Ranked #1408

Starship Operators

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.
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Short series. 13 episodes over 3 disks. I almost did not finish it because the premise was almost too unbelievable (yes, I like Anime's to have some sense of reality). Artwork was very good (Animation mixed in with CGI). The thing that kept me watching was how realistically the creators portrayed the world in which the show takes place. The physics of space, maneuvering, battles, all the way down to how a teardrop should behave in zero-G made this series very interesting. Yes, yes, there is an occasional space warp, but space battles are not fever-pitched like most SF shows. The ships actually take days to approach and fire their weapons and beams from great distances. The Anime is more about the young crew and how they deal with the political situation they find themselves in. The treatment of physical-realism in a SF show was refreshing.

13 episodes. Took me about 6 episodes to get into it...
and them...
it was over too soon. read more