It is the late 22nd century, and Earth is not what it used to be.
The population of Earth has moved underground due to war with an alien race known as the Gamilon.
Their near constant bombing has left the Earth’s surface a barren, inhospitable radioactive wasteland.
And to make matters worse, the radiation has begun seeping into the surface of the planet, making it’s way underground, and humanity only has one year left until they can’t even survive underground.
And that’s where Iscandar comes in.
A ship containing a young woman, Astra, crash lands on Mars. She was on a mission from Queen Starsha of Iscandar to aid the Earth in it’s war.
Within a message capsule she carried were the plans for a powerful engine and weapon system. The Wave Motion Engine and the Wave Motion gun.
They are also going to provide the Cosmo DNA, which help remove the radiation from the surface of the planet.
Starblazers is the Americanized version of the late ‘70s anime series “Space Battle Ship Yamato”.
It was imported and produced as an American television series in 1978(?).
Before I start reviewing it, I do want to tell you that all I have is the first five episodes on the first DVD, so this isn’t the review of the full series.
Here are the signs this was Americanized:
1.    The Names: Captain Avatar, Derek Wildstar, Mark Venture, etc
2.    The Doctor: He’s a heavy drinker in the Yamato, but in Starblazers, it’s motion sickness medication.
3.    The Dialogue: Mars is not thousands of light years from Earth, and yet according to some dialogue, it is.
But, unlike some other Americanized anime series from the time (Battle of the Planets) and like a big series that came out later (Robotech), people die.
And it’s not just nobodies, it’s Derek Wildstar’s brother.
And he dies in the first episode.
And, considering that this was marketed to children during it’s television run, it’s surprisingly well done.
The writings not the best, but it was good compared to shows like Scooby Doo.
The voice acting isn’t the greatest, but they did a decent job.
Plus, they had a bit of a budget for the music, or at least used the original Japanese series music, which really made the production seem a bit bigger.
My main issue was with the sound effects.
They were pretty cheesy and hokey.
But other than that, this is a classic anime series that I feel even some of you younger fans should watch, at least once.
Plus it was designed by Leiji Masumoto, the same guy who created Captain Harlock, so you know it looks pretty good.
Because an angry Captain Avatar makes an angry Captain Gloval look like a sleeping kitten, I feel safe giving Starblazers 4 Planet Bombs out of 5.