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Stellvia of the Universe (宇宙のステルヴィア, Uchū no
Stellvia
?) is an anime series set in space. As a prelude to the
series, the Earth of year 2167
AD is shown to be devastated by a powerful electromagnetic shockwave.
This is caused by a nearby star, Hydrus Beta, 20 light-years away, going supernova. The series itself is set 189 years
later, in the year 2356 AD. Civilization has been rebuilt with
humanity having united together to face the coming of the second
shockwave of the supernova. The second shockwave, unlike the first,
is to contain a great deal of matter composed of the remnants of
the star itself. Stellvia ran for 26 episodes and was produced by
the animation studio XEBEC. It was distributed in the United
States by Geneon. In September 2007 Geneon halted all
distribution of anime DVDs in America[1],
including Stellvia. A sequel
was originally announced for 2005, but was canceled after internal
difficulties.
Beginning with the May 2003 issue, a manga adaptation by Ryo Akizuki was serialized in
Dengeki
Daioh and has been published in the US as a two volume
graphic novel series by DrMaster. The word Stellvia is actually made
up from two Latin words,
stella meaning star(s) and via meaning
street. In Japanese the kanji for street is "Michi" which
can be translated as either street or road.
Therefore Stellvia is roughly translated as The Road to the
Stars.
The series makes references to things such as CAS and
Extended Essay, which suggests that
Stellvia might have been partially inspired by the International Baccalaureate
program, or at least, included an Ex-IB student in its
development.
Characters
- Shima 'Shipon' Katase (片瀬 志麻, Katase
Shima
?)
Voiced by: Ai Nonaka (Japanese), Carrie Savage
(English)
- The heroine of the story is Shima (or 'Shipon (しーぽん)' as she is
dubbed by Arisa) who joins the Stellvia foundation's space program
so that she could "see the stars while looking forward, rather than
having to look up". In the beginning, she fluctuates between
complete confidence in her abilities and believing she couldn't do
anything. The series depicts her as extremely diligent, although
she is also a natural genius.
- As the series progresses, she learns to understand her mistakes
and not think that she has to be perfect or else fail. For
instance, after a rocky start to her training, during which she was
dead last in her class at piloting, she takes the advice of Kouta
Otoyama and realizes she was trying to keep track of far too much
information on her ship displays. Her piloting improves
dramatically as a result. Shima is offered to be the 5th member of
the Big 4, after passing the test. Despite her early setbacks as a
pilot, her programming abilities are top notch from the very start,
and she eventually combines the two in order to become even more
formidable in the cockpit. She is called Shipon because the first
time she piloted one of the Biancas she flew around like a
ping-pong ball.
- Kouta Atoyama (音山 光太, Atoyama
Kōta
?)
Voiced by: Takahiro
Mizushima (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch
(English)
- Kouta is an enigmatic character. He and Shipon develop a
romantic relationship but there's still a lot about him that
remains unknown. He has an older sister who runs an astronomical
observatory in Japan. He often gives advice which is as enigmatic
as himself.
- He consistently achieves rank C in every class, without
exception, regardless of how easy or hard the subject is. And when
he was warned of the possibility of Ayaka attacking Shipon during
training, he displays extraordinary piloting abilities beyond what
his ship should have been capable of handling. Another example
would be during a simulator-game where Rinna scored Rank A, Shima
scored Rank B, he had scores Rank S. When Shima asks why Kouta does
not do the best during class, especially since he is capable of it,
he merely says: he wonders why also. Pierre once remarks "Talented
hawks hide their talons" when referring to Kouta's skills.
- On a different note, James was curious of Kouta's 'vision' and
said he was chosen by the universe.
- Arisa Glennorth (アリサ・グレンノース, Arisa Gurennōsu
?)
Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka
(Japanese), Lucy Hudson (English)
- Arisa is Shipon's best friend at the Stellvia foundation. They
meet on the shuttle going to the station from Earth at the
beginning of the term, and find themselves rooming together and in
the same class as well. Though Arisa is nowhere near Shipon in
academic or piloting ability, she finds Shipon to be an inspiration
to improve herself, and calls Shipon her "Star of Hope". Later in
the series, she begins focusing on becoming a mechanic, rather than
a pilot.
- Rinna Kazamatsuri (風祭 りんな,
Kazamatsuri Rin'na
?)
Voiced by: Ryo
Hirohashi (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English)
- Rinna is a transfer student from the Ultima foundation, and
considers Shipon to be both a friend and chief rival. Rinna is a
few years younger than Shipon and most of the other students, but
because there are few children at Ultima (it being the newest of
the foundations, and still incomplete), she has little to do with
herself but play with simulators. As a result, she's far better at
piloting and zero-G movement than most people years older than
her.
- Yayoi Fujisawa (藤沢 やよい, Fujisawa
Yayoi
?)
Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa
(Japanese), Michelle
Ruff (English)
- Yayoi is one of the older students in Shipon's class. Yayoi had
been in Stellvia's training program 2 years before, but left after
a flight training accident. Ayaka Machida attempted to save her,
and failed, but it turned out the "accident" was intentionally
caused by Ayaka in the first place.
- Recognizing the signs of another "accident" when Ayaka took
Shipon out to train alone, she warns Kouta of what might be about
to happen. Kouta is able to prevent another tragedy.
- Despite the attacks on herself and Shipon, Yayoi defends Ayaka
when it looked like she might face expulsion from Stellvia. Some
viewers argued that Yayoi and Ayaka's relationship might be romantic in
nature.[2]
- Akira Kayama (栢山 晶, Kayama
Akira
?)
Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (Japanese), Kate
Davis (English)
- Akira is a quiet and somewhat taciturn member of Shipon's class
as well as Yayoi's roommate. Though she becomes irritated easily
when around people too much, she learns to enjoy spending time with
Yayoi, Shipon, Alisa and the others of their group. Late in the
series, she starts dating JoJo.
- Ayaka Machida (町田 初佳, Machida
Ayaka
?)
Voiced by: Megumi
Toyoguchi (Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (English)
- One of the "Big 4" of Stellvia, (older students who are at the
top of their classes), Ayaka is shown as competitive in the
extreme. She has something of an inferiority complex which drives
her to be the absolute best, and she can't tolerate seeing others
better than her.
- Two years in the past, when Yayoi was her classmate, she
arranged an accident to ensure her own position at the top of the
class. Things went a little out of hand, however, and it looked
like Yayoi might lose her life, so Ayaka rescued her. Yayoi was
hospitalized and traumatized, and left Stellvia for a time. Now
with Shima Katase looking like she would surpass Ayaka as well, the
same thing almost happened. Had Yayoi not returned to Stellvia and
recognized the danger Shipon might be in, Ayaka might have
seriously injured or even killed her. Due to Yayoi's defense, Ayaka
was not expelled from Stellvia, but was suspended for a time.
- After Yayoi forgives Ayaka for nearly causing her to lose her
life, the two become very close. Ayaka seems to have strong
feelings for her classmate and friend Kent Austin who is also one
of the Big 4. Although in the last episode it appeared that she was
closer to Yayoi than Kent.[2]
- Richard James (リチャード・ジェームス, Richādo Jēmusu
?)
Voiced by: Katsunosuke
Hori (Japanese), Joey Lotsko (English)
- Richard is the Head Teacher of Stellvia's Space Academy. He is
also the one who conducted the entrance interview for Shima. He is
avuncular and usually takes the optimistic view of events. Richard
also encourages his peers to put more trust in the prep students
when events put them in critical situations. Richard plays a lot of
chess with Hutter.
- Carl Hutter (カール・ヒュッター, Kāru Hyuttā
?)
Voiced by: Masahiko Tanaka
(Japanese), Paul
St. Peter (English)
- Hutter is a teacher at Stellvia's Space Academy. He appears
unemotional and calm at all times. Usually, Hutter plays the
Devil's Advocate against Richard James' optimism. He helps Shima
with her confidence towards the end of the series. He is revealed
to have a more exotic origin later on in the series.
- Jinrai Shirogane (白銀 迅雷, Shirogane
Jinrai
?)
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara
(Japanese), Sean Roberts (English)
- Shirogane is another teacher at Stellvia's Space Academy; he
appears to teach programming. He is particularly enthusiastic about
the school's athletics carnival and Astroball, (a game that has
some similarities with Lacrosse), which he played in his student
days at Stellvia. Passionate and determined, Jinrai is intent upon
having the students' voices heard when no-one will listen. Jinrai
has feelings for the flirtatious school nurse Ren.
- Leila Barthes (レイラ・バルト, Reira
Baruto
?)
Voiced by: Naomi Shindou (Japanese), Anne Loveman
(English)
- Instructor in charge of Pilot Training at Stellvia. She used to
be an elite pilot, and spent some time wallowing in despair after
losing the "elite" tag. However, she recovers from this(after an
incident on a space station that was under construction) and choses
to become an instructor at Stellvia. She is tough toward the
students because she wants them to succeed, she has a loving smile
toward the childlike attributes of her students and is very scary
when she is mad.
- Ren Renge
Voiced by: Michiko Neya
(Japanese), Karen Strassman (English)
- A nurse at Stellvia. Ren is very flirtatious and early on in
the series dates different men, which causes Jinrai to become
jealous. She also works closely with the pilots, especially Kouta,
who she assists with training for missions. She seems to also have
feelings for Jinrai.
- Joey Jones (ジョイ・ジョーンス, Joi Jōnzu
?)
Voiced by: Akio Suyama (Japanese),
Tony Oliver
(English)
- Another of Shipon's classmates, Jojo (as he is called) is loud
and enthusiastic. He is not very good in his studies nor pilot
training and sometimes get needled because of it. Nevertheless, he
is not all bad apples, he eventually starts dating Akira later on
in the series. He sometimes has some rather good things to say that
are very influential, he tries to cheer Akira up one time when she
is depressed at the gap between her and the top students.
- Pierre Takida
Voiced by: Yuji
Ueda (Japanese), Jason Bigley (English)
- Another of Shipon's classmates, Pierre is good looking and a
big talker, but doesn't seem to have a lot more than that going for
him. He likes to hit on virtually every girl he lays eyes on, even
Rinna in one episode. He shows particular interest in Yayoi, though
it's not clear what her feelings for him may be. He confesses his
feelings to her and was turned down, but Yayoi later hints he might
still have some hope.
- Masaru Odawara
Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga
(Japanese), Dave
Wittenberg (English)
- Another of Shipon's classmates, he is seen hanging out with
Joey and Pierre. Others call him by his nickname, Dai, which is
another reading for his given name in kanji (大). In the last few episodes he becomes
very serious and says some very influential things which is
broadcast through the solar system as the last sounds from Stellvia
before the inevitable end.
- Najima Gable
Voiced by: Romi Park (Japanese), Mari Devon
(English)
- One of the Big 4. She usually quotes something of Shakespeare
and sometimes the bible. Nothing much else is known about her.
- Kent Austin
Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio
(Japanese), Steven
Blum (English)
- One of the Big 4. He usually tries to stir Ayaka up with
information that could be potential competition for her with no
intention of any of it leading to the "accidents" arranged by
Ayaka. He gets Shipon and her friends out of a spot of trouble at
the beginning when he saw them as he was passing by. Kent seems to
like Ayaka more than just a friend. Though he doesn't try to make
anything out of it.
- Ritsuo Shoujin
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama
(Japanese), Lex Lang
(English)
- One of the Big 4. Devoted to training, he is described as being
a "Ninja" by Shipon. Shoujin is very quiet and reserved, rarely
speaking. He merely nods and "hmm"'s when in agreement.
Video
games
Two video games have been released based on the anime series,
both named "Uchuu no Stellvia". The PlayStation 2 game was released on the 22
January 2004. The Game Boy Advance game was released on
the 23 April 2004. Both games are adventure dating simulations
though they do vary in gameplay.
In the Playstation 2 game, the player assumes the role of a new
student who has enrolled at the Stellvia Space Station Foundation.
Each day he assigns various commands on what to do such as studying
or resting in the same type of gameplay that Tokimeki
Memorial has except for weekends since there is no school
then. At the weekends he may invite a character on a date. There
are various events to be seen in the game and there are 10 multiple
endings. The game resembles the aforementioned Tokimeki
Memorial game series in many ways (though in Tokimeki
Memorial the player only assigns various commands for the
coming week and not for each day).
The Game Boy Advance game is different from the Playstation 2
game in terms of gameplay and plays a lot like the famous
Sotsugyou series of games also known as
Graduation in the west. The main difference in this game
as opposed to the Playstation 2 game is that the player assumes the
role of a new teacher instead of a student in the PS2 game. He must
teach the four main heroines (Ayaka and Rinna also come into the
game later on as his students) various subjects so that they are
prepared for the Great Mission. The game is like
Graduation in that the player has to balance out the
various girl's stats and must not neglect them since in this case,
they start to skip classes and the game can end. Throughout the
classes the player character must ask the girl's various questions
on the corresponding subject. After a question a number of things
can happen. A girl may put up her hand to answer the question, the
player can also choose one of the girls to answer or can answer the
question themselves. The player may also individually teach a
specific girl on subjects. Various events can be seen with the
various characters from the series at lunchtime or after
school.
Stellvia
2
Stellvia Director Tatsuo Sato has stated on his website that
plans for the Stellvia sequel are now impossible due to "inner
difficulties".
2005/08/10 (WED) 昨日の今日ですみません。
あれから各方面からメール・電話をいただきまして、企画が頓挫したとはいえ“永遠に無くなった”はということはこの業界ではあり得ないから希望は残しておいた方が…というご意見をいただきました。確かに過激な表現だったかもしれません。というわけでこういうことにさせて下さい。
「宇宙のステルヴィア」の続編は不可能になってしまいました。かねてから準備していた「宇宙のステルヴィア２」の企画も中止、「機動戦艦ナデシコ」についても同様です。
心配していただいた皆様、ありがとうございます。
この先の動きはこれからどうなるかまだわかりませんが、きちんと発表できるようになったらまた改めてここに書きたいと思います。それでは──
"08/10/2005(WED) Sorry for contradicting what I remarked
yesterday.
Many people gave me e-mails and phone calls after I posted my
comment yesterday. They say that "Certainly the project was
derailed, but it does never always mean the project will disappear
for good." I appreciate your remarks. Well, I was a little bit
exaggerating. So, I'd like to modify the comment as follows.
The continuation of Uchuu no Stellvia had become impossible.*
All the pre-planning for an Uchuu no Stellvia 2 came to a halt. The
same applied to Kidou Senkan Nadesico.
Thank you very much for all your trouble. I have no idea about
the future of Stellvia now, but if something will be officially
determined, I will announce it here. Best wishes, "
(*) The word is not 無理 (muri, "unfeasible"), which is normally
used to indicate a situation that is locked, but possibly solvable,
but 不可能 (fukanou, "impossible") - it's a much more definite
term.
(Information provided by the Anime News Network and translation
by babel fish, Shu and ANN forum members)
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