http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vandread.jpg
An examination of gender politics and cultural divisions played out as a SpaceOpera MechaShow...no, really.

In the far-flung future, there are a pair of colony worlds: ''Tarak'' and ''Mejale'', locked in a constant state of SpaceColdWar.

Tarak is the Orwellian, industrial, militarized planet of men. All food is synthetic, flavorless pills. [[RatedMForManly All public gatherings are related to sports, marching, and being manly]]. Everyone wears a uniform. [[CloningBlues Babies are made by merging your genes with those of your buddies in a factory]], and they are raised by dedicated orphanages/schools.

Mejale is the beautiful but impractical planet of women. All things are polished and shiny. All military uniforms are [[{{Stripperiffic}} excessively flattering]]. Appearances are all important. The citizenry form couples, of the [[LesYay lesbian top/bottom variety]], called the "Oma" and "Fama "in the native vernacular (probably derived from ''homme'' and ''femme''), and make babies by merging two eggs and implanting them in the Fama. They eat real food and celebrate real holidays, like Christmas.

Naturally, the two worlds hate each other.

The story follows a young man named Hibiki Tokai, a factory worker from Tarak who wants more than anything to be a mecha pilot. When his attempt to steal a HumongousMecha get him thrown into the brig of reconstructed battleship, things seem to be looking down...until the ship gets attacked by SpacePirates, and Hibiki, a {{bishonen}} doctor, a cowardly officer and a malfunctioning robot wind up as prisoners on a ship full of women. [[RockBottom Things couldn't possibly get any worse]].

That's when the pirates find themselves stranded on the far end of the galaxy, with a mysterious alien force out to kill them. But, as a result of some serious PlotTechnology, the pirate vessel merges with the men's starship, and one of the "Vanguard" mecha and three of the pirates' "Dread" fighters are altered. The Vanguard, piloted by Hibiki, can combine with any of the three Dreads into a form with amazing abilities.

All of the sudden, Hibiki's the focus of [[TheUnwantedHarem three girls with different personalities]] whom all want to try and [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "merge" with him]]. Of course, [[HetIsEw none of them have any concept of heterosexuality]], and Hibiki doesn't even seem to know about ''any'' sexuality. They clumsily rediscover their biological imperatives as they fight a mysterious shadow enemy across the universe.

The three main girls, the pilots of the Dreads, are a variation on TheThreeFacesOfEve principle, with a military twist:
* Dita Liebely, a child-like, bubbly GenkiGirl, who's obsessed with aliens. She calls Hibiki "Uchujin-san" (literally "Mr. Spaceman"). She can't cook too well, but then, Hibiki was raised on synthetic food pellets.
* Meia Gisborn, TheStoic leader of the Dread squadron, is a consummate fighter pilot and professional officer. She acts as a [[OneeSama mother figure]], despite her lack of domesticity
* Jura Basil Elden, the vain, [[MostCommonSuperpower voluptuous]] and self-absorbed squadron sub-commander. She has a lover, Barnette Orangello, who's exasperated at Jura's attention towards Hibiki.

The characteristics of the merged Vandread mecha are unique metaphors for Hibiki's relationship with each girl:
* "Vandread Dita" is a large, powerful humanoid mecha armed with a pair of beam cannons. When they merge, Dita loses her seat and winds up on Hibiki's lap
* "Vandread Meia" is a fighter that resembles a robotic bird. It's extremely fast and manueverable. In a rather ironic twist, Hibiki rides on ''her'' lap
* "Vandread Jura" is a slow, crab-like fighter, with a collection of remote pods, that can fire beams at the enemy, and project an energy shield around an entire planet if needs be. The cockpit has a round control console with mobile chairs, meaning Hibiki and Jura are constantly jockeying with each other for control of the ship.
*[[spoiler:In addition to all this, the "Super Vandread" (aka "Vandread Pyoro"), formed by combining Hibiki's Vanguard and all three Dreads with Pyoro at once, is a massive humanoid mecha with the abilities of all three Vandreads. It can also mix their abilities, such as combining Vandread Dita's cannons and Jura's shields into a WaveMotionGun. It even gets enough chairs and control stations for everyone. [[AnAesop See what happens]] when [[ThePowerOfFriendship we all work together?]]]]

Most of the crew fit dual roles for both a madcap, romantic-comedy and a military story. TheCaptain is also a wise grandmother, the medical technician's also a naughty {{lolicon}} nurse, the local WrenchWench is a [[NerdsAreSexy Meganekko]] and a GadgeteerGenius, while the communications officer is a friendly, pregnant YamatoNadeshiko. The first officer's essentially the HaremNanny, and the quartermaster's the wise CoolBigSis.

Over time, the three men and the enormous gang of women come to an understanding, and they work together to unravel the bigger mysteries of the universe, like the origin of their robotic enemies and the fate of the other human colonies. A very funny and enjoyable dose of ''MartianSuccessorNadesico'' meets ''LoveHina'' meets ''StarTrekVoyager''.
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!!This show contains examples of:

* AbridgedSeries: So far there's just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5_AFJACVBk one episode]], but the next one should be up soon. With actual girls playing the females too!!
* AdaptationExpansion: The anime is way longer than the manga. Here are some differences betwwen the two.
** Bart & Duero only appeared in one page.
** Many characters are absent (Ezra, Gascogne, Pyoro, even the pirate leader).
** Buzam is the BigBad.
** Hibiki only combines with Dita.
** [[spoiler: Barnette is in love with Hibiki]].
* AllYourPowersCombined ([[spoiler:Super Vandread]], naturally, being [[spoiler:a CombiningMecha of the three Vandreads]])
* AnAesop (Something about life being worth fighting for)
* AncientConspiracy ([[spoiler:The rulers of Tarak and Mejale were in on Earth's harvesting operation the whole time.]])
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter (the birth-cry of Ezra's daughter causes an alien computer virus to shut down, as it was pre-programmed password/deactivation switch.)
* BackForTheFinale
* BeamOWar
* BeamSpam ([[spoiler:Nirvana's primary attack]])
* BeehiveBarrier ([[spoiler:Super Vandread]], not to mention the Nirvana. Also Vandread Jura when ''NOT'' using its planetary shield)
* BerserkButton (Do NOT hurt Jura while Barnette is anywhere nearby...)
* BigBad ([[spoiler:Earth]])
* {{Bishonen}} (Duero)
* BlindIdiotTranslation (Misty calling Meia [[OneeSama "dear sister"]] in the dub, confusing the hell out of everyone)
** This is unfortunately in the sub as well.
*** Yes, but at least there anyone with a working knowledge of Japanese knows the intention.
* BornInAnElevator (Kahlua, aka Pyoro-2)
* BridgeBunnies (Belvedere Coco, Celtic Midori and Amarone Slantheav)
* CannotSpitItOut (Hibiki and Dita have a slight communication problem)
* ConspicuousCG (All the space scenes are done with computer graphics, mixing animation in surprisingly well)
* CoolStarship (Nirvana, obviously. Not to mention the massive and terrifying Harvester motherships)
* CosplayOtakuGirl (Celtic wears a costume even while on duty, but that's just to protect herself from nasty boy germs)
** Only in the first season. Second Stage has her in a different costume each episode, none of them terribly "protective", IfYouKnowWhatIMean.
* CouchGag (''Second Stage'' has a clip of the current episode in its opening sequence)
** It's there in the first season, too
* CreepyChild ([[spoiler:The Earthling who attacks Tarak and Majale at the end of the series]])
* DisneyDeath ([[spoiler: Gascogne. She gets better]])
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything The polits use "combining" in ways that make it sound an awful lot like something else men and women do...
* DoTheyKnowItsChristmasTime (With the Captain Magno even [[spoiler:dressing up as Santa]])
* DroppedABridgetOnHim (Bart Garsus, upon TheReveal that [[spoiler:BC is a GenderBender [[TheMole mole]]. [[HoYay This doesn't stop him, though...]]]]
** In all honesty, this probably got dropped on EVERYONE.
*** Except the captain. She knew about it the whole time.
* EmpathyPet (Misty's holographic blob Q-chan)
* EnfanteTerrible ([[spoiler:The commander of the Harvester Fleet]], who has [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]], telepathically "speaks" with a grown man's voice, and [[MindOverMatter can use telekinesis to crush things/people]])
* EvilCounterpart ([[spoiler:The green Paksis Pragma inside the Nirvana has a twin red Paksis...used by Earth for commanding its Harvesters]])
* EvilKnockoff ([[spoiler:The Harvesters gain the ability to copy the Vandreads, even the Nirvana]])
* EvolvingCredits
* EyesAlwaysShut (Ezra)
* FirstGirlWins
* FlashStep Vandread Meia can do this.
* FreudWasRight (The way the girls (Dita and Jura more than Meia) fight over who gets to combine with Hibiki, not to mention Barnette's jealousy of Jura's intense desire to combine with Hibiki and the fact that a Vanguard can ''only'' combine with a Dread, not another Vanguard...yes, the CombiningMecha are ''totally'' a metaphor for sex)
** The Tarak ship and the pirate ship combining, with Bart as its pilot Buck-nekkid and all) represents reproduction.
*** To analyze that metaphor further, the [[spoiler:Nirvana's development of what amounts to a Wave-Motion Gun and the uncooperativeness of the Paxis at the time are an obvious analogue for Puberty, and the actual firing of said gun could be one for ejaculation.]]
** At least early on, whenever Hibiki and the girls were done, the boy was absolutly exhausted for no real reason, especially if he combined multiple times in a battle.
** The first time Hibiki and Meia combined, when we first saw them after the last Harvester was destroyed, they both collapsed in their seats exhausted, taking in deep, panting breaths. I think they were sweating too.
* {{Gainaxing}}
* GattacaBabies (Genetic engineering lets two males have a baby who's born in a factory, while with two females, one of them carries the engineered baby to term in the normal style. In a way, CloningBlues ensues)
* GenderBender (Telling who it is would be a spoiler, of course. ([[spoiler:It's BC]]) If you read the spoiler without seeing the show, you now have anti-zen: knowledge without understanding)
* GirlInABox (How the crew finds Misty)
* GirlsHaveCooties (Inverted with the aforementioned Celtic)
* GondorCallsForAid (Actually, they came unbidden)
* GrandFinale
* HasTwoMommies (Implicitly, all of the female characters, explicitly Ezra, who is pregnant with the daughter of her "Ohma" Rebecca up until The Second Stage)
* HeroicSacrifice (Subverted: Hibiki attempts to stop the BigBad's WaveMotionGun by plugging it with his Vanguard, mentioning he really doesn't give two damns so long as his friends are safe. Dita, Meia and Jura fly into the breach [[BigDamnHeroes without even a moment's hesitation]]. [[spoiler:The Paksis helps them out by blowing said WaveMotionGun away, effectively the EleventhHourSuperpower]])
** But not subverted when [[spoiler:Gascogne pilots her ship into the side of an enemy mothership, a suicide run that creates a hole in the ship that they use to attack it from within in the following episode.]]
* HetIsEw (In the ChristmasEpisode, everyone except Dita had this reaction to the video showing a man-woman couple and their daughter)
* HeyItsThatVoice (Tons from YumiKakazu (Dita), FumikoOrikasa (Meia), YuuAsakawa (Jura), SayakaOhara (Ezra) and TomokazuSeki (Bart))
** English Version: (Once again, many, [[GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Togusa]]: [[spoiler:(Guy!BC)]], [[GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex The Major]]: (Jura), [[GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Batou]]: (Kokoperi), [[TheMelancholyOfHaruhiSuzumiya Yuki Nagato]] (Belvedere Coco), [[DigimonTamers Yamaki]] (Duelo) [[DigimonTamers Renamon]] (Gascogne) and many more... )
* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum (Hibiki; just ''combine'' with someone already and get it over with!)
* HotShounenMom (Ezra, once she gives birth anyway)
* HugeGuyTinyGirl (Duero and Parfait. Oddly makes the whole pairing cuter)
* HumansAreBastards (Partially invoked: turns out [[spoiler:Earth's responsible for sending out the Harvester fleets]])
* HumanResources (The Harvester fleets)
* HumongousMecha
** RealRobot (The unmodified Dreads of Magno's pirates are not too implausible from a space opera standpoint)
** SuperRobot (The titular Vandreads, on the other hand...
** CombiningMecha (The Vandreads again)
** TransformingMecha ([[spoiler:One Harvester EliteMook copies the Nirvana's shape and transforms it into a humanoid mode]])
* IncendiaryExponent
* InstantAIJustAddWater (Arguably, this along with the Paksis is what happened to Pyoro to bring him from [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence brick to human-level sentience]].)
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum (The Paksis, both the one on the Nirvana and [[spoiler:the one controlling the Harvester fleet]])
* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY (Gascogne wants you to know it's pronounced "Gas-Co-NYU")
* LampshadeHanging Pyaro in episode four of Second Stage: He can ''smell'' the sexuality!!
* LastMinuteHookup (Literally)
* LatexSpaceSuit (Maya's suit)
* LittlestCancerPatient (One-shot character Shirley)
* LovableTraitor ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rabbat/Robert/Labbat]])
** It's ''Rabat''; WordOfGod says it's a contraction of "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rat bastard]]" (his real name is revealed to be Sam later in the series)
* MacrossMissileMassacre
* TheMothership
* NerdGlasses (Worn by WrenchWench, {{meganekko}} Parfait)
* NerdsAreSexy (Parfait, who even starts hooking up with {{bishonen}} doctor Duelo)
* NonHumanSidekick (Pyoro and Butan, Rabat's pet orangutan)
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness (The male elders of Tarak)
* OffModel (Happens as early as the second episode. This ''is'' a Gonzo show, after all...)
* OneeSama (Meia; she literally gets called this way by Misty, causing her to [[LuminescentBlush break her stoic persona]])
* OneGenderRace (This is accomplished through technology, however. Genetically, they're still human)
* {{Oranyan}} (Hibiki)
* OurIndiansAreDifferent (The telepaths on the planet in the middle of the magnetic storm on the way to the Tarak/Mejale system all have a definite southwestern Native American vibe, and they live in pueblos. The elder even does a sand painting while Hibiki's finishing his trial.)
* ThePaolo (Misty)
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish (Subverted; [[spoiler:who the hell sets a password to the voice of a ''baby's cry''?]]
** Played straight with the password used to protect the systems of the Nirvana and to disable a planetary minefield around Tarak
* PlanetOfHats (Tarak and Mejale as [[AnAesop an aesop]] that men and women need each other)
* ThePromise (Hibiki's promise to visit Dita's room)
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy (The men from Tarak are generally portrayed as this: the commander of the Vanguard unit even goes out of his way to say "It is a good day to die" [[spoiler:before drawing first blood in the most {{badass}} way during the final battle]])
* RagsToRoyalty (Hibiki's in fact [[spoiler:the son of the leaders of Tarak and Mejale. This allows him to have a say in regards to how both worlds should forge their own destinies instead of being cattle for Earth.]])
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap (Bart. Not only was he rescued, but he TookALevelInBadass, complete with the Nirvana gaining a BeamSpam
* RobotBuddy (Pyoro)
* SchoolgirlLesbians (Well, space pirate lesbians, anyway)
** Then again, there is only ''one'' depicted lesbian pair, and half of that one is after Hibiki
*** There's also one other, but we don't get to meet Ezra's Ouma until the penultimate episode, as she was left on Mejale Yup, this is still very much a {{seinen}} fantasy
* ScreamingBirth (The Second Stage, Ezra finally delivers her baby while trapped in an elevator in the middle of an attack and with her only help being Hibiki, the only one there with her, and the advice of Duelo and Magno.)
* [=~Screw The Rules, I'm Doing What's Right~=] (Hibiki launches into an epic speech near the end, hoping to rally support against the BigBad that Tarak and Mejale's planetary governments have denied the very existence of. As a result, [[spoiler:there's massive defections from the military of both planets, to form an impromptu defensive line against the forces from a degenerate Earth]]. It works.)
* SitchSexuality (Most of the women hate men as the enemy, but as the series progresses, many of them seem to have been in same-sex relationships due to a lack of options rather than preference. It also seems as though none of the men on Tarak pair off (this is, after all, a {{seinen}} fantasy show, not a [[YaoiGuys shonen-ai]] vehicle))
** Possibly justified by the Tarakians' [[PlanetOfHats hat]] being over-the-top manliness, making HoYay, with the possible exception of HardGay, unlikely.
***Unless they model themselves on other warrior societies such as Samurai, Spartans, Romans, Athenians, the Big Nambas from Paupa New Guinea, the Vikings, Pirates. Actually almost all warrior societies come to think of it.
** There is some idle chatter in the first episode where some random Tarakian soldiers muse on making a baby together.
** Also, in the start of the second season, Paiway observed that the day started with Dita chasing Hibiki, to which she says "I can't believe Dita would want to chase a man, what a weirdo." This suggests that most women prefer to go after other women.
*** Also, check the ChristmasEpisode.
** Jura, for all her attempts to combine with Hibiki and trying to have a kid with him, is quite obviously gay for Barnette.
* SpaceOpera
* SpacePirates
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens (The Paksis)
* TheStoic (Meia)
* ShutUpHannibal
* {{Stripperiffic}} Somewhat averted, actually, given the suits worn by the pirates for ground ops are quite monstrous
** Come on, you're forgetting that Jura's daily costume fits this very trope to a T?
* TelepathicSpacemen
* TheThreeFacesOfEve: Dita (child), Meia (wife), Jura (seductress)
* TouchedByVorlons (Hibiki, Dita, Jura, Meia and Pyoro, due to the influence of the Paksis)
* ThirdPersonPerson (Jura...sometimes. Also, Dita)
* ThroughHisStomach
* TrashOfTheTitans
* TronLines
* TugLoverWar
* TwelveEpisodeAnime (Originally, but then a second season was made which picks up right where the first left off and provides the ''real'' conclusion)
* TheUnwantedHarem (Not just the pilots are chasing Hibiki, after a while)
* UnstoppableRage (Semi-subverted, as Hibiki cuts through a swath of smaller robots after seeing someone die in front of him, just to be swatted away by the enemy flagship)
** Also played straight when Bart's RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap
* UnusualEuphemism (If the proof of your existence lasts more than four hours, consult your physician)
* VerbalTic (Pyoro)
* VillainDecay (Averted with the second Harvester mothership, which learned from earlier battles. It takes [[spoiler:a HeroicSacrifice by Gascogne]] to stop it. Played straight with the three motherships in the GrandFinale, where they are destroyed rather easily. Of course, this is probably due to the fact that [[spoiler:they were being ganged-up on by the fleets of two planets, one space station, three [[CoolShip cool ships]] and [[spoiler:a hijacked Harvester mothership, courtesy of Gascogne, due to not being NotQuiteDead]]. Not to mention, they were [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil in the presence of the]] BigBad. The EvilKnockoff of the Nirvana also suffered from this, having TWO of them easily defeated by the Vandread Dita and the allied RedshirtArmy, despite being nigh-invincible in its first appearance.
* WaveMotionGun (Features a lot of them, from Vandread Dita's twin shoulder-mounted cannons, to the Harvester motherships' main guns)
* WeWillUseMicrosInTheFuture (Despite being set far in the future, one episode had the characters finding an ancient VCR tape. It was the work of moments to find a working player, power it, and interface it with the current dual-ship intercom system. Try doing that today!)
** Not quite - they find the tape in the old ship section, where it's entirely reasonable that a tape found there will play in the players on that ship. Showing the tape on the intercom is HandWaved by the two ships having been merged into one by the Paksis; naturally their intercoms would have been, too.
** That probably wasn't a VCR tape as we know it, but future tech cassette tape that allows it to work and display in whatever system you interface it within moments. It just looks like a VCR tape the way that laserdisks, CDs, etc, are the same shape as LPs.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: Hilariously played with the first time Vandread Jura comes into play. Jura is highly disappointed it doesn't look the least bit elegant, the bridge crew think it looks like a giant crab, and at first appearance, didn't seem all that impressive. However, once Jura learned it was a shielding god that could defend an entire planet by itself, she grew to like it, even invoking this trope in an emotional sense.
* WhipItGood (BC during [[spoiler:her fight with Liz]])
* TheWorfBarrage ([[spoiler:The Tarak minefield activates when the Harvester motherships enter the star system. In a mild subversion, it actually manages to destroy one. Unfortunately, there are three more]])
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech (Episode 12 of ''Second Stage'')

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