Starship Troopers (OVA)
is a six-part anime OVA produced by Sunrise and released in 1988. It is based on the 1959 book Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. The OVA was dedicated to Heinlein, who died before the first part of the series was released. Plot
Johnny Rico, who was a very ordinary high school student, hears that his longing classmate Carmencita will join the army upon graduation, and he himself also decides to apply. Rico learns from his best friend Carl that the Earth Federation is at war with an unknown alien life form, but his determination only grows stronger. Rico says goodbye to his parents and joins the military. Rico, who is being trained as a soldier while facing the reality of his fellow soldiers being discharged during the training process, not being praised for violating orders even if he saves a friendly army, and the death of his mother, is undergoing simulated combat training as a platoon leader. Unexpectedly, he engages in a battle with an alien life form, experiences his first actual battle, and is officially recognized as a soldier even though he has lost his comrades-in-arms. However, as soon as he deepens his exchange with Carmencita, who reunites with him after the difference in temperature between the military and civilians and the friction with the navy, her ship collides with the ship of the enemy alien life and sinks. As a result, Rico descends to the enemy's base planet Kurendatsu, and is confronted with the fact that his friends who died in battle and the enemy are also living like themselves, and eventually he arrives at the answer that he fights to live. On his way home after a fierce battle, Rico reunites with Carmencita, who was thought to have died in action, at a military hospital. The story ends when he speaks of his feelings for her, which he has been unable to convey for a long time. Cast
 Juan "Johnny" Rico: Yasunori Matsumoto
 Carmencita Ibañez: Rei Sakuma
 Emilio Rico: Shinji Ogawa
 Maria Rico: Kazuko Yanaga
 Sergeant Zim: Akira Kamiya
 Greg Patterson: Hirotaka Suzuoki
 Alphard "Kitten" Smith: Kazuhiko Inoue
 Thomas Azuma: Shūichi Ikeda
 Pat Leivy: Show Hayami
 Carl McGuinness: Yūji Mitsuya
 Theodore C. Hendrick: Kazuyuki Sogabe
 Corporal Claire: Saeko Shimazu
 Sergeant Dunn: Shingo Hiromori
 Captain Frankel: Tomomichi Nishimura
 Captain Deladrier: Mika Doi
 Sergei Cherenkov: Masahiro Anzai

Mecha design
Kazutaka Miyatake of Studio Nue originally designed the mobile infantry powered armors in the OVA for a Japanese edition of the novel (published by Hayakawa Publishing, Japan's largest science fiction publisher) in the early eighties. A mecha based on this design also appears on the DAICON III and IV Opening Animations from 1981 and 1983, a few years before the OVA was released. Episode list
 "Johnny"
 "Hendrick"
 "Maria"
 "Greg"
 "Cherenkov"
 "Carmencita"

References

External links
 
 Starship Troopers at Gears Online
 
 Armored Fighting Suit (Archived)
 Armored Fighting Suit Cont.. (Archived)

1988 anime OVAs
Mecha anime and manga
Starship Troopers television series
Sunrise (company)
Anime based on novels