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Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Original title: Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu
  • TV Series
  • 1988–1997
  • TV-MA
  • 25m
IMDb RATING
9.0/10
6.4K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,771
328
Takeshi Aono, Toshio Furukawa, Tesshô Genda, Keiko Han, Show Hayami, Michio Hazama, Masashi Hironaka, Ryô Horikawa, Kazuhiko Inoue, Yû Mizushima, Katsuji Mori, Keiichi Noda, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Nozomu Sasaki, Kaneto Shiozawa, Hideyuki Tanaka, Kei Tomiyama, Norio Wakamoto, and Keaton Yamada in Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988)
Adult AnimationAnimeHand-Drawn AnimationSci-Fi EpicSpace Sci-FiActionAnimationDramaSci-FiWar

Various people, especially two rising commanders, cope with a massive continual space conflict between two interstellar nations.Various people, especially two rising commanders, cope with a massive continual space conflict between two interstellar nations.Various people, especially two rising commanders, cope with a massive continual space conflict between two interstellar nations.

  • Stars
    • Yûsaku Yara
    • Ryô Horikawa
    • Katsuji Mori
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    9.0/10
    6.4K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,771
    328
    • Stars
      • Yûsaku Yara
      • Ryô Horikawa
      • Katsuji Mori
    • 32User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Episodes110

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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Yûsaku Yara
    Yûsaku Yara
    • Narrator
    • 1988–1997
    Ryô Horikawa
    Ryô Horikawa
    • Reinhard von Lohengramm
    • 1988–1997
    Katsuji Mori
    Katsuji Mori
    • Wolfgang Mittermeyer
    • 1988–1997
    Nozomu Sasaki
    Nozomu Sasaki
    • Julian Mintz
    • 1989–1997
    Kei Tomiyama
    • Yang Wen-li
    • 1988–1995
    Yoshiko Sakakibara
    Yoshiko Sakakibara
    • Frederica Greenhill…
    • 1989–1997
    Norio Wakamoto
    Norio Wakamoto
    • Oskar von Reuenthal
    • 1988–1997
    Kazuhiko Inoue
    Kazuhiko Inoue
    • Dusty Attemborough
    • 1988–1997
    Toshio Furukawa
    Toshio Furukawa
    • Olivier Poplin
    • 1988–1997
    Michio Hazama
    Michio Hazama
    • Walter von Schönkopf
    • 1989–1997
    Masako Katsuki
    Masako Katsuki
    • Hildegard von Mariendorf…
    • 1989–1997
    Kaneto Shiozawa
    Kaneto Shiozawa
    • Paul von Oberstein
    • 1989–1997
    Keaton Yamada
    • Alex Cazerne
    • 1989–1997
    Keiichi Noda
    • Fritz Joseph Bittenfeld
    • 1989–1997
    Yû Mizushima
    Yû Mizushima
    • Neidhart Müller
    • 1989–1997
    Takeshi Aono
    Takeshi Aono
    • Murai
    • 1989–1997
    Gorô Naya
    Gorô Naya
    • Willibald Joachim von Merkatz
    • 1988–1997
    Kiyoshi Kobayashi
    Kiyoshi Kobayashi
    • Adrian Rubinsky
    • 1988–1997
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews32

    9.06.3K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    10purplepete

    Game of Thrones in Space

    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.
    10imanspring

    Masterpiece

    One of best series I've seen in a long long time. This space opera is without equal. Words fall short of praising this creation.

    Great character development in this anime. Its evident that a tremendous amount of effort was put into the production of this anime, with detailed background info on most characters as well as locations, history, art, culture and the scenery.

    Each episode will leave you wanting for more. Stories have been carefully designed not to show any bias to any particular political view. Impartiality is the motto of this anime.

    The animation is good, considering the anime is from the late eighties. But, animation is not at all the defining aspect of this anime. Its the story and the characters.

    The soundtrack is exemplary. The tracks clearly voice the thoughts of some of the characters in the sage. Beautiful to listen to.

    Overall, this anime is a true masterpiece. Comparing this with other creations from this genre would be a disservice to this anime.
    10themanwhocamefromthesky

    Japanese Star Wars and it's 110 episodes long

    Tis during the winter of lockdowns, and all was silent.

    For I watched this opera with great interest, In the lasers and the explosions, And I enjoyed it.

    Was life so simple then.
    10mayank09876

    Loved it - What is better, a corrupt Democracy or a Humanitarian Dictatorship.

    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.
    gjhong

    Yoshiki Tanaka's magnum opus

    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.

    More like this

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    8.2
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    Related interests

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    Adult Animation
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    Anime
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    Hand-Drawn Animation
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    Sci-Fi Epic
    Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in Star Trek (1966)
    Space Sci-Fi
    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
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    Animation
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
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    Sci-Fi
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    War

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Yang Wen-li was Kei Tomiyama's final role, although older work has come out posthumously. He died September 25, 1995 of pancreatic cancer, shortly after completing his work on Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
    • Goofs
      Regardless of the explosions destroying the ships, exposing the ship to space, the crews are shown to be dying like they are on earth.
    • Quotes

      Yang Wen-Li: There are no such things as 'wars between absolute good and absolute evil' in human history. Instead, there exist wars between one subjective good and another subjective good, and conflicts between one righteous faith and another righteous faith. In the case of a unilateral war of aggression, the aggressor would believe in its own righteousness. That is why wars have never ceased. As long as humans believe in God and in righteousness, there is no way conflicts would ever disappear.

    • Alternate versions
      There are two different versions of the series; the initial releases (often called the LaserDisc releases) has a more vivid color. The DVD releases from 2000s, including the Sentai releases, has a muted hue but is drawn slightly differently. Both, frame by frame, is the same.
    • Connections
      Followed by Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars (1988)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 8, 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Heldensagen Vom Kosmosinsel
    • Production company
      • Kitty Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 25m
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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