Space Opera

Alternate Titles: Seikai no Monshou/Senki

Crest of the Stars

Banner of the Stars

Original Japanese Release Date: January 2nd, 1999

Episode Length/Run-time: 38 (including 2 episode OVA)

Summary:

This is the story of Jinto, a young prince who lives on an Earthlike planet.  His planet was conquered by the Abh Empire, a massive kingdom that spans thousands of planets.  After Jinto’s father surrenders the planet peacefully in exchange for political gain, Jinto is made a prince of the Abh Empire and is shipped off to an Abh academy.   He later joins the Abh space force where he meets the Abh princess Lafiel.  This is the story of Jinto and Lafiel and their lives in the Abh empire’s space fleet.

Review:

Welcome to one of the most epic space opera’s in all of anime.  The high points of this anime are many and the shortcomings few.  From the unique presentation of the space battles, to the wonderfully believeable relationships, to the wonderful music, Crest and Banner of the Stars is a treat guaranteed to deliver.

This ia a very character driven anime.  Much of the show is spent seeing inside the minds of the characters.  Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars both do this in diferent ways.  Crest of the Stars focuses more on the drama aspect of the story as the relationship between Lafiel and Jinto is nurtured.  Banner of the Stars shifts the focus more to the action side of things, as the war between the United Mankind and the Abh Empire heats up.  In this setting you’ll see the pressure that is placed on the characters to succeed in their military roles, as thousands of lives depend on their success.  Later in Banner of the Stars II the show creates a wonderful balance of action and drama as Jinto is thrust into a volatile situation and leads Lafiel to fear for his safety.

The action of the space battles is incredibly unique.  Each and every military move is thought out and well strategized and the viewer gets to experience the strategic meetings that take place behind the scenes.  Also, the battles take place in a series of “space time bubbles” in which the ships exist.  When two ship’s bubbles merge, the battle begins.  It adds a exciting element of suspense when the bubbles show up on radar and that characters wait in anticipation until the merger, because until that happens the contents of the space bubble are unknown.  Could be explosive mines, could be a battleship, could be nothing as well!  That’s part the fun.

The drawbacks behind the show are few but they are present.  First, the Crest of the Stars series has a few recap sections that are largely unneeded for a series that is only 13 episodes in length.  Also, as all of the shows time is spent with the Abh Empire, the United Mankind remains completely faceless, even in the battle sequences, to the degree that we, the viewer, don’t even know what they look like.

Despite these two drawbacks, Crest/Banner of the Stars is a show that should not be missed by anybody. It has enough variety satisfy all viewers; action, drama, sci-fi, politics, romance.  Just make sure to watch out for “Abh Hell” when you’re watching.  You wouldn’t want to end up there.  🙂

[starrater]