As an experienced anime fan, I have become very picky over the years. And in such pickiness and cautiousness comes an understanding that in order to identify a good television series, I may have to take a risk every once in a while to perhaps look and search for those "hidden gems" of the Japanese animation industry that squeezed on over to western shores. This includes gambling on new animation styles, genres and story-telling techniques, etcetera. I have been successful in the past, but, like many other experienced fans, I have also had some enormous letdowns. Which brings me to Uchuu no Stellvia, or rather, Stellvia of the Universe, distributed by Geneon Entertainment in the west and originally produced by XEBEC (a subsidiary of Production I.G.).

Simply put, the television series is about a little girl with astronomical dreams. Stellvia stars Shima Katase, a recent entry into the Space Academy Stellvia, who is gauged to learn and study to become one of many prospected individuals to help protect the earth from the impending doom of a supernova's shockwave. For you see my friend, it all started when the earth was hit by the initial shockwave one hundred sixty years earlier, under which its people barely survived, and in order to prevent the earth's total destruction at the hands of the aftershock of the supernova, a group of headstrong individuals is being assembled to handle the task of protection. Enter the Space Academy Stellvia, a high-tech, earth-orbiting school, scheduling and training young men and young women into high-energy technicians and top of the line programmers as well as ace space pilots... for very soon, the day is coming when these recruits will have to assemble a giant barrier to protect the earth for what will most certainly be a moment of truth.

Little miss Katase is a "new recruit" to the school system and looks to—in the least—capitalize on her opportunities to get a nice view of the earth from space while at the Academy. Stellvia isn't an anime series about the world's fascination with technology, nor is the anime primarily about saving the universe at all costs (despite the fate of the earth being a key story element); for Stellvia is about one girl's journey and adventure towards individuality, and the obstacles she encounters in the process.

This is first and foremost, a "coming of age" anime, wherein anything and everything that happens has only one purpose: to aid in the development and identification of the series' protagonist. Most of such anime appear watered down, overly innocent, and superfluously pathetic with its characters and plot designs; however, Stellvia is actually a pretty good contrast to all of the genre-defining elements of such a title. This anime has a nice cast of character personalities, and a confident storyline to boot, and may come as a surprise title to some seeing that despite its sweet look, therein lies a complex series of events beneath.

Shima's character is shy, but intelligent, and her natural ability to manage and solve complex tasks is only topped by her strong will and caring heart. Other characters include Arisa, her hyperactive roommate; and Akira Kayama and Yayoi Fujisawa, roommates that live (dorm-wise) near Shima and Arisa. There are many more key characters, male characters, but this group of four gals are certainly key to the development of Stellvia the most. Akira is, to be blunt, a young girl carved from the same mold as Sakaki of Azumanga Daioh,



and I say this because she's a withdrawn intellectual whom although not entirely out-going is a stoic athlete. Yayoi is the bookworm of the bunch, always sure to give a concerned, motherly opinion on anything as the anime's resident brain. Shima is oft accented by the quirks of others, but even in saying such, the center of the character dynamics of Stellvia lie in the fact that Shima is a counselor, guide, friend, and more to each of these characters just as much as each supplementary character is to her.