Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Synopsis

In "Legend of the Galactic Heroes," the 150-year deadlock between the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance ends as a new generation of leaders rises: Reinhard von Lohengramm, an idealistic military prodigy, and Yang Wenli, a thoughtful historian from the FPA. Reinhard ascends the Empire's ranks backed by his childhood friend, Siegfried Kircheis, aiming to free his sister from the Kaiser's grasp and unite humanity under a single legitimate ruler while battling the fading Goldenbaum Dynasty's remnants. On the galaxy's opposite side, Yang, a staunch democracy advocate, struggles to uphold his beliefs amid the FPA's challenges and mentors his student, Julian Mintz, stressing that autocracy is not the answer. As war rages and ideologies collide, both strategic masters must reflect on the underlying motivations driving their conflict.

Background

Legend of the Galactic Heroes was adapted from a series of ten novels, published 1982–87, by Yoshiki Tanaka. The novels won the Seiun Award for the best long-form Japanese science fiction in 1988. At the start of its production the anime was distributed through a subscription system in which episodes were mailed to existing fans of the novels. It was made in four separate tranches over nearly a decade, with the production of side-stories continuing for several further years. The main series has the largest voice cast of any anime, with well over 300 voice actors, and it is the longest OVA series ever made. The novels have also been adapted into a manga, a stage musical by the Takarazuka Revue and a number of games.