Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu

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I'm surprised that there are no reviews for the first manga of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, one of the most acclaimed anime ever. But it makes sense in a certain way. There is no official English translation of this manga, only a fairly recent fan translation. The manga covers up to the Imperial/Alliance Civil Wars. I believe there is a sequel manga that covers more of the story but that one hasn't been translated into English at all. So anglophone fans are left with what is a relatively faithful and solid adaptation of the first third of LOGH. The manga has many redeeming qualities ... and it's worth reading if you want a new spin on LOGH.

The art is very shoujo. Reinhard's long flowing hair is dreamy and flowery. Characters have simple faces but long limbs. And every male character looks like male love interest. It's rather effective in making the characters appear larger than life. All the main characters are rendered noble, and villains are given a scheming gravitas. It fits with LOGH aesthetic of castles, Prussian militarism, and tragic heroes. The space battles were a bit difficult to follow though. Ships were drawn in a very mechanical yet messy fashion with ships in varying shades of grey and black firing white bolts at each other.

I suppose that is a consequence of space battles in manga. Animation has color and elaborate designs to differentiate opposing sides. Prose can be easy to follow and tells the reader outright who's shooting at who. Manga only has black and white pictures and panels of characters yelling "fire". This aspect and the fact that it only covers up a third of the story is why my score is a 9, not a 10. I haven't talked much about the story because there isn't much to talk about. Don't get me wrong, LOGH is a story driven series and I could talk about its various elements all day, but I want to leave that for a review of the actual show.

The manga has very little differences from the show. There is the change of one of the characters' genders, but it literally changes nothing about the story. What once was a burly landesherr drinking wine is now a slender landedame drinking wine. Events are told in chronologically order meaning that there are less flashbacks. The manga added a new year's party in Iserlohn Fortress where some of the male characters are forced to cross-dressed for a page. Those are the outstanding differences. If they are a deal breaker then I do not know what to tell you. Read more shoujo? I recommend this manga to fans of LOGH, fans of sci fi manga, and people who want to get into LOGH but are afraid of the 110-episode original series and the currently unfinished remake.