History Anime / Vandread

* CatSmile: Ezra's baby has one when she's first shown. Ezra and Dita also display subtle ones occasionally.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Hibiki launches into an epic speech near the end, hoping to rally support against the BigBad that [[spoiler: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.

* PlanetOfHats: Tarak and Mejale as [[AnAesop an aesop]] that men and women need each other. Also somewhat deconstructed in that [[spoiler:the PlanetOfHats were created to be worn.]]

* AnAesop:
** Something about life being worth fighting for.
** That our hopes should not lie in ourselves, as we are mortal, but in what we can do for others; those who survive us, and those who follow and respect or follow our 'signposts.' Or maybe that life means change, sometimes death but also the end of what was. (Meia's reply to the ranking officer in the final episode.) It's a little confusing, actually.
** Men and women may be very different, but they need each other, and can and should try to understand one another and cooperate in a tough, uncaring world rather than fighting about the things that make them different.

* HaremGenre: Vandread initially sets things up by having Hibiki being forced to work with three female pilots: Dita, Meia, and Jura. However the series plays around with this in that it makes it ''really'' evident that the only serious contender is Dita, due to her curiosity and desire to know more about "Mr. Alien" personally. Meia ultimately ends up being more of a comrade in fighting built on mutual respect, and Jura's interest is born more out of shallow short term experimental interest in the differences between men and women, but ultimately doesn't go anywhere beyond that due to a complete lack of interest and compatibility otherwise. [[spoiler: Dita's first real competition, if anything, is [[LoveTriangle Misty Cromwell who appears in Stage 2 as part of a temporary love triangle.]]]]

* HaremGenre: Vandread initially sets things up by having Hibiki being forced to work with three female pilots: Dita, Meia, and Jura. However the series plays around with this in that it makes it ''really'' evident that the only serious contender is Dita, due to her curiosity and desire to know more about "Mr. Alien" personally. Meia ultimately ends up being more of a comrade in fighting built on mutual respect, and Jura's interest is born more out of shallow short term experimental interest in the differences between men and women, but ultimately doesn't go anywhere beyond that due to a complete lack of interest and compatability between the two. [[spoiler: Dita's first real competition, if anything, is [[LoveTriangle Misty Cromwell who appears in Stage 2 as part of a temporary love triangle.]]]]

* HaremGenre: Vandread initially sets things up by having Hibiki being forced to work with three female pilots: Dita, Meia, and Jura. However the series plays around with this in that it makes it ''really'' evident that the only serious contender is Dita, due to her curiosity and desire to know more about "Mr. Alien" personally. Meia ultimately ends up being more of a comrade in fighting built on mutual respect, and Jura's interest is born more out of shallow short term experimental interest in the differences between men and women, but ultimately doesn't go anywhere beyond that. [[spoiler: Dita's first real competition, if anything, is [[LoveTriangle Misty Cromwell who appears in Stage 2 as part of a temporary love triangle.]]]]

* [[FantasticRacism Fantastic Sexism]]: Due to their upbringing, the men of Tarak and the women of Mejale have been led to believe that the other is a demonic monster hellbent on destroying them.
* [[AFatherToHisMen A Grandmother To Her (Wo)men]]: The captain Magno Vivan.

* WhatTheHellHero: Hibiki’s Grandpa /[[spoiler: uncle]] and Magno to Tarak and Mejale's planetary governments on denying the very existence of Harvest and sacrificing youth to Terrans’ organ harvesting.

Tarak is the Orwellian, industrial, militarized planet of men. [[FoodPills All food is synthetic, flavorless pills.]] 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.

* DesignerBabies: On Tarak, genetic engineering lets two males have a baby who's born in a factory. While on Mejere with two females, one of them carries the engineered baby to term in the normal style. In a way, CloningBlues ensues.

Tarak is the Orwellian, industrial, militarized planet of men. [[FoodPills 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.

* AllYourPowersCombined: [[spoiler:Super Vandread]], naturally, being [[spoiler:a CombiningMecha of the three Vandreads]]

** [[spoiler:Super Vandread]]

* BetaCouple: Parfaite and Duero, generally.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:The humans who remained back on Earth]]

** Ezra develops this as a whacky pregnancy side-effect. [[CompressedVice Only for the span of a two episodes, though]].

* BrickJoke: [[spoiler: BC's improbable language skills and]] being sneaky. Possibly more of a ChekhovsGun.

* CannotSpitItOut: Hibiki and Dita have a communication problem.

** The series comes across more like a subversion or even aversion of this trope more than anything. Despite the fact that Mejare is specifically confirmed to have a culture where female lesbian pairs form family units (though its left up in the air whether or not all women who have children together form such, or some just do it by agreement), almost ''none'' of the women on the ship actually forms or is shown to have a romantic relationship with another woman, aside from the existing couple of Barnette and Jura, and potentially Ezra and the woman she had a baby with. There is a blink and you miss it flashback showing that Meia may have pursued relationships with women in the past, or at least been really close to one, but other than that, there is no indication that any of the women in the cast swings that way. Of the other main characters, Magno is a first generation colonist who remembers that men and women used to be together, so she very well might not feel that way at all, while BC [[spoiler:is a male spy, whose ultimate sexuality is left up in the air]]. As for the men of Tarak, Tarak itself knows no love or romance (babies are created in ''factories'' and there is no evidence men form family units) due to its militaristic society and nothing is ever indicated how Terak itself specifically feels about homosexuality, other than that its probably tolerated due to no other options. For the male characters, Hibiki is full on attracted to Dita, Bart falls in love with BC [[spoiler:and his feelings after finding out BC is a man are left ambiguous]], while Duero at the very least expresses keen interest in Parfet and even calls women "wonderful" at one point. Altogether, it is possible that, at least among the main cast, no one is actually bisexual at all, and not everyone actually gives in to SituationalSexuality; some just will do without because they are completely straight. For the story's purposes, almost everyone (besides a few lesbian couples) is treated as straight.

* CoolOldLady: The captain Magno Vivan. In fact, [[spoiler: being the youngest of the first generation colonists, a little girl at the time, she, along with Hibiki's uncle and Grandpa's brother Jin, is the OnlySaneMan among them, having experience as a pirate captain allowing her to see what most of her elders have pretty much forgotten.]]

** WhatAPieceOfJunk: The Nirvana is also ''loaded'' with quirks. The crew barely understands what the [[PlotTechnology Paksis]] actually is, much less what it's actually capable of; Add to that the fact that it was created by fusing a pirate ship full of looted tech, and a 100 year old colony ship that had been refurbished into a warship. Early episodes were spent just trying to get the darn thing functional, and it's pretty much a hodgepodge of Jury-rigs, ad-lib modifications, re-purposed modules, state-of-art tech, salvaged tech, and black-boxes. Sections of the ship are so old that the crew can't even use them, and it's not unusual for things to break down or fall apart. Hell, the events of one episode were kicked off when the men's dorms were flooded due to a plumbing problem.

* CrashIntoHello: Literally-Hibiki meets Dita right after her Dread nearly crashes into him.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: Hibiki often formulates some really off the wall ideas, but they usually work.
* CreepyChild: [[spoiler:The Earthling who attacks Tarak and Majale at the end of the series]]

* DareToBeBadass: BC gives one to Hibiki at the start of the series.

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler: Gascogne. She gets better]].

** The pilots use "combining" in ways that make it sound an awful lot like something else men and women do...

* 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]]
** Given [[spoiler:Earth's]] motivations, it's entirely possible [[spoiler:[[FridgeHorror that's not his original body]]]].

*** The protagonists [[spoiler: think they are fighting aliens when they fight their common enemy and eventually find that everyone is human.]]

*** Only a handful of people in both series are capable of "supernatural" enhancements due to special circumstances: [[spoiler: the few surviving Martian humans in Nadesico are capable of teleportation due to terraforming nanomachines present in Mars; Dita, Meia and Jura are capable of combining their Dread fighters with Hibiki's Vanguard due to the meddling of the Pragma Paxis]]

* FirstBlood: [[spoiler: Hibiki starts to berate Jura after Vandread Jura takes a hit, only to be brought up short by the horrified realization he's covered in her blood. She survives.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: BC operating the newly launched Ikazuchi while the girls can't even read anything in Tarak in the first episode seems like a throwaway gag. [[spoiler:It turns out, she can read it because "she's" actually a "he" and is a spy.]]

* 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.

* GrandFinale
* GreenRocks: In this case blue and red rocks in the form of the crystalline plexis... plexises? (sic)

** 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]]

* HumansAreBastards: Partially invoked: turns out [[spoiler:Earth's responsible for sending out the Harvester fleets]]

** TransformingMecha: [[spoiler:One Harvester EliteMook copies the Nirvana's shape and transforms it into a humanoid mode]]

* ImportantHaircut: Bart, marking his transition from LovableCoward to [[spoiler:CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass]], shaves his head bald.
* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: The Paksis, both the one on the Nirvana and [[spoiler:the one controlling the Harvester fleet]]

* IncendiaryExponent

** Subverted (albeit briefly) when Hibiki first pilots his Vanguard.
*** Or when the Woman first pilot the Vanguards, or when Hibiki uses his Vanguard on a planet's surface (with gravity) for the first time, or when he first combines with Jura, all giving them at least some problems for a few scenes.
** Subverted with the Tarak as well. They are remarkably bad at handling their brand-new Vanguards. It's not until the Nirvana returns to the planets a year later that they have gained a grip at piloting the things. And they became very adept at it..
*** Given that it is implied that the pilots we initially see are newly graduated cadets, it's more we don't see their veterans in action until then.

* KarmaHoudini: Absolutely nobody addresses the fact the child nurse intentionally manipulated the crew into turning against the male members by exaggerating minor/insignificant situations. She was motivated by the fact her best friend, Dita, had seemingly forgotten her birthday and was ignoring her for Hibiki but both of them were in fact preparing a birthday surprise for her. This petty act causes a schism which ruined the crews established dynamic and resurfaced past biases they had overcome, later leading to everyone nearly getting killed on multiple ocassions and possible unnecessary redshirt casualties amongst the regular Dread pilot crew, until the group resolves its issues. The only comeuppance we see is her seeing her special birthday surprise dish smashed on the ground when the crew try to arrest Hibiki, with a guilty expression when she realizes what she has betrayed many of her friends over nothing.

%%* LastMinuteHookup: Literally.
%%* LatexSpaceSuit: Meia's suit.
%%* LightningGlare: Dita and Misty exchange it with each other.
%%* LittlestCancerPatient: One-shot character Shirley.

%%* LovableTraitor: Rabat.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: Nirvana's main weapon, with the added bonus of the missiles {{Roboteching}} around friendly fighters

* MidSeasonUpgrade: Bart manages to give the Nirvana a BeamSpam attack in the second season, and the Super Vandread shows up as well, merging all the girl's Dreads with Hibiki's Vanguard.

%%* TheMothership
* MsFanservice: Practically every female character but the captain, but it's implied she used to be quite the looker.

%%* NerdGlasses: Worn by WrenchWench, {{meganekko}} Parfait.

* NonHumanSidekick: Pyoro and Butan, Rabat's pet orangutan.

* NotSoAboveItAll: The normally focused BC and captain share in [[spoiler:watching Dita and Hibiki being locked in the room to resolve their UST]].
* OldSoldier: Tarakian General Kummel Ohzeki has been a soldier for years and has the scars to prove it. [[spoiler:His skill and technique is good enough to take down at least one Dark vandread and a speed ship that took Vandread Meia to destroy the first time]].

%%* OneWayVisor: The pluto colonists.

%%* {{Tsundere}}: Hibiki.

* HasTwoMommies: Implicitly, all of the Mejale characters. Explicitly, Meia (as seen in flashbacks), and Ezra's daughter. Ezra's "Oma", Rebecca, doesn't show up until The Second Stage.
** Ezra and Rebecca's offspring has been described as "him", but surely this is a translation error since the offspring of their culture would surely be all girls.

** Bart; the poor guy never catches a break. No one gives him any respect ever. When he is [[SpaceShipGirl piloting the ship]] he [[{{Synchronization}} suffers damage]] when the ship gets shot. [[spoiler:When they get back to Tarak and neither he nor Duelo will renounce their female friends, he is the only one [[WhipItGood tortured]]]]. He also gets a stream of constant verbal and physical abuse from people. Most of whom he has done nothing but good for.

* WhipItGood: BC during [[spoiler:her fight with Liz]]. Later [[spoiler:she knocks out two men with two quick strikes]].

** The series comes across more like a subversion or even aversion of this trope more than anything. Despite the fact that Mejare is specifically confirmed to have a culture where female lesbian pairs form family units (though its left up in the air whether or not all women who have children together form such, or some just do it by agreement), almost ''none'' of the women on the ship actually forms or is shown to have a romantic relationship with another woman, aside from the existing couple of Barnette and Jura, and potentially Ezra and the woman she had a baby with. There is a blink and you miss it flashback showing that Meia may have pursued relationships with women in the past, or at least been really close to one, but other than that, there is no indication that any of the women in the cast swings that way. Of the other main characters, Magno is a first generation colonist who remembers that men and women used to be together, so she very well might not feel that way at all, while BC [[spoiler:is a male spy, whose ultimate sexuality is left up in the air]]. As for the men of Terak, Terak itself knows no love or romance (babies are created in ''factories'' and there is no evidence men form family units) due to its militaristic society and nothing is ever indicated how Terak itself specifically feels about homosexuality, other than that its probably tolerated due to no other options. For the male characters, Hibiki is full on attracted to Dita, Bart falls in love with BC [[spoiler:and his feelings after finding out BC is a man are left ambiguous]], while Duero at the very least expresses keen interest in Parfait and even calls women "wonderful" at one point. Altogether, it is possible that, at least among the main cast, no one is actually bisexual at all, and not everyone actually gives in to SituationalSexuality; some just will do without because they are completely straight. For the story's purposes, everyone other than Jura and Barnette is treated as straight.

* DiscountLesbians: It seems actually pretty safe to figure that ''most'' of the Mejale women ''are'' lesbians (or [[NoBisexuals Bisexuals with no other option]]); the one who is after Hibiki seems to be drawn to the...novelty of having babies that way, sort of the equivalent of a modern lesbian asking a guy to be her sperm donor. Besides, it'd be a rather ''different'' sort of series if it spent much time on the sexual implications of {{One Gender Race}}s. That being said, other than Jura and Barnette, no actual lesbian relationships are indicated among the crew or main cast. Its possible that many of the main characters, at least, are fully straight.

* BackForTheFinale: See GondorCallsForAid
* BareYourMidriff: Jura, Dita and BC.

* GirlInABox: How the crew finds Misty.

* OffModel: Happens as early as the second episode. This ''is'' a Gonzo show, after all. To go into greater detail, the two animation teams that did the work for ''Vandread'' actually both did decent jobs in regards to the art quality, but their styles are different enough that it produces a very jarring effect when the two animation teams work on different scenes within the same episode, with one team producing art that looks a little more rugged and gritty with somewhat scratchy hatch lines and more 'realistic' chins, while the other producing art that is more accurate to the promotional material with cleaner lines and simpler face shapes.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Meia delivers one to Hibiki after he angrily denounces Gascogne for acting calm, cool and sarcastic because she doesn't understand the pain, pressure and suffering that the front line fighters have to face. Shortly after we get to see exactly why Gascogne acts the way she does...

* {{Gainaxing}}: Bras? What bras? Besides the gravity defying movement, the only thing that the Mejares choice of clothing stops short of betraying altogether is that they are remarkably clingy.