Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Arata naru Tatakai no Overture

At the time of watching "Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War", I had already gone through the first couple of seasons of the "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" main series. "Overture to a New War" tells the events leading up to the Battle of Astate shown at the beginning of the series, as well as the battle itself. I didn't watch it prior to the series because I like to watch things in release order rather than chronological order. It had taken me quite while to get into the series (roughly the whole first season in fact), and I'd always wondered ... whether this was due to my lofty expectations of it getting in the way of my enjoyment, or whether the first season just wasn't very good. In "Overture to a New War", I've found my answer.

I had NO problems getting into this movie - it's everything that the start of the main series should have been.

[Note: coming from the point of view of watching it in order of release, I'll be making some references to the first season of the main series, so there might be spoilers ahead]

While movies that re-tell parts of series usually condenses the story and ups the tempo to make it more suitable for the format, "Overture to a New War" does exactly the opposite - it expands upon the beginning of the series and takes its sweet time in building up to the Battle of Astate which the series dived straight into. And what a difference this build up makes - by introducing the characters more gradually and spending time fleshing them out, the show becomes far more engrossing, and gives viewers a reason to care about the characters who were given what felt like random cameos in the series. In essence, it's a different approach to the story telling. The main series started off much more plot driven, and felt hurried and unseemly in its haste to introduce the 9872 characters in its cast and get the plot going - much of the first season felt like one massive set up for later events. In contrast, "Overture to a New War" is more character driven, and is far better for it.

The first part of the movie, concerning the build up to the Battle of Astate, is new material, and it's particularly good. In fact, it's actually better than the second half that concerns the battle itself. Though the second half is also much improved as a remake, it's dragged down by mostly the same things that dragged down the Battle of Astate in the main series - some parts of the battle are just to stupid to be believable, especially with some of the inexplicable school boy errors that the commanders on the alliance side makes. Though most of these stupid points still exist in "Overture to a New War", it at least spent some time showing the thought processes behind the strategies, even though the idea of spreading your fleets so wide that they can't even support each other (the empire's fleet even managed to find time to take a long nap in between engaging two alliance fleets) still seems to me like an extraordinarily stupid mistake to make for military high commanders.

Another benefit of this build up is that the tragedies during the battle are now meaningful. In particular, there is one specific death scene that is given a much greater weight thanks to the build up. Of course, it also helps that they sensibly changed the manner of his death - in the series, he got impaled by a massive lump of rock-like thing, which looked so ridiculous it reduced the death scene to a joke.

I'd like to talk a bit about the characters now, as this is arguably the biggest improvement that "Overture to a New War" brings to the table. The series took a long time to bring to life the cardboard characters it started with - and in fact many of the characters never make this transition - but in "Overture to a New War", they feel alive to begin with. In addition to simply polishing existing dialogues and characterisation, they also added minute details here and there which made the character feel much more real. One example of this is the scene where Yang clenches his fists and crushes a paper cup as he worries about his comrade - a simple gesture that sets him far apart from the overly desensitised Yang shown in the first OVA "My Conquest is the Sea of Stars". Another example - and this is probably my favourite scenes this movie - is when Reinhard does a handstand in his sisters lawn. This simple action spoke volumes of his change of mood when visiting his sister. Also, for the first time, it occurred to me how young he was - a youth of about 18 or 19, it's the only time I've seen this normally cold and impassive character display the silly, playful tendencies of his age. This creates one hell of a contrast to the person he becomes later on, a contrast that's not so obvious in the series. Watching a rare moment where Reinhard and Siegfried lets themselves go, I couldn't help but feel that the two of them could have achieved anything together - the chemistry there was just so strong. These examples just goes to show that a few extra, subtle touches can make a world of difference.

The villains too, have benefited from the improved characterisation. In the main series, most of them are obvious jackasses, often acting like kids throwing tantrums. In this movie, their behaviours are given more restraint, and because of this they come across more convincingly as schemers rather than clowns.

"Overture to a New War" has also improved vastly in the sound department. The deployment of classical music comes across as much more thoughtful compared to the haphazard, lazy approach taken in the first OVA and earlier part of the main series. If I have one complaint to make - and it's a minor one - it would be the use of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" for a death scene. It's a ridiculously popular, sentimental piece, and using it there comes off as a little too unimaginative and- dare I say, cliched? "Overture to a New War" shows a maturity in its execution not just through its use of sound, but also through its use of LACK of sound. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is the bitterweet one at Lap's celebratory drinks after his successful proposal to Jessica. In this scene, they muted the dialogue, and the narration is gently guided by the imagery and the background music. This left much to the imagination, and it achieves its purpose probably better than any dialogue could have.

If "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" had been directed in a similar fashion to "Overture to a New War", I probably would have embraced it with open arms from the start. By paying attention to HOW it tells the story instead of just the story itself, by fleshing out the character instead of just introducing them, "Overture to a New War" succeeds where the main series falls flat for long periods. It's engaging, subtle, and possesses an effortless grace that the show had always yearned for. It's just BETTER.

LOGH has been rated really high on this site for a long time. When I first came to MAL I was interested in watching more great anime, so LOGH being so highly rated was one of the first animes added to my plan to watch list. I never really got to it though because I wasn't sure how good it was going to be since it was pretty old and long 110 episodes. Now that I finally watched it, I can say that LOGH is truly deserving of that high rating and mabey even more.
Even though I watched the series first (which is why I ... was confused for the first few episodes), I reccommend watching in this order. I believe this order will enhance the viewers enjoyment and experience.
LOGH My conquest is the Sea Of the Stars
LOGH Overture to a New War
LOGH 110 OVA (The Main Series)
LOGH Gaiden 1 and 2.

Okay now on to My Review Finally.

LOGH Overture to a New War is a movie that is a better detailed version of the first 2 episodes of the main series. The Plot Is about two military Leaders (Reinhard Von Lohengram and Yang Wen-li) from Different sides, overcomming obstacles within their own side while at the same time battling each other in strategic space warfare. The movie also has more background information leading into the main series.

The Story I gave 10 even though I didn't offer much detail on the plot, because I didn't want to spoil anything. The story is really good, it has great view in politcs and war. It also has great action and very intelligent battles. The story itself is very Intelligent

I gave a 10 to the art and animation of the movie because first of all it is better than the series animation. It looks more new and clean than the main series. The characters and spaceships are well drawn and so are cities and places.

Sound I give a 10 the movie sounds really good and has great classical music that goes well with the movie. They time the music really well with what is happening at the time. They also have great voice actors in the movie and series.

Characters are amazing in the movie and the series. You will see yourself likeing charcters from both sides and not know who you are rooting for to come out alive or win. The charcters get well developed in this movie but you can tell there is still room for more developing after the movie which makes the movie so great.

I enjoyed the movie alot its one of those movies you can watch over and over. Its a real good introduction to the series and some of the main characters.

Overall Its a epic movie and I believe if you give it a try you will enjoy it, especially space opera fans.

Story: 9
Overture to a New War is both a prequel to the OVA (doing its best to bridge the first film, My Conquest is the Sea of Stars to the OVA) and a remake of its first two episodes which depict the Battle of Astarte. The prequel parts give insight to supporting characters who were only given a few mentions/appearances and what relationships they have with the main characters. On both sides, an important message to take away from this arc of the greater story is old ideas holding the new generation back. Several times on the Imperial side, we hear talk about the theory ... vs practice, and higher ups deliberately holding Reinhard back due to various agendas associated with the aristocracy. On the alliance side, we see both Yang and Lap being victims of old ideas, but the message on how they are overcome differs slightly from the OVA.

Art: 10
We see the Battle of Astarte reanimated in gorgeous widescreen and all the ships have even intricate details and greebling. Character design and animation is on point; noses are present, they're proportioned like adult humans, and a lot of work must go into making the hair wavy and lifelike.

Sound: 10
Great pieces by the likes of Wagner, Chopin Mozart and more accompany the animation and work particularly well during the aforementioned Battle of Astarte. However, probably one of the greatest use of classical music in anime is the diegetic use of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in a very heartbreaking scene.

Character: 10
In the remake scenes, the biggest change is Lap. His new, alternate depiction here is by no means a replacement for the very minor depiction he had in the OVA, it instead serves to complement it. He shares Yang's ideas and he is also held back by his fleet's Vice Admiral. In the OVA, we are lead to believe a lack of conviction to get his strategy applied seals his fate (also dramatic in the movie, but in a very different way). In this movie, he is much more confrontational with his Vice Admiral but the actions he does take are ultimately useless.

Enjoyment: 9
An amazing audiovisual experience that cinematically tells important messages.
It does not replace, but complements to the OVA's first two episodes.

Overall: (9+10+10+10+9)/5 = 9.6 rounds up to 10

English is not my language.

Contains minor spoilers.

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This is very overrated.

I watched the 2018 remake and felt like it could have potential, but I remember almost nothing because it was so rushed and uninteresting. So I decided to watch this movie which is a remake of the first two episodes to motivate myself to watch the 110 OVA episodes. Guess what? This movie just made me make a point of never wasting my time watching 110 episodes of Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu, as much as Yang and Reinhard might be interesting characters (that were wasted in 01:30:00 with a war that lasts a long time and ... the reason was not explained).

What bothers me the most is the fact that the war does not have a reason, the war simply exists. Seriously, in one minute of dialogue it would be possible to explain why this war has been going on for so long. It is senseless to make a work about war, where the war is only happening because it is.
And no, I will not watch 110 episodes just to hope that at some point this will be explained. Because it is the work's obligation to make the reason for the war clear right at the beginning.

Another thing that bothered me:
Lad, Yang's friend likes Jessica, but she apparently doesn't like him. Why did she agree to marry him? It was not explained. She even cries while dancing with Yang (and it looks like a cry of regret). She clearly likes Yang, and he apparently likes her too.
It's funny how simple things have no explanation and happen because they do.
And no, I'm not going to watch 110 episodes just to hope that at some point this will be explained. They introduced it in the movie, and I wanted explanation in the movie. And even with explanation, I probably wasn't going to accept the fact that she cries (a cry that is apparently one of regret) for agreeing to marry someone she apparently doesn't like to the point of getting married.

One more thing that bothered me:
The battles in the war.
Seriously, there are 60,000 ships battling, but only one or two are blown up and highlighted.
Why exaggerate the number of ships when there is no highlight? This is clearly to try to make it more grandiose than it should be.
The war happens, but it is all so poorly elaborated and without emphasis on one of the most important things that it is stupid.
And the strategies were not as genius as many people say they are.




There is a scene where Reinhard tells Sieg to send a letter to Yang on his behalf, and from one scene to the next, Yang is already holding the letter. Seriously, how is this? Right in space, at the end of a pointless battle he receives a letter out of the blue, without even showing how it was received.

The technical part isn't bad, but it's not so good for a movie either. But that doesn't bother me.
The character design is very good, especially the female design, which is so beautiful.


It's ironic how Reinhard talks about Yang's training towards the end of the fight being pointless, whereas the whole movie is pointless for the simple fact that the war just happens without having a reason explained.

I really wish I had enjoyed this to go see the 110 episodes that it is so acclaimed for, but I won't even waste my time with this piece of work.

Overture to a New War is the best film of the three, but not by much. Following in the footsteps of Golden Wings, this movie is yet another retelling of events seen in the show but takes the opportunity to flesh out familiar characters' relationships and roles in the Battle of Astarte. It's great for viewers watching chronologically or by release date because of this.

This movie has the soul of the original series, and not just because it retells the first two episodes. Lap, Jessica, and Yang have a complex friendship with each other. Lap is like Yang's Kircheis; they share a one mind ... with Lap being Yang's moral compass. Both are both in love with Jessica but Lap is dating her. There's a beautiful scene without any dialog in the first act where we see how deep their emotions are with each other explaining why the tension exists later between Yang and Jessica when they reunite after the battle. Yang's story moving forward is primarily his relationship with Lap leading up to the fateful Battle of Astarte. But you can't have Yang Wenli prominently featured in the movie and not have his political observations on the shortcomings of a democratically run military. Reinhard's story is the same as the first two episodes without any meaningful additions I noticed. He's facing opposition within the military hierarchy because of his age and lack of experience. He proves himself at the Battle of Astarte with a special focus on Fahrenheit and Merkatz's opinion of the young Commander. Overture to a New War also plants seeds for viewers watching the series next by introducing them to Reinhard's primary antagonist for the first season; admittedly, it's difficult to notice as it's a single scene since chronological viewers won't know who he is yet. Yang's story was far more interesting, but Reinhard's is high quality as well.

A strength and weakness of Legend of the Galactic Heroes is the sheer amount of characters being followed with Overture to a New War being no different. Lap and Jessica get a significant amount of development, something desperately needed for watching the first season. Lap is a relatively shallow character, mostly defined by his love for Jessica. Jessica herself had a little more depth because of her closeness with Yang. Yang, Reinhard, and Kircheis are their usual selves. All three are entertaining, intelligent, and keeping the story moving. Reinhard's job during the movie is to keep the plot progressing through the Battle of the Astarte facing his own opposition from the old fashioned Admirals. My favorite parts of the movie are the little character moments. Fahrenheit realizing Reinhard knows what he's talking about, Lap and Yang saying goodbye to Jessica, Yang thinking of Julian when he sees a heavily injured soldier, and more carry the spirit of the franchise. In such a massive story we need these tiny moments to humanize the characters, something I think is done incredibly well.

The technical aspects of the movie meet my expectations set by the original series. Even though it came out in 1993, it looks like it came out in 1988. No improvements were made whatsoever in terms of animation. It's slightly blurry, space battles were sinply done, and characters look like they were pulled directly from the first season. Golden Wings may have changed the character designs too much, but at least the animation was improved overall. I can't say that about Overture to a New War. It makes me question if this was made around the time if season one but never released for some reason. In terms of sound, the voice actors all reprised their usual roles and the music was reminiscent of Star Wars. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is obviously inspired by Star Wars, but that aside, the music sounded like it was ripped directly from its western counterpart. Brassy fanfare was used throughout the film instead of the usual classical themes. While I like the idea behind music being changing, I definitely prefer the original score. Classical music is leagues better for the beautiful tragedy playing out before us.

I enjoyed my time watching this movie. It's good for viewers new and old and is a natural addition to the franchise. Small character moments steal the show, but it's always fun to see some of the flashier battleground strategy from Reinhard and Kircheis. I'm glad Lap finally got some characterization to flesh out Yang's actions throughout season one. Animation is worse than I expected and the music is derivative of Star Wars. If you're watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes then you should definitely watch this movie. If this is your first time ever hearing about this franchise, start somewhere else.

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 8.5/10
Art: 6/10
Sound: 9/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Overall: 7.9/10