Vandread

The manga is very different from the anime, containing several major and minor changes with an almost entirely new story line. The differences includes:

• The story line is much shorter than the anime, with only 14 chapters.
• Hibiki starts as a member of a Tarak fleet, being a Vanguard Pilot rather than stealing one. He is the only male to board the Nirvana. He is also slightly less hotheaded, and admits his feelings for Dita more openly.
• Dita is less childish in the manga, and addresses Hibiki by name, rather than "Mr. Alien".
• Nearly half of the major cast doesn't appear, including Duelo, Pyoro, Magno, Misty, Paiway, Ezra, Gascogne, Rabat and Butan. However, Bart appears in the first chapter, but not (and doesn't join) as a crew member of Nirvana.
• Human beings from other planets don't appear. Also, the name Lord Grandpa and Grandma are not mentioned as the ruler of Taraak and Mejere respectively.
• Hibiki's Vanguard does not change from the Paxis, and there is only one Vandread and it is the form Hibiki and Dita share. Its fusion is also made permanent. An evil counterpart to the Vandread exists, called the Vandora.
• Meia is captain of the Nirvana.
• Jura is the fourth bridge operator rather than a Dread pilot.
• Barnette, rather than lay her interests in Jura, sets her eyes on Hibiki instead.
• B.C. is a female and is the main antagonist in the first manga. It is also revealed that she was in love with a man, meaning she did not come from Taraak, Mejere, or Earth.
• In the anime, the enemy is called "The Harvest", but in the manga, the enemy is called "Terran" which means invader. "Terran" can also be a reference to Terra the Latin name for Earth meaning a citizen of Earth. Since the enemy originated from the Earth this meaning is likely.
• Two new characters exist exclusive for the manga:
  • Tenhou Farland, a green-haired, twelve-year-old girl, with a unique ability to interact with machines and finds a surrogate brother in Hibiki.
  • Asra Mutie, the blue-haired pilot of the Vandora. She helps the Nirvana crew, only to know who they are. She initially plays a similar role of Misty from the anime, interacting with Hibiki and being more experienced in the relations between men and women, which causes jealously to Dita. When the Vandora takes control of Asra, Hibiki, Dita, and Tenhou save her, and Asra officially joins the crew.

Pragma Paxis

The blue energy entity acting as the Nirvana's core. It originates from a different universe, but encountered earthlings and became separated in two when it was used for the Ikazuchi; its twin stays on Earth. Due to its unique properties, it has been used to generate energy in various ships, without the builders realizing the nature of the Paksis. Meanwhile, the Paksis on Earth takes on a red color, after infusing with Earth's hatred and refusal to open their hearts.

As the Nirvana crew learns that the Paksis is a sentient being, they also start to bond with Pyoro, a navigation robot that was linked with the Paksis. The result was Pyoro becoming sentient, and developing a personality of its own. Occasionally, the Paksis will override Pyoro's systems to communicate with the crew members. Machines linked with the Paksis may also 'evolve' to some extent, thus resulting in the upgrades to Dita's, Meia's and Jura's Dreads and Hibiki's Vanguard. These upgrades would provide the basis for the three Vandread types, and eventually, the Super Vandread, which is the fusion of all three Dreads, the Vanguard, and Pyoro.

The Harvesters, from the influence of the red Paksis, can also evolve and become stronger through combining smaller Harvester units, creating almost-exact copies of the Vandreads, as well as the Nirvana, which could transform into humanoid robot. Also, the Paksis has a self-preservation instinct, which it revealed when it fused the Ikazuchi and Magno's pirate ship, creating a wormhole and transporting the crew light years away from Taraak and Mejere.

The overall main villains of the series. It was created by the humans remaining on Earth to go out to colonized worlds and "harvest" the inhabitants, i.e., killing them and ripping them apart for the organs so the people on Earth could use them. Although some planets would resist the harvest fleet, they could never stop it. The primary ships in the fleet consists of smaller cube-like robots that combine to form larger ships and weapons. Throughout the whole series, smaller ships from the fleets are encountered by the Nirvana, taking a variety of forms.

In the finale of the first series, a harvest flagship was encountered. These ships dwarf nearly every other ship seen in the series, which in addition to their own weapons, have a massive number of cube robots with them. At that point, the cube robots had also learned how to form copies of the Vandreads. The only way the flagship could be stopped was turning a large gas-planet into a star, which destroyed most its support and after which the flagship was destroyed by Vandread Dita. Harvest flagships were occasionally fought in Second Stage, and continued to be dangerous enemies.

During Second Stage, the cube robots showed the ability to form copies of the Nirvana, though the copies were instead armed with a powerful beam weapon and could transform into humanoid robots. The harvest ships had also upgraded themselves later in the series, growing even deadlier. In the finale of the series, all of the harvest flagships assembled to attack Taraak and Mejere, but a coalition between the two planets, along with a number of other planets that had been attacked by the harvest fleet, and the crew of the Nirvana destroyed them all. However, one final ship was shown, similar in appearance to the harvest flagships, but much larger and more menacing.

According to Rabat, its purpose is to destroy planets no longer needed by the harvest fleet. It appears to be built around a huge energy weapon, but it also possesses numerous others. This ship also contains the Paksis that was left on Earth, which spoke through the body of a young boy. This ship was initially able to overpower even Super Vandread, but when Hibiki mocked the Paksis for its stubborn views it went insane and attempted to destroy the entire galaxy with an out of control wormhole. Super Vandread was nearly defeated but Nirvana's own Paksis Pragma protected it with a net-like shield.

Nirvana

The battleship the characters use throughout the series. It houses the Pragma Paxis as the ship's core, powering almost anything within the vessel. After the Ikazuchi battleship and Magno's pirate ship were thrown into the wormhole, created by the Paksis, both ships began to fuse with one another. At first, the crew was unsure what to call their new ship, but after a lottery was held in giving a name, Magno christened the vessel Nirvana from a list of entries. Bart Garsus fills in as the ship's pilot. At first the ship lacked of any kind of offensive weaponry, instead owning a extremely powerful shield constructed in several layers. It only gets its armament after Bart's sheer will to protect a sickly girl on a planet under the attack forces the Nirvana evolution to develop a series of turrets that encompasses the ship's hull, all of which fire a laser that automatically locks onto enemy units, while bypassing all friendly units as the laser can turn freely in any direction even after being fired.

Dreads

The space fighters used by Magno's pirate crew. Most Dreads are armed with vulcans, missiles, and laser cannons, depending on how the Dread is customized to the pilot's taste. Before battle, each Dread goes through the Registry system and is fitted with the chosen weapons. With the help of Gascogne's supply vessel, a Dread can be re-armed during battle. When the Paksis created the wormhole the Dreads of Dita, Meia and Jura underwent changes. All three Dreads became structurally different from the others, while possessing greater firepower than an average Dread. When any of these Dreads fuses with Hibiki's Vanguard, they become a powerful Vandread. In Vandread: Second Stage, after becoming the Super Vandread, the three fighters receive an additional boost of power from the fusion, noted from Parfait's analysis. All Dreads are extremely large, Hibiki's Vanguard actually enters the Dreads it combines with

Vanguards/Bangaata

The newly introduced mobile weapons of Taraak. These machines carry an assortment of melee weapons, ranging from swords, axes, spears to chainsaws. As well, they can easily withstand artillery fire. Initially, along with the Ikazuchi battleship, the Vanguards were used to eliminate any hostiles (mainly, space pirates and the women of Mejere) that threatened Taraak airspace, until Magno's pirate ship hijacked the battleship. Hibiki's Vanguard (though it really was not his), like the Dreads, was also affected by the Paksis, transforming it into an even bulkier version of its original self. Later, when fused with either Dita's, Meia's or Jura's Dreads, it becomes the all-powerful Vandread. In Vandread: Second Stage, after becoming the Super Vandread, the Vanguard receives a small physical transformation, and possibly an additional boost of power from the fusion.

Ikazuchi

The name of the flagship of the Taraak Imperial Fleet. Formerly a colony vessel, it was reformatted to become a battleship. Its purpose was to eliminate any hostiles (mainly, space pirates and the women of Mejere) that threatened Taraak airspace, until Magno's Pirate ship hijacked it and the Tarak crew separated the new section of the Ikazuchi from the original one which ended under the tenure of the pirates, to prevent that women could take advantage of the ship they attempted to destroy the old section with missiles, which in turn prompted the Paksis to create a wormhole to escape. The wormhole created by the Paksis Pragma fused the Ikazuchi and Magno's pirate ship into a completely different vessel, later to be called the Nirvana.

Dita-type VANDREAD

The first Vandread to appear. It is the fusion of Dita's Dread and Hibiki's Vanguard. This Vandread resembles a giant mobile fighter, with its main armament to be a pair of enormously powerful long-range energy cannons that are usually strong enough to fend off the enemy. They can also be used as a pair of cutting weapons, whenever in melee combat. Finally, the cannons themselves can be removed from the frame of the machine and interlock to become a throwable spear. Other armaments include its massive, physical strength, being able to rip apart some of the enemies it encounters, and bulky armor. More or less, this Vandread incorporates an offensive strategy. In the cockpit, Dita sits on Hibiki's lap while controlling the unit.

Meia-type VANDREAD

The second Vandread to appear. It is the fusion of Meia's Dread and Hibiki's Vanguard. This Vandread resembles a silver eagle and its main form of attack is a high-velocity ram, which pierces all enemy units in its path of flight. It has also demonstrated the ability to fire an energy beam from between the horns on its head. It is also the only Vandread not referred to by name, and is easily fastest of the three types. In the cockpit, Hibiki sits on Meia's lap while controlling the unit, much to Meia's annoyance.

Jura-type VANDREAD

The third Vandread to appear. It is the fusion of Jura's Dread and Hibiki's Vanguard. This Vandread resembles a red crab with around 8 green discs orbiting the machine and one large disc as part of the machine's frame. More of a defensive weapon than an offensive one, its main armament is an enhanced shielding system, which allows it to cover any object, up to the size of a planet. Other armaments include a laser from each disc that fires in all 8 directions, its movable arms, and even redirecting matter with the large disc (in one episode, the Vandread draws water from a planet to destroy a Harvester machine), but its weapons aren't nearly as powerful as those used by the other Vandreads so it generally doesn't take part in head-on fighting. In the cockpit, there is a circular seat with a central table that houses the controls.

Super VANDREAD

The fourth and final Vandread to appear, and by far the most powerful. It is the fusion of Dita's, Meia's, and Jura's Dreads; Hibiki's Vanguard; and Pyoro (which prompts him to christen the fusion "Vandread Pyoro"). The overall power of this machine is unknown, however, it can be said that the Super Vandread incorporates all three Vandread types into its design: with a wave of its hand, the Super Vandread can erect a shield strong enough to absorb any enemy fire (Jura-type); the discs scattered around its frame can form to fire an extremely powerful laser (Jura-type, Dita-type); a large energy sword, created from the hands, easily slices any Harvester unit (Dita-type); it still maintains significant speed for a combined machine (Meia-type). It is the least used of the Vandreads, which for overall plot reasons is simply because it would make nearly all battles too easy (in its debut it easily destroyed a copy of the Nirvana and a Harvest Flagship). The only time it met an enemy that could challenge it was in the form of world destroying harvest ship.

• Trust ("Vandread" opening; also used as the ending in the last "Second Stage" episode) by Salia
• Himegoto ("Vandread" ending) by SiLC
• Justice ("Second Stage" opening) by Aki Kudou
• Yes, Together ("Second Stage" ending) by Yasunori Iwasaki, sung by Aki Kudou
• Spacy Spicy Love ("Taidouhen" opening) by Mejare Pirates
• Proof ("Turbulance" ending) by Mejare Pirates

• What a Wonderful World ("Vandread" insert song) by Donna Burke
• Somedays ("Second Stage" insert) by Donna Burke
• Ikutose Karuka/Many Many Tears
• Good Day Friends (Dita's song) by Yumi Kakazu
• Kanojo wa Dandysm (Barnette's song)
• Moon Light Lullaby (Meia's song) by Fumiko Orikasa
• Slow Down (Jura's song)
• Welcome Home (Parfet's song)