What I thought I'd be getting was a schlocky, pulpy, devil-may-care sci-fi story that lives up to the heavy metal lifestyle it seems to profess so much love for. Maybe my disappointment is my own fault for thinking the show was going to offer something that it wasn't prepared to offer. Instead, the bulk of the show is like a coming-of-middle-age slice of life... comedy? I feel compelled to use the question mark because most of the jokes or gags are just groan-worthy.
As I said, I was in love with the opening sequence. But then if you watch the ending sequence, it looks nothing like the rebellious heavy metal love letter from the opening, and instead makes the show look like a soulless pop-appeal throwaway entry in the moe slice-of-life genre. In a sense, the show finds itself caught in a war between these incompatible ideologies, and I saw the latter side winning more often than not.
The portions of the show where that metal ideology shines through approach the territory of "pretty good series." But even then, there are problems. The space battles use some very dated CGI, and while John Sykes' musical contribution to the series was its highest point of quality, it's obvious he gave them one track and nothing more, because the instrumental version of the OP is used ad nauseam in nearly every musical sequence. I can't exactly say I got tired of it, since I still listen to the song long after having finished the series, but a greater variety could have helped the story.
Overall, the story didn't build up to a climax that I particularly cared about, nor did it pack the kind of punch that I really want in a sci-fi work, particularly one where rock or heavy metal music are touted as themes or influences. There's a plot development near the end where the enemy space fleet finds their own musician to fight back against the main character, but again, nothing too powerful comes out of that subplot. The greatest item of value in the series, outside of John Sykes' Cautionary Warning, is a scene that went somewhat viral under names like "worst black guy in a Japanese dub." It was a funny scene, but not really for the reason the creators intended.
It might be enjoyable if you're looking for a lighthearted family comedy first and foremost, if this gels with your sense of humor. But if you're seeing the promotional material I've seen, read the synopses I read, and saw the opening sequence I saw, and you want something like that, I'd direct you to something like Interstella or Heavy Metal before I'd ever direct you to this. It was not (as I'd hoped) anything like a cross between those two.
