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Art Exhibition Marks Legend of the Galactic Heroes Franchise's 35th Anniversary
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
This year marks the 35th anniversary since the debut of Yoshiki Tanaka's epic science-fiction novels titled The Legend of the Galactic Heroes. An art exhibition will be held in Japan this fall to celebrate the anniversary.
The exhibit will display materials that showcase the creation of the franchise. Items on display will include illustrations and designs from the anime's conceptual and mechanical designer Naoyuki Katō, novel cover art, and animation cels and key frames.
The exhibition will run at Niigata Manga Animation Museum from September 9 to October 15, followed by Akiba CO Gallery in Tokyo from October 21 to November 5. Advance tickets for the Niigata exhibit are on sale now. People who purchase advance tickets with limited-edition goods will receive a Reinhard and Yang acrylic key holder set.
Kyoto's Nijō Castle also hosted a Legend of the Galactic Heroes event in June.
Production I.G is producing a new anime of Tanaka's novels. The anime will recast the main characters Reinhard, Kircheis, and Yang Wen-li.
Tanaka's space opera novel series follows the epic conflict between the Galactic Empire and Free Planets Alliance, as well as the personal stories of Imperial Admiral Reinhard von Lohengramm and the Alliance's Yang Wen-Li. The 10 main novel volumes and four side-story volumes in The Legend of the Galactic Heroes saga have sold 15 million copies and earned Tanaka a Seiun Award. Besides Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Tanaka also wrote the original novel inspirations for The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Ryoko's Case File, Sohryuden - Legend of the Dragon Kings, and Tytania anime projects.
Viz Media's Haikasoru imprint has licensed the original novel series and released the fourth volume on June 20.
The late director Noboru Ishiguro (Macross, Orguss, Megazone 23) and his Artland anime studio spent more than a decade adapting the novels into a theatrical and video anime franchise, with over 100 installments, from 1988 to 2000. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the video anime series for home video. Legal anime streaming service HIDIVE is streaming the series.
Source: Animate Times
