Starship Operators Vol. #1
© Geneon Entertainment (USA), Inc.

Mania Grade: C+
Audio Rating: B+
Video Rating: A-
Packaging Rating: NA
Menus Rating: B
Extras Rating: B
Age Rating: 13 and Up
Region: 2 - Europe/Japan
Released By: MVM Entertainment
MSRP: £15.99
Running time: 96
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Disc Resolution: 480i/p
Disc Encoding: MPEG-2

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Starship Operators Vol. #1 (of 3)

Imagine what Big Brother would be like in space? No…neither have I, but if I did, it would probably be like Starship Operators.

What They Say
For the 73rd class of cadets of the Defense University of the small planet Kibi, a maiden voyage on the new warship Amaterasu is a fitting event just before graduation. As they are returning home, however, they are shocked to hear news of a declaration of war by the aggressive Kingdom of Henrietta against Kibi. When the Kibi government surrenders without a struggle, the cadets decide to fight back, using the Amaterasu, with funding from the Galaxy News Network. The only stipulation? Exclusive airing rights to the action and good ratings. So, the cadets find themselves the 'stars' of their own reality show.

The Review!
Audio:
For this review I listened to the disc in Japanese. Both English and Japanese tracks are in the standard 2.0 format, the audio in both languages however is crystal clear and couldn’t fault any problems within the transition. Like with other MVM releases, you wonder if the extra mile could have been added with some 5.1 however with the reality show elements (even if their own sound effects) the audio does the job of some excellent background effects and gives that element of believability being on a ship in space.

Video:
Starship Operators is a joy to view, in combining the widescreen effect with CGI and colour, the detail in showcasing some of the visuals gives you an idea of what life could be like in the 2200s with the detail to the computer imagery, the battleships, even things like the high-tech mobile phones. The panning/wide screen effect seemed to enhance the video quality on my screen, making it’s a pleasure to view. There was no timing off with the subtitles or with the on-screen signs in English or Japanese making it a very fluid transition to DVD.

Packaging:
No packaging was supplied with this test disc.

Menu:
We get a shot of lead girl Sinon in a thoughtful standing pose on a starry background, with a computer terminal like screen used as a menu which is easy to navigate and quite standard between play/scenes/set up and extras. Short, simple and does its job. None of the screens change from the starry background when selecting but that’s to be expected considering there really isn’t a change of scenery to be had in space.

Extras:
For extras, we get the textless opening and ending which is always a pleasure to see, but along with that we get a couple of other things. We get the US Trailer to the series, as well as MVM trailers for Black Cat and Witchblade, the slightly different extra is the Kotoko music video to a track called Chi Ni Kieru, the ending theme to the series. It’s a nice little piece but it’s quite short and is just the music video, however fans of the music will probably like this nice little interlude.

Content:
Seeing the description of the show and with my lack of interest in either sci-fi or reality shows, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I slotted in Starship Operators. Fortunately I was O.K with what I saw, despite being confused throughout…though for a specific reason.

We are introduced to the 73rd graduating class of the Defence University, on board the ship Amaterasu, where a lot of young hopeful cadets are preparing for their dreams in the future. The most prominent of them is a young lady by the name of Sinon, who has a rep for being intelligent in military history and battle skills. We meet a few more of the cadets, (and there’s a lot of them) but a promising voyage to celebrate their graduation turns into shock as they return back to their home planet Kibi and find out it has been taken over by the Henrietta Alliance of Planetary Nations (known from now on as ‘The Kingdom’) – with them being cut off from their planet, they are literally in limbo as they wonder what to do. A drastic solution is thought of by the crew purchasing the ship themselves to act independent of the Kingdom but they wonder how to get the finances.

Cue the Galaxy Network. A worldwide news group which will sponsor the fleet on one condition. That everyone on the ship, whether it’s battling, interactions, etc, can be viewed on its News Network 24/7. Quickly, a reporter named Dita and her slimy rating loving boss Peter are on board/have connections with the ship, and under his instructions to be as ‘flashy as possible’, the group are now under ‘orders’ from the TV station…just in time for a battle to start. Sinon gets to shine as she shows her cool and works out what the ship is doing and how to protect them, and they get out of the battle relatively unscathed and victorious.

The early problem from the first episode was simply the cast. There are too many of them and during this review I’m still struggling to remember the names as only a few came to prominence during these first few eps. The second episode doesn’t help matters with former Kibi Prime Minister Tatsuma Mamiya (and uncle of one of the cast members Rio, fortunately she’s alongside him so I could remember who she was) joining the crew to establish the ship as an exiled ship away from the politics. The episode seems to showcase the harsh side of war in combination with the Galaxy’s quest for ratings – they know Kibi ships and Kingdom ships are pursuing them so they are hungry for battles and want action rather than Sinon’s tactics. Sinon has no interest in this and uses her smarts in battle when they come across an enemy that can absorb their plasma beams – with some quick thinking, she’s able to defeat this latest adversary but the harsh reality hits when some of the crew members die trying to fix the damage from the previous battle. Not too much focus was on this sadly, as the plot of the network using the space funerals as a way for ratings sickens Sinon, and for that she doesn’t want any more people to die. It didn’t feel like a sad moment as so little focus was on the deaths until after the battle it almost became an afterthought.

Things do get better in the final two episodes though as a number of the characters who aren’t Sinon manages to force their way into the spotlight to a point that I could actually remember their names without having to rewatch it. One of the cute bridge girls Sanri is the main focus as she’s in love with the bridge chief Takai, however when Takai risks his life to save communications officer Hisaki, it causes a little argument inside the ship when people are already edgy after the deaths of some of the repair crew. Sanri’s father, a rich man, attempts to try and talk to his daughter and get them to surrender on the grounds that all but the 5 main crew members (which includes Hisaki, Takai and Sinon). With pressure on everyone, Hisaki has a talk with Sanri about Takai, and tells her she’s not interested in him that way and for her to tell him soon, as considering the circumstances, anyone of them could die the next day. Using the network to her advantage, Sanri confesses live on air to Takai, and from it, she also unifies the crew, as they all stand by to defend their ship. From the moment she spoke to Dita, you knew what she was planning, but it was still pretty sweet.

There isn’t an answer yet sadly, but fortunately in the final episode, the Kingdom begins to take action to destroy the Amaterasu, where whilst they are mostly arrogant, one member Elroy, the captain, seems to hold distaste for the Kingdom and respect for the Amaterasu. They send a space submarine the Aboukir, with the ability to remain in darkness and not be detected by their radars. Fortunately, Amaterasu have on board my favourite character so far, Sinon’s best friend Miyuri, a cute bespectacled girl whose only reason for staying on board was its observatory. And as they are trying to find a ship they cannot scour for, who better to search for it than this cute would-be astrologist? Sinon and Miyuri work as a team searching for areas of blackness, and using an expensive plan involving torpedoes as flares (Peter is O.K with it despite the costs – remember, the flashier the better), a cute Takai/Sanri moment and plasma blast later, and Elroy is in more respect of the crew, whilst his subordinates are tearing their hair out. This means war…

It’s hard to really establish what I think of Starship Operators. I know it’s a 12 episode series, and so far the first four episodes haven’t really grabbed me as such. There are a lot of cast members and it was impossible for me to think of everyone without putting in the disc. Fortunately only a few of them really came into effect of importance but it’s still a hard track. It doesn’t help that so many of them look alike, when compared to other space drama like series such as Nadesico or Stellvia, at least they are all distinguished in one way or another. Starship Operators doesn’t have that luxury and it wasn’t until the third episode that I began to remember other characters names other than Sinon or Miyuri. On the plus side, it’s a different take of the space drama using the reality show format, however the boss is a stereotypical slimeball and their on role reporter is a stereotypical ditz so they themselves don’t offer too much other than a few groans. However, there is some potential there with Elroy and see if he does anything, the Sanri/Takai relationship has potential as he’s not answering her yet, and Sinon at least is a competent if not spectacular lead character. Miyuri however is amusing, cute and at least has common sense.

Summary:
The fact I haven’t mentioned the captains name until this part (it’s Shinto) when he’s one of the core 5 characters on the bridge sums up the main problem with Starship Operators. There is a lot going on, a lot of people and it’s hard to keep up. With it being a short series I’m concerned that a lot of it is going to fall by the wayside – however that doesn’t mean it’s not a show you won’t enjoy. The reality show element is a unique take on the situation, and the characters that seem to take focus at least are enjoyable. It’s also very crisp and fluid so it’s a great show to view, and the potential is definitely there for fireworks to be had. Just not so much now.

Features
Japanese 2.0 Language, English 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Music Video - Kotoko, US Trailer, Textless Opening/Ending

Review Equipment
Toshiba 37C3030 - 37" Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV �" Tangent Ht-50 Home Theatre System Multi-Regional DVD Players/Speakers �" Tangent Subwoofer 50-150 Hz, Impedenced 8 OHM.