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. Unfortunately this is a show that doesn't really have a lot of either of those things.

The basic premise of the series is an interesting one and it really puts a spin on the whole space opera genre. In the distant future the galaxy is torn apart by an interstellar war. A force known as The Kingdom has come forward to conquer several worlds and bring the governments under their rule. Doing so made The Kingdom a lot of enemies, but nobody has the power to step forward. At least nobody does until a group of young 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 departed from the ship (the Amaterasu), the kids (well…teens really) decided 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.

The GN do more than just sponsor the cadets; instead they step forward and take control of their mission, doing whatever is necessary to garner more TV ratings. It's an interesting spin on the space opera genre and it adds a certain modern era reality news broadcast to the entire thing. One of the GN's reporters becomes a resident of the Amaterasu and begins filming the daily lives of its crew. In the last volume we were introduced to the concept and all of the characters but the show didn't really go anywhere. There were a few skirmishes and a couple of battles won, but otherwise there was a lot of political mumbo jumbo and posturing.

This time around the Amaterasu's crew finds themselves in need of some supplies in a bad way. Through some handy political work from their resident ambassador they get "warmly" welcomed to the world of Shu. The popularity of the GN channel and their particular struggles has made them celebrities, but before they can pick up the goods and get on their way the Kingdom announces war against the Shu Empire. This creates a coup d'état that Shinon and company find themselves trapped in the middle of.

Our heroes were broken up into two groups however and the real task that they find themselves with now is getting back to Amaterasu. This arc was interesting to me because it gave the characters a decent fleshing out and more of a glimpse at their personality than the first volume allowed for. The next batch of episodes on this disc brought the Amaterasu back to the front lines with even more head-butting with the Kingdom.

While I do have to admit that I found myself enjoying the second volume of Starship Operators more than the first; I still thought that it was a little too contrived. The characters became more interesting this time around, but I have the feeling a lot of that had to with not needing to set up the concept of the show. Even so the slower pace and the focus on the politics of war really hold the series back in my opinion. If you find yourself bored with the current run of space opera anime then you may want to give Starship Operators a look.

Starship Operators offers a very clean transfer with some great image quality and a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. Like most anime with recent production dates this show utilizes a hefty dose of computer generated effects and for the most part this is a blessing and a curse. I never really felt that the two styles of animation blended very well, but you do have to admit that it's a beautiful show.

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.

Starship Operators features a few bits of bonus material worth checking out for fans of the show. For starters there is a collection of Japanese television commercials but to be honest unless you're fluent in Japanese this is a pointless feature. Aside from some previews the only other thing on the disc is a promotional video that is used at Live Events.

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. In the second volume here things get a little more interesting for the crew of the Amaterasu and some characters really start standing out. I'm interested to see how the series is going to wrap up in the third and final installment, but even so the series carries a drastically slower pace than most. If you're looking for something different in your daily dose of sci-fi you should probably look into it. Otherwise the avid viewer can get by with a rental.

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