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Intro to LoGH
Legend of the Galactic heroes, by Yoshiki Tanaka, is a series of 10 novels that detail the war between the Free Planets Alliance, and the Galactic Empire. It has since been adapted into a 110 episode OVA series, two mangas, and has received another anime adaptation. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a hidden gem in the wider anime landscape, as its method of storytelling and its themes are uncommon. The OVA is told as if it were a history documentary, with there being a heavy presence from the narrator who provides commentary on the events transpiring in the show. This is similar to how the source material presents the story, with it being written more like a history book with lots of citations from in-universe books. Die Neue Thesis does not have the story direction that the OVA has, but is still a faithful adaptation of the novels. I personally would equate DNT as being a Michael Bay Film adaptation of the in-universe historical events that the novels record.
As of July 16, 2025 there is currently no way to watch the OVA legally, unless you want to fork over $1000 for a used official box set. The OVA has no dub, and has two sets of subtitles, the Central Anime Fansub (yellow subtitles) and the official Sentai subs (white subtitles. Both sets of subtitles are decent translations. The Central Anime subs are where most of the English-speaking fandom’s memes come from, but the Sentai subs are more easy to understand. You can read the fan translations of the Michihara manga and the Fujisaki manga on mangadex although they aren’t up to date/complete. Die Neue Thesis, the newest anime adaptation can be found legally on Crunchyroll. The novels are somewhat hard to come by at in-person bookstores (at least in my experience) but you can find them on Amazon.
I can not stress enough for you to watch LoGH for yourself. Shipping aside it is an amazing series, and each of the 110 episodes are 100% worth watching. I didn’t really want to tell too much detail about the story in this section because you need to watch this for yourself blind. I’d recommend watching/reading any of the adaptations/source material above before reading the rest of this document.
What the fuck is an Attenkopf?
Attenkopf is the ship name used in the English speaking fandom for Dusty Attenborough x Walter von Schönkopf (although I’ve also seen Schönborough and Schendust be used, but they are far less common. Also Attenkopf rolls of the tongue a bit better). The ship name in Japan is コプアテ (kopuate) or アテコプ (atekopu) although I’ve never seen the later as I haven’t found any Japanese works where Dusty tops. In Japanese circles, shipping names are formatted as the top name’s first and the bottom’s name second, although in English speaking fandoms, the name combination doesn’t determine who does what in sex, and is usually the name combination that sounds best.
Dusty Attenborough
Dusty is in his 30s and does not have a girlfriend, nor does he plan on having one. His three favourite things in the world are drinking liquor, revolution and yapping about foppery and whim. Although his design in the OVA is similar to Yang, one of LoGH’s protagonists, he is not a clone of Yang and is very much his own character.
Dusty originally set out to become a journalist when he was younger, but his father quickly burned that dream to a crisp. In order for Dusty’s dad to marry his mom, he promised Dusty’s Grandpa (who was also named Dusty) that his first born son would join the military and become an officer. Dusty has four older sisters by the way. Dusty has always been a rebel on the inside, and is shown throughout the story to prefer chaos over order. Dusty is a skilled strategist, and specialises in making tactical retreats, and rilling up his opponents. If it weren’t for the fall of the FPA, Dusty would’ve become the youngest Admiral in the Alliance’s history, taking the title away from his upperclassman and best friend, Yang Wenli.
Walter von Schönkopf
Schönkopf is also in his 30s, although he is almost the exact opposite of Dusty in terms of his sex life. He’s a womanizer who has slept with lots of ladies, to the point where he tells Dusty in episode 60 that he couldn’t remember every woman he’s slept with. He makes it very apparent to the women he sleeps with that he does not want to commit, and would rather keep things as a one night stand. Schönkopf was originally born in the Galactic Empire, but fled with his grandparents when he was a child to the Free Planets Alliance after his parents were suspected of having democratic beliefs. Moving to the FPA proved to be quite a turning point in his life. However being a refugee allowed him to better see the rot of the FPA government. His first memory of arriving in the FPA was how the immigration officers stared at him with disgust in their eyes (mind you he was like 5 years old).
Schönkopf in the story acts as an ideological foil for Yang on his own side, with him wanting Yang to take control of the FPA as a dictator. Yang, a champion of democracy, declines Schönkopf’s requests at every turn. Schönkopf is for the majority of the story the Commander of the Rossen Ritter, a regiment made up of ex-imperial refugees and their descendants. This regiment, although extremely powerful and effective, is mostly disliked by the upper brass of the Alliance Navy because of their ruthlessness, immaturity, and imperial blood. Throughout LoGH, Schönkopf shows desire for a competent leader to take control, and finds that (unwilling) competent leader in Yang.
Both of these characters want to stay single. So how does this relationship work?
The thing with Schönkopf is that although he tells the women that he sleeps with that he only wants to keep things casual, there are many things that hint towards him wanting to take a relationship further. In the Hundred Billion Stars, Hundred Billion Lights Gaiden story, Schönkopf sleeps with a woman named Valerie, who seems to be on Schönkopf’s wavelength when it comes to relationships. Its because of her honesty that Schönkopf genuinely starts to show feelings for her, beyond just finding her attractive, although he is never given the chance to confess his actual feelings as she is killed in action before he gets the chance. In the HBSHBL novel, the narrator mentions that the loss of Valarie was not a small thing, and that he yearned for the presence of the woman who silently understood him.
As for Dusty, there isn’t anything that explicitly shows him having an interest in being in a relationship with someone, let alone a one night stand. He is married to Mrs. Celibacy after all. However there are points in the OVA that at the very least shows that he can feel attraction towards people. For one, during the prisoner exchange Dusty is very much shown to find Kircheis to be hot. In episode 69 we see Dusty have the hots for a woman in a very flashy outfit. There is a scene in episode 69 that almost mirrors Dusty’s encounter with the hot woman, except this time, it's with Schönkopf.
Schönkopf is attracted to people who understand him, and Dusty is attracted to anyone who embodies his values of foppery and whim. This is where the main meat of their dynamic comes from. They both understand each other and share very similar values when it comes to their politics.
The evidence
Episode 19 - This is the first episode that we are shown that both Dusty and Schönkopf desire to take action and revel in the chaos.
Also Schönkopf literally grabs Dusty’s thigh during a meeting. Seems pretty gay ngl.
Episode 21 - Not really evidence per se, but Dusty glaring at Schönkopf for being a bit of a hoe is fucking hillarious.
Episode 53 - Both Dusty and Schönkopf are the only named members of the FPA gang to disagree with Yang’s decision to follow Trunicht’s orders for a ceasefire with the Empire. They both wanted to kill Reinhard then and there.
ED 3 - There’s something romantic in the way Dusty pours out a drink for Walter here. When I was first watching this ED, all I could think about was that they must have something going on. Note that this is one of the few instances where Yang is genuinely with these two and isn’t wanting to pull his hair out.
Episode 60 - Where do I begin. First of all, and most obviously they go out on a date in this episode. How do we know that this was a date, and not just them having a nice meal before enacting their plans of revolution? Well there are quite a few indicators that point to this being more than just a night out with the homies. First of all, the establishing shot of the March Rabbit has couples walking inside, indicating that this place is a hot spot for dates.
Second of all, look at their table. It has all of the ins and outs of your stereotypical romantic dinner date. There’s candles, wine, and fancy food.
Finally, you have to ask why of all places did they decide to go to a fancy restaurant? They could’ve easily went to a bar, or somewhere a bit more low-key, but nope. Also the way Schönkopf softly looks at Dusty during their conversation is honestly adorable.
Honestly the car scene afterwards is far gayer and has more substance than the actual date scene itself. First of all Schönkopf tells Dusty about his daughter despite knowing that Dusty loves to spread rumours. This shows that Schönkopf really does trust Dusty.
Also the bit where Dusty calls Schönkopf a manly man, (or in the sentai subs, where he says that Schönkopf has a great personality) honestly comes off as flirting.
In the novels it is mentioned that they were driving to Schönkopf’s place. Gee I wonder what they were going to do once they got back to his place ;)
Episode 61 - In this scene Dusty questions if he should give up the bachelor life, and Schönkopf tells him that it sounds like a great idea.
The scene where Schönkopf negotiates with Rockwell is really iconic. What’s even more iconic is Dusty peaking in the camera like the son of a bitch that he is when Schönkopf demands some of the FPA’s finest wines in return for Lebello. Honestly Dusty really had no reason to be in the truck, but yet he’s here, and he’s being a menace.
Episode 62 - This scene is the first (of many) examples of Dusty and Schönkopf pestering Yang together to become a dictator. Again this shows the main theme of Attenkopf, that being that both Schönkopf and Dusty aspire to be with someone who shares the same values and ideals as them, and find those values in each other.
Before we move onto the next piece of evidence, I’d like to point out the elephant in the room. Dusty and Schönkopf’s feelings about Yang Wenli, and whether or not Dusty and Schönkopf’s relationship only happened because of them both being on the rebound after Yang got married. Personally I do not believe that their feelings for each other only came about because of them being on the rebound, and even if it was, the things that they wanted out of a relationship with Yang, they found in each other.
Episode 64 -
This episode has more examples of Dusty and Schönkopf yapping about Yang being lazy and needing to take control. This time, they’re trying to drag Cazerne into it.
The scene where Cazerne says that the Yang fleet is like a group of wayward sons hits hard. What also hits hard is the scene after where Schönkopf and Dusty lovingly look at each other in agreement.
Episode 65 - More dictator talk! One of the things that is quite noticeable in S3 is how close Dusty and Schönkopf are whenever they’re in a scene together. Like they are pretty much tied at the hip (especially when it comes to their favourite pastime of pestering Yang.)
Having to call Schönkopf your father in law would be especially awkward if he was your ex.
Episode 68 -
The fact that Yang, Frederica, Schönkopf and Dusty were roommates in the OVA during their time on El Facil makes me insane.
This didn’t happen in the novels by the way. The entire bit of Schönkopf and Dusty teasing Yang about being camera-shy during breakfast was originally Yang having an internal monologue about the ethics of him refusing to take pictures.
Again, notice how this scene frames Dusty and Schönkopf together during this scene.
Hell in the laserdisc cover for this episode, Dusty and Schönkopf are next to each other.
TWO BROS SITTING IN A MEETING! FIVE FEET APART CAUSE THEY’RE NOT GAY*
*Last time they sat next to each other in a meeting Schönkopf grabbed Dusty’s thigh the whole time. Yang was forced to separate these two just a tad to avoid any further PDA complaints.
Episode 69 - “Schönkopf and some others have made troubling remarks” Just say Dusty, Yang. You may not want to admit it, but your admiring little underclassman is just as much of a troublemaker in regards to this as Schönkopf. It is really funny that Yang makes Dusty stay behind during the recapture of Iserlohn, as he knows for a fact that him and Schönkopf would start shit if they were together.
As mentioned in an earlier section, this scene is a direct parallel to a scene that happens earlier in this episode. An attractive person passes by Dusty, and all he can do is stare in amazement.
I find it funny that Dusty inadvertently calls Schönkopf beautiful, as Schönkopf mentions that Karin couldn’t be his daughter if she wasn’t beautiful herself.
Episode 73 - Schönkopf stares at Dusty for a minute straight, after seeing him for the first time in ages. Also notice how Karin is doing the same thing to Julian at the same time. Like father, like daughter.
This scene is probably my favourite scene of these two. This scene happens after the Yang gang finds out about Buccock’s death. The way they both seem to silently understand each other’s pain hits so hard. Not to mention that they share an indirect kiss. Fun fact! This is the only time in the entire OVA where two characters share the same drink directly from the bottle. In every other instance usually a drink is poured out into cups. It makes you wonder if the indirect kiss was intentional.
Like I mean, look at them. They seek each other during hard times because they understand each other on a deeper level.
Episode 78 - Look at Schönkopf perk up the second Dusty enters the room!
Look at how concerned he is about Dusty’s frustration!
I love their little fight here. It shows that despite their deep understanding and care for each other, they can still get into little scuffles like this.
Also fun fact! Schönkopf’s line about him not wanting a good-for-nothing to turn 30 was made into a t-shirt. The translation of the line they use seems oddly romantic too.
Episode 105 -
Look at Schönkopf flirting with Dusty for old time’s sake.
In fact if you pay close attention you might recognize that Schönkopf is saying the exact same thing that Dusty said to him in episode 60. That he is a manly man/man with good character.
Episode 107- Look at that little smirk on Dusty’s face <3
Poor Dusty isn’t able to join the rest of the guys on the invasion of the Brunhilde. Also the little laugh Schönkopf gives is really cute. He really wanted to go to battle with his boyfriend.
Episode 108 - Look at them!! Look at how happy they are together! Schönkopf had no need to go with Julian to talk to Dusty, but he went anyway. Too bad he didn’t return.
I think this bit is probably the biggest bombshell for me. The fact that Schönkopf’s final words that he speaks out loud are him asking for Dusty to rewrite them for him is so sweet. It is also interesting to note that his original final words were him saying that only the tears of beautiful women could heal his soul. It seems like Dusty would be the one who’d know what would truly heal his soul.
Conclusion
The main thing that makes Dusty and Schönkopf a great ship is that they’re partners in crime. They both kicked off a revolutionary war not just out of foppery and whim, but to protect those they love, and to hopefully bring about a better world (even if their means of bringing about this better world through autocracy is kind of wacky). They have this understanding of each other that doesn’t require them to really talk, they just know what the other is feeling. What also helps is how chaotic they act when together. Like the fact that a lot of their screentime is just them pestering Yang together is funny. They’re really fun to watch, and I hope that when DNT adapts the events of novels 6-7, they make sure to keep the bits of Attenkopf that makes their ship special.