Back to martin03345's Profile martin03345's Profile

History is not just the study of the past, but the events that occur throughout history hold a different meaning for different people. These past events encompass the overall thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and conceptions of all those who lived throughout it. When a war between two different states and political ideologies breaks out with both states claiming to be fighting on the side of righteousness, which side is truly the right one? This is the overarching theme of of the epic 110 episode OVA space opera, Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Adapted from the science fiction novel series by Yoshiki Tanaka and directed ... by famed Ishiguro Noboru (SDF Macross), LotGH is a brilliantly orchestrated OVA that is carried out through its overall grandeur presentation of political and historical ideas, magnificently choreographed battles, and through an impressively well thought out storyline and characters that leaves you begging for more.

LotGH is a space opera that takes place in the distant future. It shows the continuous struggle between believers in the democratic republic political system of the Free Planets Alliance and those who follow the rule and will of the Galactic Empire’s autocratic government. For hundreds of years, these two states have been battling it out through continuous, stalemated conflict in the depths of space. With both political factions becoming stagnant over the years, as corruption has seeped into both, the ambitions of one up-and-coming young admiral of the Galactic Empire, Reinhard von Musel, seeks to rid the Empire of the corruption and unite the galaxy under his own rule. On the other side of the spectrum and galaxy, admiral Yang Wenli observes the corruption that is strangling his country but hopes that through the will of the people and through time, the corruption will be rooted out. As time progresses, these two will become rivals and show one another that they are not only equals on the battlefield, but in intellect and charisma as well.

LotGH has one of the greatest stories ever written in not just anime, but of any media of all time. The scope of the story is so vast and dynamic that it instantly sucks the viewer into the frenzy that is galactic politics and warfare. The fact that this is the longest OVA ever to come out may deter some due to its great size but do not be turned off. To achieve such brilliant storytelling, the series makes great use of every episode and fleshes out every possible detail leaving out the chance of ever having a plot hole.

The story relies on giving the viewer not just one view point of the events carrying on within the story but a look through all the characters in the story. From Reinhard and his friends and allies to Yang and his allies, each character shares their thoughts on the conflict going on within each respective camp and their own personal philosophies. Because of this, the story gives us no protagonist or antagonist, but only human beings interacting and coping with the social, political and military changes within their society. It is interesting to see how each character reacts to the maelstrom of changes within the Empire and the Alliance. You will see that through the growing political and military strife certain characters try to use such instances to gain power and further their reputation or turn a blind eye to it for it does not suit the interests. Because of this, the viewer will see a flow within the events that make absolute coherent sense. This creates the overall theme that future events will occur as a result of the actions and will of others. It is also interesting to see the different philosophies the characters hold. Because the show is neutral regarding almost every matter, you will never see another show give such valid, strong, and well sounded arguments on why an autocracy is a better form of government than a democracy, especially when the former is under benevolent leadership and the other rotting from corruption. It is this gray area that the viewer can decided and see where their morals and philosophies lie and see if one argument can sway them to the other viewpoint or at least get them to think more critically on their own viewpoints.

It is because of such care and detail given to the story on such issues that the viewer is able to find at least a handful of characters they can relate to and even admire. For some, the overall humbleness, laziness and intelligence of Yang greatly contrast the constantly battle hungry, charismatic, power seeking Reinhard. But even though the two characters contrast so greatly in personality, you do see that they are also greatly similar and admired by friends and soldiers alike. But the story does not just focus on these two main characters as the show an amazingly large cast of supporting characters that are given a lot of depth and personality that makes them differ from others. From the Alliane’s tough and ready Rosenritter leader General Schenkopp, the goofy personalities of pilot Oliver Poplan and admiral Dusty Attenboroguh to the protégé of Yang in Julian Minci, each character within the Alliance is distinct in some shape or form. This also applies to the men and women of the Empire as the best friends of admirals Oskar von Reunthal and Wolfgang Mittermeyer contrast greatly and serves as a great dichotomy on how opposites can attract. You also have the third parties of De Villiers of the Earth Church trying to stop both Reinhard and Yang from succeeding in their goals and Adrian Rubinsky of the autonomous Phezzan trying to play the Alliance and the Empire for his own personal gain and quest for power. What adds to this depth of the characters is the brilliant voice acting done for the show. With a show of this size, low of a budget and number of characters, you would think that voices would be recycled for some. You would be wrong. Only one person voices two characters in this entire series, one. The rest has their own individual seiyuu that adds a great deal of life and personality to the character that could not be possible if the voices were in fact recycled. Seiyuus such as Goro Naya, Kei Tomiyama, Ryo Horiwaka and Norio Wakamoto give their respective characters such great personality that adds to the already dynamic traits of the characters within the series.

If it is anything that LotGH lacks, it’s in the artwork and animation department. Because the show started out in 1988 and ended its run in 1997, you will see a marked improvement in this category but the animation and art still seems to be not as detailed and beautiful to the eye as other contemporary animes. But does this mean the show is ugly looking? Not at all. The character bodies look very realistic in portion and design instead of the over exaggerated anime style and the detail in the background and objects such as the space ships is impressive but the animation is still suffers from stiffness at times and not as fluid as it could be. But as said before, this does greatly improve from season to season as more time and effort gets spent into making the show look stunningly impressive. However, these small hiccups and blemishes in the artwork and animation can be contributed to the small budget that the OVA had during its run and thus when looking at, one may want to keep this in mind as the show was not being produced by a company like Kyoto Animation.

What is truly remarkable is the score for this show. LotGH utilizes a vast array of classical composers and their compositions such as Mahler, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahmas and Wagner. This gives the show a timeless, ageless feel that classical music often lends itself to. These compositions are always fitting to the situation and never come as underwhelming or overly pompous and melodramatic. The music isn’t just a means to an end but really does contribute to the overall atmosphere and adds another dimension of character to the show. The opening and closing songs for LotGH are amazingly well crafted and fits the mood of each season as they are almost hints to what you may see in that season. The particular stand out is the 3rd opening song of “Sea of Stars”. It may be one of the greatest opening songs for it’s sheer power and ability to move the viewer emotionally.

Overall, LotGH is a magnificent show that does not fail to impress in any shape or form. With its multidimensional characters, impressive story and themes that cover history, politics, social issues, and philosophy, the OVA is a remarkable showing of human intelligence and creativity that requires thought and judgment from the viewer. Many shows are called epic and seen as brilliant though they have glaring flaws that make them not even close to that criteria, but LotGH is truly one of those series that goes above and beyond the call of epic works and is truly a milestone in anime history. May foppery and whim be with you


Story: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Animation/Artwork: 7-8/10 (Seasonal Changes)
Characters: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 10/10