The space opera is a science fiction sub-genre that isn't new to the world of anime. At some point in your couch potato existence you have no doubt sat through an episode or two that featured the standards of space exploration sci-fi. Now, what if I was to tell you that famed manga creator Ryo Mizuno (Record of Lodoss War and Legend of Crystania)? You would think with that being the case that Starship Operators would have a distinct air of drama and personality. Alas, after watching the first volume the show comes across as dreadfully generic with little to get excited about.

The basic premise of the series is an interesting one to start with and could provide a lot of potential in future volumes. In the distant future the galaxy is torn apart by an interstellar war. A group known as The Kingdom has come forth and forcefully assimilated other cultures and planets into their collective. This being done they have obviously made a lot of enemies, but their ranks have also swelled and their power has become seemingly unstoppable. Unbeatable, that is, until a group of cadets commandeer a warship and wage a one man (so to speak) war against them.

This ragtag group of military trainees from the world of Kibi got their noble start when they were out doing a training exercise and a news broadcast stated that The Kingdom just forced their nation into surrendering. Of course youth doesn't take orders standing down and while the officers depart from the ship, the kids (well...teens really) decide to take it over. Unfortunately without the support of a government or financial aid they aren't going to get very far in their campaign so they decide that they need a sponsor. That's where Galaxy Network (GN) comes in, but as the show continues it seems that the cadets may have bitten off more than they could chew.

Instead of just following orders from the leading crew member they also have to accept direction from GN as part of their contract. This means that many of their conflicts are aired over live television and their course of action depends on what will be best for ratings. It may sound a little campy, but given the nature of some of the journalism that we've seen during wars over the past years it's plausible that it could happen. The only real bad thing is that the idea doesn't really get played around with an awful lot in these first four episodes. It's almost like it's just kind of something that's there and even though it's a driving force, it's not a very strong one.

The real downer for the show though is that none of the characters really step forward and say "Hey, look at me! I'm important!" Sure for the most part Sinon gets most of the show's attention and even graces the cover, but she has no personality what-so-ever. I'm serious; she's about as dry as chalk and often comes across android-like in behavior and range of emotions. Apart from her the bevy of support characters just doesn't do much to add a lot of personality to the series. The character Sanri expresses her love for Takai, there is a little bit of mystery surrounding Renna and Cisca makes a conflicted captain. My issue with it all was I just couldn't care for what was happening, who died or who loved who. The material is that generic.

To make matters worse is that we don't really get any information about who these people are, what Earth has to do with any of it and what's going on with the whole Kingdom thing. Nothing is really explained and the cadets just seem to roam around without rhyme or reason. What's more baffling is how these youths with one ship have the ability to eliminate all of the Kingdom forces that they encounter. It's hard to see what makes them so special when everything is so boring.

There are only twelve episodes in this series, so the entire thing should be wrapped up in the coming two volumes. One thing that Starship Operators has going for it is that it's very fluid in terms of continuity. Events from one episode spill into the next and are constantly being referenced. In my opinion this is really how you play a half-season anime since you don't really have time to do the whole stand-alone story thing. The show has a very interesting concept with a splash of Star Trek, a dash of reality TV and a dose of wartime reporting. I just hope that the series builds to something and brings more to the table in the coming episodes.

Originally airing at the start of 2005, Starship Operators offers a very clean transfer with some great image quality and a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. Like many anime these days, this show utilizes a hefty dose of computer generated effects and for the most part this is a blessing and a curse. On one hand you have some beautiful animation with little to no flaw, but on the other you have some spotty issues that appear from to time. The show enjoys repeat animations and I also noticed that in the space sequences stars and ships became highlighted by a grey aura. Apart from those bits there's nothing to gripe about and the picture quality here is smooth sailing.

As far as the audio quality is concerned there really is nothing technically wrong with this release. The sound is presented with only English and Japanese 2.0 tracks so if you were hoping for a 5.1 selection, you're out of luck. I was pretty surprised by that considering the more recent production date, but I suppose you have to take what you can get. There are two subtitle options as well; one for English dialogue and one for sign text only. The show is very dialogue driven so I suppose you don't really need everything including the kitchen sink for audio options. The content is fine enough and both tracks offer their own spin on the translation, though the material remains the same. As usual though, I preferred the original Japanese dubbing over the English on in this case.

Surprisingly enough we have more bonus content on Starship Operators volume 1 than there are for the normal Geneon release. In addition to the standard clean opening and closing animations as well as previews the disc offers a music video for 'Chi Ni Kaeru / On The Earth' by Kotoko. Well, okay, I guess that's really all that's featured here apart from the U.S. trailer, but considering that we usually get to only see opening and closing animations I was pleased to be treated to something else.

On paper Starship Operators has a lot going for it. I appreciate the idea of the show and find the blend of topics to be a fresh spin on the cluttered science fiction playing field. Unfortunately the characters are dreadfully boring and nothing really happens on this first volume to take notice of. The potential is there for something special though there are only two more volumes left to play with. We'll see what happens then, but for the time being I'm going to suggest a rental for anyone that loves sci-fi and reality TV spoofs. Rent It

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