Glass Fleet (ガラスの艦隊 Garasu no Kantai?), subtitled La Legende du Vent de l'Univers (lit. the Legend of the Wind of the Universe), is an anime TV series, co-animated by Satelight and Gonzo and produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), GDH and Sotsu Agency, which first aired in Japan on Asahi Broadcasting Corporation from April 4, 2006 and September 21, 2006.
It spanned a total of 26 episodes, with an alternate episode, 17 also being released. The series was also later broadcast by the anime TV network Animax across its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia as well as its other networks worldwide.
The series, directed by Minoru Ōhara and written by Shōji Yonemura, features original character designs from Okama. The mechanical designs for the series are provided by Shōji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake with Yutaka Izubuchi being the concept advisor.
Overview[]
The series follows a war occurring in a certain galaxy ruled by the tyrannical self-declared Holy Emperor Vetti Lunard Sforza de Roselait. Michel Volban de Cabelle, Leader of the People's Army opposes Vetti's rule, but the rebels are no match for the forces of Vetti's Holy Imperial Army.
In despair, Michel seeks help from an undefeatable Glass Fleet, which bears the crest of the old Royal Family... its Captain, Cleo Aiolos Corbeille de Veil, a man of great capability, claims to be their descendant....
But things do not work well, as Cleo is now only a "Space Pirate", instead of being the Prince of the respected Royal Family, which was defeated a long time ago.
In their entwined journeys, the Emperor and the rebels encounter the Prophet Guildy, who foresees that 'When The End comes, a Two Headed Eagle will be born. One of The Heads will be clad in Metal Armor and The Other will become The God of Love. Then it will become as One to Restore the Galaxy!"....
Characters[]
Cleo Aiolos Corbeille de Veil—a supposed descendant of the royal family who has gathered a crew of people who are wanted all over the galaxy for their special abilities; they follow Cleo and later winds up following Michel in order to save Cleo. Cleo's personality is "like the wind", to his comrades, it's unpredictable where his next destination will be or which way he wavers. His rough, seemingly, uncaring personality was shown bluntly to Michel and his followers when they first meet after being saved by him. At first- to Michel's servants- he seems more like a pirate than a savior: only caring about material things than anything or anyone else as he wishes for payment for saving Michel. As the story-line progresses, Cleo shows more and more defiance towards the idea of fighting with the People's Army while with them. It is not until the first big battle begins that, where his newly found rival, Vetti is to be watching. In later episodes, he falls in love with Michel Volban (Racine Blanch). He is voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda in the Japanese version and by Travis Willingham in the English dub.
Michel Volban de Cabelle—the figurehead of the People's Army. She is actually the sister of the real Michel Volban who has disappeared in the war with Vetti. She had her own back scarred with a X-shaped mark in order to imitate her brother's scar which was flashbacked after being revealed as a woman to Cleo's crew. A man resembling her brother was part of the attack force that infiltrated the glass battleship. This man was emotionless, brainwashed and was constantly attacking Michel but she still believed he was her brother. In the end, when Cleo and her brother was about to be sucked out into the depths of space, she chose to save Cleo and said that man was no brother of hers. At the end of the episode, it was shown that the man was her real brother Michel with an X-shaped scar of his back. Michel's personality is evident because of her past. She had little contact with her deceased mother -her mother dying months after she was born- and her father being home rarely. She learned to fight from her brother, who had become a major role model in her life. She loved fencing and wished to be like her brother—which may explain her tom-boyish attitude. After her father had seen her fencing with her brother, and seeing that she surpassed him, she was ordered to be more like a lady of a royal house. After that incident, she vowed to herself that she would be and become a proper lady. But, after her father's death, and her brother's death during the major battle in the beginning of the series, she renounces her identity and becomes her brother in order to save the People's Army destruction. In order to do that though, she chooses to truly become her brother, by gaining a X-shaped scar on her back like her brother had once gotten from a battle with Vetti in a tournament, and also renouncing her real name, which is Racine Blance. All the effort to act as "Michel" was due to her love for him which was beyond sibling love.
In later episodes, she falls in love with Cleo Corbeille. She is voiced by Yuko Kaida in the original Japanese and her English voice is supplied by Laura Bailey.
Vetti Lunard Sforza de Roselait. He takes on Michel Volban de Cabelle, the figurehead of the People's Army and uses Michel as bait to lure out Cleo. He is the Holy Emperor who wanted to unite the galaxy in order to be able to obtain the technology of the battleship that can transcend space and time. He uses whatever means, even marriage to Rachel, the daughter of the Pope who initially despises him. He also has an innate dislike for Cleo who he sees as a rival for the throne and a fascination of Michel who initially was his best rival. Vetti revealed that he wants to obtain the technology because he has an incurable disease and may die soon. Vetti has Heterochromia, where he has one gold eye color and one is brown. Akira Ishida (Japanese) and Jason Liebrecht (English) provide his voice.
Jean. The loyal and faithful companion of Michel. He follows Michel along with his granddaughter, protecing Michel's secret. He scarred Racine's back to resemble her brother's scarred back. He is the butler of Michel's household.
Sylua. Jean's granddaughter and Michel's maid. She follows Michel faithfully as well. She shows some skills in piloting ships and has even piloted the Glass Ship in Eimer's absence. She constantly argues with Elmer and falls in love with Heizak.
Eimer.She is the pilot of the Glass Ship. She is considered one of the best pilots able to move the Glass ship swiftly and effectively. She constantly teases Nowy, and has a secret crush on Cleo. At first, before she knew that Michel was actually a girl, Eimer fell for Michel. She caused the secret of Michel's gender to be let out among the crew when she supposedly crashed into Michel's bathroom.
Her background is tough. Before, she used to live in a small village and was their leader. However, in an act to protect her village, she caused the village greater harm than good. Betrayed, she decided to take revenge on the lord who caused the mess. During all this time, she had met Cleo, who quietly observed her. After she failed the attack, only barely getting past the gates, the lord's mansion loses power, saving Eimer's life. Later, it is shown that because of Eimer's 'Distraction', Cleo was able to steal the power source needed for his Glass Ship. This is when he invites Eimer to join his crew. Eimer shows a lot of enthusiasm when ever Cleo is involved, and will willingly place her life in danger to save Cleo's. Eimer is a very rough speaking person and is very tough with strangers. She gets upset though when she see's Cleo and Michel together one night.
Ralf. A young boy who seems to live to serve Vetti. Always at the mans side, Ralf is a constant pester trying to ensure Vetti's health. When Vetti's health starts to deteriorate Ralf uses every means necessary to try and help, even confronting to holy oracle for guidance. The relationship between Ralf and Vetti is never fully explained, though it is obvious the young boy is sadly in love with the man. These feelings are unfortunately never revealed though, for Ralf is cruelly murdered by Vetti's wife, and the popes daughter, in the misguided idea of obtaining peace in the "Black Cross", the over ruling religion of the galaxy.
Staff[]
- Original concept: Gonzo
- Director: Minoru Ōhara
- Series composition: Shōji Yonemura
- Original character designs: Okama
- Animation character designs and chief animation director: Yūko Watanabe
- Mechanical designs: Shōji Kawamori, Kazutaka Miyatake
- Concept advisor: Yutaka Izubuchi
- 3D-CGI director: Hitoshi Yagishita
- Art director: Takeshi Waki
- Color settings: Kayoko Nishi
- Photography director: Teruo Abe
- Editing: Fumi Hida
- Sound director: Jin Akatagawa
- Sound production: Magic Capsule
- Music: Kōsuke Yamashita
- Animation production: Satelight, Gonzo
- Production: Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, GDH, Sotsu Agency, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Theme songs[]
- Opening theme
- "Tsuyoku Tsuyoku" (ツヨクツヨク Tsuyoku Tsuyoku?)
- Performance: mihimaru GT
- Ending theme
- "Namida Drop" (ナミダドロップ Namida Doroppu?)
- Performance: Plastic Tree (eps 1-13)
- "Kanate he" (彼方へ?, lit. To the Other Side)
- Performance: ANZA (eps 14-26)
External links[]
- Official Site (Japanese)
- Glass Fleet at Funimation
- Glass Fleet (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
ar:أسطول الزجاج ca:Glass no Kantai zh:玻璃艦隊