A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a bishounen like no other the universe had seen. On his stalwart and trusty mount, he boldly charged into the side of a mountain, and he hitched a ride into town with the utmost of chivalry. But trouble is brewing on that desert planet of Addler. Two princesses born of the rebel faction are being held captive by the evil merchant lord Juba. Their only hope is he, the meister Ladios - bishounen of legend. He and the luckiest of them shall rule the galaxy with the Knight of Gold, a.k.a. "Daunte Culpepper," and there shall be an unparalleled time of prosperity.

At least, that's my theory. The truth is, I know little more about The Five Star Stories now than I did before watching this fine film. And it is a fine film, but capture the character of a humongous epic manga, it does not. In fact, one gets the distinct feeling from watching the film, that it is a very small portion of a very large story. That's part of its charm, though. It provides just enough exposition to get us salivating for more, only to find out that to get "more" we have to read the manga, and we have twenty-four volumes to read in order to catch up with the releases. But I digress.

The Five Star Stories is a space opera with a side of mecha action. It takes place in the Joker constellation, which is comprised of four star systems (with a fifth on the way, for some good old-fashioned mayhem). In this story, battles between nations make heavy use of Mortar Headds - i.e. giant robots - piloted by people called Headd Liners. The pilot has the help of a fatima (android with female features), which serves as an interface between pilot and machine. The Mortar Headds are used because they reduce casualties and property destruction during disputes.

If that's not bishy enough for you, you're hopeless.	Lachesis is a true gold-digger, asking Sopp to build this guy.

The story of the film revolves around three fatimas: Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis*. It has the specific goal of introducing the main characters of the epic, and the circumstances that set the story in motion. Traditionally, fatimas are created with a mind control mechanism that denies free will (the exception being that they can choose their masters). Fatima creator Chrome Ballanche created the above three without mind control, which is a grave offense against the established order. Ballanche asks his friend Ladios Sopp to make accomodations for Clotho and Lachesis so that the Grand Duke Juba can't have his way with them, and so begins the tale.

The one fault I would pin on the film is that there's too much material to digest, and not enough events taking place for one to really get a feel for where the story is headed. That said, the other facets of the film work marvelously. There is a certain uniqueness to the character designs, though one might chuckle at the female features of Ladios Sopp and Emperor Amateras (of the Kingdom of Grees). The animation is smooth for an 80s feature, and effects are well-done. The music is fitting for the film, but also for the larger-scale story as well. It's one of the elements that gives hints of the bigger picture. Overall, the production has much to recommend it.

I rarely concern myself with covering the product pack-ins or extras with any great detail in movie reviews, but this time I'd like to make brief mention of ADV's stellar job on this title. While the disc itself contains merely some information about the staff and the original promotional clip for the movie, the booklet accompanying the disc has a lot of useful information about the general story, including character biographies that tell us more about the characters than the movie does, and a detailed chronology that covers the entire timeline of the epic. Personally, I thought this was a nice touch, as the film is such a small part of the story. Also, kudos for the thin digipak packaging that the disc comes in. ADV really went the extra mile to make this release worth owning.

I have mixed feelings about this release. On the one hand, it's definitely worth watching, and the fancy packaging makes it a nice addition to the collection. On the other hand, it plants the seed of curiosity, thereby compelling its audience subconsciously to seek out the manga and receive the full epic in all its glory. Should that happen to me, I certainly will not appreciate the expense that ADV will have forced me to incur. Until that time, I give this title my stamp of approval.

*Judging from the exposure this film affords, "The Five Star Stories" seems to borrow heavily from Greek mythology. The fatimas in the film that were bred without mind control symbolize the three fates - goddesses who governed the lives of man. Clotho spun the strings of life, Lachesis measured the strings (i.e. decided how long a life each person would live), and Atropos cut the strings (i.e. ended the life).

Distributor: ADV Films
Creator: Mamoru Nagano / Sunrise
Released: 1988

Plot: B+
Character Design: B+
Animation Quality: A
Music: B+
Overall: B+