The sixth volume of Stellvia starts off with a bang with a rescue attempt and big space battle along with some mysterious happenings that are sure to be expanded upon in future episodes. Unfortunately the show shifts down into low gear after that and we're left with a pair of episodes that are pretty slow and not a lot happens.

Series Synopsis:

In the your 2167, the Earth was hit by a very powerful electromagnetic wave created by a supernova 20 light years away. The wave had catastrophic effects, and life on Earth was almost extinguished. But the survivors rebuilt civilization, and now, 189 year later, a second wave of particles traveling only 10% as fast as the electromagnetic radiation, but potentially much more dangerous and damaging, has reached Earth. All of Earth's technology and manpower has gone toward erecting a shield to protect it from the second wave. The system is successful, and humanity is saved. But now there are mysterious objects that are buzzing the outermost space station. Earth may have been saved from the nova, but now there may be a much more dangerous threat.

The world has been at peace for decades while they have been preparing for the second wave, and nationalistic rivalries have died away. While national conflicts many not be a problem, that doesn't mean that suspicions have gone away. When unidentified objects appear near the space station Ultima, some of the military think that one of the other foundations have already armed themselves. So the call goes up to create a space fleet based on the Stellvia. This, of course, causes the other foundations to worry about the Stellvia's military capabilities. When another space station is attacked by strange space ships though, it looks like the threat isn't from another Earth-based faction after all.

This volume:

After getting their butts thoroughly kicked but the aliens at the end of the last volume, the ship that has come to rescue the Ultima makes one more chance to save the scientists that are still trapped aboard the space station. The plan calls for Shima and Kota to pilot a turbo charge ship and head straight for the Ultima while the other fighters engage the aliens. It's a dangerous plan and there's not a lot of hope for success, but Shima and Kota are eager to try.

The scientists aboard the Ultima jsut finish collecting data on the cosmic fracture, a tear in space that was caused by the super-nova centuries ago, when something odd happens. They suddenly gain control of the Ultima and can escape in a shuttle. It was almost like the aliens were letting them leave. The others don't know this and launch their attack anyway.

When Shima returns to the Stellvia after the rescue mission, she finds that things have changed a bit. Shoe's been gone for 85 days, and there's a lot of gossip to catch up on as well as classes that she's behind on. In additon to this there's another mission. The nature of the aliens is still unknown. Are they really a threat, or are they trying to communicate with mankind? In order to get some more information on them and the cosmic rift, Kota and Shima are assigned to go out in the Infinity and gather data. The ship has been outfitted with some new experimental equipment that will feed the crew much more information, and the mission is very important. The fate of the Earth resides in their ability to preform their duties with the new equipment. The stress that Shima is under really starts taking its toll on the young girl, and she's soon pushing all of her friends away and hurting them needlessly.

Stellvia is one of those shows that I really look forward to. I like the characters and the show has a good amount of humor and action. These last two volumes though have really slowed the pace of the show. There is a lot more time given over to who's dating whom that really doesn't interest me too much. The good shows, like the one that started off this volume, are still a lot of fun, but the dud shows are starting to turn up more frequently too. The fact that there are only three episodes per disc really hurts the show as well.

This disc contains a scant three episodes, and comes in a clear keepcase with reversible cover.

Audio:

The DVD includes stereo soundtracks in both English and Japanese. Both tracks sounded very good, with a good amount of range and crisp sound. I enjoyed the English dub just as well as the original soundtrack. The English voice actors did a good job and didn't give the young girls high pitched voices. Well, not all of them. The soundstage was used effectively in both tracks, with some nice panning of the sound effects. A nice solid sounding disc.

Video:

The full frame video looked very nice. There is a lot of color in the show and they were reproduced very well. The atmosphere of the Earth as seen from space looked great with no blocking in the clouds or haze, and no significant banding. A very nice looking show.

Extras:

This disc was pretty bare. The only extras on this disc were a few previews for other Geneon series.

Final Thoughts:

Stellvia started off as a fun and enjoyable show, but it has really started to slow down in the second half. There's just not enough action to balance out the teen angst that seems to be taking over. Another thing that's hurting the show is the short volumes. With only three episodes per disc (and no extras) the show has to be better than average to get recommended. Though this show started off at that level, it hasn't been able to stay there. If you've followed the show this far, you'll want to watch this volume too, but you'd be better off just renting it.