Star Fleet

Star Fleet is an early '80s Japanese Sci Fi show with character and mecha designs from Go Nagai. Known in Japan as X-Bomber, the show is notable for using miniatures and marionettes rather than cel animation, giving it a very unique look. Also diffused in France under the title Bomber X.

The year is 2999, and Earth is at peace after a long stellar war. This peace is shattered by the arrival of Commander Makara and her giant Imperial Alliance battlecruiser. After making light work of the Earth Defence Force, they approach Earth and threaten to destroy it unless the Earthlings hand over F-01. The people of Earth have no idea what this even is.

In order to counter the attack the EDF launch the experimental X-Project, consisting of the prototype battlecruiser X-Bomber and three fighter craft that can combine to form the robot Dai-X.

With the attack repelled, the crew of the X-Bomber set out to discover the secret of F-01, a secret they must discover before the Imperial Alliance do, or the universe is doomed.

Not hugely successful in its native Japan, the show was very popular in the UK. The combination of being superficially similar to the much loved Thunderbirds, and the fact that the show didn't shy away from many tropes that were mostly unknown in kids programming in Britain at the time made it a Gateway Series for British kids of a certain age.

Lots more information about the series can be found at the SFXB homepage.

Oh, and this has nothing to do with The Federation Starfleet or the Star fleet.

Tropes used in Star Fleet include:

Ace Pilot: The crew were chosen because they came top at the academy.
Anyone Can Die: Very unusual in kids shows shown in the UK at the time, probably not so much of a big deal in its native Japan.
Bittersweet Ending: By the end of the series:The good guy wins, the Big Bad is defeated, but Lamia, one of the main characters, has to sacrifice her life in order to restore the peace in the universe.
Brought to You by The Letter "X": The X-Project builds the X-Bomber, which deploys Dai-X, which shoots X-Tracers from the giant X on its face...
Bug War^[context?]
Combining Mecha
Cool Starship
Derelict Graveyard
The Empire
Expository Theme Tune: The end credits, although not composed by Brian May as is usually thought, he did do a Cover Version of it though.
Eyepatch of Power
Face Heel Turn: Captain Carter
Family-Unfriendly Death: While there's no gore in the series, Makara's death at the hands of giant robot Dai-X, literally, is pretty grim for a kids show. Of course, compared with the other works of Go Nagai...
Fighter Launching Sequence: Launch Imperial fighters!
I Surrender, Suckers
Last Stand
Matte Shot
Mysterious Protector
Mysterious Waif
Orphan's Plot Trinket
Parental Bonus
People in Rubber Suits: The giant robots and the Big Bad.
Recap Episode: Episode 18, "Bloody Mary's Promotion". (The UK release actually left it out.)
Redemption Equals Death: An unusual version of this where it's a villain trying to redeem themselves in the eyes of their superior.
The Red Planet
Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale
Space Is an Ocean
Space Sailing
Stock Footage: Launching Imperial fighters, launching BrainCom, MainBody, and LegTrax...Averted by the combination into Dai-X, though -- the background is clearly drawn from the local environment where the combination happens.
Story Arc: Almost every episode contributes to the arc.
Supermarionation: Called "Supermariorama" in Japan.
The Symbiote: Commander Makara and her unnamed eyepatch... thing.
Title Theme Tune: The French version.
Transformation Sequence: The combination of BrainCom, MainBody, and LegTrax into Dai-X. Once an Episode.
Two of Your Earth Minutes
Unreliable Narrator: The second recap episode has the crew remember things differently from how they happened.
Wave Motion Gun: The Dai-X's "X-Tracer", which fires X-shaped blasts from the X on its forehead.
We Only Have One Chance
When the Planets Align: Happens at the climax of the final episode.
X Meets Y: Thunderbirds meets Star Blazers.
- With a hint of Getter Robo.