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Legend of the Galactic Heroes

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Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Cover of the original novel of Legend of the Galactic Heroes volume 1, first edition (Tokuma Novels, 1982). This book is considered valuable and famous because the character of the volume number came to attach since the second edition.
銀河英雄伝説
(Ginga Eiyū Densetsu)
GenreSpace Opera, Drama, Military, Science Fiction
Manga
Written byYoshiki Tanaka
Illustrated byNaoyuki Kato (vol. 1 – 5)
Yukihisa Kamoshita (vol. 6 – 10)
Published byTokuma Shoten
Original runNovember 30 1982 – November 15 1987
Volumes10
Manga
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Side Stories
Written byYoshiki Tanaka
Illustrated byHiroshi Yokoyama (short stories)
Katsumi Michihara (vol. 1 – 4 and magazines)
Akira Kasahara (vol. 2)
Published byTokuma Shoten
Original runSeptember 1 1984 – July 31 1989
Volumes4 and 5 short stories
Manga
Written byKatsumi Michihara
Published byTokuma Shoten
MagazineShōnen Captain (1989 – 1994)
Chara (magazine)
DemographicShōnen
Original runAugust 10 1986 – February 2000
VolumesGolden Wings (August 10 1986)
11 volumes (1990 – 2000)
Anime
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars
Directed byNoboru Ishiguro
StudioKitty Films, Madhouse
ReleasedFebruary 6 1988
Anime
Directed byNoboru Ishiguro
StudioKitty Films
ReleasedDecember 1988 – March 1997
Anime
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Golden Wings
Directed byKeizou Shimizu
StudioKitty Films
ReleasedDecember 12 1992
Anime
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War
Directed byKeizou Shimizu, Kenichi Maeda
StudioKitty Films
ReleasedDecember 18 1993
Anime
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Side Stories
Directed byNoboru Ishiguro
StudioKitty Films
Released1998 – 2000
File:LoGH Overture to a New War.jpg
An image for the advertisement of the movie Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War (1993).

Legend of the Galactic Heroes (銀河英雄伝説, Ginga Eiyū Densetsu) or "LOGH" is a series of science fiction novels by Yoshiki Tanaka. An anime adaptation of the novels ran from 1988 to 2000 as well as a manga based on the novels, with art by Katsumi Michihara.

Neither the novels, anime, nor manga have been released officially in the English language.

Set somewhere in distant space around the 35th century (the late eighth century of the story's "Space Era"), Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a story of the epic struggle between the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance.

The original Japanese title is often abbreviated as Gin'eiden (銀英伝) in Japan, while English-language fans often abbreviate the series title as LOGH (capitalization for the acronym varies).

LOGH has been made into a real time simulation game in Japan with the broad look and feel of the western space opera game Homeworld. There are no plans for a english translated copy as yet, though the fan base has started their own file translations. There are reports that the LOGH RTS does not fly in a full 3 axis universe, though few complain about this limitation. The LOGH RTS is a progression on from the previous turn-based japanese LOGH computer games.

Plot

File:LoGHstarmap.PNG
Starmap of the LOGH universe

The story is staged in the distant future within our own Milky Way Galaxy, approximately in the 35th century. Unlike many science fiction stories, there are no alien civilizations. A portion of the galaxy is filled with terraformed worlds inhabited by interstellar traveling human beings. For 150 years two mighty space powers have intermittently warred with each other: the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.

Within the Galactic Empire, based on 19th century Prussia, an ambitious military genius, Reinhard von Müsel, is rising to power. He is driven by the desire to free his sister Annerose, who was taken by the Kaiser as a concubine. Later, he wants not only to end the corrupt Goldenbaum dynasty but also to defeat the Free Planets Alliance and to unify the whole galaxy under his rule.

In the Free Planets Alliance Star Fleet is another genius, Yang Wen-li. He originally aspired to become a historian, and joined the military only because he needed money for tuition. He was rapidly promoted to an admiral because of his demonstrated excellence in military strategy. He becomes the archrival of Reinhard, though they highly respect one another.

As a historian, Yang often narrates the rich history of his world and comments on it. One of his famous quotes is: "There are few wars between good and evil; most are between one good and another good."

Besides the two main heroes, the story is full of vivid characters and intricate politics. All types of characters, from high nobility, admirals and politicians, to common soldiers and farmers, are interwoven into the story. There is a third neutral power nominally attached to the Galactic Empire called the Phezzan Dominion, a planet-state (city-state on a galactic scale) which trades with both warring powers. There is also a Terraism cult, which claims that humans should go back to Earth, gaining popularity throughout the galaxy. The story frequently switches away from the main heroes to the Unknown Soldier fighting for his life on the battlefield.

Anime adaptations

Series

The anime series is based on the novels. The anime is made of 110 25-minute episodes (divided into 4 sections). The first episode was released on home video in December 1988, and the last in January 1997. Since Legend of the Galactic Heroes was released directly to home video and not shown on TV first, it is technically an OVA (quite possibly the longest ever). However, it has since been shown on TV several times. There are two hour-long movies, one 90-minute movie, and two series of side stories (Gaiden) which are all prequels to the 110 episode series:

  • Legend of Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars - Movie, 1988;
  • Legend of Galactic Heroes: Golden Wings - OVA, 1992;
  • Legend of Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War - Movie, 1993;
  • Legend of Galactic Heroes Side Stories (1st season) - OVA, 24 episodes, 1998 – 1999;
  • Legend of Galactic Heroes Side Stories (2nd season) - OVA, 28 episodes, 1999 – 2000;

The series, while 20 years old, has not been released officially with English dubbing or subtitles. Even so, it has been ranked highly on most international sites about anime and/or space opera.

Manga

The manga edition is authored by Katsumi Michihara, and is derived from the first two volumes of the original-novel.

This manga story is faithful to the original, possibly more faithful than the anime. However, there are some changes that could be considered major, e.g. the sex of several characters is changed.

Akira Kasahara is cooperating in drawing mechanics.

See also

Related

  • Seiun Award - Best Novel of the Year in 1989, Best Artist in 1990
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