Mighty Space Miners

Original Title: おいら宇宙の探鉱夫
Romanized: Oira Uchuu no Tankoufu
Literal: We Space Miners

Plot Synopsis

In the year 2060, a small group of daring individuals lives on an asteroid colony orbiting near Earth, extracting the raw materials Earth needs. Their latest project is an ambitious one: to capture Haley's comet. Among the colony's inhabitants is Nanbu Ushiwaka, a young man determined to pass the company flight exam and follow in his parents' footsteps. But during his test run, things get a little rough back home when the capture operation goes wrong and a stray military satellite severely damages the colony.

Now the colony is on a collision course with Earth, once the government there realizes what's going on things are going to go from bad to worse, and the surviving colonists are having a hard enough time just staying alive. Then there's Ushiwaka, dead set on finishing his exam...

Quick Review

Rating: 3.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2005-01-23

Mighty Space Miners is, at its heart, a classic sci-fi thriller with an extra dose of action, mixing a fast pace and a good shot of light anime adventure into the creative and accurate scientific detail. The result is an action-oriented series without a single battle, and it's done so well that fans of both Star Wars and Star Trek will find things to enjoy. Add in attractive and scientifically realistic visuals, quality Japanese acting, and all the parts necessary for a good yarn are in place.

Sadly, the short runtime makes it hard to keep up with the plot, and it sets up a doozy of an unresolved cliffhanger thanks to an abrupt end after only two episodes. On balance, its so frustrating to be left hanging that it's hard to recommend the series, but it's still quite a ride while it lasts.

US DVD Review

None currently exists in the US.

Content Guide

Not much to find objectionable, but some realistic (though not overly graphic) carnage, and a few ideas that might upset very young viewers (children born in space dying from the side-effects) probably put this in the 10-up range.

Violence: 3 - It's really not that gory or graphic, but there are a few floating bodies and zero-G blood.

Nudity: 2 - A brief, long-distance scene at the beginning involving the main character (a 12 year old boy) swimming.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Nothing significant.

Language: 1 - Nothing serious.

Notes and Trivia

Apparently a pet project that the director, Umanosuke Iida, had been waiting to do. The credits apparently show it as being based on a novel by an English-sounding author (something along the line of "Horesman Lunchfeld"), but this is a made-up pseudonym of the director (possibly a reference to the fact that "Umanosuke" could literally mean something like "Boy of the Horse").

Speaking as a physics major, I can attest that while the science isn't all perfect, it is some of the most accurate I've seen, and there is an amazing amount of attention paid to detail.

Availability

Available on a single subtitled or dubbed VHS volume from ADV, both now out of print.

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