Uchû no Senshi is the little known 1988 Japanese anime OVA adaption of Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel Starship Troopers. This was produced as a 6 part OVA series comprising each episode being about a half hour long, for a total runtime of around 3 hours, a little less if you clip off the opening and ending credits. Sadly this series has never been released in the US so far.
The animation is good, about average for the nascent OVAs of the time and the character and equipment designs are good. The only real flaw all this are two things, the downplay of the governing system of the book, and the rendering of the alien bugs as instead some sort of double beaked goo spitting tentacly lobster/squid things.
Where Uchû no Senshi really shines above and beyond the horrid Verhoeven movie is that it follows the novel more closely and about 50% of the movie focuses not on the combat, but on the characters and how they develop and grow, and the trials they must endure to become soldiers. The other great boon this movie enjoys is that the troopers are actually shown properly in their power suits.
---spoilers may follow---
The first episode mostly sets the stage with Johnny Rico applying for the military and the reactions of his friends and family and the beginnings of the war with the aliens.
The second episode works through the beginnings of boot camp training as Rico is assigned to the harsh Mobile Infantry division which employs power armour suits in battle.
The third episode covers Ricos power suit training and the problems with dealing with a strict military code of conduct.
In the 4th episode we finally get to see some actual combat as the recruits advance from basic trainer suits to combat capable units and their training shifts from the Moon to Mars and ends with a disastrous training skirmish on the red planet.
The 5th episode covers the surviving members re-assignment to the spearhead invasion of one of the alien worlds and the new interactions with fresh team mates and advancement to fully operational suits.
The 6th episode finishes with a huge battle on the alien planet.
Since the OVA was never released in the US, a fan-subbing group has since taken up the task of translating the entire set. Hopefully one of the major anime release companies will pick this up! If you are looking for wall to wall battles and little else. This OVA is definitely not for you. But if you like a lot of character development and and an adaption closer to the source material. You may well enjoy this if you can find it.
The animation is good, about average for the nascent OVAs of the time and the character and equipment designs are good. The only real flaw all this are two things, the downplay of the governing system of the book, and the rendering of the alien bugs as instead some sort of double beaked goo spitting tentacly lobster/squid things.
Where Uchû no Senshi really shines above and beyond the horrid Verhoeven movie is that it follows the novel more closely and about 50% of the movie focuses not on the combat, but on the characters and how they develop and grow, and the trials they must endure to become soldiers. The other great boon this movie enjoys is that the troopers are actually shown properly in their power suits.
---spoilers may follow---
The first episode mostly sets the stage with Johnny Rico applying for the military and the reactions of his friends and family and the beginnings of the war with the aliens.
The second episode works through the beginnings of boot camp training as Rico is assigned to the harsh Mobile Infantry division which employs power armour suits in battle.
The third episode covers Ricos power suit training and the problems with dealing with a strict military code of conduct.
In the 4th episode we finally get to see some actual combat as the recruits advance from basic trainer suits to combat capable units and their training shifts from the Moon to Mars and ends with a disastrous training skirmish on the red planet.
The 5th episode covers the surviving members re-assignment to the spearhead invasion of one of the alien worlds and the new interactions with fresh team mates and advancement to fully operational suits.
The 6th episode finishes with a huge battle on the alien planet.
Since the OVA was never released in the US, a fan-subbing group has since taken up the task of translating the entire set. Hopefully one of the major anime release companies will pick this up! If you are looking for wall to wall battles and little else. This OVA is definitely not for you. But if you like a lot of character development and and an adaption closer to the source material. You may well enjoy this if you can find it.