Novels
The series proper is based on a ten-novel series written by Yoshiki Tanaka, as well as a number of other shorter stories set in the same universe, collected in five Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden volumes. It won the Seiun Award for "Best Novel of the Year" in 1988.[7]
On July 2, 2015, Viz Media had announced that it had licensed the novels for release in North America under their Haikasoru imprint.[8] The company had only initially licensed the first three novels, but stated that it would license more if sales were good.[8] The first novel, Dawn, was released on March 8, 2016. The company eventually licensed and released all the novels, and the final volume, Sunset, was released on November 19, 2019. The novels were translated by Daniel Huddleston, Tyran Grillo and Matt Treyvaud.[9] The first three novels were also released as audiobooks.
Anime
My Conquest Is the Sea of Stars
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest Is the Sea of Stars (銀河英雄伝説 わが征くは星の大海) is the first animated adaptation of Yoshiki Tanaka's Legend of the Galactic Heroes series of novels. It was originally released in Japan on February 6, 1988. The film chronicles the first combat encounter between Reinhard von Müsel (who later adopted the Lohengramm name) and Yang Wen-li, the two primary protagonists of the series. The main original video animation (OVA) series followed only months later.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (銀河英雄伝説) is the second and longest-running animated adaptation of Tanaka's series of novels. It was released in direct home video installments during four separate periods between December 1988 and March 1997. The OVA comprises 110 episodes. It was later shown on television and has seen multiple releases on both DVD and Blu-ray formats. It is also known by the (grammatically incorrect) German title Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel, which is used in its opening credits.
Golden Wings
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Golden Wings (銀河英雄伝説外伝 黄金の翼) is the third animated adaptation of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, adapting the short story of the same name. It was originally released on home video in Japan in October 1992, then released in cinemas in December of that year. Its art style is notable in that it follows the art style of the Katsumi Michihara
My Conquest Is the Sea of Stars
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest Is the Sea of Stars (銀河英雄伝説 わが征くは星の大海) is the first animated adaptation of Yoshiki Tanaka's Legend of the Galactic Heroes series of novels. It was originally released in Japan on February 6, 1988. The film chronicles the first combat encounter between Reinhard von Müsel (who later adopted the Lohengramm name) and Yang Wen-li, the two primary protagonists of the series. The main original video animation (OVA) series followed only months later.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (銀河英雄伝説) is the second and longest-running animated adaptation of Tanaka's series of novels. It was released in direct home video installments during four separate periods between December 1988 and March 1997. The OVA comprises 110 episodes. It was later shown on television and has seen multiple releases on both DVD and Blu-ray formats. It is also known by the (grammatically incorrect) German title Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel, which is used in its opening credits.
Golden Wings
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Golden Wings (銀河英雄伝説外伝 黄金の翼) is the third animated adaptation of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, adapting the short story of the same name. It was originally released on home video in Japan in October 1992, then released in cinemas in December of that year. Its art style is notable in that it follows the art style of the Katsumi Michihara's manga adaptation rather than the other animated works. Its ending theme song is "Futari Mita Yume ~Two of Us~", performed and composed by Hiroyuki Matsuda, written by Gorou Matsui, and arranged by David Campbell.
Overture to a New War
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War (銀河英雄伝説 新たなる戦いの) is the fourth animated adaptation of Tanaka's novels. It was originally released in Japan on December 18, 1993. It expands upon the events covered in the first two episodes of the 1988 OVA series.
Gaiden
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden (銀河英雄伝説外伝) is the fifth animated adaptation (counting films) of Tanaka's novel series. It was originally released in Japan between February 1998 and July 2000. It served as a prequel to the main series, adapting Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden, or side stories, series of novels, (then) uncollected short stories, and also original stories.
Series 1, released from February to September 1998, consists of adaptations of the short stories "Silver-White Valley", "Dream of the Morning, Song of Night" and "Disgrace" (later included in the Golden Wings collection), and the novel A Hundred Billion Stars, a Hundred Billion Lights.
Series 2, released between December 1999 and June 2000, consists of adaptations of the novels Spiral Labyrinth and part of The Star Crusher ("The Third Tiamat Battle"), as well as the original stories "The Mutineer", "The Duellist", and "The Retriever".
Die Neue These
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Encounter (銀河英雄伝説 邂逅) started being produced by Production I.G during 2017.[10] Shunsuke Tada directed the series and Noboru Takagi supervised the scripts. Yoko Kikuchi, Iwao Teraoka, and Katsura Tsushima designed the characters. The mecha designs by Naoyuki Kato were drafted by Atsushi Takeuchi, Shinji Usui, and Shinobu Tsuneki. DMM Pictures, Shochiku, and Tokuma Shoten were credited with production of the anime, alongside Production I.G. The anime stars Mamoru Miyano as Reinhard von Lohengramm, Kenichi Suzumura as Yang Wen-li, and Yuichiro Umehara as Siegfried Kircheis. The series premiered from April 3 to June 26, 2018, and ran for 12 episodes.[11] The opening theme is "Binary Star" by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Uru, and the ending theme is "Wish" by Elisa.[12]
A second season, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These—Stellar War (銀河英雄伝説 星乱), premiered in Japanese theaters as three films, each with four episodes, in 2019.
English-language release
An English dub pilot was produced by Outis Productions and Ocean Productions in the late 1990s, at the request of Tokuma Shoten. The dubbed episodes were the episodes 51 and 52, and were shown at several anime conventions including Anime Expo. The series was not picked up at that time.[21]
On July 2, 2015, Sentai Filmworks announced their license to the anime series at their panel at Anime Expo, and later commented that they hoped to create the "definitive release".[22][23] A limited edition box set with only 1,000 produced was released in August 2018 and cost $799. The set sold out in May 2021.[24]
On June 20, 2017, Sentai Filmworks announced the streaming release on Hidive's anime streaming service starting the same day.[25]
Manga
The first manga adaptation was authored by Katsumi Michihara, and adapts the first two volumes of the original novel. It was published from 1986 to 2000, and collected in eleven volumes. A four-volume continuation, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Portrait of Heroes, was published from 2006 to 2012 and adapts the third volume of the original novel. This manga story is faithful to the original, possibly more faithful than the OVAs. However, there are some changes that could be considered major, e.g. the gender and ethnicity of Adrian Rubinsky are changed. Akira Kasahara cooperated in drawing mechanics. Michihara also adapted the side story "Golden Wings" into a one-shot manga of the same name in August 1986.
A manga adaptation by Ryu Fujisaki started in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump on October 8, 2015.[27] The manga was transferred to Ultra Jump on February 19, 2020.[28] Shueisha has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes, with the first volume being released on February 19, 2016.[29] The manga ended serialization in March 2026.[30]
Games
Several video games based on Legend of the Galactic Heroes have been released for various platforms, including an online multiplayer strategy game (the most recent PC release in 2008 was a real-time strategy game).[32] All of them have been released in Japan whilst some of them have been introduced in the Republic of Korea. Most of these games were published by Bothtec and Tokuma Shoten. A board game was released in 1998. Characters from the series were added to the game Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV as DLC.[33]
Social games
All service closed
- GREE: Legend of the Galactic Heroes - the monarchic Galactic Empire - 2012/3/16 DARTS LIVE GAMES[34]
Social games
All service closed
- GREE: Legend of the Galactic Heroes - the monarchic Galactic Empire - 2012/3/16 DARTS LIVE GAMES[34]
- GREE: Legend of the Galactic Heroes - the democratic Free Planets Alliance - 2012/4/23 DARTS LIVE GAMES[35]
- mobage: Legend of the Galactic Heroes - the monarchic Galactic Empire - 2012/10/22 DARTS LIVE GAMES[36]
- mobage: Legend of the Galactic Heroes - the democratic Free Planets Alliance - 2012/11/13 DARTS LIVE GAMES[37]
Stage productions
In 2012, the series was adapted as a musical by the all-female performance troupe Takarazuka Revue.[40]
In February 2014, the most recent stage production of Legend of the Galactic Heroes opened, and it ended with an announcement of a new anime adaptation. Tanaka's secretary, Hirofumi Adachi, confirmed the news and relayed the producer's comments that the new anime is not a remake of the earlier anime, but another anime adaptation of the original novels with a new staff.[41]
