Reviews

In the far future, mankind is on the brink of entering a galactic war with the alien race Abh, as earth is preparing for battle, without firing a single plasma beam, their leader Rock Linn surrenders. In the middle of all this is Jinto Linn, the cowardly leader's son whom is only at the time 10 years old. What will become of mankind after its conquering? Will the human race be destroyed? Who are the Abh and what are their intentions? These answers and more in the beginning of the epic Seikai saga!

Story

The main story begins 7 years after mankind’s surrender to the Abh. Jinto is now 17 years old. During the last 7 years Jinto was on Planet Delct, training for the Abh miltary as well as learning the Abh language. While departing, he meets the beautiful young female Abh solder Lafiel. Little does Jinto know, but Laifel is the future princess for the Abh. What we get out of the main story is not only adventure, romance and action, but international space politics that show the problems the nations are going through and what they want. Not many anime do this. If you are interested in an all action show you will not get it here. Yes there is great action, but most of that is saved for the sequel. This anime has a lot of dialog, but its not boring or pointless.

Art

The artwork for crest of the stars is done well, even though it looks like how most animes in the 90s did. Where the art does well is the atmosphere. It feels very misty and dream like. The backgrounds on the space stations are creative. The art gives you a feeling of a living breathing world.

Sound

The music for crest of the stars is great, and help makes the show feel like a real scifi epic. (which it is) The opening song is a tribute to classic SciFi shows of the 1950s and 60s gives the viewer promise of adventure and wonder. The space battle music pumps up the action well, music and background music for calmer moments are at times dreamlike, it fits the space mood very well

Characters

The characters are very well developed, this is due to the many long conversations in the story. Jinto is put into a unique situation, but he is relatable since he is the only major human character. Laifel is the fan favorite, and she does not act like a wishy washy disney princess who just wants more of everything. She is logical but not a genius, she does what she thinks for her country. There are many more characters in the Crest of the stars saga and her sequel, and some are are as developed as Jinto and Laifel.

Overall

Crest of the stars is a great anime with a interesting story and superb character development. Its a shame it did not receive the attention it deserves in western countries. I blame this on the bad marketing bandai had as well as the bad English dub. (watch with Japanese subs) If you are into scifi, or just want a good story with good characters check out Crest of the stars.