So about the series. Everything is technically there, it covers the first book in the novel series, which mostly serves as a set-up to the rest of the story. We get to know Yang Wen-li and Reinhard von Lohengram, who are both enticing characters and serve as a good contrast of major actors in the war between the Free Planets Alliance and Galactic Empire.
The ups of the show are, that the world-building is there, the main characters are established finely and the initial skirmishes between the Free Planets Alliance and the Empire are interesting and fairly enough sharper-looking and more action-packed, than the rigid old-school animation of the original series.
I also get a kick out of the odd pronounciation of german names. Most notably Siegfried Kircheis. Originaly his last name comes from Kirche (Church), which pronounces with an (x), but I guess the translators with their english phonetical systems have associated the character more with Kirsche (cherry) and decided to rename him into Kirscheis -> Kir-Scheiß. Scheiße is german for sh*t, childish I know.
The downs are mostly related to how short the series is and how it doesn't cover the more exciting parts of the whole story yet. Various characters get introduced, but don't serve as much more than fan-service for the fans of the franchise to recognize them, since their stories are still far from being told at this point. I'm also not the biggest fan of the aesthetic choices in this. The bishounen artstyle is of course a no-brainer given the anime-times we are in, but just isn't how I would prefer for the characters to look like (In all fairness a lot of the characters looked pretty feminine in the original series as well). The soundtrack is a bit of a step-down as well, most notably I am no fan of the opening, which sounds oddly similair to Starship's "We Can Build This Dream Together" to me. The english voice acting was mostly good, I was a bit bothered by Frederica Greenhill though. Her voice had a pleasant sound and I'm sure the voice actress can do good in other roles, but she seemed kind of stiff in this.
Ultimately, it's a competent product, but I would still recommend just watching the old version over this.
Plot: ☆☆
Characters: ☆☆
Art: ☆☆
Soundtrack: ☆
Final Score: 7/10
