ATOM
When it comes to gritty, realistic Space Opera, Tani Kōshū's name is always high on the list.
With an extensive future history stretching from the early 21st century (and already partially overwritten by the pace of
history!) into the far future, he writes of people and spaceships with quirks and "issues," facing life-and-death problems
with creativity and dogged determination.
Spaceships do not have infinite amounts of fuel, and space is very, very large...
unwary or unlucky sailors soon discover that space can also be very unforgiving.