Uchuu no Stellvia

In the year 2167, a wave of radiation released by the supernova of the nearby star Hydrus Beta caused cataclysmic damage on Earth, leaving millions dead. Now, it is the year 2356. United to rebuild Earth, humanity prepares for the supernova's second wave of destruction.

In order to protect the planet from future harm, massive space colonies called "Foundations" have been built throughout the Solar System. Acting as centers for both knowledge and exploration, it is at one of these Foundations—the Stellvia—that Shima Katase applies to be a preparatory student against her mother's wishes, aspiring to see space directly with her own eyes.

At the Stellvia, Katase trains to become a pilot and hopes to be selected for the "Great Mission" to shield Earth from the second wave. While she struggles with both her pilot classes and her tumultuous social life, she slowly grows into someone who might just be able to protect humanity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Katase, Shima Main

Nonaka, Ai Japanese

Otoyama, Kouta Main

Mizushima, Daichuu Japanese

Glennorth, Arisa Main

Matsuoka, Yuki Japanese

Machida, Ayaka Supporting

Toyoguchi, Megumi Japanese

Fujisawa, Yayoi Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Kazamatsuri, Rinna Supporting

Hirohashi, Ryou Japanese

Barthes, Leila Supporting

Shindou, Naomi Japanese

Carlos, Enrique Supporting

Kazama, Yuuto Japanese

Omaezaki, Tony Supporting

Takahashi, Yugo Japanese

Mills, Akiko Supporting

Takahashi, Mayuko Japanese

Nakanishi, Go Producer

Chino, Takatoshi Producer

Ikeda, Shinichi Producer

Yamanaka, Takahiro Assistant Producer

Reviews

Nov 3, 2025

celticbride

Recommended

This is a great story about the next generation of kids growing up in a world about 200 years post-supernova disaster. They know what happened, how things used to be, and that the next wave is coming in their lifetime. Humanity is prepared, but there's still a sense of tension to it. These are kids going to school in space, pursing dreams and aspirations in space, so each has a certain level of drive and excellence. A reason that brought them all the way out here, to see space on the front lines of the oncoming world event. That core really drives the story.

While there ... is a lot of fun high school hijinks of them hanging with their friends and learning new skills, and eventually more serious storylines, the driving through line is the emotional journey and pressures of being a kid. Specifically being a "smart kid." That drive to succeed, to excel, to make something of yourself. The internal struggle of comparing ourself to others and not feeling good enough. What is the difference between a prodigy and a genius? Can you work hard enough to make a difference or is it pointless if someone else is just naturally gifted? The show really explores these ideas with all of the characters to different degrees. It's something I think a lot of people can relate to.

I think the anime does a great job balancing the slice of life, the big important events, and the internal journey. As disparate as the elements can seem on paper, it all flows naturally as we watch this very important moment in history for these kids and the world at large.

Honestly one of my favorite anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 29, 2025

Mulahey

Mixed Feelings

An interesting anime. Its a sci-fi space opera, but without enemies. The challenge is humanity versus nature.

Theres a good underlying story here, from school adventure to sci-fi epic. Humanity is both optimistically expanding into space and struggling to unite and survive disasters is a fun take on the concept. Unfortunately, a lot of plot is kept thin or backgrounded to focus on an ensemble cast.

This is unfortunate because the cast isn't that strong; the most interesting arcs happen in the first half of the anime, and the second half spends a lot of time with characters stalled out or refusing to communicate or ... repeating arcs about confidence ect that they already had. Partly this is as the cast is simply larger than it needs to be, with several members who are never interesting at any point. But dealing with our ensemble is a large majority of what the show does; its only in the last few episodes its plot focused instead, and thats with the less interesting half of the plot.

There is also a lot of comedy, little of which is funny. Science talk is kept to relatively small amounts for the kind of show it is, but is absolute nonsense even for a space opera (not a big deal, but just to note). The show looks reasonable enough for its era though much of the CG is now somewhat dated looking; the design work isn't spectacular but is appropriate to the shows tone, which is always light and good-natured.

Ultimately, its an optimistic little show that wants to show a humanity that can reach into the stars. It stumbles a lot in its execution but if it interests you, it might be worth checking out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 13, 2019

PixelB

Not Recommended

Preliminary (2/26 eps)

Actually, Stellvia had a pretty decent start, if anything else. That was surprising. I was more expectant of a mediocre show through and through.
That's about as much as I can give in terms of positive feedback of the show, though.
I really only watched the first few episodes, but I got enough of a feel of the anime in those few episodes that it really wasn't worth watching at all. This show definitely is one of those classic "prestigious school" animes. I'm not going to lie, there are indeed more than a few anime that have been able to pull this sort of setting off. However, ... Stellvia sure as hell was not one of them. Faced with characters that I knew I was going to hate in the very beginning, it isn't hard to see why I dropped this show so early. Many of the characters that get acquainted with the MC are very "unique." and not in a good way. They don't make a lot of sense, and don't fit well with the plot and story this anime was going for. You'd think they'd at least be good at comedic relief, but no comedic segments showed up. I could also tell that this show was going to be "slice of life" sort of style until the last 3 episodes, where a bunch of plot is crammed into the end. So, if you don't like the "slice of life" part of the show, which to me, was very painful to watch, then you surely will not like it.
In conclusion, the characters are bad, story is run of the mill, and animation definitely is not great.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 13 Discussion jacobpaige - May 3, 2008	5 replies	by natsukashiianime »» Jul 25, 12:40 AM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 12 Discussion jacobpaige - May 3, 2008	11 replies	by natsukashiianime »» Jul 5, 11:57 PM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 25 Discussion Pirating_Ninja - Feb 22, 2014	3 replies	by Serhiyko »» May 17, 6:44 AM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 23 Discussion Pirating_Ninja - Feb 22, 2014	4 replies	by n3mpl0yed4star »» May 12, 3:11 PM
	Poll: Uchuu no Stellvia Episode 21 Discussion jacobpaige - May 3, 2008	7 replies	by Serhiyko »» May 12, 9:17 AM