You watch Johnny Rico get systematically broken down by a military that stops giving a shit about his reasons halfway through episode one. The OVA actually commits to Heinlein's bone-deep cynicism instead of winking at it. By the time the bugs arrive, you understand exactly why the Federation wins wars and why that's the most terrifying thing this show could have taught you.

Johnny Rico is a high school student in Buenos Aires with no clear plan for his future. When his friend Carl and Carmen, the girl he grew up with and loves, sign up with the Federation military, he enlists too, hoping to follow her into space. Training proves far tougher than he imagined, and he faces setbacks and traumatic experiences before he makes it through. Meanwhile, war is building on the outer planets against a strange, bug-like alien foe, and Johnny is pulled into the fighting. The story unfolds as a six-episode mecha and science fiction OVA.