| 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. |
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| 銀河英雄伝説 (Ginga Eiyū Densetsu) |
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| Genre | Space Opera, Drama, Military Science Fiction |
| Novel | |
| Author | Yoshiki Tanaka |
| Illustrator | Naoyuki Kato (vol. 1 – 5) Yukihisa Kamoshita (vol. 6 – 10) |
| Publisher | Tokuma Shoten |
| Original run | November 30, 1982 – November 15, 1987 |
| Volumes | 10 |
| Novel | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes Side Stories | |
| Author | Yoshiki Tanaka |
| Illustrator | Hiroshi Yokoyama (short stories) Katsumi Michihara (vol. 1 – 4 and magazines) Akira Kasahara (vol. 2) |
| Publisher | Tokuma Shoten |
| Original run | September 1, 1984 – July 31, 1989 |
| Volumes | 4 and 5 short stories |
| Manga | |
| Author | Katsumi Michihara |
| Publisher | Tokuma Shoten |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Shōnen Captain (1989 –
1994) Chara (magazine) |
| Original run | August 10, 1986 – February 2000 |
| Volumes | Golden Wings (August 10, 1986) 11 volumes (1990 – 2000) |
| Anime film | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars | |
| Director | Noboru Ishiguro |
| Studio | Kitty Films, Madhouse |
| Released | February 6, 1988 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Original video animation | |
| Director | Noboru Ishiguro |
| Studio | Kitty Films |
| Released | December 1988 – March 1997 |
| Episodes | 110 |
| Original video animation | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Golden Wings | |
| Director | Keizou Shimizu |
| Studio | Kitty Films |
| Released | December 12, 1992 |
| Anime film | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War | |
| Director | Keizou Shimizu, Kenichi Maeda |
| Studio | Kitty Films |
| Released | December 18, 1993 |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
| Original video animation | |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes Side Stories | |
| Director | Noboru Ishiguro |
| Studio | Kitty Films |
| Released | 1998 – 2000 |
| Episodes | 52 |
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. However, there have been English fan translations.
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 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.
Contents |
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.
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:
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.
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.
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