Where Does The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Anime End In The Light Novel?

I have yet to be as swept off my feet by a series as I was by Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Such a large cast of characters, masterful utilized and—perhaps more impressively, developed—while exploring a long-running war epic of a politically diverse and constantly shifting universe. It cannot be overstated what a feat the original series was, and its remake continues to be.

Where To Start The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Light Novel After The Anime?

Legend of the Galactic Heroes 1988 Anime

If you watched the original 110-episode Legend of the Galactic Heroes anime series from 1988, it is actually a full adaptation of the 10-novel series.

The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden OVA adapts the side stories from the Gaiden novels. There are five Gaiden novels, and the OVA adapts stories from throughout the novels, except for Novel 2 that was skipped entirely. The OVA adapts no Gaiden novel in full.

As for the movies:

• The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest is the Sea of Stars movie – Considered the pilot for the series, prequel to the 1988 anime, and really the only movie worth hunting down.
• The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Golden Wings movie – Retelling of Reinhardt and Kircheis’ early military career, notable for its more manga-aligned art style and generally considered not worth watching for it is a bit shoujo in its sensibilities.
• The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War movie – A remake of the first two episodes of the 1988 anime.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes 2018 Anime

While the Legend of the Galactic Heroes 2018 remake is not yet a full adaptation of the novels, it is still doing the series justice in its quality.

• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Encounter – You can start the novel at Novel 2 (Technically, you will want to read the final chapter of Novel 1)
• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Stellar War – You can start the novel at Novel 3 (Technically, you will want to read the final chapter of Novel 2)
• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Collision – You can start the novel at Novel 4 (Technically, you will want to read the final chapter of Novel 3)
• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Intrigue – You can start the novel at Novel 5 (Technically, you will want to read the final chapter of Novel 4)

Important Note: Frustratingly, each of the above seasons cover the majority of a single novel, but often leaves the ending of those novels for the start of the next season. As these chapters often provide closure to the events of the novel, you will want to read those final chapters before starting the next novel.

Please note that, Stellar War, Collision, and Intrigue were released in Japan as three-part movies (each series was three movies, so 9 movies total), but they were just episodes combined into a movie-length product. You may see them labeled as movies, but you will watch them like a normal 12-episode anime series.

Is The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Light Novel Over?

The Legend of the Galactic Heroes novels are complete. They ended in 1987 with Novel 10.

There are also five Gaiden novels of side stories.

Where To Start The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Manga After The Anime?

The Legend of the Galactic Heroes has two main manga series.

The first series by Katsumi Michihara is 11 Volumes, 110 Chapters (though its re-release was condensed to 8 Volumes), and it covers the first two novels. Thus it covers up to Episode 26 of the 1988 anime and through Season 2 of the 2018 remake.

The Michihara manga also has a short, 4 Volume, 33 Chapter sequel manga called Legend of Galactic Heroes: Portrait of Heroes that adapts the third novel, so it covers through Episode 33 of the 1988 anime and Season 3 of the 2018 remake.

The second main manga series is by Ryu Fujisaki. It started in 2015, and is still ongoing.

As this manga is still ongoing, it does not surpass the full adaptation of the novels that the 1988 anime was. However, if you are a 2018 remake enjoyer, you can definitely read ahead with it.

Continuing the Legend of the Galactic Heroes 2018 remake anime in the Ryu Fujisaki manga:
*I couldn’t find the manga to actually read it past a certain point, even in the raw version, so I had to make educated guesses via chapter titles.

• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Encounter – You can start the manga at Volume 10, Chapter 91
• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Stellar War – You can start the manga at Volume 15, Chapter 138
• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Collision – You can start the manga at Volume 17, Chapter 161
• If you finished The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These – Intrigue – You can start the manga at Volume 19, Chapter 174

You will want to note that the manga is much more in line with the novels and the 1988 anime, so reading it after the 2018 remake, which is less detail-dense than the original anime/novels, can mean that you miss a few things and minor characters. The manga story is great, I’d recommend reading it from the beginning, but it isn’t strictly necessary since the core events are very much the same.

What to Expect From The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Source Material Compared to The Anime?

It can generally be said that the 2018 Remake is nice for its newer art style, general modernness, and being more approachable by being separated into seasons rather than a 110-episode epic. However, while the 2018 remake is great, the 1988 anime is better in terms of story, not just because it goes further, but because it adapts more of the smaller details that the 2018 remake is leaving out.

Watching either is perfectly fine. However, if you want to continue on with the story in the manga or the novels after the still-ongoing 2018 remake series, you will definitely notice a few differences and may see smaller minor characters that simply were not included in the anime (because they are not especially important).

Will There Be A Legend of the Galactic Heroes 2018 Season 5?

It was announced in 2023 that the Legend of the Galactic Heroes 2018 remake anime would continue on with a Season 5, however no further word on when it will actually air has been released.