Seikai no Monshou

In the distant future, humanity is under attack by the Abh Empire, a race of advanced humanoid beings possessing vastly superior technology. As countless worlds fall to the Abh, mankind establishes the Four Nations Alliance—a resistance faction made up of the United Mankind, the Republic of Greater Alcont, the Federation of Hania, and the People's Sovereign of Union Planets.

Seikai no Monshou tells the story of Jinto Linn. When he was young, his father—the president of Martine—sold their world in exchange for a high position in the empire. Now a young count, Jinto must learn the ways of Abh nobility and live among those who subjugated his people. Helping him is Lafiel Abriel, an austere Abh princess whom Jinto quickly befriends. While traveling to Jinto's new school in the Abh homeland, their ship is caught in a violent space battle between the fleets of the Alliance and the Abh. Jinto and Abriel are thrust into the conflict, unaware that this skirmish marks the beginning of a full-scale war between the Abh Empire and mankind.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Abriel, Lafiel Main

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Linn, Jinto Main

Imai, Yuka Japanese

Spoor, Beneej Supporting

Fukami, Rica Japanese

Abriel, Dusanyu Supporting

Shiozawa, Kaneto Japanese

Lexshue, Plakia Supporting

Takashima, Gara Japanese

Tlaïmh Borgh Ybdér, Laimsairh Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Narrator Supporting

Jou, Haruhiko Japanese

Kyte Supporting

Ikemizu, Michihiro Japanese

Atosryua Syun-Atos Febdash Lyuf Raika Febdac, Srumh Supporting

Mugihito Japanese

Entryua, Rei Supporting

Ishizuka, Unshou Japanese

Sugita, Tsutomu Producer

Kunisaki, Hisanori Assistant Producer

Nagaoka, Yasuchika Director

Kobayashi, Katsuyoshi Sound Director

Reviews

Jul 14, 2008

Alexius

Recommended

While it was by far not magnificent in terms of its appearance or in terms of a number of those other elements that we greatly take for advantage from the more recent anime with improved graphics and sound, this older "space drama" drew me in from the first episode, beguiling me with its interesting story and interesting cinematography and storytelling. It's hard-pressed to find an anime like Seikai no Monshou, with its same blend of both serious and entertaining drama and dialogue, and its very intense space battle action scenes.

Seikai no Monshou has a story that was both pure in its innocence and compelling in ... its complexity, featuring a not-so-simple delving into the politics of humankind and interstellar relations, as well as the genetically-enhanced race of the Abh, something just as interesting in its own right. Following closely, none of the episodes (as few as there were with only 13) failed to entertain me and none of them seemed off-key at all, blending into a story that was wrapped up without fail with the final episode, transitioning gently and with ease into the next "season" or series of the saga.

Like I said earlier, however, the art was lacking, but even then I was surprised by how much it fit and how little I was distracted by it. It's not something that I would entirely dock many points off for. Too, the cinematography and interesting angles used to portray the story would also help buoy this particular area up. The sound too was fairly "old", but still managed to fit with the show quite well; the voices, on the other hand, were done magnificently (in the subbed version, definitely not the dubbed).

The characters in this show, while not completely original, did progress and were developed well, the main two characters and their relationship even more entertaining to watch and feel how well they manage to grow into each other and balance each other out so nicely. They definitely did not feel flat, which I always hate.

Overall, this show is one I recommend to anyone who'd like to watch an intellectual sci-fi space show (with no mechas) that brings together politics and drama well enough to both entertain your adrenalin and give some practice for your brain. A great show that I really enjoyed!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 11, 2015

BanjoTheBear

Mixed Feelings

(This has been adapted from my reddit thread)

People often have vastly different upbringings. While there are obviously certain positive or preferred ways in which to flourish, occasionally, given the situation, such luxuries cannot be granted. Sometimes it's entirely based off of financial standing or the location where one lives. Other times it's based off of racial or ethnic disparity. But no matter the case, it is almost always outside of one's control. And so it becomes less about how the world sees you, and more about how you see yourself. Such is the anime Crest of the Stars, a simple beginning to a galactic journey.

STORY

Crest ... of the Stars places Jinto, a young male Terran-turned-Abh nobleman, into the spotlight. Before making his way to the capital of the Humankind Empire Abh, he is greeted by the heir to the jade throne, Lafiel. But before they can make it home, an unexpected event occurs.

The anime purports itself to be one about romance and space. But it becomes quickly apparent that the ideas and focus regarding the universe take precedence over the development of Jinto and Lafiel's relationship. In this way, the show is often aptly described as "Spice and Wolf, in space." And that's a compliment; while the character dynamics between our hero and heroine are looked at less than the world-building (galaxy-building), what is given is not to be scoffed at. Their adventure sees them come together, with protecting, quarreling, helping, annoying, caring, bickering, and understanding being rampant throughout. While it isn't actually romance, it's a start, for before a couple can be lovers, they must first become friends.

Hearkening back to the galaxy-building, this is perhaps Crest of the Stars's strongest point outside of the relationship between Jinto and Lafiel. There are a ton of different pieces of information given throughout the show. For example, there is an entire language specifically crafted for the Abh; factoids about the Four Nations Alliance and their tense relationship with the "Kin of the Stars;" scientific offerings in terms of measurements, space-travel, and technology; exploration into the Abh's culture and way of life; and minor yet intriguing pieces that round out the experience. It's done adequately enough, not feeling too overwhelming while still maintaining its own, unique identity.

Where the anime begins to misstep is in the events that take place, or more specifically, their importance. The show is roughly sectioned into two parts: a quarter of which deal with large-scale war skirmishes and the remaining focusing on Jinto and Lafiel's escapades. But where the macro instances hold both literal and figurative weight, the micro ones do not. That is, the main couple's actions never feel as if they mean anything, in any regard. Whether it's fighting their way out of a Baron's domain or hijacking a vehicle to make it to the nearest city, their mark on everything that is going on around them is significantly smaller. Now, the purpose of placing so much emphasis on the two makes sense; the idea is to establish, explore, and eventually enact the relationship between Jinto and Lafiel. And while their relationship was done nicely, the events around them were not.

Crest of the Stars also misaligned itself in regard to its overall focus. Here, the show at first plays with the idea of our characters being "birds trapped in cages." That is to say, their free but restricted in what they are capable of doing. Despite winning the hierarchical lottery, what the anime depicts are two young adults struggling to deal with a universe that looks at them for what they are, as opposed to who they are. And that's vastly interesting...but is sadly dropped. The show goes from showcasing Lafiel's interracial distance and Jinto's unfair discrimination to more action-oriented scenes and having Jinto "find his place." It's an awkward transition, mostly because the former thematic direction was well-crafted but is suddenly forgotten and replaced with a more general message.

ANIMATION

The best way to describe Crest of the Stars's art and animation would be a "mixed bag."

The art for the anime can be rather pleasant at times. The battleships, the star systems, the surface of planets; there are a multitude of different areas that are explored, each providing an appropriate mood for the given situation. The inside of the ships match the blue-hair of the Abh; outer space is dotted with stations and stars; and amusement parks, city streets, and forests are interspersed throughout the planets. At times, though, the anime uses this strange filter to give the effect of light or brightness that deters from the visuals rather than supports them.

The character designs follow a similar trend. The Abh are beautiful and regal, with their pale skin, sharp eyes, and distinctly blue hair. Lafiel fits this description, but always sporting her military outfit. Unless, of course, the situation demands a change. Jinto dons similar attire, with a white-and-red cloak, brown, parted hair, and various costume changes when appropriate. The largest issue comes from their often irregularly shaped heads and jaws. It can, like the filtering, be wholly distracting.

Actual animation is normally average to above-average. While there is a lot of talking and sitting -- at dinner tables, in a shuttle, or within a strategy room -- characters are usually moving or reacting to the words and sentences being said. Furthermore, the aforementioned battles demonstrate their prowess, with huge explosions, lasers, missiles, cruisers, and gunfire going off at all times.

CHARACTERS

Crest of the Stars, while involving space and war, is still an anime about our main duo: Jinto the Terran and Lafiel the Abh.

As a descendant of the Abh, and especially of the royal family line, Lafiel finds herself in a precarious position. Direct yet respectful, she can normally be quite ignorant of the emotions and customs of non-Abh people. This is easily attributed to her race; they are taught to "move forward" when making decisions, are usually apathetic towards other species, and keep themselves away from non-Abh prevalent areas. But due to her logical reasoning and knowledge of the rest of the galaxy, she is able to support Jinto through the first half of their perilous adventure. And while she finds that completing one's mission is admirable, she wishes she could do more. That is, she looks at herself as being "useless" in the grand scheme of things. The attack on Gosroth, fleeing from ships encircling the planet of Sufugnoff, getting exhausted from an absurd amount of running; despite demonstrating her prowess as a capable woman and an amazing friend, she still believes herself to be bringing those around her down, or at the minimum, not contributing enough to the efforts at hand. However, Jinto believes otherwise.

Jinto was born and raised, for a time, as human. However, following a betrayal by his father towards their home planet, Jinto technically became a nobleman in the Humankind Abh Empire. Extremely caring to those around him and rather witty, he often finds himself being "useless" as well. More so than anything else, he feels useless alongside Lafiel. Not being able to console her during times of grief, taken hostage, unable to man spacecraft; he's described as nothing more than a "commodity" that needs to be transported from one area to the next. But he moves from being the helped to the helper come the second half of the anime. This movement, where the roles are switched between Jinto and Lafiel, also occurs with a shift in location. They go from Abh-controlled territory to United Mankind dominion, and subsequently Jinto becomes the leader. And after having been the one in reliance and the one relied upon, he discovers that everyone goes through what he has. That people hold "strengths and weaknesses," that everyone is a "bird in a cage." Everyone needs aid from time to time, whether you're a noble count or a royal princess. It makes no difference, for when one's weaknesses are at play, he or she must lean on someone's strengths. In other words, someone else will bring the key, open that birdcage door, and set that bird free.

Looking at both Jinto and Lafiel, both here and within the anime, it becomes evident: they're "the same, but different." It's not just about him being a Terran and her being an Abh, it's in the way they carry themselves, how they're perceived, and what they know of their counterpart's culture. In short, they learn from each other over the course of the show. Jinto realizes the difference between killing and protecting, and that there are times when one has to face danger head on. For Lafiel, she comes to understand that the logical choice isn't always the correct path; sometimes you have to do what's right instead of what's right. Beyond learning from each other, they learn about each other, too. Their various customs, lore, and upbringings allow them to connect with one another more so than with anyone else they have known their entire lives. And that's what Crest of the Stars accomplishes: creating the start of a dichotomous, trusting, and loving relationship.

SOUND

The OP is quite orchestral in its composition. The track begins with hard drums and violins, leading into a fantastical arrangement with that strange feeling of space permeating it. With more trumpets, violins, and high and low points, the piece ends in mysterious fashion, making it a nice fit for the show at hand.

The ED is one of the most 90's songs I've listened to in quite a while. The slow piano and simple acoustic guitar playing fill the background initially. The vocalist is "by himself" for the first half, but when the second half kicks in, a common drum-and-cymbal beat appears alongside the, "I wanna fly away!" lyric. Coupled with the "oh-ohhh-oh" singing and its general slowness, it can actually be quite catchy to listen to.

The rest of the soundtrack mostly follows in the OP's footsteps. More space-like pieces filled with trickling instrumental effects and violins; flute and low-keyed piano ones during more tense situations; chimes, flutes, and violins in unison follow the more thoughtful moments; and guitar and drums when battles are underway. Each track fits well during the scenes in which they are played, but sadly, none are impressive on their own.

Voice-acting-wise, everyone involved performs in or around average. There are no special shout-outs to be had.

ENJOYMENT

With romance as my favorite genre, I went into this one expecting to see a good amount of it. But as it went on, and as was already detailed somewhat, it was not about romance; it was about leading up to romance. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It was great to see Jinto and Lafiel risking their lives to save one another on numerous occasions, despite having only met a few days prior. And honestly, anything beyond what they gave near the ending of the season would have been too much, and would have betrayed what the goal of the anime was. Which, reiterating once more, is starting their relationship. In the following seasons, I'll be awaiting to see their blossoming romance unfold.

The war and the fights, both in space and on land, were fun to watch at times, but not nearly as interesting as Jinto and Lafiel's dynamic. There, it would be funny at times, with Jinto making jokes with Lafiel and her being rather fun herself, despite her background.

As a final note, Dorin Ku, Jinto's only friend back on his planet of Delktoe, had a surprisingly well done segment; from his ten minutes of screen time alone, he was able to personify the epitome of "best friend." Which made it a shame to see him leave as quickly as he appeared. But as a final negative, there were too many "100 vs 2" moments, breaking some of the "reality" of the situations that took place.

Crest of the Stars is an anime featuring racial disparity, space wars, and an interesting couple. While the story and animation are lacking, the characters and music help to alleviate some of its shortcomings. But this is just the beginning of Jinto and Lafiel's relationship, and subsequently the beginning of the series. Hopefully, what is left in store will be able to pick up the slack.

SUMMARY

Story: Fine, "Spice and Wolf, in space," adequate world-building, weightless events, thematically lost

Animation: Fine, nice art style, weird filter, okay character designs, good actual animation

Characters: Good, Jinto and Lafiel begin their dichotomous, trusting, and loving relationship

Sound: Good, good OP, nice ED, good soundtrack, average VA work

Enjoyment: Fine, not enough romance to my liking, some fun writing here and there, they win too many clearly stacked battles

Final Score: 6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jul 21, 2019

literaturenerd

Not Recommended

Crest of the Stars is an odd anime. It's a grand scale Space Opera like Galactic Heroes, but it's very unique at the same time. It's famous, and in some circles infamous, for being the most elitist anime EVER made. Having watched Banner of the Stars and about 900 other anime, I can confirm this is likely true.

The word "elitism" gets tossed around MAL a lot. Anyone who thinks Evangelion and Texhnolyze are better than Angel Beats and Bleach gets called an "elitist" and soon self identifies that way. What actually is elitism?


Definition: Elitism is the belief or attitude that individuals who form an elite—a ... select group of people with a certain ancestry, intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructive to society as a whole, and therefore deserve influence or authority greater than that of others.


The vast majority of shows and directors who are called "elitist" don't fit the bill. Hideaki Anno is an otaku who loves Cutey Honey, suffers from depression, and takes an interest in human psychology. He isn't an elitist and his shows aren't elitist. Mamoru Oshii is a socialist, so that immediately rules him out. Masaki Yuasa is playful and eccentric, but hardly an elitist. If Galactic Heroes were truly an elitist series, Yang would be the villain and Rudolph von Goldenbaum would be portrayed as the hero. This of course is not the case.

So how does Banner of the Stars win this title? Banner is pro-colonialist, political diatribe set in space that tries to use Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morals" to prove that superior races should rule over inferior ones. Hoo boy!

In the future, humans use genetic engineering to create a master race of elves. The elves are more intelligent than humans, stronger, more beautiful, create better art, and create their own morality based on their superior Will to Power. The elves disdain democracy as a product of inferior peoples trying to drag down the strong, and the anime goes WAY out of its way to say the elves are 100% correct. While Galactic Heroes wishes to show the flaws and benefits of different government types, Banner of the Stars just wants to shove its message right down your throat.

The Elves believe it would benefit the humans to be ruled over as slaves, which is a point our main human character agrees with! The only humans that oppose the elves are simply jealous and "butthurt" that the elves are so much better than them. The humans suffer from a "Slave Morality" which is based on weakness, resentfulness, and jealousy. The Elves judge good or evil by the result. They create their own values. The humans judge good and evil by intent and irrational emotions. The humans call the conquering elves "evil", merely because the elves being superior hurts their fee fees. The Slave Morality doesn't seek to create value, merely to drag down the superior to their level. In essence, anything the Masters stand for becomes "evil".

While this series is certainly bold and shocking, I don't feel it adds anything of value to anime. It's a very simplistic, teenage surface reading of Nietzsche to push a frankly disgusting political agenda. The characters are as interesting as cardboard cut outs, and the animation is just meh. The production values are the only reason I didn't give this a 1. I'm a very fair critic.

Banner of the Stars is basically what would happen if Legend of the Galactic Heroes was written by William Luther Pierce...and then was boring as fuck on top of it. At least the script writer went on to write Witch Hunter Robin...which is just boring. At least Robin wasn't stomach churning, cringey, AND boring. The director hasn't worked on much else, but at least he went on to direct Shin Cutie Honey, the 90s reboot with the massive tits.


If you're interested in subversive art, I guess you could give this a try. On a technical scale it isn't that bad, because Sunrise agreed to make it for some unknown reason. How the hell do I end a review of the farthest right anime ever made? Well...I guess I could bring out the dead memes. (Disgusted Chinese Man) Banner of the Stars...It's just so tiresome!"

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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