Ask John: What Are The Best Space Anime?

Question:

As an anime otaku, what is the 5 best space anime you have ever seen?

Answer:
When I consider qualification for the title of “best space anime,” I think in terms of anime set primarily in outer space that depict realistic or believable or intriguing illustrations of outer space. For that reason, many sci-fi anime get excluded by default because they don’t primarily occur in space, or they focus primarily on character interaction rather than the challenges and routines of living in outer space. Certain other shows, like Moonlight Mile, may focus primarily on space exploration, but they’re just not good anime. I’m also going to cheat just a bit by merging some titles that have natural similarities.

The 1994 OVA series Mighty Space Miners (Oira Uchuu no Tankoufu) and the 2006 Freedom OVA series are similar in the respect that both depict a believable illustration of the challenges of life in space. Both shows concentrate on illustrating realistic scientific detail while staying fun and exciting. Freedom also incorporates themes of space exploration and thoroughly researched homage to NASA’s history of space exploration.

The 2003 Planetes television series does focus much of its concentration on human interaction and relationships, but the show is also very noteworthy for its very realistic emphasis on the practical, mundane necessities of space travel and habitation. Planetes is noteworthy because it makes a point of concentrating on tenants of space exploration usually taken for granted or overlooked by practically all other anime.

The 2003 Uchuu no Stellvia television series is not particularly realistic at all, but unlike Mugen no Ryvius, which depicts kids in space but largely doesn’t deal with space itself, Stellvia spends a great deal of time depicting teens reacting to the environment of outer space. While Stellvia does introduce some character conflict, the primary antagonist in the show is space itself, and the human characters have to deal with and respond to the natural inhospitable nature of outer space.

The Gunbuster OVA series and Hoshi no Koe ~ Voices of a Distant Star short film both present memorable depictions of the effects of space upon distance and time and human relationships. Although both titles are giant robot action adventures, both titles prominently deal with the concept of space imposing obstacles upon human beings totally unlike any challenges possible terrestrially. Thematically similar, although entirely different in specific, these two anime share the theme with Stellvia of outer space itself challenging and conflicting with human life.

Among the countless space action anime, 1988’s Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack may be the best at prominently featuring the environment of outer space. The Char’s Counterattack film does a magnificent job of incorporating the immense distances, weightlessness, and vacuum of space into its action, of depicting the way the absence of universally recognized direction and momentum without gravity affect objects in space.

Now I’d like to cheat a little bit more by briefly directing attention to a few other titles worth mention that don’t adhere to the previously established criteria.

Gainax’s 1987 movie Wings of Honneamise only includes a few seconds of action in outer space, so it’s not a “space anime.” Rather, it’s an anime about reaching outer space. It also remains one of the very finest anime productions ever made. The 2007 Rocket Girls television series likewise provides a very fun look at the serious difficulties and challenges of launching human beings into outer space and the physical challenges and risks that astronauts must face. However, very little of Rocket Girls actually occurs in orbit.

The 1985 sci-fi OVA Nora is not particularly good; however, it includes one of the most striking and memorable sequences involving outer space that I’ve ever seen. When a space colony looses gravity control, a young boy drifts into a large floating globule of water that surrounds his head. The boy begins drowning because he can’t breath with his head surrounded by water, and while floating weightlessly, with nothing to push against, he can’t successfully extract his head from the water.