Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (Legend of the Galactic Heroes)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: LoGH, LotGH, GinEiDen

Japanese: 銀河英雄伝説

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Information

Type: Novel

Volumes: 10

Chapters: 94

Status: Finished

Published: Nov 1982 to Nov 1987

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi

Themes: Adult Cast, Military, Space

Serialization: None

Authors: Tanaka, Yoshiki (Story), Katou, Naoyuki (Art), Kamoshita, Yukihisa (Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.54¹ (scored by 1,799 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #105²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1942

Members: 8,143

Favorites: 239

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8.54

Ranked #105Popularity #1942Members 8,143

NovelTanaka, Yoshiki (Story), Katou, Naoyuki (Art), Kamoshita, Yukihisa (Art)

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Volumes: /10

Chapters: /94

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Synopsis

In the far future, two young military leaders rise above their peers. The invincible genius Reinhard von Lohengramm is matched only by the unbeatable magician Yang Wen-li; though the two share a profound respect for each other, they meet on the battlefield not as comrades but as bitter adversaries. Commanding thousands of warships and millions of soldiers, they lead giant space fleets into battle on behalf of the two interstellar states that have wrested for control of the Milky Way for over a century and a half.

The Galactic Empire, an absolute monarchy ruled by Kaiser Friedrich von Goldenbaum IV and an entrenched nobility, seeks to suppress the rebels daring to oppose the inviolable crown. The Free Planets Alliance, a representative democracy led by a corrupt High Council, degenerates as its elected leaders⁠ use war and conflict as a way to win popular support. Reinhard is a minor noble who became a High Admiral through his strategic brilliance and his sister's position as the favored concubine of the Kaiser, while Yang is an avid historian and reluctant commodore hailed as a hero despite only using his tactical prowess to navigate around his leaders' incompetence. On opposite sides of the galaxy, the two men have wildly different visions for the future: Reinhard dreams of uniting mankind under his iron fist, while Yang wants only to carve a path to lasting peace. As the war rages on, Reinhard and Yang each strive for their ideals and secure their place among the stars as the leaders of a new era of galactic heroes.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

In 1988, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu won the Seiun Award for Best Novel of the Year.

The series has been published in English as Legend of the Galactic Heroes by VIZ Media under the Haikasoru imprint since March 8, 2016.

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Related Manga

Alternative version:	Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu
Side story:	Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Gaiden
Adaptation:	Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Sakubou, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Seiran 3, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Seiran 2, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Seiran 1, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Gekitotsu

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Characters

Yang, Wen-li

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von Lohengramm, Reinhard

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von Reuenthal, Oskar

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von Oberstein, Paul

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Kircheis, Siegfried

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von Schönkopf, Walter

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Mittermeyer, Wolfgang

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Minci, Julian

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von Mariendorf, Hildegard

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Attenborough, Dusty

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More reviewsReviews

Feb 24, 2020

94 of 94 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

_cjessop19_ (All reviews)

27 people found this review helpful

Space operas play a large part in defining what the sci-fi genre is all about; whether it be Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, Gundam or Babylon 5. Legend of the Galactic Heroes, despite not garnering the same amount of popularity and notoriety, especially here in the west, deserves to be placed among said series that define the space opera and sci-fi genre. LotGH is an award-winning Sci-Fi epic that fits within 10 books, in what many would consider as one of the greatest stories ever told in anime and in all of media, and it’s a series that holds a place in my heart as read more

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Feb 16, 2020

94 of 94 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

abystoma2 (All reviews)

27 people found this review helpful

If I were ever asked if there is such thing as a light novel that could be compared to classic literature, Legend of the Galactic Heroes would be the instantaneous answer.

This isn't a book you read, this is a book you experience. And I'm not using this expression lightly. LoGH is a work that might change your view on some eternal questions and problems of humanity concerning politics and philosophy. Or at least have you rethink your current opinion really hard. It excels at bringing those themes into the story and having it feel so naturally present, almost as if the story is just read more

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Feb 19, 2020

94 of 94 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

TheDeedsOfMen (All reviews)

13 people found this review helpful

If you want to throw your beret in the air and have a toast to democracy, watching the anime is a great idea, but how about reading the novel as well?

As you may know, LotGH is best known for its lengthy plot that focuses on politics and war, as well as its intense focus on political philosophy, such as democratic theory, legitimacy of government, and theories involving various ideologies. The philosophy and the plot go closely hand in hand, with the latter demonstrating the importance of the former. The world-building is like an encyclopedia and the cast of characters is like a phone book. It is a big world out there, kind of like our own in many respects. Well, probably not the part with the unrealistic space battles and all that, but you get the idea. And it is not the clear-cut Good Republic vs Evil Empire situation that you often see in space operas. Instead, both sides are portrayed in a nuanced way and developed in a manner that overturns some of the Republic vs Empire clichés as the story goes on.

So you might be asking, "How is this different than the anime (or the animes)?" The main story in the OVA is almost entirely the same as in the novel, though there are some slight changes. Some scenes here and there were cut from the OVA, while a few were added from side stories or simply as anime originals. There are also lines of dialogue that were cut. For instance, some of the dialogue involving organized religion comes to mind. The newer Die Neue These is more loyal to the novel, but they still had to cut some of the narration for understandable reasons. The novel is the most comprehensive version and I feel that it conveys the intended substance in the most accurate way.

What I find impressive is that the author finished this massive space opera in 10 volumes, about 200 to 300 pages each. That was enough for the entire plot, with all its twists and developments, as well as all the introspection, philosophical debates, and infodumps. How did he do it? By focusing on the relevant parts. While the plot consists of a great number of different story threads that criss-cross the galaxy, it almost never meanders into filler territory. Practically everything is relevant to the main plot in some way. Also, while the infodumps contain all sorts of useful background info and interesting context for the events, they still go through it fairly quickly. There are a few moments of exposition that were unnecessary, but for the most part the novel focuses on the relevant facts and keeps it relatively brief. For instance, it does not dwell too long on the technobabble aspects of sci-fi technology.

The dialogue and narration flow smoothly and can be fairly eloquent sometimes. The novel tries to avoid the most obscure and archaic words, so it is entirely comprehensible. It isn't trying to be fully formal but not fully casual either. Sometimes it cracks jokes at the expense of authority figures and deeply-held philosophical beliefs, while sometimes it talks light-heartedly about the everyday lives of the characters. The latter still doesn't eat up too much of the pages though, and the plot can move on quickly. Well, sometimes the everyday events still manage to bring up philosophical points, so maybe it isn't quite so light-hearted.

By philosophy, I mean it in the sense of explicit analytical argumentation. When people talk about fiction or life in general, they sometimes throw the word "philosophy" around with various meanings that can refer to all sorts of things. Here I mean something that is closer to academic philosophy. It isn't quite the same as in academic papers, but it is surprisingly close as far as fiction goes. This makes a big difference because it allows the characters to be more precise in their arguments. I actually think that the main point that sets this novel apart the most is the philosophy. There are many political novels out there, but most of them do not try to argue so explicitly or try to take on topics as controversial as this. LotGH does not even try to restrain itself when it comes to the flaws of democracy, loyalty to the state, adherence to tradition, or organized religion. It goes in with guns blazing.

Of course, there are some problems. For instance, the space battles tactics can be unrealistic, as one might expect of a space opera. In fact, sometimes it can be a bit unclear what kinds of plans might work because we don't know all that much about some of the finer technical details. Consequently, some battle results may feel a bit arbitrary, and we end up wondering whether the winners deserve all the praise. But those are really standard problems with sci-fi space battles. In addition, some of the side characters only get limited characterization because there are only so many pages to go around. The Church of Terra gets the short end of the stick, as do some of the Imperial nobles in the first few volumes. As a result, some of them end up as somewhat generic villains. Oh, and I should probably mention that there are no illustrations aside from the front pages of the volumes, so don't expect any more of that.

The political philosophy and world-building are very legit though, and many of the characters are likeable enough to be invested in. The realism is not grounded in technology but in society and the people. Despite the space fleets and lasers, many of the political developments are eerily close to what we are experiencing today.

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Jul 11, 2021

94 of 94 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

Noahboy (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

It's no easy feat to make ten novels so consistent in quality, but Legend of the Galactic Heroes never seemed to dip in quality for the three years over the course of which I read through this series.

The whole series is written in a way that feels like a recording of historical events with bits of commentary added in from a historian's perspective. This commentary also isn't shy about foreshadowing future events to build a sense of dread in the reader which really made things more interesting for me at least. This series also has a way of writing character deaths in a really cold and objective way that hits brutally hard. It's not shy about criticizing characters' actions and noting multiple historians' opinions on certain events which is interesting and encourages the reader to make their own opinion on the characters and their actions throughout the course of the story.

The scale of the story is also huge and covers a lot of the political aspects of the various wars that occur over the course of the story. At first I had a hard time following the political aspects of the story, but I did come around and eventually found them to be extremely interesting and thought provoking. The scale of everything definitely makes it hard to follow at first because there are so many characters to keep track of at first and some have similar enough names that I found myself confusing many characters together, especially among the admiralty in the Imperial Navy. But this problem got lessened as I got further into the story and more familiar with each character as a result, so it's more a barrier to entry than a major issue if you ask me.

I really like how the characters all feel human and all have their own flaws to go with their strengths, this makes them all more interesting than most other stories could hope to have. Some characters make massive mistakes and some characters die without realizing their goals and ambitions, and things like these make the plot fascinating to follow and kept me guessing what was going to happen next on top of hurting my feelings at certain parts.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes has very little to fault, I'm shocked to look back on the series and realize that once I got behind the politics of the story, there was never a boring part of the series. It feels super unique and definitely earns its ten novels of length to the grand epic that is its story. The only warning I have for people interested in it is that it may take some time for them to get into it like it did for me due to my initial confusion following the politics and the massive roster of characters. It's also worth noting that the ending is one of the most satisfying endings to any story I have ever experienced, and I would like many others to get that same feeling I did when I finally finished reading the last page.

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