Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Gaiden

Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Gaiden is the first of two OVA adaptations of side stories from the Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu novel series. This first adaptation follows the achievements of Reinhard von Müsel and Siegfried Kircheis of the Galactic Empire before the fateful Battle of Astarte.

The Silver-White Valley
Reinhard and Kircheis graduate from their military academy and are immediately sent to the frozen frontier planet Kapche-Lanka. Unbeknownst to them, their new superior schemes to kill Reinhard on behalf of a rival of Reinhard's sister Annerose von Grünewald.

Dreams of the Morning, Songs of the Night
Reinhard and Kircheis are assigned to the Imperial Military Police, where they uncover the corrupt and oppressive practices of the Empire's law enforcement. They are soon ordered to investigate the murder of a student at their alma mater.

Dishonor
As Reinhard awaits the bestowal of his new title of Count von Lohengramm, he sends Kircheis to the artificial resort satellite Kreuznach III for a vacation. Restless from the lack of work, Kircheis assists the local police with a drug trafficking case related to an attack on a disgraced former Vice Admiral.

A Hundred Billion Stars, a Hundred Billion Lights
While Reinhard is still a commodore in charge of only a single squadron, he laments the incompetence of his superiors during a battle against the Free Planets Alliance. Amassing military successes under the direct command of Vice Admiral Richard von Grimmelshausen, Reinhard repeatedly clashes with Hermann von Lüneburg, a commodore and former regimental commander of the Alliance's infamous Rosen Ritter.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

von Lohengramm, Reinhard Main

Horikawa, Ryo Japanese

Kircheis, Siegfried Main

Hironaka, Masashi Japanese

Yang, Wen-li Supporting

Gouda, Hozumi Japanese

von Reuenthal, Oskar Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

von Schönkopf, Walter Supporting

Hazama, Michio Japanese

Mittermeyer, Wolfgang Supporting

Mori, Katsuji Japanese

von Mariendorf, Hildegard Supporting

Katsuki, Masako Japanese

Attenborough, Dusty Supporting

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

Bittenfeld, Fritz Joseph Supporting

Noda, Keiichi Japanese

Poplan, Olivier Supporting

Furukawa, Toshio Japanese

Ishiguro, Noboru Director

Aketagawa, Susumu Sound Director

Okajima, Kunitoshi Episode Director

Ueno, Fumihiro Episode Director

Reviews

Nov 18, 2024

AkiraMiyazaki17

Recommended

Still extremely unnecessary, and until the latter half, doesn’t really add much to the lore and character depth of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but it’s still great to spend more time with these characters and see even a little more of the series’ fabulous worldbuilding. The main appeal is definitely the focus on the Rosen Ritter regiment, of which it does a lot to explain the purpose and evolution. If there’s any weaknesses, it’s that the first three arcs are largely uninteresting and serve mainly to demonstrate Reinhard’s ascension through the ranks, but eventually this prequel finds its feet, and though I’m still adjusting ... to Yang’s new voice actor, it’s great to see him back!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 3, 2023

Galletita

Recommended

The feeling of emptiness after finishing the Legend of the Galactic Heroes OVA is definitely rough. Luckily, the prequel side stories have been adapted to anime, being a nice complementary material to the original series with the same care for detail and engaging stories.

This OVA focuses on the beginnings of Reinhard's career in the military, showcasing events such as Reinhard's first frontline expedition and encounters with future allies and foes. Reinhard's loyal best friend and ally Kircheis is also the main protagonist of one of the stories, giving more background to his feelings towards Reinhard and Annerose and his personal thoughts.

The series is divided into ... four arcs: Silver White Valley, Dreams of the Morning, Songs of the Night, Dishonor and A Hundred Billion Lights, a Hundred Billion Lights. The first story narrates Reinhard and Kircheis first ground frontline mission, the second feature Reinhard and Kircheis investigating a murder at their former military school, the third story focuses on Kircheis being on vacation and encountering a drug smuggling scheme. The final arc is much similar to the content seen in the main series, a longer story natarring the battle of the Van Flet Starzone, featuring the conflict from both the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance perspective, while also containing a minor arc about the Rosenritter. While not fully in chronological order (the majority of the fourth story takes place before the third story), it's recommended to be watched as the order listed.

The stories mostly showcase the inner workings of the Galactic Empire, its military and the nobility social system, portraying the corruption, debauchery and general incompetence of the dying Goldenbaum Dynasty and its associates. Reinhard comes face to face with the obstacles of prejudice due to his young age, social standing and overall jealousy from his noble-born superiors. His and Kircheis' prodigious leadership abilities and intellect are fully showcased in all of these stories, while still portraying Reinhard as a young and slightly arrogant teenager. Kircheis' introspective nature and his frequent advice to Reinhard help to balance their character dynamic, showing the reciprocity of respect and high regard in their friendship.

While there are some minor plot threads that tie the stories together,the first two stories are mostly self contained, the second story especially being less relevant in both terms of development and characters backstory. The second story being a straightforward murder mystery, somehow lacks the engaging stratagem and battle of wits that characterize LoGH. Although the brilliant fourth arc brings out some of the best aspects of LoGH, the dull second arc definitely brings down the overall enjoyment of this series.

Besides the story, the technical aspects of this series are similar to those present in the main series. The character designs are realistic and unique, with distinguishable features showcasing the ethnnic and age diversity of the characters. Just like in the main series, the animation quality can vary heavily and abruptly, some select scenes showing their age in cell animation and some reanimated scenes in full digital animation with digital coloring. While some viewers may find this jarring, the animation keeps being serviceable and especially good in the Silver White Alley arc. The voice acting is as good as in the main series, with all voice actors reprising the returning characters except sadly for Yang Wenli due to his voice actor untimely passing before the series' production. The opening song is Kid by Akemi, a beautiful song with masterfully written lyrics and visuals showcasing Reinhard and Kircheis as kids. There are four ending themes for each arc sung by Kei Ogura, a treat for fans of the original series with heartfelt lyrics mirroing Reinhard's and Kircheis' feelings and thoughts. The classical music OST by famous European authors also returns, a befitting soundtrack to Reinhard's meteoric rise to success.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden is definitely a must watch for every LoGH fan, while not expanding on the story, showcasing Reinhard's formative years and experiences that made him the brilliant leader and commander we see in the main series.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 17, 2022

WitchFromMercury

Recommended

This gaiden was good but not as good as the original series. Even so I think it may be good for someone to watch this prior to the original. It's supposed to be a prequel and might be more exciting to see how the show will develop knowing about the lives of some of the early characters.

The animation is beautiful and seems to be for the most part hand drawn. A lot of detail went into this. During the early episodes you see the OS of the laptops with gothic bolded German letters that the Empire conducts their business on. I thought this was a ... really nice touch and shows the animators care about the setting.

Yang Wenli is in this series but plays a small role. For the most part the Alliance here is represented by Walter von Schenkopp and the Rosen Ritter. Here you get to see how he became the regimental commander and his motivations for the rest of the series are explained as well.

While it's a good precursor to the main series there are some bad parts.

For one the detective Kircheis saga was pointless. It was cool seeing the satellite I guess for one episode but an entire arc based on a drug network in the Imperial Army that only Kircheis is able to help solve seemed really trivial and contrived. What was the point of this? Why couldn't Reinhard have been there?

What also sucks (is another detective arc) where Reinhard and Kircheis are investing the murder of students at the military preparatory academy they attended as teenagers. This arc was also boring and did little to further the story.

While there's nothing inherently bad about both of these arcs they weren't befitting a story on a galactic scale.

Aside from that though the rest of the series was top notch.

So for a beginner to the series, I'd say skip the episodes from the two aforementioned arcs and watch all the rest and you have a good primer for the main series.

Also a small complaint, the music used in the series was really repetitive. It seems they just stuck with 2 of the classical tracks from the main series (which had dozens upon dozens of them and many of them were uniquely placed).

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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