銀河英雄伝説
is the first animated adaptation of Yoshiki Tanaka's "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" series of novels. It was originally released in Japan on 6 February 1988. The film chronicles the first combat encounter between Reinhard von Müsel (who later adopted the Lohengramm name) and Yang Wen-li, the two primary protagonists of the series. The main original video animation (OVA) series followed only months later.