Galaxy Powers: Verandaeop is an ongoing, jointly-produced historical-comedy anime series that first started airing in Izera in 3545. It is written and animated by Earth-based studio Kaze no Kaeru and produced by the Izeran Daendelle Company.
The characters are personified version of nations from around the Known Galaxy, with both positive and negative cultural stereotypes forming parts of each character's personality. The character roster is large and comprehensive, but the main cast for most episodes is the Great Powers of the galaxy (Verandi, Siria, Izera, Norb Network, United Stars), with less powerful nation-states appearing as minor recurring characters.
The main storyline's events centre around the Freedom War, but the many of the episodes take place during other historical events, various holidays, or at no specific time at all. The series uses light-hearted parodying to reinterpret well-known events and bits of historical and/or cultural trivia. Political, economic, and military interactions between nations are generally represented as conversations, arguments and misunderstandings between the characters, though major wars are sometimes depicted as comically exaggerated fistfights that often contain homages to other animes.
“Verandaeop” is a portmanteau combining “Verandi” with the Rihansu word “daeop,” which means “lazy.” Episodes are generally 5 to 10 minutes long, and dubs are available in all the major languages of the galaxy. Subtitles are also available in most languages, as both of the companies responsible for the series wanted it to be as accessible as possible.
Characters[]
Great Powers[]
- Verandi: A handsome young man, Verandi is filled with a love of life, and in particular, a love of relaxing. As the show's title implies, Verandi is particularly lazy, or at least, he never wants to get up once he's happy and comfortable. He is always wearing unusual, brightly coloured, and occasionally glittering clothes that often dazzles the others, and he always manages to look good in them. He tries very hard to make everyone think that that he's just naturally good-looking and that he never has to try to maintain his appearance, but secretly he is very vain. Terrified of the dark, he is always accompanied by a sunny, and sometimes has glow-in-the-dark clothes on. Aside from his phobia of darkness and concerns about his looks, Veradi is generally laid back, carefree and not fussy. He adores Izera's manga comics and shares a very turbulent past with Siria, though they're friends for most of the show.
- Izera: A young Theran woman, Izera is often vain and stuck up, especially around the less powerful nations of the galaxy, who she insists refer to her as "milady" if ever they want anything from her. She doesn't go out of her way to be mean to anyone, however, and is generally quite pleasant, at least towards her fellow Powers. She spends a lot of her time reading (which she does much faster than anyone else, a reference to Izera's unique education system), writing or drawing manga comics. She is occasionally prone to bouts of paranoia when she thinks someone might be trying to steal her work or books, and sometimes also gets jealous when Verandi, who she hangs out with a lot and has a secret crush on, starts paying too much attention to someone or something else. She is also slightly jealous of how muscular Siria is. Despite this, she still considers all the fellow powers to be her friends and really just wants to know that they respect and like her.
- Siria: A large, muscular Sirian woman, Siria is very buff and very proud of her physique, and she makes sure to let everyone know how proud of her body she is. She is a deeply serious individual who seems to have a backup plan for every conceivable situation and doesn't let anyone give her a hard time. Despite this, she isn't totally humourless, but the jokes she makes are often quite dark, so they aren't always appreciated by the others. She also swears a lot and generally says foul things more often than anyone else, which the show depicts by bleeping out many of the things she says. Despite it all, Siria really just wants to be a heroic defender of the galaxy, even if she is sometimes overzealous in her pursuit of this goal. The show is often very inconsistent with her height, sometimes making her less than a foot taller than the others and sometimes portraying her as a giant that clobbers buildings, depending on who she's talking to.
- Norb: A humanoid robot with a flashlight-like head, Norb speaks in a constant, synthetic monotone and always uses very obtuse language. As a result, the others often think that he doesn't understand them when they make jokes or use slang terms, but in fact he does understand, and is just bad at expressing himself. Norb often gets involved very dramatically in international conflicts, even very minor ones, which usually results in his body being destroyed, only for him to reappear on the scene again a few seconds later, having downloaded himself into a new and identical body. At least once per episode, Norb appears suddenly in the background, does something nice for someone, then sneaks away before they notice.
- United Stars: A large, fat, purple Snailian, United Stars is an irrepressibly cheery man who laughs heartily and is always looking for a good time. He is a bit of a hedonist, almost always brimming with energy, and is equally at home in a discussion about economics as he is at a party. United Stars is a true and quintessential gentleman, always polite and very adventurous. He has a different, fascinating hat in every episode and frequently wears a big, fake, bushy moustache.
Lesser Powers[]
- Kaladia: The villain for the entirety of the main storyline, Kaladia is a tall, dramatic, and cruel woman who actively torments and bullies most of the others and commands the loyalty of a small party through fear. She is the oldest of the human nations, and sometimes cites this as justification for her behaviour. Kaladia's mathematical prowess is frequently alluded to as the storyline progresses, as is her obsession with always having the very latest tech. She is also extremely competitive, aiming to outdo everyone in whatever it is they're good at, and always needs to feel as though she's in control.
- Solar Republic
- Savages: Appearing as a Nisi woman, Savages' first appearance in the show involves her leaping out of the shadows and attacking Siria. Her attack is ineffectual, however, and when Siria threatens her with escalation, she flees, vowing revenge. Throughout the rest of the series, she and Siria never get along and frequently yell at each other about all kinds of things, but backs off whenever Siria threatens to get in an actual fight with her. Even so, Siria frequently demands money from her, so Savages almost never has any spending money. Mischievous and mean-spirited, Savages frequently harasses the others, often in childish ways, though her main target is always Siria. Whenever someone more powerful confronts her, however, she flees.
- Kuhn: Seemingly a young professional, Kuhn is a businesswoman who always seems to be busy with something. Throughout the series, she enters every scene just as she's ending a phone call, and exits by taking a call. She is sometimes seen in the background trying to present business proposals to anyone around, complete with a slide show. A heavy drinker, Kuhn is energetic and acts like she's just as young as anyone else, but is often seen in old photographs and appears to have been especially close to Kaladia, though she always avoids discussing any of this. When any of the others get in an argument or a fight, she likes to take bets on who will win. Her pet, a diminutive bison, follows her everywhere.
- Ashkathi Union: A chipper young Ashkathi man who also goes by the name "Larine," he really wants everyone to get along and wants to be everyone's friend. He is easily confused by just about everyone else's customs and habits, and has very peculiar ideas of fun. Polite to a fault, he tries very hard to take everyone's feelings into account and never wants to offend anyone, even by standing up for himself. He is a dedicated pacifist, and not only refuses to fight, but abhors all violence. He sometimes refers to Siria as "the Great Protector" and hides behind her when he's scared.
- Rhizon: An unusually short but still very pretty female construct, Rhizon is entirely green and only wears clothes made of leafs. Verandi claims that she very abruptly sprouted out of the ground one day and declared herself the queen of "Rhizon Space," which happened to be his backyard. Bratty, superior and mean-spirited, Rhizon refers to everyone else as "Others" and often lies to them, hoping to create problems for them. Her nefarious plans rarely seem to work, however, and much to her great disappointment, they only ever seem to result in very minor misunderstandings.
Levant look younger than Verandi. Be rather stoic or look almost sad. Barcode on the back of the neck. More subdued fashion sense than Verandi but still likes bright colors, just more solids instead of patterns. Values serenity, symmetry, cooperation, unity. And will cut your face off if you throw the balance of any of those off.
Reception[]
In the Sirian Union, Galaxy Powers: Verandaeop has a small but loyal following. The manner in which it presents its subject is seen as a curiosity, with the Osseg Media Review calling it a "creative lens through which to view galactic events". The article went on to criticise its "stereotypical portrayal of various nations", but eventually rated it 6.5/10, mentioning it was a "worthwhile time waster, if you can stomach its saccharine nature".
Keikaku Magazine reviewer Dillon Zemke gave the series a 7/10, calling it a "refreshingly light-hearted take on recent galactic politics." Even so, he noted in his review that the series rarely goes in to much depth with its subject matter, and that some of the jokes and the overall tone of the show "might be a little too light for some." Despite this, he said that he enjoyed the series and that it was a "safe, feel-good series that's easy to get in to. Plus, you'll probably learn something!"
Verandaeop was generally well-received both with critics and the general population in Verandi, with most of the franchise's related media being accessible across the Empire. Many found the depiction of the nations charming, Verandi in particular being the object of patriotic affection. Critical reviews described the series as colorful and fun, "history nerds will get a kick out of jokes only they understand," one reviewer noted, "while the rest of us can take more simple pleasure in the jokes based on common stereotypes we all recognize and associate with." Some, such as historians and teachers, have praised the show as a means of getting viewers interested in history - to the point that some have used it in class lessons - but criticize the format for being too short and lacking depth. "As a gateway, it's perfectly fine, but we feel students of history should not take everything Verandaeop says at face value and encourage deeper exploration of the subject matter." said one prominent professor of Cultural Studies. Others had harsher views: "To personify nations and cultures, to reduce countless billions of souls to a handful of stereotypes crammed into a pretty figure is an insult to all who have lived through those times and a gross misinterpretation of history." wrote one negative reviewer from the Zaphnath-Paaneah Library.