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This is the page for characters of the anime Vandread. Be careful of spoilers.

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    Men/Tarak Empire 

The world of the men that's based on totalitarian and militaristic societies. Due to being on a desert planet, they have little resources and focus on efficient use of resources. They focus on mobility, practicality, and one's inner strength in order to survive... to a fault, as everyone is essentially conscripted, there is no social mobility and there is zero tolerance for self-expression, only service and all-encompassing conformity to the Tarak ideal.

In General

  • Badass Army: Their planet is basically a desert with almost no resources. Yet despite these obvious disadvantages compared to the women, they have been able to hold on their own for decades without showing any sign of faltering.
  • Boring, but Practical: Their main Vanguard units aren't much defended and have no ranged weapons due to the Taraks' low technology, but they have really useful features and various different melee weapons. Unlike the fighter-like Dreads, they can be operate in both planet AND space operations.
  • Designer Babies: They reproduce through cloning vats using the genetic material of two different men who have desirable traits beneficial to the martial strength of the Tarak Empire.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Based on various militaristic, industrialized, totalitarian societies: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Samurai, Spartans, you name it.
  • Food Pills: The Taraks' main food source, which are very awful in taste, but extremely beneficial to keep them going for almost months. In contrast to the Mejere, which is why Hibiki seriously gulps it down. It was stated by Pyoro that one pill provides the average human male enough energy to keep going for 300 hours.
  • Four-Star Badass: The commanding officer who joins Hibiki in the final fight against the Harvesters. He shows it by destroying a Vandread Evil Knockoff and a mothership!
  • He-Man Woman Hater: They despise women and see them as liver-eaters. And it makes sense a since their culture contrasts greatly with the men. This is also likely due to propaganda by Grand Pa and Grand Ma.
  • Humongous Mecha: Their main Vanguard units, though the "Humongous" part is averted as they're tiny compared to the Mejere Dreads.
  • Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: They use standard conventional weapons in contrast to women's lasers, but they're effective by their own right, especially against the Harvesters.. Also while less protected, Vanguard also quite versatile, being able to operate in different terrains.
  • Mirroring Factions: Under the veneer of bravado and unity, the Tarak government and its army are no less prideful, vain and elitist than the Mejere. But most damning is that each factions negative aspects and their ongoing stalemate in the war are by design as the leaders of both factions are the same group of human colonists who have made an agreement with the Harvesters to spare their "original" colony members (kept in stasis) as long as they supply them with the multi-generational clones both societies consist of. All the conflicts, issues and the lack of progress by either side in the war is a form of control, to keep the designed societies distracted and in premium shape for harvesting.
  • No Sex Allowed: There really aren't many love-sex relationships in Tarak since everyone is a guy and there are little yaoi relationships with exceptions like Duero and possibly Bart. In fact, all Tarakans think babies were produced in factories.
  • Planet of Hats: Everyone is a guy. Deconstructed that they're made to be worn by the Harvesters.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: A literal form of it. They consider this a necessity for all Taraks to keep their civilization alive.
  • True Companions: A requirement as a Tarak, their society is united under one ideal, all contributing together to the empire. Although this leads to mass groupthink with a degree of elitism between different classes such as soldiers and workers.

Hibiki Tokai

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese), Tony Oliver (English), Carlos Vitale (Latin Spanish)

The main male protagonist of the series. First seen as a Third-Class mechanic, the lowest of Tarak society. He made a bet to steal a marked Vanguard from the newly commissioned Ikazuchi and returning it Tarak unnoticed. Though his infiltration goes smoothly, his attempt at getting the mecha fails and angers the Tarak military. After being sent into the prison block, he becomes one of the only remaining males when Space Pirates attack and everyone inside is consumed by the resulting wormhole.

Often very stubborn, but gets things done when needed. Is easily annoyed when Dita calls him "Mr. Alien" and calls her "UFO Girl" in return (although he loves her cooking so much that she can usually get past his irritation). He develops leadership skills and is able to use his Parther Bangata and the following Vandreads effectively.


  • Babies Ever After: In the epilogue lore, he and Dita have a kid together.
  • Big Eater: For someone who only eats Food Pills that give him nutrients for weeks, it leaves him very hungry when eating normal food.
  • Fell Into The Cockpit: Subverted that his plans was to steal a Humongous Mecha, then bring it back.
    • Double subverted when he and the eventual Nirvana crew get catapulted to the other side of the galaxy. With his marked mecha being necessary for the titular Combining Mecha, he appears to be the best man (no pun intended) on the job.
  • Harem-Powered: Hibiki gains access to a Mecha that can combine with the mecha of several of the female heroines. The girls fight over who gets to combine with him and each fusion grants a different and specific power to the resulting "offspring". In the final battle, the mecha of the hero and all of the women combine into the "Super Vandread", which has all of the powers of the various fusions.
  • Instant Expert: Justified as the parts of the Vanguards are simple enough for one to operate easily in theory, and Paksis may have interfered.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be pretty abrasive prior to his Character Development.
  • The Napoleon: Do not call him "Shorty".
  • Official Couple: With Dita.
  • Rags to Riches: Thanks to being the son of the leaders of both Tarak and Mejere. Whether he keeps this title is left for the viewers and readers of the epilogue.
    • The Tarak Council discuss how much riches he really has, whether he be treated as a diplomat or prince of their world as well as that of Mejere.
  • Right Man in the Wrong Place: His main goal was to bring a marked mecha from a powerful battleship back to Tarak. Then, he gets caught and winds up a prisoner with nearly all women. Once he's sent to another part of the galaxy with said women, it gets attacked by Harvesters and he become the only difference between survival and utter annihilation.
  • Working-Class Hero: Hibiki hails from the working class of Tarak. He's even introduced sneaking into his nations new ship to hijack the latest mecha in order to win a bet.

Duero McFile

Voiced by: Hideki Tasaka (Japanese), Steve Blum (English), Juan Guzmán (Latin Spanish)

A newly graduated cadet of the Ikazuchi who becomes the Nirvana's chief medical officer. A competent doctor who researches the relationship between men and women in his spare time from books left behind on the Nirvana.


  • The Ace: Duero seems to be good at anything he does. According to background rumors, he was able to get a job simply by submitting a blank application with his name on it.
  • Beta Couple: With Parfet, though it only gets to them admitting they do like being in the others presence and Parfet getting jealous when another woman accidentally hugs him.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: As one of the top medical professionals in his class, he can have any job in the fleet if he wants it. When the series starts, he left his job request sheet blank, seeing as nothing to interest him. That said, when the chance to help injured female pirates comes along, he puts on his medical coat and does his duty.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Tall, Dark, and Handsome man with long locks.
  • The Medic: He is a skilled medic before getting a chance to learn about female anatomy. He is still a quick study but had a tough time grasping things at the start, like calling Ezra's just developing fetus a "parasite" before he is told how women carry children.
  • Slasher Smile: His only expression other than calm neutrality, despite being a doctor.
  • Spot the Thread: Starting as soon as the second episode when Hibiki mentions being raised by a 1st Generation colonist he calls "Gramps" despite being a weakling with no ties to the upper echelon of Tarak's government or military to warrant such connections, Duero keeps an interest in Hibiki and eventually pieces together Hibiki is also one of the 1st generation colonists.
  • The Stoic: Rarely does he show his anger or frustration. Even after some women locked him and the other guys back up, he maintains a cool attitude.

Bart Garsus

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English), Antonio Delli (Latin Spanish)

Like Duero, he's a freshly graduated cadet who got caught up in the battle between the Ikazuchi and Magno. He becomes the Nirvana's helmsman after some negotiating. He is a first-class citizen who's somewhat cowardly but does his job well. After some events, he grew into a more reliable officer and friend, losing much of his cowardly attitude.


  • Declaration of Protection: He befriends a young dying girl named Shirley and when the Harvesters come to claim them, he outright says he won't let them touch her. This activates the ship's weapons for the first time. Sadly, Shirley dies from her illness.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: After some character development, he shaves his head bald, marking his transition from a hapless Upper-Class Twit to a more mature man.
  • How Do I Shot Web?: Since the Nirvana's controls are vastly different than the Ikazuchi, he has to learn how to pilot it through trial-and-error. He didn't even know the Nirvana had weapons until early into the second season. To be fair, the Paksis had changed the ship so radically it's unlikely that any other pilot could have done any better.
  • Large Ham: Thanks to his upbringing, he tends to speak grandiosely.
  • Lovable Coward: States himself to be the best at running away. The captain often holds him to that when they have to flee.
  • Only the Chosen May Wield: The ship will have him and only him pilot it.
  • Took a Level in Badass: After losing a small girl he fought to protect, he cut his hair and loses his Lovable Coward attitude.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Shirley's unfinished doll of him. It lacks hair, so he makes himself look like it.
  • Upper-Class Twit: On Tarak, he was the heir to one of the planet's top food-pill producers. It takes a while for him to adjust to the fact that his status means nothing aboard the Nirvana.

Lord Grandpa/Zen Tokai

Voiced by: Mugihito (Japanese), Tom Wyner (English)

The Emperor of Tarak.


    Women/Mejere Kingdom 

The world of women, coming from a lush world full of Crystal Spires and Togas. They are very technologically advanced with a culture the polar opposite of the men. However, due to excessive waste of resources and hyper-competitiveness, they are plagued by internal conflicts amongst themselves which has generated a hub for Space Pirates that attack both sides.


  • Awesome, but Impractical: Mejere weapons are cool and shiny, but are impractical under a number of circumstances. The Dreads are unable to perform planetary operations the way their Vanguard counterparts can and are basically specialized spacefighter units; made for combat at a distance and preventing close-range engagement.
  • Beauty Equals Goodness: Played with. Beauty is everything to the Mejere but they are competitive about it to the degree they are willing to fight each other and waste vast resources to establish this over others.
  • Civil War: Downplayed. Unlike Tarak, the women are more prone to competing with each other to be the best. The nature of their society also results in them having ghetto's and Space Pirates.
  • Combat Pragmatist: To cover for their Awesome, but Impractical features, they use guile tactics. They also have a coordinated mid-battle supply-drop system to keep fighting in prolonged combat.
  • Crapsaccharine World: At first, Mejale seems superior to Tarak due to their individuality, advanced technology, familial love, and delicious food. However, it's soon established that all of those perks come at the cost of severe internal strife and the powerful squandering their limited resources.
  • Designer Babies: Their reproduction methods are more akin to normal human reproduction dynamics in that they form romantic (or otherwise) relationships where one woman carries the child to term, except that said child is a hybrid clone resulting from merging the couples' eggs cells together artificially.
  • Does Not Like Men: Women from this world really don't get along with their opposite gender. The captain states the male characters are lucky it was her pirate crew who captured them because if it was the actual Mejere army, they would have been killed on sight no matter the circumstances.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: They integrate libertarian cultures like those of America, the West, and modern Japanese society.
  • Mirroring Factions: Under all their beauty and aesthetically pleasing veneer, the Mejere government and its army are no less extreme and militaristic than the Varak. But most damning is that each factions negative aspects and their ongoing stalemate in the war are by design as the leaders of both factions are the same group of human colonists who have made an agreement with the Harvesters to spare their "original" colony members (kept in stasis) as long as they supply them with the multi-generational clones both societies consist of. All the conflicts, issues and the lack of progress by either side in the war is a form of control, to keep the designed societies distracted and in premium shape for harvesting.
  • Ms. Fanservice: As it comes with their Proud Beauty culture, Stripperiffic outfits are commonplace.
  • Planet of Hats: Everyone on Mejere is a woman. Deconstructed that they're made to be worn by the Harvesters.
  • Proud Beauty: They notoriously prioritize beauty and flaunting it to others. The more grounded women such as Magno (who was a child when men and women still lived together) and Gascogne snark about it.
  • Shiny-Looking Spaceships: Their ships are all nice, sleek, elegant, and shiny compared to Tarak's more bulky creations.
  • Space Fighter: The Dreads.
  • Space Pirates: Due to failures thanks to their out-of-control waste of resources, many Mejerians resort to this and attack both sides. The main crew of the Nirvana are also this.
  • Straw Feminist: In the eyes of Tarak.
  • True Companions: The members of the tight knit groups they form are extremely dedicated and bonded to each other. Albeit, at the cost of these different groups conflicting with each other, and as seen in the show, internal issues stemming from accusations to majority rule for the sake of group cohesion even if it's detrimental to them as as whole.
  • Vanity Is Feminine: The women of Mejale use their greater resources on vanity projects. Wasting energy for example to make their homes look nicer than their neighbours. This resulted in a sector where many of the pirates used to live blacking out. By stark contrast the men of Tarak have no room for vanity on a world were resources are too precious and few to waste needlessly.
  • World of Action Girls: Justified since the main female characters are Space Pirates, but Mejale is known for being ruthless.
  • World of Buxom: Plenty of the female characters introduced are stacked. The notable exception being Paiway, who is implied to be in her early teens at most.

Dita Liebely

Voiced by: Yumi Kakazu (Japanese), Julie Maddalena (English), Mercedes Prato (Latin Spanish)

The main female protagonist of the series. A clumsy Genki Girl who's treated weird because of her "fascination" with men (whom she refers to as "aliens") unlike all the other women. A fantastic chef and likes to get closer to Hibiki since the first time she met him on the Ikazucki.

Her Dread combines to create the Vandread Dita or Blue Giant, armed with a Wave-Motion Gun on both shoulders. This becomes the most commonly used Vandread thanks her wanting Hibiki to always combine with him.


  • Babies Ever After: In the epilogue lore, she and Hibiki have a kid.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Is one of the premiere Dread fighters despite her reputation as The Ditz. She's perfectly capable of being a competent fighter, but often struggles with controlling her ship and taking orders from her leaders. Her Vandread combination with Hibiki displays how powerful she can be with proper focus and direction.
  • Can't Spit It Out: Like Hibiki, she finds it hard to confess her love for him.
  • Chef of Iron: Being Hibiki's personal chef and a major Dread pilot.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: She is willing to make a fool of herself just to make everybody else smile.
  • The Ditz: She's often considered a little eccentric by the other pirates due to her fascination with men and other aliens.
  • The Fake Cutie: Implied; she's very cheerful and tends to act and speak rather childishly, but it's later revealed that much of her cheery, cutesy behavior is deliberate in order to keep the Nirvana crew's spirits up. As a result, it's questionable just how innocent she really is.
  • Genki Girl: She wants to make people happy and refuses to let everyone around her give in to despair.
  • Good Wears White: Dita is clad mostly in an Ivory-colored outfit and is the main female character.
  • The Ingenue
  • Mini Dress Of Power: Dita wears a mini-skirt and is the one who fights with Hibiki the most.
  • Nice Girl: Unlike the other women, she is instantly willing to befriend Hibiki, and shows no hostility to the other men.
  • Official Couple: By the end of the series, With Hibiki. It becomes even more obvious as Hibiki calls for her to come with him to Tarak.
  • Race for Your Love: The final scene of the show is Dita literally running towards Hibiki.
  • Stepford Smiler: During a low point at the end of First Stage, Dita starts trying to rally the dispirited crew of the Nirvana, eventually breaking down in tears as she admits that much of her seemingly-endless cheer was due to her trying to keep people's spirits up, as she disliked seeing everyone being miserable.
  • Thanks for the Mammary: Dita is literally introduced to Hibiki breast first to his face.
  • Theme Naming: From The Hecate Sisters. Her surname is a variation of "liberi" - Latin for "children".
  • The Three Faces of Eve: The Child, she's the bubbly and cheerful one of the main girls.
  • Wave-Motion Gun: Her Vandread is equipped with two of them on their shoulders.

Meia Gisborn

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (English), Maythe Guedez (Latin Spanish)

The 19 year-old Dread Leader, Meia is normally a calm and stoic person, if not overly serious at times. Over the course of the series, she evolves into a much brighter person as she is forced to confront her painful past.

Her main Dread is a fast white one that makes the White Wing Vandread when combining with Hibiki, resembling an eagle or dragon. A Fragile Speedster, but can ram enemies head on for a penetrating attack and the fastest of all the Nirvana's ships.


  • After-Action Healing Drama: When she gets a Paksis fragment lodged in her head after an off-screen battle. We learn a great deal about Meia from this.
  • Babies Make Everything Better: Not her own baby per se, but getting stranded in a broken escape pod with Ezra's baby Kahlua develops Meia's character significantly.
  • Birthday Hater: She doesn't care for her birthday, and avoids the crew's attempts at throwing her a surprise party every year. An entire episode centers on an upcoming birthday of hers where the entire crew (including the men) conspire to keep her occupied as they prepare for her party.
  • Broken Ace: She's the most skilled and experienced of the fighters but is plagued by several emotional hang ups.
  • Broken Bird: Her unfeeling, cold persona was caused by her bitter past, and has caused her to avoid being close to someone in fear of being hurt.
  • Character Development: Has the most of any character in the series other than Hibiki himself.
  • Death Seeker: Thanks to her massive Survivor Guilt, she wants to go out in style. Magno calls her out on this when they first met in the past.
  • Fatal Flaw: Wanting recognition from the crew and therefore, putting all of the Dread's command power onto herself. This becomes very troublesome when she's injured near to death during one battle and the rest of the Dread fighters struggle to fill the void in leadership.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: What she and the crew of the Nirvana eventually become, but most of all with Hibiki.
  • Good Wears White: Meia is clad in a Ghost white-colored outfit and is the field leader of the main characters.
  • Latex Space Suit: Meia is clad in a very form-fitting white space suit.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Her Vandread combines Flash Step with Ramming Always Works. It also specializes in High Speed Missile Dodges. While it is considered the weakest of the 3 Vandreads, it is still more durable than the regular Dreads.
  • Mirror Character: She and Hibiki's personalities clash hard early on in the series as they are both highly competitive and hate to lose - especially to each other. The captains notes they have much more in common than they realize.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat: A variation. She refuses to let Jura gain experience in commanding Dreads due to her vanity. This becomes a near-fatal mistake during one battle.
  • Only Sane Woman: When Barnette goes on an 'anti-men' campaign, going so far as to lock the three men up, Meia is vocally against it.
  • Pride: Her Fatal Flaw. She gets better.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The cool Blue to Hibiki's Red.
  • Rei Ayanami Expy: A stoic, silent woman with short blue hair and pale skin who slowly warms up thanks to her relationship to the main character.
  • Riches to Rags: In a way, it's actually a short prologue to the story. Meia was the daughter of two prominent scientists, she was highly regarded as a beautiful girl growing up. An accident caused by the work of her parents eventually ends up with her living alone on the streets, hated & scorned by many who knew her from before.
  • Theme Naming: From The Hecate Sisters. As the "Mother" of the trio (her focus episode is about her maternal side), her given name is a variation on the Roman goddess Maia, the mother of Hermes, and her surname includes the word "born".
  • The Stoic: Her facial expression rarely changes.
  • Straw Feminist: A strange case. This is due to her Pride and Dark and Troubled Past; she wants recognition with in the crew, and despises being in the debt of the men. Fortunately, she gets better and abandons this trope entirely.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: As the series progresses she begins to smile a bit more frequently.
  • Supporting Leader: Meia is officially the field leader of the main cast, but Hibiki is unquestionably The Hero while Dita is the main female protagonist.
  • Survivor Guilt: Her mothers died after making sure that Meia was on one of the last escape transports from a compromised living area.
  • The Three Faces of Eve: The wife, an extremely capable pilot who becomes best friends with Hibiki.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Her cool-looking headpiece, which her Oma have to her Fama but the latter let Meia keep it instead.
    • She also has her old jewelry music box which was a Christmas present from her parents as a child when her family as a child was still together and happy as well as her headpiece, which was given to Meia by her Fama. After becoming a homeless orphan and joining the Nirvana crew she kept said items but covered the mirror in the box with a family photo of herself with her parents, with the previously cut off face of her Oma back in the photo, possibly a signal that she no longer holds a grudge against either of them anymore.
  • Troubled Backstory Flashback: Has an entire episode dedicated to it.
  • When She Smiles: Has a beautiful smile.

Jura Basil Elden

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English), Elena Díaz Toledo (Latin Spanish)

A vain, busty Dread pilot. She's the second-in-command for piloting the Dread squadrons, but not as experienced due to Meia's obstruction and her own lust for aesthetics. Currently in a relationship with Barnette, she becomes extremely open to men, notably Hibiki, during their journey home.

Her modified red Dread becomes the Red Claw, a crab-like mecha that focuses on Attack Drones and shields.


  • All Lesbians Want Children: The reason she came on to Hibiki (and, in the ending, possibly Duero), is because she was excited by the attention Mejare would give her for it. It's hard to say how much of a lesbian she actually is since she's so physically affectionate in general and basks in the attention of others.
  • Attack Drone: Her Vandread uses a variety of disks that either shoot lasers or create shields. They can combine together to shield an entire planet!
  • Barrier Warrior: Again, part of her Vandread. So strong it can shield planets!
  • Comically Missing the Point: Doesn't understand the literal "having a child with a man". Not that she's any different from most of the cast who are three generations removed from any notion of heterosexuality.
  • I Just Want to Be Special:
    • After seeing Hibiki combine with Dita and Meia to form their Vandreads, Jura wanted to try it out as well. She was initially upset that her Vandread didn’t look as cool as the others, but that changed once its true abilities are discovered.
    • Later on, Jura wants to have a child the natural way with a man—for the express purpose of the notoriety it will bring her.
  • Implied Love Interest: With Barnette. The evidence is strong—attached at the hip, multiple "I love you"s, mild physical intimacy—but Jura's low bar for heaping affection onto people and Barnette's placid reaction to her man-chasing leaves an ambiguity in some viewers' minds. The Extra Stage novel does refer to them as ‘Magno’s Family’s Best Couple’, though.
  • Navel-Deep Neckline: Jura’s dress has a plunging neckline reaching past her navel.
  • Out of Focus: While she may have plenty of screentime, Jura doesn't get nearly as much focus or character development as Dita or Meia, instead primarily acting as comic relief. Even the episode where her Vandread debuts focuses more on Captain Magno than it does her.
  • Royal Rapier: Jura carries a rapier, befitting her flamboyant attitude.
  • Slice-and-Dice Swordsmanship: Wields a rapier, but her skill with it is unknown.
  • Statuesque Stunner: The tallest of the main girls and the most shapely.
  • Stone Wall: Her Vandread mostly serves as a Barrier Warrior, with its offensive capabilities being close to impractical to use.
  • Theme Naming: From The Hecate Sisters. Being more assertive and sharp-tongued, Jura plays the "crone" in the main trio. She's also the oldest of the three. Her surname is, accordingly, "Elden".
  • The Tease: For someone raised in a time where men and women were segregated for generations, Jura sure knows how to act seductively around men (or in this case, Hibiki). She's quick to turn on the charm for girls, too, doling out hugs and kisses as she sees fit.
  • The Three Faces of Eve: The Seductress, she always wants to get closer to Hibiki.
  • Vanity Is Feminine: The vainest of the female characters. She claims not to feel like fighting in her Dread unless her hair is treated appropriately.

Barnette Orangello

Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Japanese), Philece Sampler (English), Melanie Henríquez (Latin Spanish)

Another Dread pilot in a relationship with Jura. She's the only one of the four named pilots whose Dread was not modified by Paksis.


  • 10-Minute Retirement: Takes over as the Registry Crew's chief following Gascogne's apparent death. She keeps the position for much of the second season until Gascogne's return, in which Barnette returns to field combat.
  • Beleaguered Assistant: To Jura early on.
  • His Quirk Lives On: When it looks like Gascogne dies by Heroic Sacrifice, Barnette volunteers to take over her job, and adopts her signature clothing style and some mannerisms.
  • Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Like Tarak weapons, her personal weapons are key to fighting Harvesters.
  • Naked Apron: While not completely naked, she seems to prefer not wearing a top underneath the apron when she cooks.
  • Of Corsets Sexy: Barnette is clad is a purple corset for much of the series.
  • Straw Feminist: The definite example that Tarak would use to vilify women due to her "anti-male campaign".
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: She was never shown as being particularly hostile to men prior to the "anti-male campaign" incident and the whole thing seemed to appear out of nowhere.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: After Gascogne's apparent Heroic Sacrifice, she gives up her Straw Feminist stance.

Magno Vivan

Voiced by: Hisako Kyoda (Japanese), Catherine Battistone (English), Isabel Vara (Latin Spanish)

The wise and elderly captain of the pirates. A tough as nails old lady yet is as caring to her crew as any kindly old grandmother, and even to the three men of her crew.


  • The Captain
  • Compressed Hair: That hood of hers hides a hilariously long track of pristine blonde hair. With its length, it makes you think she never got it cut since her youth on the colony ships a hundred years ago.
  • Cool Old Lady: That she is. Cool enough to be one of the two Only Sane Men of the named first generation colonists.
    • She also already knew about BC being trans and would-be Tarak spy, but never brought it up, because she knew the latter was already a Defector from Decadence from Tarak and fully embraced being a woman. When the latter was forced to reveal herself to save them, and pretend she was capturing them on Tarak's behalf, she had no reservations welcoming her back, other than he return to using her BC voice.
  • Dented Iron: Downplayed. Her age means that she's certainly not going to be capable of any physical feats her girls are capable of anytime soon, but what she makes up for is sheer wisdom and charisma.
    • She is also an aged pirate leader in a faction which actively engages in offensive action against the two major space empires present. Fear the elderly in a game where the young die early.
  • Forgotten Childhood Friend: It's all but outright stated that she's this to Hibiki, who she'd visit to play with while he was a baby on the colony ships. Given his age at the time, it's unlikely he remembers her, and it's unclear if Magno recognized him from when she first encounters him, or only figured it out by the final arc.
  • Secretly Dying: At several climactic moments, her chest seizes up, seemingly implying her heart growing weaker due to her old age. Conveniently this happens only when nobody else (or at least only BC) is looking, leaving everyone none the wiser.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied to be the case in the eyes of Lady Grandma, given the latter's scornful reaction to Magno's contact, when one considers that Magno as a child would visit for playdates with their infant son Hibiki on the colony ships. It's implied she defected from her high status and became a very effective pirate matriarch due to lack of action by her peers against her society's ills and being unwilling to stand by and do nothing like her superiors about those society cast aside (many of whom she recruited for her crew). Whether she knew it was deliberately engineered this way is not clear, but it occurs to her once the pieces start coming together.

Buzam A. Calessa

BC voiced by: Yoko Soumi (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English), Citlalli Godoy (Latin Spanish)
Tenmei Uragasumi voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English), Kaihiamal Martínez (Latin Spanish)

The Nirvana's deputy commander.


  • Becoming the Mask: She's actually a Tarak spy named Tenmei Uragasumi who changed her sex and identity to be The Mole on the Nirvana, but she eventually accept both as her real self.
  • Number Two: She's The Nirvana's deputy commander.
  • Only Known by Initials: The characters refer to her by her initials "BC", rather than her name.
  • Whip of Dominance: As the deputy commander, BC is a woman with a firm, stern and authoritative demeanor. In episode 17 when she has to fight The Queenpin Liz, she surprises the crew when she reveals she's actually always carrying a bullwhip with her, with Pyoro even commenting that such a weapon suits her scary and domineering persona. In the ensuing fight, Buzam shows incredible skill with it, managing to outfight her opponent despite Liz having a more modern weapon, but Buzam also makes sure to keep a mocking smug smile on her face during the fight, just to make the experience more humiliating for Liz and establish dominance over her.

Gascogne Rheingau

Voiced by: Mayumi Asano (Japanese), Jane Alan (English), Coralia Torrealba (Latin Spanish)

The Nirvana's Registry Chief.


Parfet Balbair

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English), Úrsula Cobucci

The Nirvana's Chief Engineer.


  • Hidden Buxom: Under her overalls, she's actually pretty stacked.
  • Opaque Nerd Glasses: They lack the usual spirals, but they're practically opaque in that her eyes are never shown through those glasses throughout the entire series.
  • Ship Tease: Gets a lot with Duero.
  • Wrench Wench

Paiway Underberg

Voiced by: Sawa Ishige (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English), Giannina Jurado (Latin Spanish)

The Nirvana's original doctor who serves as Duero's nurse for much of the series.


  • Character Development: Only shown towards the end of the series, where she stops "checking" on other people, and decides she wants to see things for herself.
  • Girlish Pigtails: She wears her hair in long twintails.

Ezra Veil

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese), Bridget Hoffman (English), Anabel Peña (Latin Spanish)

One of Nirvana's operators.


Belvedere Coco

Voiced by: Yuki Masuda (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

One of Nirvana's operators.


Celtic Midori

Voiced by: Naomi Wakabayashi (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English)

One of Nirvana's operators.


Amarone Slaintheav

Voiced by: Shiho Kikuchi (Japanese), Lynn Fischer (English)

One of Nirvana's operators.


Lady Grandma/Anri Tokai

Voiced by: Miyoko Aso (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)

The Empress of Mejere.


     Others 

Pyoro

Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata (Japanese), Dave Mallow (English), Rafael Monsalve (Latin Spanish)

A egg-shaped Navi-bot that patrols the Ikazuchi ship even before its transformations into the Nirvana. It transforms with the ability to speak following the pirate attack.

  • The Nicknamer: Insists on naming Ezra's baby "Pyoro 2".
  • Ridiculously Human Robot: The Paxis gave him empathy in addition to his ability to speak and combine with all the Vandreads.
  • Robot Buddy: The Nirvana's resident robot and a friend to most of the crew.
  • Sixth Ranger: Aside from Hibiki's Vanguard and the three women's Dreads, he's also a component of the Super Vandread.


Misty Cornwell

Voiced by: Moyu Arishima (Japanese), Lia Sargent (English), Anabella Silva (Latin Spanish)

A girl received from a drop pod from Pluto in The Second Stage. Aside from Dita, she appreciates men due to how both genders used to be together. She accompanies the Nirvana crew and, due to being a good cook and getting close to Hibiki, becomes Dita's love rival.


  • Fish out of Temporal Water: She's been in stasis for decades since the Harvesters hit.
  • The Load: She doesn't really contribute much onto the Nirvana. After the Harvesters' defeat, she becomes a caretaker for Ezra's new baby.
  • Red String of Fate: She gives a story about this, which makes Dita jealous.
  • Romantic False Lead: Most of her character appearances serve to incite Dita to jealousy, not only with how openly she shows affection towards Hibiki, but how apparently more receptive he is to her than to Dita.

Rabat/Samuel Adams

Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English), Carmelo Fernández (Latin Spanish)

A money-grubbing man the Nirvana crew encounter on their way home. He is cruel to Hibiki and it is unknown if which side he is on.


  • Jerkass Has a Point: He is physically abusive to Hibiki, yet he does so because he needed to grow out of immature behavior and stand up for himself.

Butan

Voiced by: Kujira (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

Rabat's orangutan sidekick.


    Villains *SPOILERS* 

Harvesters

The main antagonists of the series, first found after the Nirvana is sucked into another part of the galaxy. They're made up of cube-like beings that combine to create their ships and other weapons.


  • Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Averted, unlike most mecha series. They learn from their battles and come up with new challenges for our heroes, and is not averse to outright copying their abilities.

Earthling Child

Voiced by: Iemasa Kayumi (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English)

The commander of the Harvester fleet in the last episode of the Second Stage. He's found on the "Big-Boy" world-destroying warship that leads the assault on the Tarak and Mejere. There is more than his command over the Harvesters at his disposal thanks to the second Peksis core stationed in his ship.


  • Evil Counterpart: Seen as this to Hibiki himself for his stubborn nature. The difference is he's not willing to open up like Hibiki is.
  • Fantastic Racism: Looks down on colonist worlds and sees them as mere resources for his dying world. He also accuses the colonists for abandoning their original homeworld, making that a justification of the Harvesters' onslaught.
  • Lonely at the Top: Hibiki accuses him of being this, which really sets him off.

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