Seikai no Monshou

(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

Science-fiction has got to be one of my favourite genres. Some of my most beloved books are sci-fi, and it doesn't take much sifting through them to figure out what I like. I love the meshing of human and alien cultures; seeing how they interact with one another and how they compare and contrast is one of the most fascinating parts of those sort of books, in my opinion. Spaceship battles take a back seat – while they can be interesting, I have to be invested in the characters first. That's what psychology and the glimpse of a well-written and imagined society give me: grounds ... to care for the characters, relate to them, and become concerned for their fates. So when I heard that Seikai no Monshou, or Crest of the Stars if you prefer the English title, combined science-fiction, politics, and romance, naturally, I was sold. Unfortunately, the end result proved to not be so captivating.

The series follows the main protagonist, Jinto, and his tribulations as he deals with becoming a nobleman of the Abh empire despite being a regular human. For the sake of simplicity, the Abh are basically space elves, although it's stated that they were descended from humans many years before. The second protagonist is Lafiel, a princess of the Abh empire and a full-blooded Abh herself. Naturally, one predicts they'll get together, but this is presumably reserved for later seasons. This one mainly focuses on the pair as they find themselves in the middle of a war between the Abh empire and an anti-Abh sect of humans.

Jinto is a scholarly, reserved young man looking to fit in; Lafiel is a blunt but honourable young woman who also wishes to fit in. Both feel incompetent or useless in their respective societies and circles. As such, they are similar yet dissimilar, and that ought to be more than enough grounds for their interactions to be compelling and interesting. Unfortunately, they aren't; the way Seikai no Monshou pans out, their actions and turmoils are highly insignificant in comparison to anything else. I'm left feeling dysphoric and completely uninterested in what Lafiel and Jinto are doing – even bored. I usually have no problem whatsoever with slow pacing; indeed, I hardly notice it unless it is pointed out to me. Seikai no Monshou's pacing is almost as painful as trying to swim in molasses, and left me yawning distractedly as I wondered when the episode would end.

One of the main problems the series has is that we have little to no reason to empathize with the main characters, partially because we hardly know anything about them. They simply react to the situations they are put into; as viewers, we feel detached from the action. To make matters worse, the anime pushes too many ideologies and too much information on us to be realistically manageable. This is usually achieved by a narrator at the start of each episode, reciting some explanations or historically significant event that seems, at the very best, loosely connected to the episode itself. I have no problem with politics and intrigue; in fact, I think it can be fascinating if done well, but Seikai no Monshou makes no effort to connect us to the information it is spewing at us.

Let's get a book as an example, shall we? C.J. Cherryh's First Contact series is, in a superficial way, similar to Seikai no Monshou (part of the reason I was so eager to start the anime in the first place). The books are centred around a human male protagonist and his experiences and trials as he learns to coexist in a completely alien culture. Politics play a large role in this series, but it is interesting, because the main character is involved and affected by the goings on around him. Not to mention, he's also a pretty capable politician. Seikai no Monshou doesn't do this. Instead of making the main characters a part of the intrigue, allowing us to learn with them and make connections with events ourselves, we are treated to a cheap form of exposition that does nothing at all to make us empathize or sympathize with, well, anyone, really. There is far too much “telling” me things, and not enough “showing”.

Luckily, episodes 9 and up are far more interesting and engaging than the previous ones. The sole reason for this is that Lafiel and Jinto actually get a bit of a breather and are able to interact with one another. In addition, they commingle with other people and have to figure out how to survive on a planet occupied by an army who does not like Abhs. That isn't to say that they didn't interact with people before; it's just that the majority of them were Abhs, and most of the interactions took place in spaceships. The problem, then, is that Abhs just aren't very interesting. I considered if this was because the Abhs can be thought of as quite “alien” and thus inaccessible, since they think vastly different from us lowly humans. However, upon further examination, I realized that this was simply not true. Plenty forms of fiction can make aliens different and perfectly strange, but still interesting. Thus, one's indifference to the Abh race can only be constituted as a product of poor writing.

Despite all this, when the anime skips all the dreary exposition, the battles in space that just feel like a time filler, and the dull character interactions, it can actually be pretty good. It does a decent job of building up a general idea of the atmosphere in the first two episodes, and, as stated before, the final four to five episodes are truly enjoyable and do make me more interested in the rest of the series. Overall, though, it would be best not to get your hopes up too much. It's a childish and draggy show at its core. Hopefully, the remaining seasons will redeem it. Since the anime was adapted from novels, I imagine that they handle the topic and plot far better.

Seikai no Monshou's soundtrack is quite good. Composed by Katsuhisa Hattori, it is very orchestral in nature and feels very “classical”. The opening theme is especially worth mentioning; it is a purely instrumental piece that is very pleasing to the ear and gets you excited for the episode to come, at least for the first couple times you hear it. The rest of the soundtrack, while more than satisfactory, tends to feel out of place in the grand scheme of things. It's rather as if the anime tries to feel more epic and sophisticated than it actually is. The ending theme is highly reminiscent of a ballad. Called Ushinawareta Aozora and performed by TimeSlip-Rendzvous, I personally wasn't too fond of it, but it's an acceptable bit of music. As for the voice actors, I didn't particularly find vexation with any of them, but I wasn't blown away, either.

Sunrise's artwork is honestly very hit-or-miss. The colours are typically bland and not all that eye-catching. There are scenes where the drawings are beautiful, but those are fairly few. More often than not, the characters look awkward, overly kiddish (and by that, I mean the art makes it seem like the anime's demographic is six year olds), or just plain deformed. The spaceship designs are pretty nice, though. Simply put, the art does its job, and while it's mediocre at times, it can occasionally impress.

Overall, Seikai no Monshou is an acceptable science-fiction show, and while it certainly won't have you on the edge of your seat, it's all right if you want to whet your appetite for aliens. What it doesn't offer is strong character relationships or an interesting plot, but it's all right for what it does. You could certainly do worse. Who knows, it might be the prelude to a truly epic tale that blows all the competition right out of the water – but for now, it's a pretty lacklustre start for the series as a whole. Tentatively recommended.

Crest of the Stars is a tale of futuristic fighting between two factions: the "alien" race of the Abh and mankind. The Abh aren't necessarily alien as they are enhanced humans - they have altered genes that give them prominent features such as longer youth and blue hair. They were originally intended to be "living machines" to mankind but soon found independence on a space voyage for new planets to inhabit. They follow a imperial system, with influential families having elaborate names and taking top positions in the economy or military. Humans are split into 4 differ factions that ultimately make the United Mankind. A ... majority of the ones shown in the anime carry a grudge against the Abh. This is due to the fact that the Abh have gone from rebels seeking independence to galaxy conquerors. The Abh have military and economic dominion over the United Mankind. Now, in an ironic move, mankind seeks freedom and independence from those that wanted their independence. Despite this seeming like a good start for a story, the anime does not focus on the huge war taking place. The effects and some small fighting moments are shown, but they are not the main story. Instead, it takes a more personal look at two characters caught up in this war: Jinto and Lafiel.

Jinto is a young boy who is the son of the Hyde star system's president. His father, Rock Lin, made a shady deal as their world was taken over by the Abh: rather than fight the invaders, he opted to become the territorial lord. This by effect made Jinto Abh nobility. Seven years after this event, he is on his way to a military college in the Abh's capital where he meets Lafiel. Lafiel also carries social influence - born in the Abriel family, she is a princess and the granddaughter of the Abh's empress. She currently works as a flying trainee trying to work her way up in the military. The anime follows the two trying to reach their destination only to be sidetracked by the war taking place - their tale turns from one of an escort mission to that of survival.

Their personalities, as you would expect, are quite different from another. Jinto is more relaxed and calm, while Lafiel is serious and straightforward. The two protagonists form an interesting dynamic with each other. Due to her military experience, Lafiel is sharp when it comes to controlling ships or coming up with a strategic plan. Jinto is more aware of social cues and is able to help them keep a low profile in enemy territory or ease a tense situation. With personality traits like these, they have good chemistry with each other (that also hints at a bit of romance). The moments where they are alone and discuss what to do next are some of the better moments in the series. The talk may be a bit more formal, but their conversations always have a friendly delivery with each other that feels natural for them. Had this show been a character study in a more low-key setting, it would make for a great series.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Crest of the Stars still seeks to be a space opera full of grand bombast and wonder despite focusing mainly on two characters. Mixed between the relationship of Jinto and Lafiel are battle scenes and side characters that ultimately fall flat. This is due to not enough time being put on these elements. A show can't achieve a full complex environment in only 13 episodes and still spend a majority of its time on its two leads - some elements will have to be cut. This results in many of the dire circumstances feeling like "misadventures", such as when they are "held captive" by the Baron Klowal. Rather than fear for our heroes, I was ultimately watching as to when they will escape because of the lack of tension. The battles that Laimsairh and Spoor, two of the Abh ship leaders in the war, are involved in have no weight because we hardly know the opponent they're fighting. Additionally, because they interact so sparingly with the main two, it feels like episode fluff rather than seeing a smart or flashy military battle. Crest of the Stars wants to be a space opera but in reality is a romanticized adventure.

Character wise, Lafiel is fine due to her straight shooter attitude, but Jinto can be a bit questionable at times. I at first (and still mostly do) found him to be a breath of fresh air in terms of a lead. He's not the manliest guy, but he doesn't overreact or make a big deal of the scene around him, making him more human than cartoon. This goes a bit too far in situations where there IS something to worry about - in other words, he underreacts. In scenes where death should be lurking around his corner, he is strangely calm and makes lighthearted remarks. I can give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's near fearless, but his relaxed attitude makes it so any scene wanting to be intense feels deflated. The other characters are eclipsed by these two, so characters that could be interesting like the ones in Marca's group or Laimsairh are sadly sidelined.

In more general terms, the Abhs and mankind are also characters that can be faulted, but this is more of the way the show presents them instead of who they actually are. Some stories have very simple sides to choose (heroes vs. villains) while other stories like to show each side has mixed morals and ultimately either side is right in their means. Crest of the Stars wants to do both, trying to throw cries of independence and goodwill at both sides while making the humans have a more negative appearance (lying, violent propaganda) while the Abhs have a more positive appearance (graceful appearance, gentle yet firm speech). If this were a political piece, surely the audience would lambast this as strawmanning. Even the narrator's opening shifts sides, starting with an overview of the world before telling twisted tales of the Good Samaritan to bolster the Abhs. Though there's an argument for this show being imperial propaganda, I don't think it's as much imperial propaganda as much as it is bad directing/storytelling. It's much easier to write simple sides than to give each side its own reason for being good. Even shows like LoGH fall victim to this, albeit they do it in much less of a "kneejerk" way. Again, a lesser scope or more episodes can avoid this. Sadly, this is the end result.

These last two issues are not as dire as the first (to me, it's worse to be not invested in a show than anything else), but are still some faults of the show. Of course, all of these faults could ultimately be due to the adaptation. The novels the anime was based on won a Seiun Award, an honor given to the best Japanese science fiction works of the year. The novels may carry more detail than what the anime can show, so perhaps it needed 2 cours to fully show off its potential.

Visually, the animation is fine. It can come off as a bit on the budget side at times, but it looks decent in motion (especially in the faster paced-scenes). Adding to this is the good use of multi-tone shading, an older tradition that looks as great now as it did then. The character models can look a bit strange at times, with an odd curve in their skull (this is most apparent in Seelnay's appearance) but it stays consistent and there's really no off-models with the look. The soundtrack is very good, with big string sections and pleasant tracks giving the right mood to each scene. The ED, "Ushinawareta Aozora", is a catchy, nostalgic sounding sing-along and works great alongside the pictures of the two protagonists growing up. The voice acting is fine for what the show gives us - it's a formal setting, so formal voices are to be expected. A bit more passion from Jinto would and a slightly less annoying voice for Seelnay would be preferred, but they all do a good job playing their roles.

Overall, I give Crest of the Stars a 5.5 out of 10. The truth is that Crest of the Stars cannot do anything Legend of the Galactic Heroes does better in the space opera genre. A show like LoGH covers a wider and more detailed look at politics, tactics and human behavior than Crest of the Stars does, even within its first 13 episodes. A made-up language and fancy names can only distract a viewer so long. Crest of the Stars might be liked if you want something more romantic, but otherwise I would avoid unless you are an avid fan of the genre tags.

Do you like or dislike this anime? If you haven't watched it, are you encouraged to watch it or not? Leave a comment on my profile telling me what you think of the anime and/or my review.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

Crest of the stars is less sci fi and more romance comedy without the romance and without the comedy (very poor attempts anyway). The two main characters are unlikable entitled nobles with a typical archetypical strong female lead and an beta male. Ship and art design is decent enough. Those that are fans of legends of galactic heroes will be disappointed in the poor characters and there lack of development in this one. I kept waiting for the anime to pick up or get better and it never did. The two main characters are excruciating to listen to them have a conversation and will ... make you cringe in agony. Story had potential setup but unfortunately it the series consisted of 10 percent story and 90 percent two main characters flirting badly. I even tried watching the first two episodes of banner of the stars to see if it would get any better, and unfortunately it didn't. This is a skip.