Vandread

is a Japanese anime television series directed by Takeshi Mori and producted by Gonzo. The series is composed by two seasons consisting of 13 episodes each; Vandread, broadcast from October to December 2000, and Vandread: The Second Stage, broadcast from October 2001 to January 2002. The series was also adapted into a manga and light novel series. Plot The male-only planet Taraak and the female-only planet Mejeer have been at war with each other for years. During a military presentation of the Taraak space forces, their new combat ship built from that of the colonization, the Ikazuchi, is attacked and annexed by female pirates from Mejeer; not wanting to lose, the commander of the Taraakian forces prefers remotely destroy his ship with the intruders on board. There, a surprising event occurs. The Taraakian vessel and that of the pirates merge under the impulse of the Praksis crystal, a source of mysterious energy, to create a new vessel, which is later baptized NirVana. The Praksis energy ends up sending the newly formed vessel to depths of space. This merge also affects Mejeerian combat shuttles, the Dreads, and a Taraakian mobile "armor", the Vanguard, transforming their appearance and giving the Dreads the ability to combine with the Vanguard, forming the Vandread units. Three men, a third-class worker and two officers who remained on board and were taken prisoner by the pirates, as well as the latter, will in spite of themselves have to collaborate and learn to coexist, because their salvation depends on their understanding in the face of a new common enemy, automated vessels from elsewhere and openly hostile to representatives of their species.