Rating: 
Summary: an interesting series
Review: an interesting story with excellent character development. very detailed history and background - the creator even invented his own entire language and alphabet. i couldn't help sensing an anomalous feel to the series - i wonder if this is because of the different histories and cultures between Japan and US. perhaps something at work on a subconscious level. also, there is a gentle bittersweetness to the series. i believe it's based upon an author's first novel, so there may have been very personal experiences and observations intertwined into the context and background of the story. you can enjoy it at whatever level you want. dive deep or swim shallow. it's good regardless.
Rating:
Summary: an interesting series
Review: an interesting story with excellent character development. very detailed history and background - the creator even invented his own entire language and alphabet. i couldn't help sensing an anomalous feel to the series - i wonder if this is because of the different histories and cultures between Japan and US. perhaps something at work on a subconscious level. also, there is a gentle bittersweetness to the series. i believe it's based upon an author's first novel, so there may have been very personal experiences and observations intertwined into the context and background of the story. you can enjoy it at whatever level you want. dive deep or swim shallow. it's good regardless.
Rating: 
Summary: a kind of space opera, growing and understanding.
Review: Based on a Japanese SF novel 'sekai-no-monsho' by Hiroyuki Morioka, this anime series focuses on the adventure and journey of Jinto and Lafiel.Jinto's father has sold out his home planet becuase of his ambition when the Humankind Empire Abh sieged the planet. Jinto is sent to serve Abh fleet for the degree of a nobility. Lafiel is a granddaughter of Emperor of the Humankind Empire Abh. The 'Abh' is not human in fact, they are descendant from humanoid enhanced by DNA operation for efficient action in space. When the war has broken up between Abh and other humans nations, Jinto and Lafiel escaped from the cruiser 'Basroile'. In their journey to escape from battlefield, understanding and reliance grows between two characters. scenes of fleet battle, some action scenes, little comedy. some tastes of shoujo SF anime also.
Rating: 
Summary: Kin of the Stars
Review: Crest of the Stars. I've seen a few anime in my time, but this one is different in several respects from your average anime show. For starters, it's the slowest moving anime I have ever seen. Things that would happen in one episode in another series happen in two or three episodes here. And while there IS action (space battles and shootouts) they are few and far between. Nor is the plot very complex or mind-blowing in nature. What makes this series engaging is characterization and attention to detail. Many of the characters say and do things that leave you wondering just what they are actually thinking. For instance, the first episodes have everyone saying that Jinto's father sold out his planet and betrayed everyone. Yet, what we see onscreen and what people later say about it suggests the opposite. Was Jinto's father really saving his planet from total destruction? And what of the Abh? Are they ruthless, heartless people of destruction, or a misunderstood race capable of great loyalty and kindness? I don't know. I may have to see this series quite a few times to figure everything out. If you want something to sink your teeth into intellectually, this series is it. Technically, this is also a very interesting series. The music is a beautiful orchestral masterpiece. The animation ranges from very good to breath-taking. But the English dub of the voices doesn't match the characters very well. And even in the excellent Japanese dub, the lip-synching is ocassionally so far off it becomes distracting. And then there is the Japanese text. At the beginning of the series, it seems like it's everywhere. At times you'll have Japanese text with English text on top, and it feels a bit overwhelming (on tv they put a black blank on top of the Japanese text so it wouldn't distract). So all in all, I recommend this series to hard-core sci-fi fans and die-hard anime fans looking for something different and having the patience for a show that's isn't full of action and violence, but instead relies on old-fashioned character development. I look forward to the next season.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty much hooked....
Review: First word that comes to mind about this series: slow, slow, slow. HOWEVER, it is different from faster paced anime and I appreciate that. It is as though you are watching every minute of Jinto's life, but you're not. This method really captures the obvious differences and misunderstanding of each race. It also seems to let you marinate in the moment. The jumping back in time gets rather choppy, but it does add to the suspense of Jinto's past.
Jinto seems to be a typical anime boy character (young, innocent, humble, reluctant hero, father issues). He does grow on you. The Abh girl, Lafiel has that predictable sweet charm, yet determination to prove herself. I rather enjoyed how they portrayed the sophisticated Abh race. They have an appealing nature about them that leaves you wanting to learn more about them.
The dubbed English is not too bad and the characters are very interesting. The intro is odd, but bearable. Some scenes are a bit painful to watch since everything seems to be going at such a slow pace.
Overall, I found myself intrigued and willing to finish out the series. Highly recommend to someone who wants to broaden their horizons.
Rating:
Summary: Crest of the Stars
Review: Full of sence of wonder, an atmospheric sci-fi adventure in every detail. Specially its linguistic creation only can be compared with Quenja in "the Lord of the Rings".
Rating:
Summary: A Sleeper Hit!
Review: I didn't know naything about this anime until I visited Otakon 2001. We saw a badge of it and decided to check it out. Wow was all I can say. I have only seen the first dics, but I can see this is going to be a great series. The art is amazing, and is complemented by a good story and wonderfulc characters. It isn't just another sci-fi anime, but is more like a sci-fi novel. I can't wait till I can get my hand on the rest of it. I hear the movie Birth is good too, but I am going to watch the series first. Definatly worth picking up.
Rating:
Summary: A Sleeper Hit!
Review: I didn't know naything about this anime until I visited Otakon 2001. We saw a badge of it and decided to check it out. Wow was all I can say. I have only seen the first dics, but I can see this is going to be a great series. The art is amazing, and is complemented by a good story and wonderfulc characters. It isn't just another sci-fi anime, but is more like a sci-fi novel. I can't wait till I can get my hand on the rest of it. I hear the movie Birth is good too, but I am going to watch the series first. Definatly worth picking up.
Rating:
Summary: Well... Hmm...
Review: I haven't been able to decide if I like this series yet. I agree with previous reviewers that the series has good potential. I like some of the art. I like many of the concepts. Yet, this first disc left me somewhat cold. Neither the dubbing nor the subtitling seemed to fit very well to what was going on, at times. The voice acting was, on occasion, atrocious (e.g., the blonde woman near the beginning of the first ep, who explains that the Abh are pretty much elves); but the English subtitling seemed off-key somehow, too. There is very little action in the first eps; and I was confused by the fact that many of the scenes seemed to have a sort of filmy filter over them. I decided later that these were flashforward scenes; but I'm still not sure if I've guessed this correctly. For instance, the first ep opens with a space battle taking place, but it seems to have no bearing whatsoever on the plot. The cliffhanger at the end of the disc's last episode, however, seems to have many of the same scenes and situations. Also, there is a short scene involving what looks like a nuclear attack on the hero's homeworld, which certainly seems to be a flashforward (I recall that it is even presented in some sort of ironic contrast to the material surrounding it). The flashforward motif makes sense, given that the hero is narrating the whole thing from some point in the future. I only wish I could be more sure that this was the proper interpretation. Well, that's anime, I guess.<g> Normally I try to grade a book or film primarily on objective criteria, and less on my own subjective response. But the objective criteria seems to be cancelling each other out on this one, so I'm left with my gut reaction which is, "Eh..." (and a <shrug>). On the other hand, I have pre-ordered the next two discs in the series. Whether I end up actually buying installment 3, though, depends on what happens during installment 2. Here's hoping it'll be worth it.
Rating:
Summary: excellent sci-fi
Review: I love this series. It is set in an incredibly rich, diverse world and told in a powerful, compelling manner. The series shows its novel roots in so many areas, from the detail devoted to the Abh culture to the explanations of some of the sci-fi principles that underly this universe. It is hard to summarize, but the best way I would describe it is as an exploration of the Abhs as a culture and the conflict that occurs when human and Abh meet. The story is told through the experiences of Jinto, a human, and the Abh Lafiel as they are forced by fate into a journey together. The first disc is mainly the background of how Jinto ends up travelling with Lafiel, background on the world and the human fear and mistrust of the Abh. The storytelling is powerful, somewhat artsy and very detailed. This makes the story move rather slowly at times, but the richness of the world and characters pays off later. This series is definitely different from the standard space anime fair. It lacks the light humor of Nadesico or Captain Tylor and is far more character focused that Gundam. Action is not the focus - some episodes contain no battles whatsoever. But it tells an incredibly good story, one that will draw you in until you cannot help but feel for the characters and cheer them on as they grow.
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