Aaron H. Bynum · From fps #7 · April 14, 2006 | Fresh out of a military academy, a group of teenagers and twenty-somethings are the final remnant of the planetary nation of Kibi's defense force. Combining the military drama, the traditional space epic and the teen drama,
Starship Operators is, for the most part, just another adventure series.
The cadets of the maiden voyage of the state-of-the-art space vessel
Amaterasu had few worries upon their departure from home; however, once the decision to return was made, there wasn't much of a planetary nation to return to. As the cadets' home surrendered to a larger and more powerful planetary alliance and as all of the adult officers of the
Amaterasu abandoned ship, the independence of Kibi had suddenly been whittled down to a dozen not-yet-graduated cadets. Lead by Sinon, a lateral thinking strategist; Cisca, an all too nervous acting captain; and Takai, the ship's weapons bay manager, the crew of the
Amaterasu quickly decide to go against all odds and fend for themselves, risking a revolt against the takeover of their home world.
 |
Starship Operators Volume 1: Revolution
Directed by Takashi Watanabe
Animation Production by J.C. Staff
Produced by SSO Production Committee
Distributed by Geneon Entertainment
Originally broadcast in Japan in 2005
100 minutes
Shop for Starship Operators DVDs and more:
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
|
|
The only catch for these young cadets—as well as for the audience—outside of the obvious insubordination to regional authorities, is that in order for the
Amaterasu to have sufficient funding, the young crew collectively agrees to have the Galaxy Network as their sponsor of sorts. As a result, the Network, in exchange for funding the ship's weapons and supplies, will record and televise every move of every character on board the vessel. Unfortunately, since none of these cadets appear over thirty, the crew mostly consists of unconscientious young women, and they must interact within a very limited setting (i.e., the ship and the ship alone),
Starship Operators is little more than a Japanese animated reality TV series.
Want to read the rest of this review?
You'll find it and many other articles in the
March 2006 issue of
fps, available for only 99 cents US.
