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Despite being both dated and rather long, I decided to check out this series after hearing so many good reviews of it. I wasn't disappointed.
Rather than the more traditional premise of developing a group of good guys to go and defeat the evil empire, the series splits its time into developing two "nuclei", one representing each side. With these two opposing characters as the focus, we are shown the different worlds in which they live, the people in them, and the political structures in place. As the series progresses, not only are the two protagonists and their many comrades thrown into combat against each other, but are also forced to counter the machinations of various people and groups, all of whom have their own agendas.
One of the stronger aspects of the series is its characters - despite the massive number of characters present they all get a fair amount of development, making them very believable. In many ways, having such believable characters is almost a necessity for the political maneuverings that play a significant role in the series to have the desired impact.
Indeed, the politics of the series plays almost as large a role as the space combat. The epic space combat is one of the more distictive points of the show - ep13 of Haruhi where they fight against the computer club is an obvious parody of this series. The tens of thousands of ships, the death sequences, and above all the use of tactics are instantly recognizable.
While the art and animation show their age as would be expected, the higher production values associated with OVAs compensate for this to an extent - although it would be unrealistic to expect anything special. The music, when used, wasn't especially memorable, but was appropriate to the series.
While it may seem like a effort to get through all 110 episodes, the fact it can go through this many episodes while having each one a relevant part of the story is a testamant to the writing that has gone into it. Definitely a series I'd recommend people checking out - if people can watch umpteen episodes of Bleach, it'd be a little disappointing if a series like this couldn't get a look in.
Despite being both dated and rather long, I decided to check out this series after hearing so many good reviews of it. I wasn't disappointed.
Rather than the more traditional premise of developing a group of good guys to go and defeat the evil empire, the series splits its time into developing two "nuclei", one representing each side. With these two opposing characters as the focus, we are shown the different worlds in which they live, the people in them, and the political structures in place. As the series progresses, not only are the two protagonists and their many comrades thrown into combat against each other, but are also forced to counter the machinations of various people and groups, all of whom have their own agendas.
One of the stronger aspects of the series is its characters - despite the massive number of characters present they all get a fair amount of development, making them very believable. In many ways, having such believable characters is almost a necessity for the political maneuverings that play a significant role in the series to have the desired impact.
Indeed, the politics of the series plays almost as large a role as the space combat. The epic space combat is one of the more distictive points of the show - ep13 of Haruhi where they fight against the computer club is an obvious parody of this series. The tens of thousands of ships, the death sequences, and above all the use of tactics are instantly recognizable.
While the art and animation show their age as would be expected, the higher production values associated with OVAs compensate for this to an extent - although it would be unrealistic to expect anything special. The music, when used, wasn't especially memorable, but was appropriate to the series.
While it may seem like a effort to get through all 110 episodes, the fact it can go through this many episodes while having each one a relevant part of the story is a testamant to the writing that has gone into it. Definitely a series I'd recommend people checking out - if people can watch umpteen episodes of Bleach, it'd be a little disappointing if a series like this couldn't get a look in.