Stellvia 3

April 5, 2004

Title: I'm Sorry
Fansubbed by: Solar & Aoshi-Fansubs

At the Stellvia space station, it's time for . . . midterm exams! The tested material is extremely hard, and it seems that our protagonist (Katase Shima, aka Shi-pon) is the only person that understands it. As such, the other members of the class ask her to tutor them.

And so, everyone goes to Shi-pon's dorm room for a study session. At the study session, Shi-pon ends up teaching Otoyama Kouta how to program a certain computer simulation demonstrated in class. To illustrate her simulation better, Shi-pon hacks into Stellvia's main server in order to download some super-accurate simulation data . . .

but accidentally ends up overwriting some data on Stellvia's server.

Although Shi-pon quickly changes the data back, she quickly realizes that Stellvia's main server has a clear record of her hacking activities in its access logs. The server's access logs can't be changed from a remote location, so Shi-pon and her classmates go down into the core server room of Stellvia in order to change the access logs, but . . .

they get caught. The End.

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RATING: B

Heh, Kabitzin, Matthew, and Jeff Lawson definitely got this right -- Stellvia is a superb title that is snarky, light-hearted and well-presented. When compared to other recent entries in the space-anime genre, Stellvia stands out as the only series that isn't pedantic (*cough* Planetes) or ultra-sentimental (*cough* Twin Spica). In a nutshell, Stellvia is a textbook example how a child-prodigy/space-exploration anime ought be executed.

One of the attributes that makes this series so appealing is . . . its total lack of angst. Unusual? You betcha! Whether you look at Naruto or Full Metal Alchemist, the current season of anime is filled with super-emotional titles that have people dying slowly right and left (*cough* Saidame Sensei). In contrast, Stellvia seems quite straightforward, since all of its characters are fairly normal and well-adjusted. As such, most of the action centers on how these students function as a team (i.e. Kabitzin's "group dynamic") instead of, say, focusing on how the protagonist feels 'alone' and socially repressed.

In any case, if you're looking for anime title for semi-mindless fun, it's impossible to go wrong with Stellvia. Great graphics, clear-cut plot, and superb opening / closing songs.

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