Vandread (ヴァンドレッド vandoreddo) is an anime series directed by Takeshi Mori and created by GONZO and Media Factory animation studios. Vandread, as a science-fiction space opera anime, aims to combine elements of action, romance, ecchi, comedy, and mecha space combat. This anime presents a mix of comedy ranging from slapstick to subtle humor. Vandread also utilizes well-animated characters and cleanly rendered CG action sequences.

The Vandread series is composed of two seasons (Vandread, released in 2000 and Vandread: The Second Stage, released in 2001), each composed of thirteen episodes of twenty-five minutes. The first series is summarised in the Vandread Taidouhen OVA of 2001, and the second in the Vandread Gekitouhen ("Turbulence") OVA, released in 2002.

Set in a universe where men and women are completely segregated (on completely different planets, Mejale by the women, Tarak by the men), the gender wars are more than just a metaphor.

Hibiki Tokai, a 3rd class laborer, takes up a bet to steal a high-tech humanoid robot, known as a Vanguard, from the male attack force about to fight the "evil females". Caught onboard when it takes off, the ship is rapidly attacked and all males evacuated, with the exception of Hibiki, Duelo McFile, and Bart Garsus. Stuck onboard the damaged warship with female pirates all around, things seem to have hit an all time low until the retreating males fire a rather large torpedo at the ship to prevent it from falling into women's hands. Perxis, the core of the ship, a mysterious crystalline entity, protects itself by eradicating the missile, forming a wormhole sending the pirates and warship to a distant sector, and fusing the large warship with the female craft. This results in a quirky ship with very smooth lines, a host of technical problems, which episodes are often aimed at solving, and various hidden capabilities that become apparent in later episodes. The "Vanguard/Bangaata" Hibiki attempted to steal has also been altered along with three of the women's fighters, known as Dreads, allowing the separate ships to combine. The fusion of Hibiki's mech with one of the fighters is called a Vandread, the title mecha of the series.

In this alternate, futuristic universe men and women consider each other to be completely separate species (Hibiki gains the nickname "Mr. Alien" from Dita Liebely, one of the many female leads), and the three put up with much abuse at the hands of their female captors, but gradually make their presence accepted: Hibiki as a mecha fighter and technician, Duelo as a skilled doctor and engineer, and Bart as the ship's helmsman and navigator.

The story of the season is the trip to the system where Mejare and Tarak are located from the distant sector. Along the way, the crew encounters strange, robotic creatures that are both enigmatic and rather Borg-like, though they do not communicate at all. The subsequent battles provide the action sequences for the first two seasons, with the setup for a third season being quite clear.

After a few fights with the unknown enemy, the crew manages to take some data sample from a desert planet. The data is read out. "Blood platelets, white blood cells, red blood cells..." The whole crew is stunned. Their enemy kills people and then harvests the body parts from them. Not only this, but a later encounter with the flagship of the "Harvester", as it is called, fleet reveals that the robots were sent on their mission by the people of Earth, the world which colonized Mejare, Tarok, and countless other planets. Some time later at the start of the second season, they rescue an escape pod from the enemy. The pod contains a girl called Misty Cornwell from Pluto, the last planet in the Earth system to be harvested, and a virus which enters the ship's systems. When the correct passcode, the sound of an infant's cries, is entered, the virus shuts down and the crew is given access to the hidden data that the pod brings.

Following the initial drive to colonize, pollution has devastated Earth, making any life on the planet impossible. Huge metal gears now cover the Earth's stratosphere in an attempt to create a living environment for people in massive structures surrounding the planet. Earth's people, alone and dying on a toxic planet, begin to question the humanity of the colonists. Eventually, they convince themselves that only the inhabitants of Earth are human, and all other humans exists solely to ensure their continued existence. Their solution is to send out the Harvesters, fleets of machines created from the same basic material as the Nirvana's core. The Harvesters raid and dominate colonies to obtain body parts and with technology the Earthlings replace their own dying body parts, becoming immortal through the lives of others. Mejare and Tarak are targeted to be harvested for human sexual organs. Along the way the crew meet people targeted for their skin and for their spinal cords, as well as unidentified parts from some planets.

Now fighting is not just about defeating the enemy and surviving. They need to rush back to their homeworlds in time to warn their planets. But will the leaders of the planets listen to their almost impossible tale?

- From Wikipedia