Starship Operators

Okay Lion Tamers! We try to review "Starship Operators".

Starship Operators, was created in 2005. And while there has been better productions, in terms of production values (especially things made in 2005); this one stands out for a number of reasons.

1). Story
For those of us that like a good story, with a great plot, and an excellent sense of the politics connected with it; Starship Operators is very difficult to beat.

The plot, while not new, is not the same as common. It involves a ships' crew that refuses to surrender when their country (in this case a planet) is conquered. They proceed to prove themselves in ... battle against the enemy, creating so much political pressure (as a result of public broadcasts of the battles on television) that a number of politicians and planets find themselves in an ethically untenable position; ending in a resolution that can only provide for better government in the future.

Intrigue is afoot, and even skulduggery and outright murder is some of the occasions to cheer, in this story; that provides a satisfying beginning, middle and ending.

2). Artwork
Most of the artwork is nothing to write home about, but much of the visual descriptions of technology are to die for; at least as it pertains to the available graphics of 2005. Attempts at 3d artwork are compelling, and display screens and data are interestingly accurate.

For example, when an enemy vessel is 2-million miles away, the targeting information is fairly accurate to near-speed-of-light plasma cannon weaponry. Reporting of a firing solution comes up with somewhere around 10 to 12-seconds. We don't see attention to detail to this level very often.

3). Sound
While the basic sound and effects are fairly run of the mill, the music for events, and the OP and ED soundtrack is quite good.

I will warn you, the dubbed English version of the dialog is absolutely awful, as many of the voice actors can't read lines and cannot emote verbally at all. Stick to the subbed english dialog, the Japanese voice actors are quite good. I don't say this because of a predisposition one way or another; I own anime, some of which I prefer in Japanese, and others that I prefer in English.

4). Characters
Each and every one of the characters have their own personalities, activities and personal prejudices. They are three-dimensional. Hard to do in a 13-episode anime, but Starship Operators succeeds beyond my expectations.

5). Enjoyment
While this is not one of those anime easy to appreciate, since it is depressing at points, and leads the viewer to a bittersweet ending; the proper thing to say would be that the Satisfaction is very high. It's story succeeds, the characters do their jobs even when they are imperfect, the good guys are properly flawed rather than paragons of virtue, and the villains are (as in life) a mixture of good and bad parts in their personalities.

While this show may not please folks that need mindless combat, or continuous action; and it won't please the other side of the spectrum that are in constant need of romantic entanglements; Starship Operators can be enjoyed by anyone that can think above the 10th grade level, and has a proper intellect that can keep depictions of personal relationships in perspective.

That said, I can wholeheartedly recommend "Starship Operators" with a score of 9.

I must admit that I started this show because one of my favorite singers performed in it (Mami Kawada). Though I do enjoy the science fiction genre so Starship Operators seemed to be a perfect match. So let’s get on with the review!

The story is mixed for me. This is a serious story that for the most part is pretty good. It does a good job of giving you an overview of the universe in which the plot takes place in and moves along pretty steadily. The story revolves around a group of cadets for the military of Kibi on their ... last training cruise, when their home planet is attacked by a rival known as the Kingdom, the cadets are left to fend for themselves when their instructors all abandon ship and surrender. (Ja I thought that was silly too). They decide to fight and their struggle is documented by a news network. I did find myself drawn into the story however it has a number of flaws that really hurt it. One, this series is really too short and there just isn’t enough time to develop a complex storyline. Because of this most of the tragedy and drama that occur really garner very little emotional reaction. Also the plot felt rushed at the end, almost like the director found out he only had 1 episode left to finish the story. The ending was ok but it left things open that I really expected to be resolved by the end of the show.

The characters are where Starship Operators really suffers. They are interesting for the most part but we get almost no back story or development on any of them. Several romances spring up, one in particular you expect a resolution from in the end but it seems to be forgotten about. There is also a lot of tragedy and drama that it supposed to effect the viewer emotionally, however because we don’t have anything invested in any of the characters when a death occurs you don’t really feel anything. I kind of relate it to the old Star Trek series, when the "red shirts" would meet their deaths. I find this to be a problem with a lot of series that have so many characters. The show is too short to develop any of them and because there are so many everyone suffers.

Visually the show is great. The battles are exciting and there is a lot of action. The character animation is also very well done. The OP and ED music are good too, since this was one of the things that drew me to the show in the first place.

Starship Operators is a decent space opera. It has serious themes that will appeal to older viewers and enough action that younger viewers would be entertained. In the end this show is just average. It does some things really well so it’s difficult for me to recommend. If you like space battles or sci-fi then you probably would enjoy it.

I’m sure there are interesting and well-done strategy-focused and/or politics-focused SF series out there. This is not one of them. The soundtrack is pretty good. That’s… that’s about it. The art quality is cheap looks-nice-at-first-glance-and-only-first-glance. And then there are the boob and miniskirt uniforms, the few characters with rather ridiculous anime hair, and the lack of movement or expression outside of really bad mouth animations on most characters that make this look like a bunch of screencaps with moving lips. There’s some cute guys in it and at least one sweet romance? If you want to watch a really low-quality version of a strategy space ... navy game, that’s… about all the story you’re getting. Also no, the sweet romance is not the protagonist’s.

The first real dialogue we get is between an asshat captain(?) and the primary protagonist and it’s arguably sexual harassment and honestly it’s all downhill from there. Also the dub isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen but given the bad script and arguably shoddy animation, the dub acting is just… bad. And is frequently poorly synched up.

I liked this back when it was one of the few anime series I’d ever seen. It was shiny and neat and like a cool video game and the romances were nice. How times change. If you want good science fiction series with a focus on relationships interspersed with ship battles and/or politics focused, watch “Suisei no Gargantia”, “Macross Frontier”, or “Gankutsuou”. “Casshern Sins” is also a pretty good SF series with some fun battles to watch and a focus on philosophy (arguably).