I’m recommending this show/OVA/book series to lots of people, so I’m putting all of my words here so I can link it to them later.
If you want a one-sentence recommendation, it’s Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War set in space, told in a manner that would be at home to fans of Leo Tolstoy, with technology and themes congruous to Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, all animated and translated pretty well.
The main thrust of the story is between two main factions: the Galactic Empire, a feudal monarchy led from the Hauptplanet of Odin (it’s Space Prussia), and the Free Planets Alliance, a democratic republic made from refugees from the Empire (it’s the Space USA). They’ve been in a brutal war of attrition for decades now, which has lately intensified to the point where both societies are hollowing out their workforces to maintain their war footing. Massive fleets of spaceships fight in battles akin to Napoleonic-era naval warfare.
This show is told on both sides with two young, opposing tacticians. On the Imperial side is Reinhard von Musel (right), a young lower-ranking aristocrat that despises the establishment above him. Opposing him is Yang Wen-Li (left), a history major and borderline alcoholic that fights for the FPA out of financial obligation and keeps stumbling into promotions. Neither one is expressly stated to be the protagonist, both get roughly equal screen time. Their skills and shortcomings shape this turning point of the war.
Within that story we explore many of deeper themes. Is the best autocracy better than the worst democracy? Is friendship possible between unequals in stratified societies? What, if anything, makes a war “just”?
All of the show’s myriad characters are believable and none have a sudden heel-turn where they become evil for no reason. Here’s looking at you, the 600 or so kids named after Daenerys Targaryen.
John