Ginga Sengoku Gunyuuden Rai

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Ginga Sengoku Gunyuuden Rai also known as Galaxy Warring State Chronicles, Galaxy Warrior Rai or Thunder Jet is a space opera the likes of the beloved Uchuu Senkan Yamato but mixing it with themes that evoke Feudal Japan.

After the collapse of the Sacred Galaxy Empire, a battle for control of the Milky Way Constellation breaks out among the War Lords. From the chaos of outerspace emerges a young courageous warrior, "THUNDER JET." Rai Ryuuga is a fearless warrior to his foes but to others, he is a gentle soul, dependable and loyal.

Two powerful forces aspire to reign over the entire Empire, Dan-Joe ruler of the North Region of the Milky Way and Queen Mussamney, ruler of the Southern Region.

Rai Ryuuga sees the ensuing battle and ponders the ultimate goal. Is it power and glory these rulers seek or a peaceful Milky Way under one rule? Rai Ryuuga realizes the importance of this battle and the purpose of his destiny. One day Rai Ryuuga will bring peace to the Milky Way.

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Ginga Sengoku Gunyuuden Rai provides examples of:

• Anti-Villain: 'cept for Gen-yee and Fomay, just about everyone Rai faces is this.
• Art Major Physics
• Batman Can Breathe in Space : Despite being a space opera, no one wears a space suit, in fact, the concept of space suit is unknown to everyone in this series. On the other hand, the most memorable fights are sword fights with giant stars as backdrop, so a space suit would detract from the intended aesthetics.
• Big Brother Mentor : Rogina to Rai.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows : Rai, to go along with his Hotblooded Sideburns and Eighties Hair.
• Bittersweet Ending : The Epilogue narrates that despite Rai's efforts to unify the galaxy and all of its kingdoms the task is not complete until 50 years after his last climatic battle - by the son of one of his adversaries
• Bunny Ears Lawyer : Shishin, Rai's strategist. Mostly in the manga though.
• Chinese Mythology : The Four Warlords are modeled after the four Gods of Heavens, the Tortoise, Phoenix, Dragon, and Tiger
• Cool Big Sis : Rogina to Rai, initially.
• Cool Ship : Each General has their own Cool Ship, but Rai's Kongo takes the cake.
• Crowning Music of Awesome : The opening theme
• Dragon with an Agenda : Gen-yee and Fomay for Dan-Joe, notable is that each has their own agenda, which includes bringing the other dragon down as well.
• Duel to the Death : Despite being a space opera, some of the most memorable fights are more often sword fights between generals, most often on top of one of their ships, while engulfed in flames.
• Eldritch Abomination : Gen-yee's true form.
• Face Death with Dignity : Rogina, after being defeated by Rai, she gives him some encouraging words, then jumps off her ship and falls onto a star to die a fiery death.
• Feudal Future
• Four Is Death : The Heavenly Four: Fomay, Rogina, Garer and Gen-yee
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff : This series is quite popular in the Middle East, and is fondly remembered in Latin America.
• Heroic BSOD : Rai has to deal with two, when he killed his friend and mentor, Rogina; and when he found out about the death of his wife Simone.
• Hey, It's That Voice! : Nobuyuki Hiyama and Kappei Yamaguchi
• Hot Amazon : Rogina and Mussamney.
• Hot-Blooded : Rai
• Keep Circulating the Tapes : This anime is so rare that its virtually impossible to find a subbed episode in english; in fact, most of the episodes you might fight if you look hard enough are either dubbed in arabic or in spanish — or really really bad chinese to english subs.
• Petting Zoo People : Garer and his brothers. Should be noted that they're 7 foot tall Cheetah tigermen.
• Ramming Always Works : Justified in part as there are infantry units inside every ship that will board other enemy ships after impact.
• Recycled in Space : Feudal China / Japan Wars IN SPACE!!!
• Self-Made Man : A Military Example, Rai started as an infantry man and by the end of the series he was basically the general and ruler of half of the galaxy.
• Space Is an Ocean
• Space Is Noisy
• Space Opera
• Spanner in the Works : Rai.
• Standard Starship Scuffle
• The Starscream : Fomay and Gen-yee. They actually try to sabotage each other while trying to advance their own agendas.
• The Strategist : Just about every major General has one. Rai has Shishin, Racko has Cosishoo, Garer has his younger brother Gaten.
• Superlative Dubbing : Both the spanish and the arabic dubbing are of high quality.
• Wave Motion Gun : Lampshaded and played straight with Kongo's main cannon — which fires an artillery shell of huge proportions, and about as destructive as a proper Wave Motion Gun.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? : Feudal China/Japan wars at a galaxy level using battleships reminiscent of naval destroyers in space! — Let alone the swordfights with a giant star as a backdrop.
• Worthy Opponent : Rai and Rogina.