Irresponsible Captain Tylor

Summary:

In a distant, highly technological future, Tylor, the title character, is a mysterious young man without a real purpose in life, a state of mind that is very hard to determine, and a knack for accidentally getting out of near-death situations with a childishly cavalier attitude. He sometimes does not even seem to realize when he is in danger, which is actually an asset to him on many occasions.
Tylor stumbles his way into the United Planets Space Force, and soon gains command of a destroyer, after resolving a hostage dispute and saving a retired admiral. Despite being given a decrepit and underpowered ship (the Soyokaze), thanks to brilliant strokes of luck, Tylor manages to destroy a patrol group. This is quickly followed by a sneak attack on another patrol group, performed while Tylor was playing the role of a consummate, professional soldier. The admiralty, attempting to kill Tylor, present him with a medal modified with a device to trick the Raalgon fleet into believing the Soyokaze is an entire fleet. Tylor loses the medal in UPSF HQ, and the Raalgons destroy the admiraliy's superweapon instead. The Soyokaze is then sent to a demotion sector, despite the fervent hopes of its crew. There, Tylor and Yamamoto encounter the ghost of the former Captain, who vanishes due to depression after seeing Tylor's behavior. The Admiral of the Fleet, who actually murdered the prior Captain, rescinds Tylor's demotion after seeing Tylor with the former captains pipe, thinking he is now aware of the admiral's crime. Tylor is then captured by the Raalgon fleet, who plan to execute him to boost morale. After escaping his cell, Tylor encounters the Empress in plain dress, and spends the day entertaining her. Rather than have him executed, she has him brainwashed to be her personal pet/servant. Striped of his personality, he becomes very observant, and quickly induces that Prime Minister Wang orchestrated the murder of the previous Emperor and the war with the UPSF.
The two major powers in the story are the UPSF (United Planets Space Force, or the humans, possibly a reference to the Earth Federation Space Force of Mobile Suit Gundam, or the United Federation of Planets of Star Trek, or perhaps both) and the Raalgon Empire (the extraterrestrials, who with their pointy ears share a resemblance to either elves or possibly Romulans.
One of the largest points of dispute within the story is the actual competence of Tylor. Several characters say of Tylor, "I can't decide if he's an idiot or a genius." Whether he is a genius or an idiot is up to each individual viewer.

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