The spring 2018 anime series Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These is getting its home video release handled by Shochiku and they’ve worked a good direction for it. The first set is due out on July 4th, 2018 with four episodes per disc and now Shochiku has a new two-minute promotional video for it. This shows us the series in general but also some of the extras, includes a 90-minute piece from the special event that was run for the show. The DVD sets are priced at 11,000 yen each and the Blu-ray’s at 12,000 yen. It looks like each will include a soundtrack CD.
The show was directed by Shunsuke Tada based on the series composition by Noboru Takagi. Character designs were handled by Youko Kikuchi, Iwao Teraoka, and Kei Tsushima with Takayuki Goto serving as the chief animation director for it at Production I.G.
The Japanese cast includes Mamoru Miyano as Reinhard von Lohengramm, Kenichi Suzumura as Wen-li Yang, Yuuichirou Umehara as Siegfried Kircheis, Junichi Suwabe as Paul von Oberstein, Daisuke Ono as Wolfgang Mittermeyer, Yuichi Nakamura as Oskar von Reuenthal, Yuki Kaji as Julian Mintz, Tokuyoshi Kawashima as Alex Cazellnu, Shinichiro Miki as Walter von Schenkopp, Aya Endo as Frederica Greenhill, and Yoshimitsu Shimoyama as the narrator.
Though there’s a lot of history with the original work, the potential for retelling the story in a more streamlined form with fresh animation holds a lot of appeal in exposing the property to new fans that may not care for the older designs or the sheer volume of animated material.
Hiroyuki Sawano is composing the opening theme song with “Binary Star” with Uru providing the vocals which you can sample here. The ending theme song is “Wish” as performed by ELISA.
Property Concept: Thousands of years later, humanity has advanced into space. Here it has divided into two countries with two different forms of government: the autocracy of the Galactic Empire, and the democracy of the Free Planets Alliance. These two countries have been at war for 150 years, which turned the galaxy into a stage for a never-ending series of conflicts.
As the long war continues, both countries fall into decline. The Galactic Empire suffers corruption among the noble classes, while the Free Planets Alliance falls victim to the mob rule of democracy. Then, near the end of the 8th age of the space calendar, the appearance of two geniuses will change history forever. The unstoppable genius, Reinhard von Lohengramm, and the unbeatable magician, Yang Wen-li. As heads of the Imperial and Alliance armies respectively, the two will face each other in battle over and over again.
| Volume | Date | Extras |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 07/04/18 | Original Soundtrack CD, Audio Commentary, 90 Minutes Event, Yoshiki Tanaka Interview |
| 2 | 08/08/18 | CD, Audio Commentary |
| 3 | 09/05/18 | CD, Audio Commentary |
[Source: Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These]
