Les héros de la galaxie

It offers rich commentary on war, politics, government, history, corruption, good and evil, etc.; the list goes on and on.

It would take too long to explain the social commentary going on in this series, but one thing that stands above the rest is how tyrants come to power. Is it through the people (democratic rule of the many over the few), or government control (aristocratic rule of the few over the many)? Does the goal of a perfect system begin as a good dream that becomes tainted, or is the dream already tainted? How long does it take a system to grow corrupt? Is the system at fault or are the people who run it? It asks a lot of these questions by setting up a corrupt (or rather decadent) democracy that is fighting a growing benevolent aristocracy that has just overthrown a tyrannical government. Of course, it addresses the problems of a single monarch's rule versus representative democracy; there are good things and bad things attached to each system.

The show creates political and moral problems and the characters on both sides must find solutions. The story itself remains very nuanced to allow the audience to make up their minds about the issues presented. There are advantages and disadvantages to all forms of government presented. That is, the story is not a one-sided narrative that forces its audience to choose a certain side. It is a complex and intelligent social commentary, which forces its audience to think about all kinds of things. I also really like how classical music forms the soundtrack; that is, classical pieces are the only music in the show-Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, Wagner, etc.

It is a masterpiece, but it can be very slow at times. It is basically the War and Peace of anime.

I started watching this 30 years old anime series after seeing the first season (Ginga Eiyû Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou 2018) of a reboot based on the original. I liked the story so much, didn't have the patience to wait for new seasons to come out and decided to binge watch this ancient animation series.

This is one of the most unique anime series I have watched, it didn't depend on action sequences, heroic fighting, intrigue or showy effects to tell a story as is the style for such animation series, instead it relied on believable strategy's and actual storytelling, it genuinely felt like a good adoption from a Sci-fi novel as is the actual case.

The Sci-fi anime is focused on Space Warfare between two Inter-Galactic Powers, the story is told by showcasing the lives of two geniuses who clash against each other over the years. Their lives are as dissimilar as it can be yet they parallel each other in achievements. This is as much a biography of these two as a military sci-fi. Loved the social commentary and the conflicting questions asked all through the series.

The animation and music are mediocre at best considering its 30 years old but serves the purpose as the focus of this series is the storytelling and it does have an interesting story to tell.

Perhaps you've seen this superior science-fiction series on the Net or at your anime club. It looks like a TV show because each episode is 25 minutes long but I understand it is a direct-to-video adaption of Yoshiki Tanaka's 19-book series "Legend of Galactic Heroes". Thanks to that devoted fan-base the 28 tapes finally were completed after 10 years.

LGH tells the story of Reinhard, son of a poor nobleman in the Galactic Empire. Reinhard's father allowed his older sister Annarose to be carried away to court as a concubine when he was a young boy. Because of that Reinhard vowed to topple the Emperor one day. This series is like a soap opera because there are a lot of schemers and schemes and while the plot seems to advance slowly you really can't skip many episodes. There is a big payoff at the end and everything comes to a satisfying conclusion. The writing is very good but I can see people getting bored.

I know there are efforts underway to get an official subbed version to the US but it is going to be a hard sell because there are so many episodes.

Whilst the mentions of Babylon 5 aren't far off the mark, I'd say this is more akin to what Game of Thrones would want to be once it grew up - and was set mainly in space.

I recommend Failsafe to anyone with control of nuclear weapons, and this series to anyone who is in or intends to go into government-it covers timeless questions concerning power and how those in charge manipulate others, and themselves, and the justifications they use. A much more nuanced look than the 'evil vs good' plots dominating Western media - both fictional and in reality.

Introduction:

Legend of the Galactic Heroes is one of the best anime ever made. An excellently written space opera, with interesting characters, and one of most original science fiction shows. And if you're getting started with anime, I recommend this as a start.

The Narrative & Characters:

This show has some of the best writing of any TV show. Why? Well let me tell you.

The show centers around a war between The Alliance and The Empire. And the show doesn't portray either side as evil. The Alliance may be a democracy, but it's still incredibly flawed and filled with corruption.

And while the other is a dictator ship. It gets things done better than the democracy. And has less corruption, however, there are more limits in freedom. Both presenting arguments, and asking the audience to choose. Like a good war story should do.

I can't praise this series enough, it also had interesting characters on each side. Some in the Alliance are evil, and some are descent people. And the same goes for the Empire. This is honestly the most realistic space opera ever written. As it feels like a real war, it just happens to be in space.

The series raises questions and gives us interesting characters to follow.

The Animation:

This is a weaker aspect of the show. The animation, it's only okay, and just kind of low quality. And I don't mind so much, because the writing makes up for that, but it's an anime. And I just expect a little more.

Conclusion:

Legend of the Galactic Heroes is an anime that should be watched by more people. It might be long, with 110 episodes, and there may not be a dub, but it's still worth a watch.