This OVA focuses on the beginnings of Reinhard's career in the military, showcasing events such as Reinhard's first frontline expedition and encounters with future allies and foes. Reinhard's loyal best friend and ally Kircheis is also the main protagonist of one of the stories, giving more background to his feelings towards Reinhard and Annerose and his personal thoughts.
The series is divided into four arcs: Silver White Valley, Dreams of the Morning, Songs of the Night, Dishonor and A Hundred Billion Lights, a Hundred Billion Lights. The first story narrates Reinhard and Kircheis first ground frontline mission, the second feature Reinhard and Kircheis investigating a murder at their former military school, the third story focuses on Kircheis being on vacation and encountering a drug smuggling scheme. The final arc is much similar to the content seen in the main series, a longer story natarring the battle of the Van Flet Starzone, featuring the conflict from both the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance perspective, while also containing a minor arc about the Rosenritter. While not fully in chronological order (the majority of the fourth story takes place before the third story), it's recommended to be watched as the order listed.
The stories mostly showcase the inner workings of the Galactic Empire, its military and the nobility social system, portraying the corruption, debauchery and general incompetence of the dying Goldenbaum Dynasty and its associates. Reinhard comes face to face with the obstacles of prejudice due to his young age, social standing and overall jealousy from his noble-born superiors. His and Kircheis' prodigious leadership abilities and intellect are fully showcased in all of these stories, while still portraying Reinhard as a young and slightly arrogant teenager. Kircheis' introspective nature and his frequent advice to Reinhard help to balance their character dynamic, showing the reciprocity of respect and high regard in their friendship.
While there are some minor plot threads that tie the stories together,the first two stories are mostly self contained, the second story especially being less relevant in both terms of development and characters backstory. The second story being a straightforward murder mystery, somehow lacks the engaging stratagem and battle of wits that characterize LoGH. Although the brilliant fourth arc brings out some of the best aspects of LoGH, the dull second arc definitely brings down the overall enjoyment of this series.
Besides the story, the technical aspects of this series are similar to those present in the main series. The character designs are realistic and unique, with distinguishable features showcasing the ethnnic and age diversity of the characters. Just like in the main series, the animation quality can vary heavily and abruptly, some select scenes showing their age in cell animation and some reanimated scenes in full digital animation with digital coloring. While some viewers may find this jarring, the animation keeps being serviceable and especially good in the Silver White Alley arc. The voice acting is as good as in the main series, with all voice actors reprising the returning characters except sadly for Yang Wenli due to his voice actor untimely passing before the series' production. The opening song is Kid by Akemi, a beautiful song with masterfully written lyrics and visuals showcasing Reinhard and Kircheis as kids. There are four ending themes for each arc sung by Kei Ogura, a treat for fans of the original series with heartfelt lyrics mirroing Reinhard's and Kircheis' feelings and thoughts. The classical music OST by famous European authors also returns, a befitting soundtrack to Reinhard's meteoric rise to success.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden is definitely a must watch for every LoGH fan, while not expanding on the story, showcasing Reinhard's formative years and experiences that made him the brilliant leader and commander we see in the main series.
