Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu
Legend of the Galactic Heroes

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If I were ever asked if there is such thing as a light novel that could be compared to classic literature, Legend of the Galactic Heroes would be the instantaneous answer.

This isn't a book you read, this is a book you experience. And I'm not using this expression lightly. LoGH is a work that might change your view on some eternal questions and problems of humanity concerning politics and philosophy. Or at least have you rethink your current opinion really hard. It excels at bringing those themes into the story and having it feel so naturally present, almost as if the story is just ... a canvas for the ideas (which by no means diminishes the story itself, of course). Those philosophies are presented in a human way, without being overly pompous and without using sesquipedalian and gobbledygook language in attempt to sound more smart, like some rusty philosophical books would do. No, Legend of the Galactic Heroes does not need to pretend, it presents it cleverness straight.

Two main sides are introduced to the reader - two characters, two ideologies. Yet it is up to the reader to decide which one is the antagonist, which one to support and root for and which one deserves to emerge victorious. Those sides are very well fleshed out through the novels, with both their strengths and weaknesses highlighted, neither being idolized and both seen outstandingly realistically. And of course, for those who feel like neither of those sides are good, more minor factions are presented. Reading LoGH feels like the book is conversing with you - presenting you concepts and ideas and abetting you to be their judge.

One thing that I absolutely love about this novel, though some might find it a minor factor, is how well it deals with "infodumping". Thanks to being written like a historical record (yes, even though it's a futuristic sci-fi), the parts that would normally be considered intrusive to the story flow feel entirely natural to the work, as it is similar to a pleasant narrator of captivating documentary telling you interesting tidbits to give you more context. In fact, it is the fictional version of exactly that. This bypasses the need of "show, not tell" for parts that would be too impractical to show in full.

In conclusion, this is a must read not only for those looking for something of "next level" to read, but for absolutely everyone. Consider this the required reading of light novel world.

Space operas play a large part in defining what the sci-fi genre is all about; whether it be Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, Gundam or Babylon 5. Legend of the Galactic Heroes, despite not garnering the same amount of popularity and notoriety, especially here in the west, deserves to be placed among said series that define the space opera and sci-fi genre. LotGH is an award-winning Sci-Fi epic that fits within 10 books, in what many would consider as one of the greatest stories ever told in anime and in all of media, and it’s a series that holds a place in my heart as ... one of my most highly regarded and beloved series that I have ever seen.

LotGH takes place in the 36th century within our own galaxy where technology has reached a level that allows for interstellar travel, warp drives, FTL communication, terraforming, and many other possibilities that aren’t feasible with our current level of technology and understanding. In this universe, humans were able to colonize a portion of our galaxy, living around thousands of star systems. The galaxy’s human population is split into three main groups; the democratic Free Planets Alliance (FPA), the autocratic Galactic Empire, and the Phezzan Dominion, who are a neutral group. For 150 years, the FPA and Galactic Empire have been at war against each other, with Phezzan sitting on the sidelines taking full advantage of the spoils of war and manipulating both sides into continuous fighting. The three sides are based on real historical locations; where the Galactic Empire is based on 19th century Prussia, and Phezzan and the FPA are based on a more modern democratic nation. Their cultures, their architecture, and their societal structuring and hierarchy are unique, and if you’ve seen the OVA, then you’ll know exactly what I mean by that.

The story focuses on the rise of two characters: Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen-li. Both characters have different visions for the future, one wants to rule the galaxy with an iron fist, whilst the other wants to carve a path towards peace. Both characters intentionally and unintentionally rise up to the top ranks of their respective militaries, leading giant space fleets into battle and fighting on behalf of their interstellar states. The journey towards the characters' goals, the way the story was written, and how the author presented the themes throughout the novels are one of the reasons why this tale of two legends is of course, legendary.

The series takes a much different approach when it comes to warfare and it’s story-telling. The series focuses more on the use of tactics and what occurs in and around the chain of command from the commanders’ point of view, rather than what happens to an individual on the front lines like most other series do; think of Star Wars but mainly from the perspectives of the commanders rather than the Jedi and Stormtroopers.

There are quite a few themes within LotGH, each of them dealing with different aspects of society, warfare, and terrorism; some of them playing into each other. But the main overarching theme of the series is whether or not a corrupt democracy is preferable to a fair and efficient leader in an autocracy; the debate of autocracy versus democracy.

The theme of autocracy versus democracy was able to work so well because the author portrayed the characters in such a way where there are no good guys or bad guys, there’s no need for a protagonist or an antagonist in every battle, especially when you think about the number of people in each battle; they are mostly made up of normal civilians, with some good and bad individuals mixed in. When war involves tens of millions of people and hundreds of thousands of spacecraft, they are merely seen as conglomerates, merely numbers and pixels on a screen. To quote Yang Wen-li on the topic of good versus evil, "There are few wars between good and evil; most are between one good and another good." Both sides consider the other as the bad guys; it’s no different to what history books in one country portray about another country in our world.

The 150-year war is like most wars that humanity has gone through in the past, which are mostly about ideals and principles. The goals of the Galactic Empire is to defeat the FPA and to take full control of the universe and rule it with an iron fist, whereas the goals of the FPA is to liberate the Empire’s people from the oppressive and tyrannical rule of the autocracy and have them live freely under democratic rule, but another issue that’s explored within LotGH is competency of leadership and governance, you have to think twice when considering the options, otherwise it could lead to disaster.

The series dives in and explore these ideas as we see the changes in the governments and leadership as the series progresses and as the characters debate/talk about these issues against one another. Both the main characters, Yang and Reinhard, strongly embody their own beliefs up to the point of them holding an actual meeting and having a discussion about politics over a cup of coffee (which is the high-point of the series IMO). Since they were born on different sides, they grew up “liking the taste of their own water”, which Yang described about his preference of political systems and his love for democracy when asked by Reinhard to switch sides to the Galactic Empire, he even told Reinhard that he would gladly join him if he were born in the Empire, but that it was unfortunate that he couldn’t. There is no right or wrong answer that’s being portrayed in LotGH, which is another strong point of the series, as it’s up to us as readers to decide which set of ideals and beliefs are right and which one is wrong, or you can reject both views and choose a third option, it's entirely up to you.

The series was able to accurately depict the effects a long-lasting war has on society; from worker shortage and reduced skill levels to debt, anti-war groups, POWs, and psychological effects on soldiers. Having something that frequently occurs in today’s society can allow us to quickly relate the series to real-world events and key talking issues in politics and the public. The series does an excellent job of reminding us of the horrors that comes from war.

The amount of characters in this series is as immense as the OVA itself. In the OVA, there were over 300 characters that were officially voiced, forcing the producers to add subtitles bearing their names for every appearance on camera they make. In the novels there are even more characters, and a good portion of them either have a small or decent amount of development, and around 50-60 of the characters have their backstories fully fleshed out. The author took his time to create unique yet real and believable characters throughout the series. As I mentioned previously, there are no good guys or bad guys. What each character thinks of their opponents and the people living in different regions of space is entirely subjective in this series. Their views are based on their upbringings, their beliefs, and their mentality when fighting in battles. There are a wide range of characters with different morals and beliefs, ranging from nobility, their position within the political world, all the way to normal working-class citizens and those living in poverty, which reflects back to what we see all over the world.

I’m a bit of a sucker for character-driven series, and it was obvious that having large amount of well-developed characters would keep me drawn in when reading the novels, and to fall in love with the series. The main cast of characters are all very well-developed, as the series took its time in diving into each character’s history and their importance to the plot and their roles and relationships among one another. They all have their own separate dreams, aspirations and motives. Reinhard von Lohengramm, also referred to as “Golden Brat” by the other nobles, was born into an impoverished aristocratic family where his father sold his sister, and by using his intelligence and abilities and help from his friend Siegfried, he was able to quickly rise up the ranks of the military as part of a vengeance-fueled vendetta. And by using his charms as a caring and charismatic leader, he was able to rally the support among the young generals, who played a key part in his goals to overthrow the monarchy, take control, and reform the Empire’s society from the top down, in order to improve the lives and welfare for the good of the Empire’s population.

Yang Wen-li, also known as “Miracle Yang” and “the magician”, is an amateur historian and a pacifist who had to join the military in a scholarship in order to keep his hopes of studying and reading about history alive. Due to the incompetence of his leaders and after evacuating a planet’s population from the Empire, added with his strength of recalling historical events made him a feared and intelligent tactician that allowed him to rise up to the top of the military, despite not wanting to. His goal is to retire with a pension and read books and study history all day long, with a glass of brandy at hand.

Other notable characters that I enjoyed thoroughly throughout the series would include: Reuenthal, Oberstein, Mittermeyer, Attenborough, Julian, Schonkopf, Cazelnes, Poplin and Rubinsky. LotGH’s cast of colourful and intelligent characters makes the series what it is, there are no clichés or plot twists out of nowhere, and once a character is dead, they stay dead, no matter their importance. They have dreams and goals, and when they reach the top and succeed, that is when they are considered heroes. Having seen these characters grow up as children, work their way up, form relationships and get married, we become very attached to them, which make choosing a side even more difficult, as it’s hard to hate on not just the main two characters, but everyone that works around them. I love both characters, as well as their companions and subordinates, equally.

Reading the novels is comparable to reading a history book, as each event, from when humanity left earth, to the foundation of planet Heinessen, and up to current day events, is recorded down with a date and time and is presented to us as if it’s being read and narrated by an actual historian. Reading the novels is like getting an uppercut full of information by Mike Tyson, it’s that intensive and immersive of a read, and I love it. The info-dumping throughout the series was handled really well which allowed the story to smoothly flow from one chapter to the next, no detail or character’s emotion are left out that explains the current events of the story or how they feel, we are bombarded with fact after fact. Even the prologue of volume 1 is crucial to read as it provides a lot of information about the history of humanity within LotGH, which can explain why the Earth isn’t the galaxy’s center of commerce/focus of attention (which is important) and proves that the author was able to creatively think far ahead with his highly-detailed world building, which made it easier to follow the story and understand what’s going on, rather than leaving the lore of the galaxy as unknown to the reader.

I’d be lying if I said the series didn’t have a flaw or two. One thing that stood out a little bit was that the series didn’t pick up that quickly until after volume 2 (or episode 26 of the OVA). However, if the series did have any flaws, it would be equivalent to a spec of sand on a long stretch of beach – that’s how much the positive aspects overshadow and drown out the negatives. This series isn’t for everyone. If you like a slow but well-paced, meticulous and very detailed Sci-Fi series, then LotGH is for you, this isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill shounen action series. I know everyone likes using this phrase but Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a series you don’t just read, it’s something you experience. This series is a masterpiece as deserves to be placed among the all-time greats of classic literature; it’s definitely worth your time reading and investing into. If you loved the OVA, you’ll love this just as much.

Overall score: 10/10

LOGH is a space sci-fi set over 1500 years into the future, but is noticeably inspired by Romance of the Three Kingdoms (ROTK), set 1800 years in the past. The author Tanaka is apparently very into Chinese history and has translated a couple of classical chinese texts himself, and apropos, LOGH reads like a projection of Chinese history onto the cosmos, despite the obvious borrowing of German aesthetics.

I dug into the novels with high expectations, as I was tired of reading unambitious and gimmicky light novels, and on that front, LOGH paradoxically both delivered and disappointed. Starting with the good: the scope of active players, ... their motivations and intrigues, their interactions with each other, were indeed complex and believable. With such a large cast, Tanaka did a fine job of choreographing the actors on and off the stage. Particularly impressive were the contrasting parallels of Yang and Reinhard, whose trajectories and struggles were so unique to themselves that they did not seem to belong in the same book, much less as rivaling protagonists. Tanaka demonstrated the typical Japanese aptitude of retro-futurizing, unraveling the ROTK storyline and reweaving it with European and sci-fi elements into something aesthetically pleasing and highly original. I doubt most readers or watchers of the anime realize how much the plot rhymes with ROTK's, but even if you are aware of it, it won't negatively affect your experience. There are no issues with forced Japanese elements, which is common in Japanese writing non-Japanese settings. In fact the cosmopolitanism completely excluded Japan, minus, if I recall, one quote or historical reference. He did a good job of writing a post-national, post-racial story, and it was certainly the level of maturity I was looking for.

Before moving onto the bad, I want to mention the translation, or its inconsistency. The English translation features three different translators. Huddleston, who is credited on the volumes 1, 2, 3, and 7, was passable. I would occasionally lose focus reading longer paragraphs and have no idea what I just read, but this was not frequent, until the next translator, Grillo. With Grillo, who worked on volumes 4, 5, and 6, this became a constant struggle, which is quite unfortunate because 4-6 was in the thick of it. The last translator, Treyvaud, who did the remaining 8-10, brought a noticeable improvement to legibility, but by then, the plot was already winding down.

LOGH has several weaknesses. It doesn't offer anything new, whether to sci-fi, to its inspiration ROTK, or to the political ideologies that it so heavily depends on for the plot. Democracy, the raison d'etre of Yang's faction, felt like a cheap battle cry Tanaka was using to move the plot, and in the end, only quibbles were made about its importance and weaknesses relative to its alternatives. There were some nihilist observations, but they didn't go anywhere. The sci-fi setting was barely leveraged. Besides FTL travel, the only other progress humanity had made was in the discovery of "Seffle particles," a highly volatile gas(?) that explodes when disturbed. Aside from a few tactical uses in battles, in space, everything else was 20th century tech.

Additionally, the narration style became increasingly grating over time. It had the habit of reintroducing and repeating character descriptions every time they appeared. By the 9th volume, I was so annoyed at Tanaka for the excessive minor character chatter, as if his biggest priority was making sure I believed they truly behaved as how he had just described them, that I seriously considered reading the spoilers just to be done with it. What is worse is that most of it really did end up being unimportant. Next, the omniscient narration would frequently spoil you with what was about to happen before it actually did, slipping into documentary mode mid-action, and inserting passages from the characters' future memoirs into what was currently unfolding. It became exasperatingly self-indulgent. And once the fates decided a character was finished, they were stripped of previous agency and unceremoniously killed off. Of course, shit happens, life goes on... these motifs are lifted directly from ROTK, but LOGH's execution makes it much more insufferable. The broken record descriptions, untimely banter, and DVD commentary are entirely Tanaka's dreadful additions.

But ultimately, the real issue is LOGH took an easy way out. Once he finished writing about Yang and Reinhard, Tanaka didn't have anything left in the tank to say, except filler. Without a real thesis to all the ups and downs, and hard hitting questions that were asked but left unanswered, the narrative caved in on itself, and crippled its own legacy. Overall, LOGH was a chore to read and not interesting enough to warrant revisiting.