February 26, 2004
Stellvia
Stellvia of the Universe is about this girl Kadase Shima who gets to go to space school to become a pilot during the most important year in humanity's history. A supernova threatens to destroy everybody in the solar system. Good thing they've had 189 years to prepare for it.
I see it as sort of being like a japanese Ender's Game except it's about a cute girl and not quite as violent.
Okay, the only similarities I guess are that a shy smart kid goes to school in space and saves humanity. I really liked it. Shima is a bit of a crybaby. But then, hey, it's a 15 year old girl. They get you rooting for her though. And there are definite moments of cheer.
The animation and design are top notch. The CG is seamless with the 2D animation.
The relationships are complex. They have their ups and downs. Yet, they make you kind of miss that close knit circle of friends that you had in high school.
If you like japanese schoolgirl/coming of age/high school romance/sci-fi epic, then Stellvia is the series for you. Plus, there's a couple of giant robots.
Posted by joel at February 26, 2004 10:11 PM