Stellvia of the Universe
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Stellvia of the Universe (宇宙のステルヴィア, Uchuu no Stellvia/Sora no Stellvia) is an anime series which takes place in the near future. In the year 2167 AD Earth was devastated by a powerful electromagnetic shockwave caused by a nearby star having gone supernova. Now 189 years after the shockwave and civilization has been rebuilt with humanity united together to face the coming of the second shockwave of the supernova. The second shockwave unlike the first contains a great deal of matter composed of the remnants of the star itself.
Beginning with the May 2003 issue, a manga adaptation by Akizuki Ryo was serialized in Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh.
Characters
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Katase 'Shipon' Shima (片瀬 志麻)
The hero of the story is Shima (or 'Shipon(しーぽん)' as she is dubbed by Alisa) who joined the Stellvia foundation's space program so that she could "see the stars while looking forward, rather than having to look up".
After a rocky start to her training, during which she was dead last in her class at piloting, she took the advice of Otoyama Kouta and realized she was trying to keep track of far too much information on her ship displays. Her piloting improved dramatically as a result.
Despite her early setbacks as a pilot, her programming abilities were top notch from the very start, and she would later learn to combine the two in order to become even more formidable in the cockpit.
Otoyama Kouta(音山 光太)
Japanese Seiyuu: Mizushima Takahiro
Kouta is a bit of an enigma. He and Shipon have developed a romantic relationship but there's still a lot about him that is not known. He has an older sister who runs an astrological observatory in Japan. He consistently achieves rank C in every class, without exception, regardless of how easy or hard the subject is. And when he was warned of the possibility of Ayaka attacking Shipon during training, he displayed extraordinary piloting abilities beyond what his ship should have been capable of handling.
Arisa Glennorth(アリサ・グレンノース)
Japanese Seiyuu: Matsuoka Yuki
Shipon's best friend at the Stellvia foundation. They met on the shuttle up to the station from Earth, and found themselves rooming together and in the same class as well. Though Alisa is nowhere near Shipon in academic or piloting ability, she finds Shipon to be an inspiration to improve herself, and counts herself as Shipon's #1 fan.
Kazamatsuri Rinna(風祭 りんな)
Japanese Seiyuu: Hirohashi Ryou
A transfer student from the Ultima foundation, Rinna considers Shipon to be her chief rival as well as a good friend. Rinna is a few years younger than Shipon and most of the other students, but because there are few children at Ultima (it being the newest of the foundations, and still incomplete), she had little to do with herself but play with simulators. As a result, she's far better at piloting and zero-G movement than most people years older than her.
Fujisawa Yayoi(藤沢 やよい)
Japanese Seiyuu: Orikasa Fumiko
One of the older students in Shipon's class, Yayoi had been in Stellvia's training program 2 years before, but left after a flight training accident. She was saved by Machida Ayaka... but it turned out the "accident" was also intentionally caused by Ayaka in the first place.
Recognizing the signs of another "accident" when Ayaka took Shipon out to train alone, she warned Otoyama Kouta of what might be about to happen. Kouta was able to prevent another tragedy.
Despite the attacks on herself and Shipon, Yayoi defended Ayaka when it looked like she might face explusion from Stellvia.
Towards the end of the series, it is hinted that Yayoi may be romantically linked to Ayaka, which explains why she keeps rejecting Pierre's advances, and defended Ayaka from expulsion.
Kayama Akira(栢山 晶)
Japanese Seiyuu: Tanaka Rie
A quiet and somewhat taciturn member of Shipon's class, Akira is Yayoi's roommate. Though she becomes irritated easily when around people too much, she seems to be learning to enjoy spending time with Yayoi, Shipon, Alisa and the others of their group. Later on, she starts dating Joy James.
Machida Ayaka(町田 初佳)
Japanese Seiyuu: Toyoguchi Megumi
One of the Big Four of Stellvia, older students who are at the top of their classes, Ayaka is competitive in the extreme. She has something of an inferiority complex which drives her to be the absolute best, and she can't tolerate seeing others better than her.
2 years in the past, when Yayoi was her classmate, she arranged an accident to ensure her own position at the top of the class. Things went a little out of hand, however, and it looked like Yayoi might lose her life, so Ayaka rescued her. Yayoi was hospitalized and traumatized, and left Stellvia for a time. Now with Katase Shima looking like she would surpass Ayaka as well, the same thing almost happened. Had Yayoi not returned to Stellvia and recognized the danger Shipon might be in, Ayaka might have seriously injured or even killed her. Due to Yayoi's defence, Ayaka was not expelled from Stellvia, but was suspended for a time.
After Yayoi forgave Ayaka for nearly causing her to lose her life, they become very close. It is suggested in the last episode that they may be much more than just good friends.
Richard James(リチャード・ジェームス)
Japanese Seiyuu: Hori Katsunosuke
Head Teacher of Stellvia's Space Academy. He is also the one who conducted the entrance interview for Shima. He is avuncular and usually takes the optimistic view of events. Richard also encourages his peers to put more trust in the prep students when events put them in critical situations.
Carl Hutter(カール・ヒュッター)
Japanese Seiyuu: Tanaka Masahiko
A teacher at Stellvia's Space Academy who appears unemotional and calm all the time. Usually, Hutter plays the Devil's Advocate against Richard James' optimism. He is revealed to have a more exotic origin later on in the series.
Shirogane Jinrai(白銀 迅雷)
Japanese Seiyuu: Fujiwara Keiji
A teacher at Stellvia's Space Academy who appears to be teaching a science subject. He is particularly obsessed with Astroball, (a game that has some similarities with hockey), which he played in his student days at Stellvia. Passionate and determined, Jinrai becomes more than a mere teacher later on in the series.
Leila Balt(レイラ・バルト)
Japanese Seiyuu: Shindou Naomi
Instructor in charge of Pilot Training at Stellvia. She used to be an elite pilot, and spent some time wallowing in despair after losing the "elite" tag. However, she has since recovered from that (after an incident on a space station that was under construction) and chose to become an instructor at Stellvia.
Joey Jones(ジョイ・ジョーンス)
Japanese Seiyuu: Suyama Akio
Another of Shipon's classmates, JJ (as he is called) is loud and enthusiastic. He is not very good in his studies nor pilot training and sometimes get needled because of it. Neverthless, he is not one-dimensional and eventually starts dating Akira later on in the series.
Najima Gable
Japanese Seiyuu: Paku Romi
Pierre Takida
Japanese Seiyuu: Ueda Yuji
Another of Shipon's classmates, Pierre is good looking and a big talker, but doesn't seem to have a lot more than that going for him. He is interested in Yayoi, though it's not clear what her feelings for him may be. He confessed his feelings to her and was turned down, but Yayoi later hinted he might still have some hope.
External Links
- King Record's Stellvia (http://www.stellvia.com/)
- Tv-tokyo's Stellvia (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/stellvia/)
- Suite 101.com: Stellvia Foundation II (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/17172/113281), review of a DVD release