The Beginning is a Very Delicate Time: How "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" Sets Its Stage

Recently a new adaptation of the original Legend of the Galactic Heroes novel series began airing in Japan. I've posted about this on my main blog, but here I'm going to talk about how the novels, the new series, and the masterpiece that is the previous OVA series all started the narrative.

You're going to need to spend a little time watching the episodes in question to follow along. In addition, the movie that is a remake of the OVA's first two episodes is superior to both the OVA and the new series in how all of this gets handled. So here's a few links:

• OVA 1
• OVA 2
• New 1
• New 2
• Movie

I will comment here that the novel does follow the brisk pace and presentation of the new series over the OVA, exactly so, and as such I will write hereafter with the understanding that the novel and the two episodes to date (later ones not included) are one and the same for my purposes here.

All that done, let's get to it.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes is one of the best Science Fiction works that Japan has ever produced. It is clearly the best Space Opera that Japan has ever produced. Yes, even better than its three biggest Space Opera franchises: Space Battleship Yamato, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Macross. Yes, even bigger than the rest of the Leijiverse. It's that big and important a work.

But if you read the novels, or watch the new series, you don't get a sense of just how big the stakes are. The reason is that they don't properly set up the true scope and scale of the narrative, while the well-regarded OVA series from late-'80s to mid-'90s and its many side-stories do just that.

Your responsibilities as the writer include the management of the audience's expectations. If you are going to tell a story about the fate of nations, domains, and empires then you have to set that expectation right away. This has to be done right away, within the first few minutes in film or television and within the first chapter for prose, poetry, and comics- and the sooner the better. You can be--and should be--efficient in executing this task, but never lose sight of the importance of presentation as your chief objective.

The first two episodes in both series covers the Battle of Astarte, which is also the first part of the novel. In the OVA series, which takes the time by slowing the pace to establish several things so the proper impact gets delivered to the audience (e.g. Jean-Robert Lapp and his tragic, wasteful death) which serves to establish the character of the three domains as institutions, their people as nations, and the expectation that none of these domains are simple narrative character. In addition to establishing our protagonist (Reinhard) and deuteragonist (Yang), the OVA also establishes the stakes in a manner that the new series/novel does not- something its slower pace and willingness to move material around to better exploit the OVA medium made possible.

The problem with the new series (and the novels) is that they don't take the time to properly establish the narrative and what is at stake here. You get Episode 1 to establish Reinhard and his immediate supporting cast, then Episode 2 wastes time establishing Yang and his, before resolving the battle and finishing the task of setting up their rivalry henceforth. The pacing is wrong, and because of that error (and the misplacement of narratively-relevant material), you get the expectation of two young heroes rising to power as the prelude to a war campaign where they alone are shot-callers- and that expectation gets crushed soon after this.

This is not the case with the OVA. While some criticize it for pulling material from other than the novel it adapts at points, those additions and changes improve the narrative's presentation. How? By properly setting the audience's expectations via establishing what is at stake for both leads- something missing in the new series. The result? The new series comes across as hollow and soulless compared to the OVA, and few things symbolize this like the Opening Theme for the new series: Pretty, Yet Vapid.

Mark this well, my colleagues. This is entirely preventable, and I hope that your editor catches this if you go astray.