Legend of the Galactic Heroes (銀河英雄伝説, Ginga Eiyū Densetsu), also known as LOTGH (銀英伝, Gin'eiden), is a series of science fiction novels written by Yoshiki Tanaka. In humanity's distant future, two interstellar states - the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance - are embroiled in a never-ending war. The story focuses on the exploits of rivals Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen Li as they rise to power and fame in the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. An anime adaptation of the novels, produced by Kitty Films and animated for the most part by Artland and Magic Bus, ran from 1988 to 2000. There is also a manga based on the novels, with art by Katsumi Michihara. In addition, there are several video game adaptations with the most recent release in 2008 being a real-time strategy game. All of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes media was for a long time not widely licensed for English release, until 2015, when North American anime and manga distributor Viz Media announced their license to the novels, while on the same day, North American anime licensor Sentai Filmworks announced their license to the anime.