[Anime Classics]

Release Info

Released in 1986. Produced by Kitty Films and Victor Entertainment. Animation by Magic Bus.

Plot Summary

The elite Cosmo Academy attracts applicants from every stellar nation in the galaxy. One young hopeful is Tadatos Lane, an orphan esper from Terra. The final stage of the academy's entrance exam is a perilous mission simulation aboard an actual derelict starship. The applicants depart for the ships in groups of ten, but when Tada's crew arrives on the Esperanza, they are horrified to discover that they now number eleven.

My Thoughts

Here's a great anime classic from 1986. It may look old, but I think its classic style gives it a charm. I admit that, at first, I only watched this movie because it was recommended. It wasn't that appealing to me so I kind of had to push myself to watch it. But my first impression couldn't have been so wrong. This movie is excellent! The story pulled me in. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It juggles the eleven characters well as you're enthralled into an intense mystery.

In a team that was supposed to consist of ten, who is the eleventh person? Is he/she a traitor? And what is the mystery of the ship? Why does one of the characters know so much about the ship? He must be the traitor, right? The movie presents series of questions that keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I think it's cute that before showing the credits they tell you what every character does after they join the academy. It gives a sense of realism.

Download

They Were Eleven can be downloaded via torrents from Nyaa. This site is the best, safest, and most dependable resource to get anime for free.

Download from Nyaa

Notes

• If you don't know what torrents are, YouTube has tutorials. Be mindful that torrent downloads aren't instant. Depending on your Internet speed and number of seeds, it could take up to 24 hours for an anime to download.
• If you need a torrent client, these are the best (they're all free).
• The majority of video downloads from Nyaa are in “MKV” format, and less commonly in “AVI”. If you need a good video player to play these formats, VLC Media Player is the best (and it's free). It's available on every OS, including iOS and Android.

Is the MKV too big?

If you download a large Blu-ray quality MKV from Nyaa, it is possible that your computer or phone/tablet isn't fast enough to play it at full speed. In this case, you can use HandBrake. It's a free video converter; use it to shrink down the video. If you need help using HandBrake, YouTube has tutorials. Another option is to use Plex (mentioned below) because it automatically downsamples large videos when it streams them to your TV.

Playing on your TV

The easiest way to play MKV and AVI videos on your TV is with Plex. It streams movies from your computer to your TV through your Wi-Fi. It's a free app. Install it on your Windows or Mac, then install it on your set-top box (Apple TV, Roku, Fire sticks, etc.). Just note that Plex will only detect these movies in an Other Videos library because the “Movies” library doesn't detect rare/obscure anime classics. If you need help, YouTube has tutorials.