Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Gaiden

This is the story of how one young kid has everything taken from him, but vows to take it all back and then some. With the loyal childhood friend Kircheis backing him up, Reinhard Von Musel's rigorous climb to the top of the empire food chain begins in this OVA; a prequel to the 110 episode Legend Of The Galactic Heroes OVA.

The setup, as fans already know, is epic defined. Having had his sister sold to the empire's ruler by his deadbeat dad, Reinhard has vengeance in mind, but coupled with his genius intellect, it’s a vengeance that spans the galaxy, rather than ... through crosshairs via an assassination. This man wants to dispose of his nemesis in as grand fashion as possible, to not only save his sister, but to ensure it's not a suicide mission, to prevent his tragedy from ever occurring again to any other. To do this he needs to usurp the ruler himself. His personal desire is dressed in a noble mission of reformation, which adds to the fascination of Reinhard's character.

Prequels are generally designed to be viewed after the work they're meant to be set before, this way the viewer can gleefully spot foreshadowing moments and discover insight into characters they think they already know. A Hundred Billion Stars OVA is no different in this regard. Though lacking in any big revelations for the first 13 episodes, it is admittedly more of an exercise in filling-in-the-blanks. However that's not to say there's nothing of worth here, because although the first 13 episodes have not much bearing on the main story of the saga, there is still quality writing involved when it comes to character and dialogue.

Seeing how Reinhard began his military career and observing him in the front-lines of the war, dealing with numerous death threats from pissed off aristocrats and embarking on a murder mystery as a member of Military Police is all very entertaining. It's like constantly dodging bullets, what could have been terrible filler that betrays everything that came before, ends up being a work that is in honour of its predecessor, a supplement; more nourishment for the fans and viewers of anime in general.

The anime is interestingly, and successfully, split into segments. There are a total of four arcs of varying lengths, each with its own chapter numbering. This avoidance of one long narrative is successful because it prevents the anime from hitting slumps where the TV writers make up meaningless 'filler' type material to stretch the show to its allocated episode count. Instead we simply jump from one point in Reinhard's life to the next; a greatest hits of his youth, if you will. His first battle for survival on a harsh planet, a stint in the Military Police, and then what we're really itching for: a full-on naval/planetary battle against the Alliance with cameos galore. This last arc is what justifies the OVA.

But ok, I just lied about the anime avoiding hitting a slump. The third Kircheis-centred arc is extremely boring, clichéd, has the weakest link to the franchise (replace all the character names and you've more or less got a different show) and is populated by irritating characters. Reinhard has about five minutes screen-time, which kind of defeats the purpose of the OVA. It is the only time I have been bored in the entire LotGH viewing experience, and that includes the Golden Wings movie so that's saying something!

Back to that last arc though, the longest segment and the one to introduce big revelations and become something more than an exercise in filling in blanks. It’s a character study that reveals aspects of a few characters and their relationships to others that we only had a hint of in the main OVA. It cements their mythology for good. What you thought you knew about them before isn’t turned on its head, its instead unabashedly celebrated in this arc, and even better that every aspect of the arc is of the highest quality. The direction, visuals, pacing, and plot, all superb. The biggest antagonist of the arc is a guy you really hate, but for all the right reasons, because he is generally a well-rounded character with intelligence and motive.

The animation isn’t drastically different from the main OVA, but being that it was produced in 1998 it's smoother; with nice flowing hair moments. Character designs and scene composition is slightly higher of the standard the original OVA set. It’s all acceptable and does the job. It’s not going to win a lot of awards for its looks, but the story and characters are so strong, it doesn’t need to. The music also remains similar to the main OVA, all timeless classical bombast.

What this OVA also asserts is that Reinhard can’t form relationships with other human beings unless he is deemed, or feels, superior to them. This fact is extremely fascinating about the character, and the fact that he's so damn charismatic and honourable means we simply accept this narcissistic character-flaw of his, whereas in any other anime we'd feel repelled against the character.

Sometimes it’s easy to be swayed by Reinhard's superior attitude and presence, it’s easy to forget his struggle against the nobility. The OVA reminds us that the character had to fight his entire youth and early career against an entire system, a way of life. And this OVA contributes to his mythos in showing just how difficult and dangerous it was to ascend the ranks by dodging bullets, persecution, intrigue and insults to his dear sister all the way. It makes him one of anime's greatest characters because he didn’t have everything given to him, he had to earn it.

He also had to earn our respect and admiration via a great voice actor, character design and most importantly characterisation, all of which are in full force in this OVA. I give it a 9 and not a 10 because you need to see the original OVA to complete the experience, and plus one arc wasn’t up to standard, but for all fans of LotGH this OVA is essential viewing.

These episodes do not cover the beginning; they are side-stories meant to flesh things out. The main series should probably be seen first. That said, this OVA is in no way ‘filler’. It documents important, often-referenced events in the continuity, and shows a relationship between two friends that really is compelling.

A low-level nobleman’s son can claim he’s going to rule the universe, yet no one will care about the ridiculous dreams of a rebellious youth. For every rank that child rises, however, the possibility grows more and more real. Old aristocrats always talked about Reinhard and Kircheis’ swift rise in rank, some crediting his ... sister’s favor with the Emperor, and others noting his significant military accomplishments. In truth it is no small feat for a talented person to come into power. This feat is magnified in a despotic state ruled by incompetent party-goers, as is the case here.

While that struggle is a big focus, arguably more attention is given to the friendship of a blond conqueror and his red-headed guardian. Theirs is perhaps the truest and most positive connection in Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Kircheis can see Reinhard’s considerable dreams, and admires them; however, Sieg himself is content with small things. He is loyal to a person, not ideals, such that if key people are belittled Kircheis loses his famous morality. Like Reinhard, his views have an inevitable paradox: even if the noble ideals of someone inspire you to follow them, the attachment you form can create a monster, if broken or threatened. Kircheis never blames his master for these issues, preferring to consider what justice can be had from his dire circumstances, a conclusion befitting his reasonable nature.

Reinhard is as charismatic here as in the main series. His aura is a little different; more childish, and unable to contain himself while serving others. He is so definitely a Lord that, as an under-18 junior officer, Reinhard feels perfectly fit to hold galactic Fleet Admirals in full public contempt. Not a single social injustice or corrupted passes him without a sharp rebuttal, and hardly an advantage isn’t capitalized on. His story really does lie ahead though, so what’s seen here is through the eyes of Kircheis: a blond hero whose future is bright, and whose life we follow.

Compared to when the franchise began, the animation has seen a huge improvement. Movements are more fluid, and some scenes look rather stunning, in particular those of the first 4-episode arc. The sound is consistent with the main series: brilliant voice acting (though the passing of Yang’s actor should be mourned), an operatic score, and typical sci-fi sound effects.

I always found the English opening to be questionable, and this one at first was no exception; after some time, however, I found myself never wanting to skip it. The art is beautiful, and the dynamic camerawork is atypical of this series. More than that, the images capture a picture of Reinhard and Kircheis at their purest, while the music and lyrics hinted at a melancholic rejection of how their lives turned out.

The feeling of emptiness after finishing the Legend of the Galactic Heroes OVA is definitely rough. Luckily, the prequel side stories have been adapted to anime, being a nice complementary material to the original series with the same care for detail and engaging stories.

This OVA focuses on the beginnings of Reinhard's career in the military, showcasing events such as Reinhard's first frontline expedition and encounters with future allies and foes. Reinhard's loyal best friend and ally Kircheis is also the main protagonist of one of the stories, giving more background to his feelings towards Reinhard and Annerose and his personal thoughts.

The series is divided into ... four arcs: Silver White Valley, Dreams of the Morning, Songs of the Night, Dishonor and A Hundred Billion Lights, a Hundred Billion Lights. The first story narrates Reinhard and Kircheis first ground frontline mission, the second feature Reinhard and Kircheis investigating a murder at their former military school, the third story focuses on Kircheis being on vacation and encountering a drug smuggling scheme. The final arc is much similar to the content seen in the main series, a longer story natarring the battle of the Van Flet Starzone, featuring the conflict from both the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance perspective, while also containing a minor arc about the Rosenritter. While not fully in chronological order (the majority of the fourth story takes place before the third story), it's recommended to be watched as the order listed.

The stories mostly showcase the inner workings of the Galactic Empire, its military and the nobility social system, portraying the corruption, debauchery and general incompetence of the dying Goldenbaum Dynasty and its associates. Reinhard comes face to face with the obstacles of prejudice due to his young age, social standing and overall jealousy from his noble-born superiors. His and Kircheis' prodigious leadership abilities and intellect are fully showcased in all of these stories, while still portraying Reinhard as a young and slightly arrogant teenager. Kircheis' introspective nature and his frequent advice to Reinhard help to balance their character dynamic, showing the reciprocity of respect and high regard in their friendship.

While there are some minor plot threads that tie the stories together,the first two stories are mostly self contained, the second story especially being less relevant in both terms of development and characters backstory. The second story being a straightforward murder mystery, somehow lacks the engaging stratagem and battle of wits that characterize LoGH. Although the brilliant fourth arc brings out some of the best aspects of LoGH, the dull second arc definitely brings down the overall enjoyment of this series.

Besides the story, the technical aspects of this series are similar to those present in the main series. The character designs are realistic and unique, with distinguishable features showcasing the ethnnic and age diversity of the characters. Just like in the main series, the animation quality can vary heavily and abruptly, some select scenes showing their age in cell animation and some reanimated scenes in full digital animation with digital coloring. While some viewers may find this jarring, the animation keeps being serviceable and especially good in the Silver White Alley arc. The voice acting is as good as in the main series, with all voice actors reprising the returning characters except sadly for Yang Wenli due to his voice actor untimely passing before the series' production. The opening song is Kid by Akemi, a beautiful song with masterfully written lyrics and visuals showcasing Reinhard and Kircheis as kids. There are four ending themes for each arc sung by Kei Ogura, a treat for fans of the original series with heartfelt lyrics mirroing Reinhard's and Kircheis' feelings and thoughts. The classical music OST by famous European authors also returns, a befitting soundtrack to Reinhard's meteoric rise to success.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden is definitely a must watch for every LoGH fan, while not expanding on the story, showcasing Reinhard's formative years and experiences that made him the brilliant leader and commander we see in the main series.

This gaiden was good but not as good as the original series. Even so I think it may be good for someone to watch this prior to the original. It's supposed to be a prequel and might be more exciting to see how the show will develop knowing about the lives of some of the early characters.

The animation is beautiful and seems to be for the most part hand drawn. A lot of detail went into this. During the early episodes you see the OS of the laptops with gothic bolded German letters that the Empire conducts their business on. I thought this was a ... really nice touch and shows the animators care about the setting.

Yang Wenli is in this series but plays a small role. For the most part the Alliance here is represented by Walter von Schenkopp and the Rosen Ritter. Here you get to see how he became the regimental commander and his motivations for the rest of the series are explained as well.

While it's a good precursor to the main series there are some bad parts.

For one the detective Kircheis saga was pointless. It was cool seeing the satellite I guess for one episode but an entire arc based on a drug network in the Imperial Army that only Kircheis is able to help solve seemed really trivial and contrived. What was the point of this? Why couldn't Reinhard have been there?

What also sucks (is another detective arc) where Reinhard and Kircheis are investing the murder of students at the military preparatory academy they attended as teenagers. This arc was also boring and did little to further the story.

While there's nothing inherently bad about both of these arcs they weren't befitting a story on a galactic scale.

Aside from that though the rest of the series was top notch.

So for a beginner to the series, I'd say skip the episodes from the two aforementioned arcs and watch all the rest and you have a good primer for the main series.

Also a small complaint, the music used in the series was really repetitive. It seems they just stuck with 2 of the classical tracks from the main series (which had dozens upon dozens of them and many of them were uniquely placed).