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.

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.

An example of how deceiving poster can be. What kind of admirer of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, especially Heinlein's juvenile science fiction novels, would suspect in an anime hiding behind a poster with kawaii girls a plot worthy of Robert himself? If you look at the poster you’d probably suspect that it’s another miserable harem in the space opera genre (which is certainly not) with swaying "oppai", lusciously slobbering pseudo-romance, giant humanoid mecha, extremely imbecile behavior and stupid motivation of characters, as well as close combat within line of sight (sic!) in outer space. However “Starship Operators” (I just wanted to write “Starship ... Troopers”), minus the kawaii girls, is genuine early Heinlein - here you also have space cadets - young geniuses who are growing from boys to ..., or rather, from girls to women, very believable political intrigues and realistic battles in space (perhaps, minus the latter, which turned out to be too "epic"). Battles here are not conducted by meaningless giant humanoid robots and not even in the line of sight, not to mention the crazy massive frontal assaults, but through tactics and maneuvers, radars and sensors, calculation and timing, with the study of the enemy's weaknesses, to each of which an individual approach is applied (it seems that the author of the original used real naval battles of the Second World War as inspiration) and, of course, luck - everything is like in Heinlein's stories, where the heroes prevail by the means of reason and calculation. It's really interesting to watch the battles here. However, even the actual matriarchy with kawaii girls is suspiciously reminiscent of the matriarchy of Free Traders from the "Citizen of the Galaxy" of "early Heinlein ", while "late Heinlein" even more so was a great admirer of matriarchy.

The plot here is without fillers and sagging - as it fascinates from the very beginning, from the moment when the ship was "seized" by cadets inspired by a small group of conspirators (through its ransom through a sponsor) in protest against the surrender of their home planet, and keeps in suspense throughout the journey of this team through battles, political intrigue and betrayal, attempts to find allies and simply a port in order to replenish supplies and repair the ship. The enemy acts not only by military means, but also through psychological and political manipulations, trying to undermine the morale and deprive the "pirates" of any outside support. The heroes, with a few exceptions, are not at all perfect, but not repulsive either - including the captain who panicked from time to time in battle, but who at the same time is a good and responsible administrator who forces himself to behave with dignity and uses his inherent caution to identify weaknesses in "constructions"of his brilliant executive officer; his beloved cold-blooded and manipulative politician girl, whose fears and real feelings only rarely give out through involuntary tears; a good man - the chief engineer, nevertheless committing stupidity (I suspect that in this scene the genre of "mecha" with its "humanoid giant robots" and "heroically" hysterical attacks is subtly ridiculed), apparently out of a desire to show off in front of Sinon (it’s worth notion that the enemies are shown to be quite humane - they were retreating and did not even want to shoot at the "heroic" engineers, having done so only when absolutely necessary). Even a cynical and sneaky TV show producer turns out to be capable of an heroic act at the end (however, hardly out of philanthropy). Basically, the characters are revealed qualitatively - through their actions rather than through words.

Political intrigues here do not cause irritation by absurdity, as well as heroes by being stereotypical. Perhaps there are no unequivocally positive and negative characters and "forces", but the ship's crew is written "nicely" enough to arouse the viewer's empathy. And, yes, some favorite heroes die, most often as a result of "heroism" (sometimes unreasonable) - there is no place for victories with hysterical screams of mentally retarded “heroes” that flooded modern anime. But there are no senseless "murders for the sake of murders" of characters, as well as stupid self-sacrifices (except for one, quite expected). Of the characters only Sinon sometimes causes irritation as she is too unnaturally ideal and ingenious - but for the virtual "embodiment of Amaterasu" it is perhaps forgivable ) So you certainly shouldn't judge this anime by the cover. I would even say that the cover is simply deceiving the viewer by mis-positioning Starship Operators. Those who admire serious, thoughtful anime with a good storyline, may be turned of by the cover, as it at first turned me of. For the admirers of "kawaii" and actual space opera genre like Star Wars, this anime simply might be a disappointment. This is for such incorrect positioning I will lower the score - after all, girls will be uninterested in the Starship Operators as well as those boys at which the positioning is aimed at, while the target audience may pass by deceived by such a poster. But, perhaps, there is no other reason to lower the assessment - 9 out of 10.