Starship Troopers (OVA)

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Starship Troopers
Cover of official handbook on the series showing Johnny Rico inside the power armor design from the OVA.
宇宙の戦士
(Uchū no Senshi)
GenreMecha, military science fiction
Created byBased on Starship Troopers
1959 novel
by Robert A. Heinlein
Original video animation
Directed byTetsurō Amino
Produced byHironori Nakagawa
Minoru Takanashi
Written byTsunehisa Ito
Shō Aikawa
Music byHiroyuki Namba
StudioSunrise
Released October 25, 1988 – December 17, 1988
Runtime25 minutes
Episodes6 (List of episodes)

Starship Troopers (宇宙の戦士, Uchū no Senshi; lit. "Warriors of Space") is a Japanese six-part anime OVA produced by Sunrise and Bandai, and released in 1988. It is based on the 1959 book Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. The OVA was dedicated to Heinlein, who died before the first part of the series was released.

Plot

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Johnny Rico, an ordinary high school student, decides to enlist in the military after learning that his classmate Carmencita plans to join upon graduation. Encouraged by his best friend Carl, who reveals that the Earth Federation is at war with an unidentified alien species, Rico commits to enlist despite his parents’ objections.

During basic training, Rico experiences the harsh realities of military life, including the dismissal of fellow recruits, punishment for disobeying orders even when attempting to save allies, and the death of his mother. While serving as a platoon leader in simulated exercises, he is unexpectedly thrust into real combat with alien forces. Though many of his comrades are killed, Rico survives and is officially recognised as a soldier.

Rico later reunites with Carmencita, but differences between the military and civilian populations, as well as friction between the army and navy, create tension. When Carmencita’s ship collides with an alien vessel and is destroyed, she is presumed dead. Rico subsequently participates in an assault on the alien homeworld, Kurendatsu, where he confronts both the loss of his friends and the realisation that the enemy also fights for survival.

Following a prolonged battle, Rico discovers that Carmencita has survived and is recovering in a military hospital. The story concludes with Rico finally confessing his long-suppressed feelings for her.

Cast

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Mecha design

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Kazutaka Miyatake of Studio Nue originally designed the mobile infantry powered armors in the OVA for a Japanese edition of the novel (published by Hayakawa Publishing, Japan's largest science fiction publisher) in the early eighties.[1] A mecha based on this design also appears on the DAICON III and IV Opening Animations from 1981 and 1983, a few years before the OVA was released.

Episode list

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  1. "Johnny"
  2. "Hendrick"
  3. "Maria"
  4. "Greg"
  5. "Cherenkov"
  6. "Carmencita"

References

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  1. ^ Gundam Century (1st Edition), p.146. Minori Shobo. September 22, 1981.
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