Stellvia of the Universe reminds me of several different animes. The school life portion of the series gave me some serious Azumanga Daioh vibes. There is actually a lot of charm and humor that comes with watching Shima Katase and Arisa Glennorth bounce comments back and forth, and when you throw in a bunch of other interesting students and instructors it only adds to the fun. The serious portion of the series, which involves space training and combat, reminds me quite a lot of series' like Vandread. While the outer space scenes don't pack nearly as much action as fans of the genre would expect, they aren't boring to watch either. Stellvia is more of a psychological anime than it is an all-out sci-fi action one. Even though there are a few tense and exciting moments of high speed space action, the majority of the series takes place inside of the cockpit where we get to see the emotions of the individual pilots. This was an interesting route to take, and it works greatly to Stellvia's advantage. As the series goes on emotions begin to flare, so unlike Azumanga Daioh, Stellvia of the Universe does get serious, and tears are shed on more than one occasion.
Speaking of tears, Shima Katase wins my vote for 'Biggest Drama Queen in the History of Anime.' Shipon (the nickname Shima respectively earns early on in the series) manages to cry more times in the course of Stellvia than I care to count. To be completely honest, I can't remember a single episode where she didn't have tears running down her face at least once, including the very first episode. At first I was able to sympathize with her, but after seeing her pouty face a dozen or more times I felt the urge to leap into my television and repeatedly punch her in the face. While the entire human race is facing the biggest threat they've ever encountered this girl bitches and moans over the littlest of things, which includes not being as good of a pilot as her boyfriend (boo-friggin-hoo). While this sort of angst-ridden lead character is what helped ruin Neon Genesis Evangelion for me, Stellvia of the Universe provides the audience with plenty of characters to fall in love with and enough plot developments to keep the focus off the annoying drama queen. Although it is worth mentioning that the Shipon character does redeem herself towards the very end of the series, thankfully.
Stellvia of the Universe is a very character driven series, with well over a dozen different characters all with distinct personalities and agendas. If you don't like one character, there is a good chance you'll like somebody else. This is what made Stellvia so enjoyable to me, that I was able to attach myself onto several different characters in very different ways. Stellvia also doesn't have any true villains, a void that is filled mostly by fierce rivalries between some of the students. I guess it can be said that the real villain of the story is the cosmic disaster mankind is pitted up against; a faceless, mindless, merciless monster that will eradicate the entire solar system without a second's thought unless the genius preparatory students (Shima Katase and her boyfriend Kouta Otoyama) do something about it.
Stellvia of the Universe does get a little carried away later on in the series, and goes in a direction I least expected--aliens. Yes, during the latter half of the series aliens are introduced into the storyline. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your outlook) these aliens remain mostly hidden in the background of things, although there is one major character revealed to have connections with the aliens later on. As some of you may know, I'm a big fan of aliens and alien/human conflict, but the introduction of aliens in the story of Stellvia felt rather unnecessary to me. I guess if we're ever going to see aliens in real life it would be during a time of galactic crisis like the one presented in Stellvia, but going so far as having an alien masquerade as a high ranking human official is stretching things a bit too much for my comfort. In an anime that is otherwise pretty grounded, the aliens of Stellvia might manage to make a few eyes roll.
If you're a real die hard science geek you may also find it hard to swallow the plot that Stellvia of the Universe revolves around. The idea that mankind can survive a gamma ray burst from a nearby star is certainly a romantic one, but not very likely. With the ozone layer destroyed it would take many years before people could just walk around the planet as if it were a normal day, and the radiation levels would be so high that even people hiding in shelters would be swiftly killed. Also, a gamma ray isn't going to act like a nuclear bomb and blow buildings down as if they were made of straw. And don't even get me started on the 'cosmic fracture' introduced later in the series. But, they don't call it science FICTION for nothing.
I simply loved the audio in Stellvia of the Universe. The OP song, Asu e no Brilliant Road (Brilliant Road to Tomorrow), is one of the best OP songs I've heard in quite some time, and I had trouble bringing myself to skip the opening scene during the start of each episode because of it. The various ED songs, Kirei na Yozora (Beautiful Night Sky), The End of the World, and Dear my best friend are all pretty good as well, with my favorite being Kirei na Yozora; it has that really catchy J-Pop factor, which resulted in me struggling to stop myself from humming it while in the shower. All of the theme music is done by Angela, so I'll be sure to check out her work from now on. The voiceovers in Stellvia are quite good as well, but I can't comment too much on the Japanese audio since I didn't listen to much of it. The English audio is nice though, with all of the voice actors playing their roles respectively. If I decide to ever watch this series again I'll consider watching it in the Japanese audio, since I hear the Japanese voice actors did a truly superb job.
The animation in Stellvia is a nice blend of traditional drawings and computer graphics, and it's pleasant to see that an anime like Stellvia can pull off CG without looking too dated or generally awkward. Character and scenery designs are all great, with each character animated to perfection with their corresponding personality traits, and with each location looking distinct from each other. I actually felt like I was aboard the Stellvia myself while watching, as the anime takes you everywhere from the dorms to the air ducts. The only way to see more of the fantasy space station would be to obtain the blueprints. There is a few recycled sequences here and there, but not really enough to take your attention away from the good stuff.
Stellvia of the Universe is what I would consider a hidden gem. It's not the kind of anime I would expect my friends to bring up during a conversation, and when asking people online for their opinions on it I constantly got the same reply: 'I've never heard of Stellvia.' This is a real shame, because Stellvia is exactly the kind of anime there isn't enough of. Where are all the sci-fi animes that take themselves seriously without being dull, or having a dull cast of characters? Or for that matter, how many animes have you seen where literally dozens of characters are properly developed, and who are each likable or unlikable for their own reasons? In my experience an anime with such qualities is rare. Stellvia of the Universe isn't perfect by any means, but if I said it wasn't one of the best anime experiences I've had in a while I'd be lying. Overall, Stellvia of the Universe is a well crafted piece of entertainment, one that you shouldn't avoid.
My Score: 9.5
Version Watched: English Dub
