-out KillAllHumans and replace them with his own perfect race is equally wrong and twisted.
42* HumongousMecha: The Shaft, a very weird mecha, which looks more like a set of cranes welded together to vaguely resemble a human outline. It is also unclear why it should look remotely human anyway, given its function in the story.
43* ImprobablyFemaleCast: The show features a society openly declared to be 90% female. Justified in that the entire society is genetically engineered to have a 1:9 female-male ratio because men are seen as too aggressive (and also because it allows the few male characters to have a SupportingHarem; and, in the case of villains like Jean and BigBad [[spoiler:Lord Sneak]], to easily prove how evil they are since they WouldHitAGirl).
44* InformedAbility: Tiki is supposed to be a CuteBruiser, but she mostly plays the role of BridgeBunny.
45* InsufferableGenius: Dolce, who is unmatched at computer programming. And lets everybody know. Through her puppet. Loudly. Even her poor fellow programmers are annoyed by her constant shouting and refusal to let them rest.
46* ImportantHaircut: Mir cuts her hair after [[spoiler:[[BrokenPedestal learning of Lord Sneak's betrayal]]]].
47* LensFlare
48* MeaningfulName:
49** [[spoiler:Lord Sneak turns out to be a sneaky villain.]]
50** The last episode's title is [[Literature/ChildhoodsEnd Childhood's Beginning.]]
51* {{Meganekko}}: Remmy, although she doesn't really need her glasses.
52* MementoMacGuffin: [[spoiler:Remmy's glasses.]]
53* MildlyMilitary: Even [[spoiler:Mika trying to shoot her own captain for personal issues, like the death of her friend Ryoko in the past,]] doesn't raise any eyebrows.
54* MisanthropeSupreme: The terrorists led by [[spoiler:Lord Sneak]], despite being humans, hate humanity and believe they are a plague on the universe that disrupt the natural order. [[spoiler:Lord Sneak]] in particular gives a whole speech on how humanity is a “bug” messing up the universe that must be deleted to protect the system.
55* TheMole: [[spoiler:Remy and Lord Sneak are working with the terrorists and aliens to destroy humanity. Sneak is also a MoleInCharge, since he is a high-ranking commander who more-or-less runs the ship.]]
56* MundaneUtility: A WaveMotionGun doubling as a [[spoiler: terraforming tool]].
57* NotSoStoic: Beatrice tends to crack up if she failed to take prescriptions that hold back her emotions. Captain Hiroto is programmed to show no emotions but [[spoiler: he is still haunted by Ryoko's HeroicSacrifice]].
58* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: Lord Sneak’s superiors, a group of five old men who discuss the events of the story and their plans back on Earth. [[spoiler:They end up having little to do with the story in the long run, as Sneak betrays them in favor of the aliens.]]
59* OneWorldOrder: The Earth of the 23rd Century has become this, ostensibly preventing conflict and having rewritten society under more "stable, efficient" lines. Unfortunately, not everyone's on board with the whole idea.
60* PathOfInspiration: The society believes that it is logical to be hardcoded to die at 45 because one is no longer at 100% efficiency, justifies it as individuals being a mere expression of their genetic code and thus replaceable by brand new clones, and that the best male-female ratio is supposed to be 1:9 because of males being excessively HotBlooded, yet their rulers and founders of your way of life are a bunch of 200-year-old men, who are not in a hurry to be replaced by their younger selves.
61* PhlebotinumBreakdown: The constant crashes of the Shaft's computer systems.
62* PluckyGirl: Mika.
63* PosthumousCharacter: Ryoko, Mika’s childhood friend whom she thought Captain Hiroto was responsible for killing to save himself when their ship lacks enough air for both of them. Unfortunately, Ryoko's death was considered "expendable" by the society because she had an identical "sister" and lower genetic strata than her captain--who Mika hate him for these reasons initially--or [[spoiler: it was the fact that Ryoko killed herself in a HeroicSacrifice for her superior Hiroto's survival]].
64* {{Precursors}}: The Giants.
65* PunnyName: Remmy Levistrauss. Levi Strauss is a jean company (gene/jean pun).
66* PsychopathicManchild: Jean, a government official who casually abuses his ([[WouldHitAGirl female]]) [[NumberTwo Register]], expresses joy when said register accidentally vaporizes nearly their whole fleet (including his commander) because it gives him more freedom, [[ThirdPersonPerson refers to himself in the third person like a child]], and [[LaughingMad laughs gleefully]] as he chases down the heroines’ ship to destroy it and kill them all.
67* RapidFireTyping: Which somehow works against computer viruses.
68* ShoutOut: The titles of all episodes are variations on the titles of famous SF stories or straight references. [[Literature/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress "The Moon is a Hard Master"]], [[Creator/ArthurCClarke "The Sentinel"]], [[Literature/ChildhoodsEnd "Childhood's Beginning"]], [[Literature/TheShipWho "The Ship Who Sang"]]...
69* StatuesqueStunner: Sofia Galgalim is the tallest and strongest member of the crew, which her genetic type (Purple) that provided her with enhanced physiques also complemented with her beauty.
70* StockFootage: The deployment of the Shaft.
71* {{Stripperific}}: In the future there are some... interesting ideas about women's military attire.
72* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Mario and Sofia do this to Jean and Oberus, respectively; Mario detonates a bomb in his suit, while Sofia rams her part of the Shaft into the giant AI moon.]]
73* TechnoBabble: To the point of becoming ridiculous.
74* ThirdPersonPerson: Jean.
75* ThrownOutTheAirlock: Two examples occurred when the energy from activated ring struck the station in first two episodes. One had an unfortunate person (and possibly others) vented from shattered viewing port of the lounge and other had two crews vented out into space before the bulkhead was sealed.
76* TokenMiniMoe: Tiki is 12, but wears even more {{Stripperiffic}} clothes than the rest of the crew.
77* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Humanity seems to have achieved something of a utopian society, but at a heavy cost to its...well, humanity. [[spoiler: In fact, Lord Sneak decided to push it up with the support of the Rings by transforming the entirety of humanity into a single consciousness.]]
78* ViewerFriendlyInterface: Widely shown to see the crew's works.
79* WeHaveReserves: Half of the cast's job is being a replacement for the other half.
80* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: NoSexAllowed, romantic love is apparently dead, and friendships are expected to be shallow. But ThePowerOfLove is stubborn. [[spoiler: Like with [[BelligerentSexualTension Mika and Captain Hiroto]].]]
81* YouAreInCommandNow: [[spoiler:Beatrice, who's genetically engineered to be an eternal NumberTwo.]]

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