Star Blazers

Author: Theresa Guerrero

Originally known as Space Battleship Yamato, Star Blazers is a show I catch on www.expertsatellite.com whenever I feel like reminiscing about my childhood. It's the story of a crew of young men and women who travel to a distant planet in order to recover the technology, known as the Cosmo DNA, needed to save Earth from dying of radiation. Taking place in 2199, the Earth has only one year left before it's destruction due to the perpetual bombing from the mysterious alien forces known as the Gamilons

The protagonist of the story is Derek Wildstar, voiced by Kenneth Meseroll. Wildstar is the Deputy Captain of the Argo and is in charge of firing the ships primary weapon, the wave motion gun. His rival and best friend is Mark Venture, voiced by Tom Tweedy. Venture is the Chief Navigator and in charge of piloting the ship as well as controlling the jumps through light space. There is also a father-son dynamic between Wildstar and the Captain of the Argo, Avatar, voiced by Gordon Ramsey. Wildstar and Venture also have a girl in which to vie for in Nova, voiced by Amy Howard Wilson. For a cartoon, the show dealt with a lot of mature issues like tragedy, death, honor and humanity. I think that's part of the reason why the show still resounds with me today.