Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Introduction
Throughout history, we often learn of how many great nations rise and fall due to wars or even collapse internally due to their ineffective government and political system. Nations from both the past and the present all had either of the two political systems used to run their government, a democratic government or an autocratic government. But which of these political systems can be described as the best one for civilization? In fact, there is no perfect political system that can be used to govern man. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses and can both be used to either serve the people or harm the people. This theme becomes one of the main focal points for this classic masterpiece known as Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes(LOGH) is a 110 episode animated series done in the form of a space opera which aired in Japan and ran from 1988-1997 in four different seasons. It was based off of a series of novels under the same name done by Yoshiki Tanaka, who is rather renowned in his country for several long running novels. The series takes place hundreds of years into the future where mankind has left Earth and completely colonized and inhabited many different planets within our Milky Way galaxy. Two different political powers have been waging war with each other for over 150 years, the Galactic Empire, a autocratic government which is heavily inspired by 19th century Prussia, and the Free Planets Alliance(FPA), a democratic government similar to the democracies of today. Both sides have been fighting out this seemingly never ending war which involves millions of space ships and billions of men from these two super powers. Space Year 796, Imperial Year 487, with the war being dragged into almost a stalemate, both the Empire and the FPA turn to two genius commanders who may just help to change the course of the war. From the Empire, a young tactical genius named Reinhard von Lohengramm, who is slowly rising up in the ranks of the Imperial military with hopes of overthrowing the corrupt autocratic Goldenbaum Dynasty which has oppressed its citizens for hundreds of years since its creation and also in hopes of rescuing his older sister Annerose von Grunewald, who was sold off by his father to serve as the Kaiser's concubine. From the FPA is Yang Wen-li, a young scholar who only joined the military so he could attend college and study to become a historian. With his excellence in military tactics, Yang became quickly recognized and went up in the ranks of the military to fight for his nation, despite knowing that many of the politicians running the FPA are becoming increasingly corrupt. These two men eventually bring many tactical victories to their respective nations while engaging in many battles with each other and highly respecting one another despite being enemies.
Throughout the series, the main conflict is shown from both a very large cast of major and minor characters who are trying to deal with the war in ways they believe is the best to do so. Because of this, LOGH is rather unique, there is no set antagonist found in the 110 episode series, it realistically portrays how people will try to change their government and society for the better based on the views that they have grown accustomed to. The only real antagonist found in Legend of the Galactic Heroes can be considered to be the corrupt political systems of the Empire and FPA. Instead, we viewers are left to determine by ourselves what form of government would be best for the people, a dictatorship that is eventually reformed to serve the people, or a corrupt democracy that is slowly losing the ideals and principles it was founded on? This debate becomes one of the main themes throughout the show as both sides are fighting on different ideals for their government. This conflict is best highlighted throughout the series by Yang Wen-li's most used and possibly most famous quote found in the show, "There are few wars between good and evil: most are between one good and another good."
Do not let the ill conceived that all "cartoons are for kids" draw you away from watching this. The show was not created for a young audience in mind, not implying that it is an inappropriate show, but rather that it is created to be aimed at an older audience, as it heavily focuses on the themes of politics, war, and duty for ones comrades and country. Its numerous historical allusions will also prove to be a great watch if you are a big history buff. While there might also be some slight "references" to Star Wars in this show (ie Galactic Empire, a Death Star-like named fortress named Iserlohn), this should not be missed. Legend of the Galactic Heroes masterfully uses its long length to weave a very compelling and interesting story that never gets dull with a very extensive cast of characters. It also carries an extraordinary amount of depth in its story that very few live action films and TV shows have been able to successfully touch upon and execute in recent years.
