Starship Operators: Volume 3

Introduction

It's only taken 9 weeks to get through this series, although it feels much longer. It's mostly because volumes 1 & 2 were released a couple of weeks apart at the end of September and beginning of October, while this third volume comes at the start of December. There's still a lengthy gap between the final two volumes, and that hurts this series more than most, as Starship Operators is very much of a piece, and it doesn't take well to gaps between episodes. There's so much going on, that a recap is necessary before coming to the conclusion. Starship Operators is certainly enough to get the appreciative juices flowing, a space opera with a reality TV twist, which impresses with its attention to detail and a more than passing acquaintance with the laws of physics. There is a surprising amount of realism doled up alongside the teen angst of a cadet crew fighting a war from their spaceship, the cast is expansive, and the pace is blistering. It's sure easy to lose track.

The planet Kibi is a pacific nation, albeit with a proud defence force. They have recently taken delivery of the pride of their space navy, the Amaterasu, and its shakedown cruise conveniently coincides with the graduation of the 73rd class of cadets from the Defence University. But on the return leg, the crew are horrified to learn that the Henrietta Alliance of planets has declared war on their home world, and the pacifist government has immediately surrendered. At the same time, the command crew of the ship accedes to the demands of their new rulers and disembark the ship, expecting the cadets to follow suit. But rather than capitulate, they decide to fight back using the most advanced ship in their navy, and to fund their campaign, they invite the Galaxy News Network to televise every second of it. It's war, it's reality TV, and it's a tossup as to whether winning battles or winning ratings are more important.


Volume 3 concludes the series with 5 episodes. When last we left our intrepid crew, they were fighting a battle against desperate odds, and having lost their sole ally to enemy fire, they had frantically initiated an emergency warp jump.

9. Turning Point
The Amaterasu has vanished, leaving the Henrietta Alliance fleet victorious. But before they can make sure of it, the fleet is recalled. Political upheavals are afoot in the Alliance as the Supreme Council Chairman passes away, leaving a power vacuum to be contested. Sheer blind luck deposits the Amaterasu in neutral space, some 60 light years from where they were, and it now seems possible for the ship to be resupplied and repaired without intervention by the enemy. Sinon is becoming more ambivalent about the reasons behind the cadet war, but President in Exile Mamiya sees an opportunity to change things around for the Kibi freedom fighters. He intends to leave the ship and head directly for Earth, where he will appeal for direct intervention from the Motherworld. Back in Henrietta, it's determined that whoever deals decisively with the Amaterasu will be in the strongest position to become the next Supreme Chairman, and so Ellroy is ordered back into space with an even larger fleet to hunt down and destroy the rebels. Against all this, Sinon finds love.


10. Sudden Death
President Mamiya arrives on Earth and sets about looking for a forum to speak. The Amaterasu arrives at the neutral planet Palmyra for rest, resupply and repairs, and the AGI Corporation are quick to invite galactic heroes to appear at a reception. But oddly enough, Dita isn't accompanying them to cover their moment of glory. Peter has ordered his star reporter to stay on board and cover the resupply process. The reason becomes clear when armoured spacetroopers arrive to disrupt the repair work, attacking the engineering crew as they perform their spacewalk. The attack signals the end of the hospitality shown to the Amaterasu and their departure from Palmyra is demanded. The sequence of events causes Dita to confront her editor, and it becomes clear that Peter is planning a series climax.

11. Return Match
A fleet of five ships led by Ellroy's Conquistador arrive to finish off the Amaterasu. Captain Cisca, seeing no way out for his command, offers his crew one final chance to leave the ship, and there is a surprising acceptance to his offer. Their prospects are bleak, but a grieving and driven Sinon comes up with another radical plan.


12. War Cry
The Amaterasu is holding its own, having grazed the Conquistador with its weaponry. But the battle has taken its toll on the ship's systems. All ships are practically blind and they have to take pot shots at each other in the hope that they can locate the other before the other locates them. The Amaterasu is in worse shape though, with barely a couple of shots left in its arsenal before it is depleted. Time maybe running out for the Kingdom, as Prime Minister Mamiya's heartfelt pleas have been heard at the UN, and the Earth Alliance is ready to act.

13. Moment Of Truth
An Earth Alliance fleet has arrived, but there is more to their presence than meets the eye. The Amaterasu's battle may not be over yet.

Picture

The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer is typical of anime in the UK, clear and problem free, except for the usual issues with NTSC-PAL conversions. The animation is good as well, combining 3D CGI and 2D to impressive effect. The spaceship designs are effective, but given the blackness of space, they are usually obscured in some way (none of the brightly lit up ships of Hollywood productions here). The starscapes and planets are also impressive, but the level of detail gone into the ship's interior design is astounding, creating a full realised and believable environment. Tiny little things like foot grips on the captain's chair to keep him in his seat in zero G are quite fun to notice. The character design is typical of many anime, and the animation is of similar quality to the show's look. To be honest, I don't think much of the look of the Amaterasu, it's a Nike trainer of a spaceship, but the story isn't hard done by.

Sound

It's your basic anime disc, so DD 2.0 Stereo English and Japanese, along with translated subtitles and a separate signs track. The stereo is effective enough for the action and the music, and the English dub makes an acceptable alternative to the original language track.

Extras

The final disc in the series gets the usual jacket picture and static menus, as well as trailers for FLCL, and Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage.

In addition, there are a couple of music videos running to 2 minute each, Bravery Wings, and Blue Star. The textless ending for the final episode, all six minutes of it, tops off the disc. This last is Japanese only, and quite obviously lacks subtitles.

Conclusion

Now that's what I call an ending! I've found plenty to appreciate with the first two volumes of Starship Operators, with a detailed and intelligent story, amazing attention to detail, and a sense of realism that is usually woefully lacking in space opera. I've had to balance that against a rather hurried pace, and the sheer overload in character numbers, and all of that remains true for this final volume as well. But it certainly gets a resounding conclusion, one that ties up the plot threads and the major character arcs, and stands well against what has been built up in the story. It's probably the most complete, stunning and satisfying end to an anime series that I have seen in quite a while, and anime is a medium replete with closed book conclusions. This isn't Hollywood where they keep on flogging until the horse has been shredded, and the main cast are of pensionable age.


I still feel the strength of Starship Operators is in the story. We have a young, untested crew thrown into stormy seas by sheer circumstance, and their fight for survival and their earnest ideology is all dictated by politics, machination and manoeuvring that's completely out of their control. Just like any war, those who face gritty and bloody combat on the front lines follow the dictates of people who crave power at the highest level, and who cause more death and misery by signing a treaty than any weapon of mass destruction ever could. That becomes painfully obvious in this final volume as the focus shifts ever more to the political monoliths who are using the Amaterasu's cause as a chess piece in their jostling for position. It also becomes clear that the Amaterasu's spirited defence/rebellion is a desperate roll of the dice by the Kibi government in an attempt to maintain its freedom by pitting two galactic superpowers against each other, when its own military simply has no chance. That the heroic teenaged defenders of Kibi have been manipulated into their actions simply makes their situation all the more tragic. It's also what makes the conclusion to the series so poignant.


But the weaknesses of Starship Operators are still the character overload and the pace of the show. Thirteen episodes simply aren't enough to do the characters justice, and while many of the cast do get their moments to shine, there isn't much room for development and growth. It makes those events that do happen seem more contrived and artificial; an attempt to over-egg the emotional impact that just seems false. Sinon manages to find some solace and fall in love in one episode, only to suffer a tragic loss in the next, and it makes you wonder why they even bothered. Similarly, characters of import to the plot seem to flit in and out of the episodes, and never make much of a dramatic impact, certainly not as much as the story itself. We meet a power-craving pretender to the throne of the Kingdom early on in this volume, and she appears a few times to order around a few flunkies, and make some pronouncements of plot twisting importance, but we never really get to know her.


Ultimately though, I was more than satisfied with Starship Operators. Watching it piecemeal has been something of a chore though, it really isn't a series that takes well to the episodic format, and waiting for subsequent volumes doesn't do the story arc any favours. However I am really looking forward to watching it through as a mini-marathon, especially now that I know who the significant characters are and can concentrate fully on their arcs. Starship Operators is a seriously good anime series that I recommend to anyone after some strong sci-fi with a militaristic bent. It could have been a great anime series though, if only it had been a given a few extra episodes to let the characters breathe.