The show is set in the year 2070 although there aren't a whole lot of visible signs of technological progress at first glance. The location is in the small Japanese coastal town of Shinjuku with most of the activities taking place at the local middle school, Misumaru Middle School. For the most part, there doesn't seem to be a lot going on until one day a large alien spacecraft pops out of the sky and hovers over Tokyo, stopping most communications in the region. No one knows what to make of it until it is attacked, and destroyed, by a large creature that similarly came from nowhere. People were generally pretty accepting of the news, perhaps other events had transpired between now and that time that will be covered in later episodes. In any case, the lead character, Hajime Murata, seems to be an industrious lad who goes out of his way to help others and stay out of trouble. His family had transferred to the area recently and he seems to have the same everyday troubles as the rest of the class. Things start getting a bit strange though when a new transfer student, Muryou Subaru, comes to town. He's polite, attractive to the local gals, and seems to be the nicest person you would want to meet so he and Hajime hit it off splendidly. One exception to the rule about liking him is the vice president of the student council, Kyoichi Moniguchi, a guy with a chip on his shoulder that otherwise seems quite respected by his peers.

As the series progressed, it became apparent that the Earth was going to be under attack from a variety of alien invaders, all intent on gaining a technological advance over their rivals by discovering the secret of Shingu. The Earth is not yet a protectorate (in full) of the Galactic Federation so it must defend itself via a series of unlikely defenders, most of whom have been doing so as part of the family business for generations. Here's what the last volume said on the back DVD cover, noting that some minor spoilers are present but nothing that would ruin the story for those willing to watch it closely:

"The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of a single middle-school student...
Pale skin, green eyes, and a piercing gaze – once you meet Kanata Myouken, you'll never forget him. And now this mysterious new stranger is tracking down Muryou! What's worse, he is only a harbinger of things to come. Soon after Kanata's arrival, two very ominous spaceships appear, hanging low over the town of Tenmo... and both appear ready for a showdown at any moment. One of the ships belongs to the Galactic Federation... but who controls the other?
While the situation on Earth is becoming more tense, trouble is beginning to brew in space as well. Four of the deadly Sanadon warships have been spotted on a direct intercept course with Earth. With each passing moment, the destruction of everything Nayuta loves draws closer. Will she be able to make the ultimate sacrifice and push the power of the Shingu farther than ever before? When the body becomes a new vessel, the truth behind the Shingu will finally be revealed..."

The episodes this time were 21) Gazing Beyond, 22) Federation and Alliance, 23) Destined Ones Gather, 24) An Empty Soul Awakens, and 25) School Records Continue; finishing up the series on a pretty interesting note. Forces that were initially attacking the Tenmo crew from the Alliance are now hovering directly above the town along with the usually distant Federation forces. The secret of the Stellar Wars occurring so long ago were unveiled as well as secret identities of some of the players and the final trial of Shingu with Nayuta controlling him. In fact, the only secret not covered was the one I wanted to know most although the director's interview and the discussion in the paper insert gave some idea of that too. It was a great ending to a very nicely handled series that used some understated ideas in a classic manner, proving once again that the Right Stuf had just that…the right stuff. As I've done along the course of the series, I rated this one as Highly Recommended and it earned it every time.

Picture: Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars 5 was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was shot in for broadcast on Japanese television. It had little grain, no video noise, and I saw no compression artifacts despite it having five full episodes and some decent extras. The anime style used here was slightly muted rather than the kiddy colors used on so many comedy and fanciful shows, with a decent amount of movement taking place in both the foreground and background, albeit less than a full fledged movie would display. In short, it looked good.

Sound: The audio was presented with the standard choice of 2.0 Dolby Digital in either the original Japanese or a dubbed English track with optional subtitles in English (either full subtitles or an onscreen text version). Once again, I actually liked the English language dub better this time as most of the characters seemed to be well acted since only a couple of minor performances were distracting to the story itself. The original vocals were good but the dub seemed to have a lot more attention given it than I'm used to on a series so I'm just giving credit where it was due. The music and special audio effects were similar in each version though with a slightly deeper bass in the dub but the overall separation between the channels seemed better this time, especially when I used headphones but even via my player's speakers.

Extras: Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars 5 had some of the usual extras like trailers, production sketches, and a double sided DVD cover but it also had another cool 8 page booklet inside the DVD case that explained some of the settings and cultural notes from the series in relation to the characters; this time focusing on food, religion, and an interview with original director Sato (not to mention the bit of American promotional materials offered up towards the back). There were also a number of character biographies on the DVD and some production sketches on the disc that varied from those in the booklet.

Final Thoughts: Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars 5 had the same qualities I've enjoyed all along; fine writing, quality voice acting, well handled voice acting, and a story that balanced the need for action and intelligent discourse to provide some fine replay value but also a lot to think about. The extras were better than average on top of a nice episode count like you simply don't see too often outside of the first "hook" volume a few companies make. If you like science fiction anime handled properly with the kind of care applied too rarely these days, Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars 5 will appeal to you as much as it did for me.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003 and Best Of Anime 2004 article or regular column Anime Talk