One year after the Argo returned from its search for Iscandar and saved humanity from the alien Gamilons, Earth faces a new and even more deadly threat. This is the Comet Empire, a powerful war machine that travels the cosmos conquering and/or destroying any planets in their path. The first warning of this danger comes via a plea for help from Trelaina of Trelezart, a distant planet that is also on the Comet Empire's warpath.
Earth's government isn't willing to commit resources to assist Telezart, but the crew of the Argo feel that they owe a debt for the aid that Iscandar gave to humanity, and disobey orders to fly to Trelaina's aid. Unfortunately for them, the Comet Empire has expected such a move and has a surprise ally of their own ...
I can see why, when Star Blazers hit western screens in 1979, it would make a huge impression. Each season has a connecting narrative that runs through from the first episode to the last: this wasn't a thing that pretty much any US TV show was doing at the time, let alone a "kids' cartoon". Also, there's a sense of real danger, that characters are at risk of harm or death.
Unfortunately, the passage of forty years has not been kind to the show. The season-long narrative is very drawn out, the characters are often petulant and childish, and the voice acting ... oh dear, the voice acting. Admittedly, some of the dialogue is so clunky as to be near impossible to perform well, but this cast isn't up to delivering any dialogue well. They're so bad that I'm actually quite pleased to hear that there's an entirely new English language voice cast for season three. It might be weird to hear new voices for familiar characters, but if those voices are better performed, I will call it a win.
Unless you're old enough to be a fan from the days the show first came out, Star Blazers is better left as a important historical artefact in Japanese SF animation than a show you actually watch.
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