Uchuu no Stellvia

In the year 2167, a wave of radiation released by the supernova of the nearby star Hydrus Beta caused cataclysmic damage on Earth, leaving millions dead. Now, it is the year 2356. United to rebuild Earth, humanity prepares for the supernova's second wave of destruction.

In order to protect the planet from future harm, massive space colonies called "Foundations" have been built throughout the Solar System. Acting as centers for both knowledge and exploration, it is at one of these Foundations—the Stellvia—that Shima Katase applies to be a preparatory student against her mother's wishes, aspiring to see space directly with her own eyes.

At the Stellvia, Katase trains to become a pilot and hopes to be selected for the "Great Mission" to shield Earth from the second wave. While she struggles with both her pilot classes and her tumultuous social life, she slowly grows into someone who might just be able to protect humanity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Katase, Shima Main

Nonaka, Ai Japanese

Otoyama, Kouta Main

Mizushima, Daichuu Japanese

Glennorth, Arisa Main

Matsuoka, Yuki Japanese

Fujisawa, Yayoi Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Machida, Ayaka Supporting

Toyoguchi, Megumi Japanese

Kazamatsuri, Rinna Supporting

Hirohashi, Ryou Japanese

Barthes, Leila Supporting

Shindo, Naomi Japanese

Carlos, Enrique Supporting

Kazama, Yuuto Japanese

Omaezaki, Tony Supporting

Takahashi, Yugo Japanese

Mills, Akiko Supporting

Takahashi, Mayuko Japanese

Nakanishi, Go Producer

Chino, Takatoshi Producer

Ikeda, Shinichi Producer

Yamanaka, Takahiro Assistant Producer

Reviews

Sep 16, 2015

PrincessMeems

Recommended

When I first saw the picture and plot line of Uchuu no Stelllvia I though that they didn't match at anything at all and the story was going to be boring and childish. Oh boy,how I was wrong.
Story : 9/10
The plot is simple: mankind is about to be extincted by a huge electromagnetic wave and humanity should stop it by all means possible. Katase Shima,the main character, is a new student at the Stellvia station that must face the challenges of becoming a pilot and at same time,help humanity in this important mission.
What it was only a cliche story about a hero saving mankind became ... something much more as it explores the challenges of growing up and undestanding how difficult the world can really be. The mood set in first episodes gradually transforms into something deeper and,sometimes,sad as we see the characters in situations that everybody experiences in life. It isn't enemies,amazing actions scenes or boom moments that moves the story,what we see it's jealousy,frustrations,broken dreams,achievements,friendship and love.
And even though Uchuu no Stellvia shines in human aspects,the physics and actions moments of every Mecha anime appears as well at its best shape. You actually undestands all the physics behind the "evil" electromagnetic wave and honestly,a star exploding and destroying Earth?Not something hard to believe. All the other physical elements make sense too,though some of them - like the alien people - are not very explored and could have been better developed.
Even though they use a lot of elements,including thoughts of Nietzche later on, the ending lacked on two things that this anime was good about: passing and exploration of some of the facts exposed. What Kouta likes in Katase? What exactly is the commander? And what about Arisa's family situation?The story is amazing,but there's no conclusive ending that it actually needed in some points.
Art : 8/10
The art was something I got used after some time. It was childish and not exactly pretty,but it was clear,consistent and neat.There was a background in very single scene,some prettier some more shabby,but still,a background.There was no such a thing as an eye bigger than the other,misconfigured bodies or anything like that. Even the figurants were well executed. They were unique and colourful,the desing team really worked hard to make them look like a human group(different from some anime that they are just faceless or simple sticks).
The main cast was good,each had a different design based on their personallity.The only thing that bothered me was that they only had TWO oufits. Like really? Yes,they are in a space station and in a dangerous moment,but when nothing was bad and they were hanging out,they still dressed their school uniforms. This is a seinen,yes,it's not usual to have a lot of clothes.But if the show wanted realism at least make them wear something normal for once!
Now the CGI. They were bad,but it didn't burn my eyes to see it at every space scene.The Ultima spaceship was good and so was the planets design and the rift but only that.
However, I have to give points to the programming system. It was creative and artistic to look at. I'm talking about an 2003 anime,for that time,it was revolutionary.

Sound: 8/10

Asu e no brilliant road,Kirei na Yozora,The end of the world,Dear my best friend all perfomed by Angela it's not was I would call a masterpiece. Ordinary is the first world that comes to my mind. They tried to fit the end of mankind theme but to this anime I don't think it worked. If they went with lighter songs it would cause much more impact than this one.
I gave a high score to this a anime song mostly because of the OST. I loved the piano arrangements.It was so simple and covered perfectly what was going on. They repeated very little and thus I could listen to a variety of songs to each ambient.
The seyuu were suitable and they matched the character. The timid Shima or the mature Yayoi were always being well represented.Though I think characters like Kouta deserved a lower tone,since he actually sounded like a child when he was already 15 to 16.

Character: 9/10

I love the characters in Uchuu no Stellvia. Katase Shima had a development that is difficult to find. She experienced situations and deal with them in her own way. Shy, modest and conscious were words that described her during the whole series and that's okay. She matured,understood things,but still didn't change her personality in the end.
Various sides are shown of her,from the confident to the jealous one. She was a child but an adult at the same time,dealing with situations that anyone would be confused about.
Not only her,the majority of the cast had a background story,a development and I could identify their best qualities and flaws.It's difficult for an anime that focus so much in the coming of age of a single character to actually be able to show development of other characters,but I think Uchuu Stellvia did it well. Masaru suprised me a lot, from a character wrote to comic relief,he actually progressed subtely and makes me proud to say that he is,indeed,one of my favorite characters in the show.
Still,some of them lacked background or even worst,had plot holes in their progress.What about the Big Four? How did they met? Who are they truly? Even Kent,the guy appeared much more than Najima & Shojin and nothing at all was explained about him or his relationship with Ayaka.
Also relationships,an important aspect in the Romance genre,were well established.
Be friendship or romance itself,there was something going on with the characters on the anime. Arisa's frienship with the whole team is more more complex than the viewer watches superficially.It's a consequence to the lack of human relations that she has at home.The same goes to Rina,a little girl that stays home alone because of her parents' workload.
Kouta and Shima's relationship is good at the beginning and you can understand why Shima fell in love him.He's mysterious,cute and nice with her.As the series goes,their feelings change and situations that were once natural become awkward.This is how things work in real life,mostly when it's about your very first love - and Uchuu no Stellva knows that and makes sure to include that at each single step in their relationship.
Like a said in the story review,there's just one big issue that really bothered me in their relationship: there are too many questions that aren't answer in the end.How exactly they deal with what was happening with their love? And Shima's inferioty towards Koura? And the biggest issue, why does Kouta like her???? The anime made this question and didn't answer it at ANY point.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I watched Uchuu no Stellva non-stoping.I love it no doubt about it and I couldn't wait to watch the next episode.
The ending dissapointed me? Yes. Does that make it less enjoyble? Hell no.
Some times things are not perfect,and this happens a lot in the anime industry.It did need more episodes,but its time is limited and I don't think that it could have done better with the number of episodes that it had. The pacing was great and I really wish that more animes did it at the same velocity that Uchuu no Stellva did.
It's a anime about growing up more than it's about mecha.It's about to understand yourself and humanity.
We fight together only when we have an enemy in common,we feel jealously towards the people we love and we just hate to be worst than others.Does that makes us bad? And where exactly is the limit to us,humans? I think that's what this anime is about. I recommend it to anyone that likes a good slice of life or a more scientific mecha. And of course can take a lot of crying of the characters.
Uchuu no Stellva is not a romance tear-jerk anime,it's a reflective one about humans relations and progress.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 25, 2011

XDysphoria

Recommended

I LOVED this anime. It had a very unique storyline that kept me interested until the end. There was very few fillers, and the characters are realistic (being that they don't have out of proportion body parts, random personalities).

It has romance, action, unexpected twists, I think it is definitely worth watching but the first episode explains everything so it might be a little boring for some people.

And for those who love space, pretty images of the universe, you'll get a huge dose of it :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 13, 2019

PixelB

Not Recommended

Preliminary (2/26 eps)

Actually, Stellvia had a pretty decent start, if anything else. That was surprising. I was more expectant of a mediocre show through and through.
That's about as much as I can give in terms of positive feedback of the show, though.
I really only watched the first few episodes, but I got enough of a feel of the anime in those few episodes that it really wasn't worth watching at all. This show definitely is one of those classic "prestigious school" animes. I'm not going to lie, there are indeed more than a few anime that have been able to pull this sort of setting off. However, ... Stellvia sure as hell was not one of them. Faced with characters that I knew I was going to hate in the very beginning, it isn't hard to see why I dropped this show so early. Many of the characters that get acquainted with the MC are very "unique." and not in a good way. They don't make a lot of sense, and don't fit well with the plot and story this anime was going for. You'd think they'd at least be good at comedic relief, but no comedic segments showed up. I could also tell that this show was going to be "slice of life" sort of style until the last 3 episodes, where a bunch of plot is crammed into the end. So, if you don't like the "slice of life" part of the show, which to me, was very painful to watch, then you surely will not like it.
In conclusion, the characters are bad, story is run of the mill, and animation definitely is not great.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 26 Discussion jacobpaige - May 3, 2008	23 replies	by Jigoku-Master1 »» Aug 1, 8:16 AM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 20 Discussion jacobpaige - May 3, 2008	5 replies	by CardcaptorTohru »» Jun 6, 6:34 PM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 21 Discussion jacobpaige - May 3, 2008	5 replies	by el_morris »» Aug 13, 2023 3:15 PM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 18 Discussion Pirating_Ninja - Feb 21, 2014	3 replies	by el_morris »» Aug 13, 2023 2:00 PM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 16 Discussion kisami - May 12, 2010	7 replies	by el_morris »» Aug 13, 2023 1:09 PM