For the 73rd class of cadets of the Defense University of the small planet Kibi, a shakedown cruise on the fleet's new starship "Amaterasu" is a fitting lead-up to graduation. As they are returning to their home planet, however, they are shocked to hear news of a declaration of war by the aggressive Kingdom against Kibi. When their planetary government surrenders without a struggle, the cadets decide to launch their own war, aboard the "Amaterasu". To gain funding, they make a deal with a galactic news network - and find themselves the "stars" of their own "reality show". Unfortunately, this is the kind of reality show that can get you killed...
(Source: ANN)
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Comentários
Skadi
I must admit that I started this show because one of my favorite singers performed in it (Mami Kawada). Though I do enjoy the science fiction genre so Starship Operators seemed to be a perfect match. So let’s get on with the review! The story is mixed for me. This is a serious story that for the most part is pretty good. It does a good job of giving you an overview of the universe in which the plot takes place in and moves along pretty steadily. The story revolves around a group of cadets for the military of Kibi on theirlast training cruise, when their home planet is attacked by a rival known as the Kingdom, the cadets are left to fend for themselves when their instructors all abandon ship and surrender. (Ja I thought that was silly too). They decide to fight and their struggle is documented by a news network. I did find myself drawn into the story however it has a number of flaws that really hurt it. One, this series is really too short and there just isn’t enough time to develop a complex storyline. Because of this most of the tragedy and drama that occur really garner very little emotional reaction. Also the plot felt rushed at the end, almost like the director found out he only had 1 episode left to finish the story. The ending was ok but it left things open that I really expected to be resolved by the end of the show.
The characters are where Starship Operators really suffers. They are interesting for the most part but we get almost no back story or development on any of them. Several romances spring up, one in particular you expect a resolution from in the end but it seems to be forgotten about. There is also a lot of tragedy and drama that it supposed to effect the viewer emotionally, however because we don’t have anything invested in any of the characters when a death occurs you don’t really feel anything. I kind of relate it to the old Star Trek series, when the "red shirts" would meet their deaths. I find this to be a problem with a lot of series that have so many characters. The show is too short to develop any of them and because there are so many everyone suffers.
Visually the show is great. The battles are exciting and there is a lot of action. The character animation is also very well done. The OP and ED music are good too, since this was one of the things that drew me to the show in the first place.
Starship Operators is a decent space opera. It has serious themes that will appeal to older viewers and enough action that younger viewers would be entertained. In the end this show is just average. It does some things really well so it’s difficult for me to recommend. If you like space battles or sci-fi then you probably would enjoy it.
Haustlaufivindi
An example of how deceiving poster can be. What kind of admirer of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, especially Heinlein's juvenile science fiction novels, would suspect in an anime hiding behind a poster with kawaii girls a plot worthy of Robert himself? If you look at the poster you’d probably suspect that it’s another miserable harem in the space opera genre (which is certainly not) with swaying "oppai", lusciously slobbering pseudo-romance, giant humanoid mecha, extremely imbecile behavior and stupid motivation of characters, as well as close combat within line of sight (sic!) in outer space. However “Starship Operators” (I just wanted to write “StarshipTroopers”), minus the kawaii girls, is genuine early Heinlein - here you also have space cadets - young geniuses who are growing from boys to ..., or rather, from girls to women, very believable political intrigues and realistic battles in space (perhaps, minus the latter, which turned out to be too "epic"). Battles here are not conducted by meaningless giant humanoid robots and not even in the line of sight, not to mention the crazy massive frontal assaults, but through tactics and maneuvers, radars and sensors, calculation and timing, with the study of the enemy's weaknesses, to each of which an individual approach is applied (it seems that the author of the original used real naval battles of the Second World War as inspiration) and, of course, luck - everything is like in Heinlein's stories, where the heroes prevail by the means of reason and calculation. It's really interesting to watch the battles here. However, even the actual matriarchy with kawaii girls is suspiciously reminiscent of the matriarchy of Free Traders from the "Citizen of the Galaxy" of "early Heinlein ", while "late Heinlein" even more so was a great admirer of matriarchy.
The plot here is without fillers and sagging - as it fascinates from the very beginning, from the moment when the ship was "seized" by cadets inspired by a small group of conspirators (through its ransom through a sponsor) in protest against the surrender of their home planet, and keeps in suspense throughout the journey of this team through battles, political intrigue and betrayal, attempts to find allies and simply a port in order to replenish supplies and repair the ship. The enemy acts not only by military means, but also through psychological and political manipulations, trying to undermine the morale and deprive the "pirates" of any outside support. The heroes, with a few exceptions, are not at all perfect, but not repulsive either - including the captain who panicked from time to time in battle, but who at the same time is a good and responsible administrator who forces himself to behave with dignity and uses his inherent caution to identify weaknesses in "constructions"of his brilliant executive officer; his beloved cold-blooded and manipulative politician girl, whose fears and real feelings only rarely give out through involuntary tears; a good man - the chief engineer, nevertheless committing stupidity (I suspect that in this scene the genre of "mecha" with its "humanoid giant robots" and "heroically" hysterical attacks is subtly ridiculed), apparently out of a desire to show off in front of Sinon (it’s worth notion that the enemies are shown to be quite humane - they were retreating and did not even want to shoot at the "heroic" engineers, having done so only when absolutely necessary). Even a cynical and sneaky TV show producer turns out to be capable of an heroic act at the end (however, hardly out of philanthropy). Basically, the characters are revealed qualitatively - through their actions rather than through words.
Political intrigues here do not cause irritation by absurdity, as well as heroes by being stereotypical. Perhaps there are no unequivocally positive and negative characters and "forces", but the ship's crew is written "nicely" enough to arouse the viewer's empathy. And, yes, some favorite heroes die, most often as a result of "heroism" (sometimes unreasonable) - there is no place for victories with hysterical screams of mentally retarded “heroes” that flooded modern anime. But there are no senseless "murders for the sake of murders" of characters, as well as stupid self-sacrifices (except for one, quite expected). Of the characters only Sinon sometimes causes irritation as she is too unnaturally ideal and ingenious - but for the virtual "embodiment of Amaterasu" it is perhaps forgivable ) So you certainly shouldn't judge this anime by the cover. I would even say that the cover is simply deceiving the viewer by mis-positioning Starship Operators. Those who admire serious, thoughtful anime with a good storyline, may be turned of by the cover, as it at first turned me of. For the admirers of "kawaii" and actual space opera genre like Star Wars, this anime simply might be a disappointment. This is for such incorrect positioning I will lower the score - after all, girls will be uninterested in the Starship Operators as well as those boys at which the positioning is aimed at, while the target audience may pass by deceived by such a poster. But, perhaps, there is no other reason to lower the assessment - 9 out of 10.
KD7BWB
Okay Lion Tamers! We try to review "Starship Operators". Starship Operators, was created in 2005. And while there has been better productions, in terms of production values (especially things made in 2005); this one stands out for a number of reasons. 1). Story For those of us that like a good story, with a great plot, and an excellent sense of the politics connected with it; Starship Operators is very difficult to beat. The plot, while not new, is not the same as common. It involves a ships' crew that refuses to surrender when their country (in this case a planet) is conquered. They proceed to prove themselves inbattle against the enemy, creating so much political pressure (as a result of public broadcasts of the battles on television) that a number of politicians and planets find themselves in an ethically untenable position; ending in a resolution that can only provide for better government in the future.
Intrigue is afoot, and even skulduggery and outright murder is some of the occasions to cheer, in this story; that provides a satisfying beginning, middle and ending.
2). Artwork
Most of the artwork is nothing to write home about, but much of the visual descriptions of technology are to die for; at least as it pertains to the available graphics of 2005. Attempts at 3d artwork are compelling, and display screens and data are interestingly accurate.
For example, when an enemy vessel is 2-million miles away, the targeting information is fairly accurate to near-speed-of-light plasma cannon weaponry. Reporting of a firing solution comes up with somewhere around 10 to 12-seconds. We don't see attention to detail to this level very often.
3). Sound
While the basic sound and effects are fairly run of the mill, the music for events, and the OP and ED soundtrack is quite good.
I will warn you, the dubbed English version of the dialog is absolutely awful, as many of the voice actors can't read lines and cannot emote verbally at all. Stick to the subbed english dialog, the Japanese voice actors are quite good. I don't say this because of a predisposition one way or another; I own anime, some of which I prefer in Japanese, and others that I prefer in English.
4). Characters
Each and every one of the characters have their own personalities, activities and personal prejudices. They are three-dimensional. Hard to do in a 13-episode anime, but Starship Operators succeeds beyond my expectations.
5). Enjoyment
While this is not one of those anime easy to appreciate, since it is depressing at points, and leads the viewer to a bittersweet ending; the proper thing to say would be that the Satisfaction is very high. It's story succeeds, the characters do their jobs even when they are imperfect, the good guys are properly flawed rather than paragons of virtue, and the villains are (as in life) a mixture of good and bad parts in their personalities.
While this show may not please folks that need mindless combat, or continuous action; and it won't please the other side of the spectrum that are in constant need of romantic entanglements; Starship Operators can be enjoyed by anyone that can think above the 10th grade level, and has a proper intellect that can keep depictions of personal relationships in perspective.
That said, I can wholeheartedly recommend "Starship Operators" with a score of 9.
origami
Short series. 13 episodes over 3 disks. I almost did not finish it because the premise was almost too unbelievable (yes, I like Anime's to have some sense of reality). Artwork was very good (Animation mixed in with CGI). The thing that kept me watching was how realistically the creators portrayed the world in which the show takes place. The physics of space, maneuvering, battles, all the way down to how a teardrop should behave in zero-G made this series very interesting. Yes, yes, there is an occasional space warp, but space battles are not fever-pitched like most SF shows. The ships actually take daysto approach and fire their weapons and beams from great distances. The Anime is more about the young crew and how they deal with the political situation they find themselves in. The treatment of physical-realism in a SF show was refreshing.
13 episodes. Took me about 6 episodes to get into it...
and them...
it was over too soon.
nina4life
Ok, to start off, I would like to point out I am not fond of writing reviews, but I just felt like it for this one, mainly because I sat through whole show with only a few short breaks. STORY: When I first read description for this show, I thought to myself: "Just like Infinite Ryvius", and I was partially correct. But only partially. Story about young kids fighting whole kingdom on their own, being rejected again and again is nothing new, but it's the way story was told that made it enjoyable. It may not be the best story ever, but I find it to myliking.
ART:
Another show I noticed similarities with is one of my favorite shows "Crest of the stars". Now, what I expected from this show was something similar in terms of graphics and style. What I got pleasantly surprised me. From the first shots of Amaterasu to nicely done space battles, this show had it done really good. However, biggest flaw was when there were people on screen. As fan of GBA games, I couldn't help but notice how some characters act like they're from video games, moving only image, but no visible movement of arms, legs or anything else. It just felt funny :) Other than that, it was good.
SOUND:
Whereas I prefer a little "faster" music, I must admit, I was once again surprised how well music was composed into all the action and emotions. However, I did get slightly annoyed by music sometimes, when it was playing, and there was no need for music whatsoever. But, putting that aside, great soundtrack.
CHARACTER:
Well, I don't really know how to describe characters in this show. They are consistent, but than again, they are so hard to understand sometimes. Not that that's bad, but it's just silly. One moment a person is doing something one way, other moment that same person is doing the same thing completely different way without any explanation whatsoever. Where this show did shine was love/romance part. There is enough of that in this show for emotional ones, and still not too much for those of us who like to see some emotions and love, but not to get annoyed by those things.
ENJOYMENT:
Well, I did say I watched it with almost no pause at all. However, that doesn't mean I enjoyed in it as much as I wanted to see how it ends. It's a good show, quite enjoyable, with quite a few flaws here and there, but not a bad not nevertheless. If you like space drama, something where you get to see both emotions and action, but not too much of either, look no further, you will find both here. If you look for one or other, look somewhere else. This isn't a show for you.
So OVERALL:
Yeah, even though grades for this show vary in my opinion, I felt like a 6 would be fair. As I said before, this is clearly not for everyone. Some will find it boring, some will find it lacking action. I find it to be rather good while it lasts. And don't take it wrong, me giving 6 to a show is in no way telling this is a bad show. It just didn't have THAT something other shows had, that have greater marks in my book.
But, if you're asking yourself should I watch this or not, my answer would be simple. Give it a shot, you won't feel sorry for that.
TCHaos
Starship Operators is primarily a space opera and as such follows the events through the eye's of the crew members of the spaceship Amateras. The story has an original twist compared to other titles for the genre because the crew members rebel and decide to take on the entire invading military estabilisement single-handedly in their state-of-the-art vessel. In addition, the young crew is corned into making a deal with a TV network in order to gain funds to finance their campaign by accepting to be filmed 24/7 - much akin to reality tv. - ANIMATION - The series typically uses CG to handle their spaceshipanimations, but it isn't overused and is pretty much reserved to animating their communication displays and panels. In terms of consistency, Starship Operators does a fine job with crisp detailed lineart and fluid motions throughout. The character designs were also carefully thought, the crew are all easily identified and support their own unique personality.
Regretably there is actually few combat scenes. Mostly you should expect stills of the spaceships charging up their cannons and then short explosive bursts of CG.
- SOUND -
Nothing memberable, except for the opening theme. A lot of dialogue. Hardily any background music. I do commend them for not putting sound effects in the space sequences, remember its a vacuum.
- CHARACTERS -
Expect some of the characters to only last a few episodes. This does mean that you will not engage much with the other remaining staff apart from the leading characters. Personally, I do not agree with the idea that mostly all the crew should be females with exceptional beauty.
- VALUE & ENJOYMENT -
Because of the nature of this anime, it's a typical 'spirit of youth shall prevail'. Although its a fine addition to the genre in its own right, I personally find the fact that an inexperienced crew can hold its own against an Imperial fleet with limitless resources, unrealistic. The Big-Brother reality tv mimic was interesting but you end up feeling that the political plot is secondary until the final episodes where all of a sudden things escalate without a decent plot development. It was well paced for 13 episodes and although climatic, leaves some room for sequels.
Solaphar
This is my first review, and likely my only one, since I'm not good at reviewing (consequently, I expect the number of people finding it helpful will be low). But if my review helps even one person to decide to watch the show, I'll have felt it worth it. I saw this show some months ago now, watching it in a single sitting, and I'll be yet another person to say that this show was underrated. Yes, it had many flaws, (and I wasn't too fond of the veiled anti-Americanism near the end), but it also had a lot of good points, in my opinion. I likedhow they used a lot of realistic physics, realistic weapons, how most of the battle strategies were logical and believable, and many of the characters made believable decisions/actions, although some of the characters (esp the villains) made very unrealistic and/or rash moves, which was one of the flaws to the show.
I also liked how they gave realistic considerations for things like money and supplies, and political support. Many shows in this genre tend to gloss over those, or do it in a haphazard/unbelievable way.
But this is one of those show were I personally found it easy to suspend my disbelief. A lot of sci-fi shows put in so much PSG (pseudo-scientific garbage) that suspending disbelief becomes impossible (and thus the show unintentionally becomes a comedy).
In Starship Operators, I didn't feel like my intelligence was being insulted, for the most part, until the latter half of the show. I guess that's kind of a good and a bad thing.
As for discussions about a second season... They did use up many clever battle strategies in the show, so I don't see how they could ever pull-off a second season. They'd have to be really inventive, but I can't see how they could do that without making it unrealistic/unbelievable. Plus it aired 5 years ago, so....
I'd still recommend this show to people who lean more towards hard sci-fi/realism, in spite of it's flaws.
Almost forgot to mention, I watched the dubbed version of this show, and I thought it wasn't bad (I normally watch subs by the way). To anyone thinking of watching it, I'd say, at least give the dub a try, unless you're a total dub-hater, in which case, nothing I say will matter, so just stick to your subs, you closed-minded weeaboo. :D (just-kidding XP )
WdaCdaShdaDid
I’m sure there are interesting and well-done strategy-focused and/or politics-focused SF series out there. This is not one of them. The soundtrack is pretty good. That’s… that’s about it. The art quality is cheap looks-nice-at-first-glance-and-only-first-glance. And then there are the boob and miniskirt uniforms, the few characters with rather ridiculous anime hair, and the lack of movement or expression outside of really bad mouth animations on most characters that make this look like a bunch of screencaps with moving lips. There’s some cute guys in it and at least one sweet romance? If you want to watch a really low-quality version of a strategy spacenavy game, that’s… about all the story you’re getting. Also no, the sweet romance is not the protagonist’s.
The first real dialogue we get is between an asshat captain(?) and the primary protagonist and it’s arguably sexual harassment and honestly it’s all downhill from there. Also the English dub isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen but given the bad script and arguably shoddy animation, the dub acting is just… bad. And is frequently poorly synced up.
I liked this back when it was one of the few anime series I’d ever seen. It was shiny and neat and like a cool video game and the romances were nice. How times change. If you want good science fiction series with a focus on relationships interspersed with ship battles and/or politics focused, watch “Suisei no Gargantia”, “Macross Frontier”, or “Gankutsuou”. “Casshern Sins” is also a pretty good SF series with some fun battles to watch and a focus on philosophy (arguably).
endlessages
Starship Operators is one of those anime that was adapted from a light novel. As such, the story has more depth than most and the characters are less exaggerated and a tad more believable. As with most such adaptations, it is the original work peeking through that makes you keep watching, but what you see is only a shadow of what the story should be. To my knowledge, the Starship Operators light novel has not been translated into English and so I will not have the pleasure of reading it any time soon. But, it is clear where the anime falters in theexecution of its story. Many of the explanations are hard to follow, especially while reading the subs and trying to watch at the same time, and the majority of the story telling elements fall flat. Occasionally it feels like you are watching people enact an event timeline rather than telling a story. Still, the original work must have been something, since the story was what kept me watching.
The art is mediocre at best and the battle scenes are fairly lackluster. They spend more time talking about what they are going to do instead of actually doing it. Even then, most of the battle is spent switching between the command crew and tactical screens, only using recycled footage for the outside shots. The only upside to the art is that most of the women are fairly attractive, if their mini-skirts are a tad ridiculous in null-G.
The sound was done well-enough, and helped in large part to keep the viewer immersed in the anime. On the other hand, there was very little to remember of it. Thankfully, none of the voices were intolerably high-pitched, and the actors did a fair job with what they had to work with.
The characters were understated, to say the least. This isn't a bad thing, since the anime was more about the events than the people to begin with, and it is a refreshing when compared to the often excessively exaggerated people found in anime. But it is hard to really feel for them since you only get an outline as to who they are. The few romantic exploits and back-stories are often clipped short or else feel contrived. However, they still feel more like real people than many anime.
I enjoyed this show for what it was and it kept me engrossed until the end. I found the tactics clever and felt the premise had a lot of potential. But the producers dropped the ball on this one and I don't see how it gained anything in becoming an anime.
