>_< Why didn't anybody tell me about this? It came out over 20 years ago. Damnit!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers_(OVA).

For those of you who aren't familiar with the universe, Starship Troopers is basically what you get if you mix Halo, MechWarrior, and the Zerg from Starcraft. It's possibly the earliest instance of the powered armor-wielding "space marine" everyone knows today, soldiers in armored space suits who can kick ass on land, under water, or in deep space.

The book was published in 1959 (that's half a century ago, guys... 2 years before the first man in space). It featured powered armor described as being like a steel gorilla. Deployed in pods launched from orbital dropships, these bad boys came down from the sky and used everything from flamethrowers to portable thermonuclear missiles (each suit had several of these) to execute coordinated strikes. They had jump jets, radio communication, heads up displays, and motion amplifying airtight armored suits... a delicious middle-ground between Halo's Spartan armor and powered mechs/exoskeleton suits. They spend a lot of time fighting the "bugs", a race which is so like the Zerg that it makes Blizzard look unoriginal (seriously, they've got a bunch of obedient and expendable drones who obey "brain bug" overlords, as well as a queen... and when they need new fighting capabilities, they evolve).

In 1997 they made a movie loosely based on the book, called Starship troopers (and two sequels in the years since). Even at the tender age of 10 I was so disgusted by the trailer that I couldn't bring myself to see it (not that I could've, with the nudity and violence...). For the sake of being able to see the faces of the actors, they replaced these motion-amplification armored vacuum-sealed suits and H-bombs with... open-faced partial body armor that wouldn't protect you from a squirt gun, much less a bullet or knife. The only redeeming quality of the movie, I figure (having not seen it), is that it has Neil Patrick Harris. NPH!

In 1999, two years later, they made a CG "kids TV show" adaptation, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. Although it wasn't high in gore, it was definitely too grim for most kids to watch. No cartoon violence here. It's actually rather enjoyable. The suits are much more like Master Chief's (seriously, check it out: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.....Roughnecks.jpg ) which is an acceptable compromise. Up until present, I figured this was the most accurate non-book item in the Starship Troopers universe.

But apparently back in 1988 they made a 6-episode OVA of Starship Troopers. So... Starship Troopers anime. Subtitled, but still. Wikipedia claims that it's the most accurate, and just from the little snippet I peeked in on, that seems to be the case.

I am so glad I downloaded it on a whim...