TWRP - Starlight Brigade (feat. Dan Avidan) [Official video] 

Hi welcome to “This Should Be an Actual Show”

Starlight brigade was the best anime show of my childhood, that never existed.

Why in the seven hells of Washington D.C. was this never made into a series from 1984 to 1987, ending with an unsatisfactory cliffhanger, a movie in 1989 with an epic soundtrack that answers nothing, and a revival film in 2008 that didn't capture the feel of the original, only for the Fandom to make an earth-shattering free-to-view movie in 2012 that's entirely computer-graphic'd but with the appearance of proper cell shaded animation, and the surviving voices of the original cast, minus two who tragically passed away already?

"Can I stand by while the world dies?" "I'd gladly give my life for one night as a justice acolyte." "Halfway between the Black and Grey is no place for a life to waste away" "No fate but that of which we make, noble as the oath we undertake" I love the whole song! It just hits all the buttons.

ILL TAKE 20 MORE FULL-LENGTH EPISODES PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

Danny: Cute little space elf TWRP: Cool space pilots Ninja Brian: Ninja Brian.

I have never wanted an animated series to exist so badly before

Moment of silence for everyone obsessed with this video who've never heard the full version with intact verses and that sweet sax solo

I'm heartbroken that this is only a four minute video, the retro anime was an amazing choice for visuals.

Holy crap... that was amazing!

This song inspired me to quit my job that didn’t live up to my moral standard and change the course of my life. The line, “Today, so many moons away, I safely say, that my heart’s true calling was never betrayed,” was calling me out. Much love to TWRP, Dan and The Knights of the Light Table for forcing me to to have some perspective and live up to my own ideals.

Every time I come back to this I think "Surely it wasn't THAT amazing, I must be remembering it wrong." Then 4 minutes and 8 seconds later I have full body chills, tears on my face, and a hole in my wall where I punched it out of sheer joy.

“what’s your favorite anime” me - starlight brigade

Welcome back, this is not the first time you've come back to this video

three years on, i still get super emotional at the bit where the brightest star he was following was his own reflection... so fucking powerful

Even after 4 years I still really want this to become a Graphic Novel or Show.

Eight people animated this. *Only **_EIGHT_*

Uh hi yea.. *IM GONNA NEED AN ANIME OF THIS*

The ship breakdown has always hit me hard. I cry every time. I once was in a car accident that essentially incapacitated my car, I was sure I'd die. I sat there contemplating my fleeting existence. Then I was like no, Im not going like this, if this semi doesn't kill me, that's my chance. My car started and managed to live long enough to get me to safety... That person certainly died there, but the me now still fights new battles today!

This feels like best cartoon I've ever watched growing up that never was. I like how everyone seems to agree that this could be an amazing show... or even a movie. Edit: It just occurred to me, this heavily reminds me of The Last Star Fighter, an old 80's movie.

It has to be known that only eight people created this almost 4 minute masterpiece of animation (according to the credits). EIGHT. PEOPLE.

We all know this is not your first time here. Welcome back.

Lyrics: When I look up at the sky, what meets my eyes? Can I just stand by while the world dies? (While the world dies) A starship idling nearby, is it my time? I crawl inside and turn the cockpit clockwise, toward the sunrise I hear a voice in the back of my head Screaming "this is suicide! Did you hear what I said?" But then it fades into nothing with the rest of the light and sound I'm on my way out! Lift off! The firestorm ignites Last thoughts of a life by candlelight Inside this speeding satellite Today, so many moons away I safely say We stand as one A bond beyond the vast wave, until the last grave The mission orders typed and lights up our screens Ignition flights A thousand minds move simultaneously Into the night a fleet of firelight jet engines scream Turn the key This is my destiny! Last flight! I'd gladly give my life for one night as a justice acolyte Light shines only for the blind Escape the endless dream of space, black seas that I can't navigate Locate the great Starlight Brigade Starlight within will guide us to the other side Lift off! The firestorm ignites Last thoughts of a life by candlelight Inside this speeding satellite Halfway between the black and gray Is no place for a life to waste away I'll take the road with all the stakes (Starlight Brigade) Black knights and dark side battlecries All die once they're in my line of sight This fight is all I know that's right (whoa yeah) No fate but that of which we make Noble as the oath we undertake We are the great Starlight Brigade! (Starlight Brigade)

Came here to watch it after reading the Twitter post, I just want to say it again after watching ..... CROWDFUND THIS!!

Most of us are probably in agreement here, like all my friends in my town, so you made the intro and hooked us, now where is the show?

Ninja Brian's ship doesn't have controls, it just knows better.

The space aesthetic, the 80s vibe… absolutely masterful. Y’all should team up with Savant to produce the ultimate VHS vibe of a track

One thing I finally noticed, after Goodness knows how many viewings, is that after the shot injures Twinky Elf Dan, the star he reaches for is revealed to be the one visible from his weird chest crystal. Since they were chasing the stars, he was quite literally following his heart.

Kickstarter for Starlight Brigade anime when?

100% of this comment section is "ANIME WEN PLZ AND THANKU" and I gotta agree.

Why does this make me cry? Its so gorgeous. Probably the best music video I've ever seen tbh.

Love the homage to Pink Floyd's album art at 3:20, this video is like a shot on nostalgia directly into my bloodstream.

Haters: "You can't tell an entire Anime's story in 4 minutes!" TWRP: "Watch me"

WHO NEEDS VOLTRON WHEN YOU HAVE THIS MASTERPIECE

Still begging on my hands and knees for this as a show

There is something in all of us that is exactly this. I hope one day we can all grasp it and pull it fully into our hearts.

I feel like this would rock more than Voltron. Oh my god i need 20 seasons please

The fact that this isn't a kickstarter to make a full length musical animated movie is criminal.

They are actually pitching this as a show! We should try getting this up to 20 million vews, minimum. Maybe the stars will actually align and we'll get an actual show!

When they told this kid to 'reach for the stars', he literally took it to literal heart.

I like to think Ninja Brian pilots his ship with nothing but how intense his expression is.

I like how everyone is changed to be more space-y and then there’s ninja Brian who is exactly the same no matter the universe

This music video should be a real show; it made me feel joy for once. Thank you for this amazing piece of art.

I’m honestly kinda surprised no one has even attempted to make a series or even a fanfic of this. This could end up being a really great series. It’s sets up a nice being, have characters that you can somewhat tell their personalities of from how they react to certain situations, the connections they share with each other, the antagonist of the story, an underlying theme, and a nice ending that people can get behind.

I like giving the character's dad the voice of Dan's actual dad. "Ehhhh, Dahn! You better not go to that meteor! Come inside and have some of this sick cantaloupe!"

I love that everyone is physically flying their ships. Except for Ninja Brian. He just glares at the controls and the ship does what he wants.

“Halfway between the black and grey is no place for a life to waste away” and “Black knights and dark side battle cries all die once they’re in my line of sight” are a couple of the most awesome lines of lyrics I’ve ever heard. This song and video are both so amazingly good.

It feels like I watched an entire series, fully understand every detail, and it tied off all loose ends and ended perfectly. All while never knowning a single characters name, and in 1/100th of the time

I would unironically binge this if it was a series

Great song and FUCKING PHENOMENAL ANIMATION! Good lord this was amazing

Every night my 6yo says "Papa, in the morning if I'm still sleeping play this loudly to wake me up!". He comes out of the hallway bleary eyed, but dancing none the less. Thanks TWRP and NSP.

Coming back to this kind of videos with little over a year of practice drawing, I am able to see details that i didn't even notice the first time around, and it makes watching even more enjoyable now. I still have a long way to go, but boy does this inspire me to keep going!

Nice to know Dan is living his dreams of being a cute anime boy.

You know they made great characters when they get zero dialogue and only have a few seconds of screen time, yet you know what their personalities are like.

"Halfway between the black and grey is no place for a life to waste away" is great

who would've known the peaks of character design would be found in a 4min music video on yt

I heard this was originally going to be done with live actors, but it had to be scrapped because the scene where Ninja Brian sweats was impossible to recreate.

wow, nice trailer! now, where is the full series? guys...? where is the full series? _why is nobody saying anything?_

I've realised the genius of this, and why so many people have the uncanny feeling it's like a pilot for an amazing show that only ever came to air in an alternative universe ... it's because it's cut like an AMV. And certainly myself and more than a few of us here will have consumed a good few of those and know the feeling caused by a perfectly edited meld of pivotal, highly emotionally charged, action packed (...or just humorous) scenes from an already beloved anime, and a killer piece of music that encapsulates the mood set by the visuals. And there's at least a couple of great shows, and a couple of great bands, that I've been introduced to through that medium, browsing through what people have made for one or the other, or just at random. And coming across this video evokes that emotional memory. So, maybe the show we've discovered through this virtual AMV isn't real, but at least the band is... (This came to me in the scene where they make the first attack and Strive's ship gets hit by a shot from the baddies; I had been playing the tune in the background whilst working, as is the way I normally have RU-vid music going, and just happened to close a tab such that this came to the front a little before that, and I therefore wasn't fully into the visual rhythm. It struck me that if it was an actual movie, or a scene from an episodic show, it would have all played out a _lot_ slower, with interstitial dialogue and moments of dramatic suspense. But as there was a need to both tell a certain chunk of the story within the limited time allowed by the music (yes, I know it's edited down as well due to the ironically appropriate budgetary constraints), and to keep to the beat, most of that was edited out in jumpcut fashion, retaining just the most important and memorable parts, bringing maybe a two minute segment down to... [spins back to check] ...approximately five seconds. Eight if you want to be generous. Which is VERY AMV-ish, particularly for anything that covers a large swath of or even the entirety of a 13-episode show or 90-minute film (never mind anything longer!) with fast paced music over the top. But then the star-chasing part and the renewing of their internal fire is arguably uncut from the "original"... Which again rather puts me in mind of an actual Nausicaa or maybe just multi-classic-Ghibli (looking at you Laputa) video that I once saw. Pick and choose what to spin through quick without actually cutting so you can include that slower moment in full. Kinda get the same feeling from the Rudo animated videos for Siamés' tunes too. Be fun to see a four-way collab between the two studios and two bands...)

Just found out there was an animated series in the works for years before it was given up on, absolutely devo'd

Alright, lets see if this song is any go... *Synth starts* ...take me Danny.

I have no idea what is happening. But I can tell for sure that mustache guy is a real bro.

I come back to this a few times a year and still, to this day, wish this could have been picked up for 6 seasons and a movie. The song is fantastic, but the animation and what we get of the story line just begs for elaboration. It's just so good. I want to know more about this universe and the races of beings within it.

To this day, i dont know if this is the case, but I've always felt they made these characters to resemble a Saturday morning cartoon from the 80's (and i am 100% here for it)

This makes me nostalgic for an era of animation I wasn't even alive for. Edit: The fact this isn't a real show depresses me.

Petition to have Starlight Brigade turned into a short series OR if possible continue the theme for future music videos so its like episode but shorter

One of my favorite things in this video is that you barely got a glance at each character, but you got the entire personallity understood. The other 5 of the crew have so much personallity without uttering a single word. For example, at 1:40, the samurai ninja snake guy on the left draws out his knife. Such a tiny detail gives him so much more personallity, showing that he's keen and skilled, but also won't back down from a fight. Fantastic!

Every time I watch this I get on the verge of tears with just how beautiful the animation is, I get chills to this day ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

To the couple that I met in the hospital elevator that told me about this band, thank you.

“Sir, how do we break their shield?” “Fly into it” “... okay”

I see im not alone when i say i want the full series

Animators really just made every frame wallpaper-worthy huh

2 years later and the line "halfway between the black and gray is no place for a life to waste away" still goes hard as fuck

At 3:19, Danny sings "Darkside" and the animation shows a 'Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon' album reference. Absolutely beautiful.

I’m in love with so many of these shots. The way the outer hull of the ship spikes like ferrofluid, the way the mentors eyes close as our protagonists open, and the way he sees his reflection inside the black prism as he enters are all so unbelievably amazing

This is the second space themed music video I've seen recently that deserves a show of it's own. Why isn't this a show?

How can I not trust the starlight brigade? One of them has a PhD.

Imagine how much money Netflix would make if they made this into an actual show

2:05 I don't know what it is, but aggressively pushing a handle forward to make my ship fly faster has been a very specific fantasy of mine. I just believe it'd be so cathartic. "Punch it" *neuooom*

They are trying to make this into an actual series!!! I say they should do kickstarter alot would jump at the chance to support this!!!

Starship Piloting types Dan: angelic voice TWRP smooth Rhythm and jams Ninja Brian: PURE MALICE

Danny is the 80's distilled into a person.

I will blink and be 50 and I would love to see a Star Light Brigade series or mini-series. This was the kind of scifi/fantasy stuff I grew up on in the 80s and I still love it today! I hope you guys get a chance to expand upon this!

0:46 Strive's handprint is on the black object before it transforms into a spacecraft. After it transforms, some water falls down from the spacecraft's tail. 1:24 Havve Hogan hits his drumsticks in sync with the music. 1:32 Judging by his hand movements, this character probably tells our heros to hit the barrier with their spacecrafts and they do so at 2:07 1:39 This is a miniature figurine of the spaceship our heroes are currently in. We saw this spaceship at 1:26 2:20 This might be the same star we saw at the beginning of the video. 0:09

"How many emotions do we want to pack into 4 minutes?" "Yes."

yo I NEED a Starlight Brigade T-shirt

as an animation student, every time i feel stuck, or like everything is too much, i play this video and feel my chest burst with joy and child like wonder, and remember why i'm doing all of this. i aspire to make someone feel the way this piece of art makes me feel, every second makes my hair stand on end and my eyes sparkle

I love how you can seamlessly go from the pure off the wall humor of NSP, to the sheer epicness of TWRP, into something like Magnum Bullets and its all Danny. This song hits that perfect vibe that brings the dreams of childhood back and somehow is still so epic that the adult side of me gets pumped up about it. I love this music.

My theory is that Ninja Brian has no Controls. He just squints at different level and the ship knows to obey

DISCLAIMER: Not every meteorite contains a badass ship that takes you to an adventure full of starlight and introduces to you a colorful cast of pilot pals.

This song is so important to me. I came across it by chance right after I unexpectedly scored my dream job at the time: working at a huge science museum. I listened to it along with other TWRP songs on the way to work most days and that was how I celebrated my success and encouraged myself to enjoy every moment and give it all my effort. Now, I've moved on to another, even bigger dream: becoming a pilot. I've been in flight school for a month, and when reconnecting with this song recently, I realized the spaceship Strive (the "main character" of the animated video) finds looks just like a sci-fi version of the airplane I happen to fly, the Diamond DA-20 (look it up, hopefully you'll see what I mean). And when I took my first flight in it, I felt just like I was experiencing the start of my own "Starlight Brigade" journey. Follow your dreams, people. They're calling you for a reason.

This is the sickest thing I've seen in a while. STARLIGHT BRIGADE NEVER DIES!

Yo...they deadass put a whole anime series in a 4 minute video...what??? Also, sick Pink Floyd reference. Y'all slick!

IT TOOK ME ALMOST A YEAR TO REALIZE THAT THE BLACK THING STOLE ALL THE STARS AND THE STARLIGHT BRIGADE IS TRYING TO GET THEM BACK Edit: WHAT... THE FUCK... 2K LIKES... THANK YOU??

Hearing that this has been pitched as a series repeatedly has filled me with happiness, if it ever happens you better know I'm watching it!

Happy Five Year Anniversary! Strange to think it's been five years since such an iconic song and video! Here's to more galactic adventures :)

So like, when Arin sings with NSP, together they are just Starbomb. So now when NSP and TWRP perform together, can we just call them The Great Starlight Brigade now?

Thank you so much TWRP for the adventure and the memories. Our team were amazing and everyone at Knights of the Light Table brought their everything to bring this together. So proud to have worked on Starlight with you!

This song is just so powerful and inspiring. Can’t stop listening. Love TWRP, so bummed I missed them in Seattle last week.

I have seen TWRP many times live. They deserve all the success they get. Not only are they ridiculous musicians, they came out to talk to everyone after the show at every show I have been to. Good dudes.