Stellvia Of The Universe
It's 189 years after the Earth was almost destroyed by a supernova explosion. It is the year when the second wave is coming bringing the star debris with it. And there's only one chance to save the Earth...
Shima is a 16 year old girl who wants to see the space so she decides to apply at the space academy without her mom knowing. She has been accepted to the space foundation Stellvia, one of the 6 gigantic space stations humans built in order to defend the solar system from the second wave. Shima's mother is very angry at her for not telling she's going away from home and on the day of departure they have a fight. Shima's brother, Masato, gives her a bowl of confeiti as a goodbye gift. It's Shimas favourite candy, which she shares with her friends.
On board of Fujiyama, the space ferry, she meets her first friends, Arisa and a strange old man, who later turns out to be one of Stellvia's scientists. After safely reaching Stellvia, Shima and Arisa quickly make new friends, mostly due to Arisa's energetic character and Shima's programming skills. At first Shima is one of the worst students, but with the help of her friends Arisa, Yayoi, Akira, Masaru, Jojo, Pierre and Kouta, she soon turns into one of the best students ever. But success also brings responsibility and grief.
Stellvia Of The Universe talks about finding your limits and surpassing them. It tells a story about living your life by doing doing things that you do best. It doesn't matter what everyone wants you to do, all it matters is what you can do. Stellvias students aren't forced to do anything. They are encouraged to do what they do best... Arisa, for example, gives up her dream of being a pilot after she finds out she's better at maintenance. In the end, the students, although they all started the same, take on different jobs in order to fill in the gaps in the big picture.
The animaton itself is nothing special, same as the character and mecha design. What makes it stick out a bit is the coherent story which is basicaly told from two points of view (students and teacher). And of course the character development. Every single character, and not just the usual few main ones, in the story recieves a substantial ammount of development.