Banner of the Stars II - Complete Collection

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful. . .so beautiful
Review: I just finished watching this collection, the final part of the Crest of the Stars trilogy, in a single sitting. It's 4 a.m. in the morning and, instead of going to sleep, I'm writing a review. Yes, it's that good. Actually, it's better. The Crest of the Stars saga is the best anime I've ever seen save a few Miyazaki feature films and perhaps the early episodes of KareKano.

Funny thing is, I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because the anime is based on a real SF novel, making the plot, dialogue and characters so much more believable and self-consistent than in most other titles. The world of this story is rich and detailed, almost a SF equivalent of the Lord of the Rings (it even has a language of its own, developed by the author of the series). The music is astounding - especially the grand opening bars, comparable to the great orchestral classics of the past. But what really lies at the heart of this series is the characters. Lafiel and Jinto, the pair whose lives we follow over the three seasons of the saga, are so well portrayed, possess such depths of believable character, that, by the end, you feel for them as much as for any real friend of yours. They are beautiful - not only in how they look, but in what they are. Their story will in turn move you to tears and make you feel warm inside.

Exteremely mild spoiler in next paragraph

And, what's best, the ending is actually good. The show avoids the most ubiquitous failing of all anime and ends in a way that leaves you feeling both satisfaction and a nostalgic, painful yearning for more. . .

If you like character-driven SF and can appreciate anime that do not focus solely on mecha and fighting (though there's plenty of that to be had in the saga as well), you can't do better than get all three seasons of this show.

Rating:
Summary: Things have finally come full circle
Review: I remember way back when watching Crest of the Stars for the first time, feeling somewhat bored as the lengthy narration and, explanations of technology, and setup of the complex politics took place whilst the main characters were introduced and then slowly developed. Of course Crest of the Stars is an amazing piece of work once you get into it, and only gets better with each viewing. What once seemed to be boring now is thought-provoking, and characters reveal more depth to me the more I try to understand them. The second series, Banner of the Stars, was an almost entirely different animal. Instead of the slow pacing of the original, it had loads of great dialog among key players, and so many battles that I felt completely exhausted by the end. This series is the last of the trilogy, and I was starting to wonder how the series was going to end by the time I finally got around to watching it. I needn't have worried.

Now that we have come to understand Abh thinking, Abh politics, and Abh life, you could say that the story is really kicking into high gear as far as the two lead characters are concerned. While in the first series Lafiel and Jinto were teenagers who thought more like kids, and in the second they were more like teenagers trying to act like adults, they are now at the point where they are, and act like, adults. Jinto is no longer uncomfortable when people refer to him as count Hyde, and Lafiel is no longer so self-conscious and over-doing it in her efforts to live up to her family's name. Now count Hyde is becoming something of a skilled diplomat, and Lafiel has gained the confidence she needs to become an excellent captain. They aren't kids helping each other out of dangerous situations or teens learning to trust each other. Now they are old friends who know each other quite well...and maybe more.

For this series, it seems like an extra coat of polish was applied to everything. The new remixed themes of some of the scores are simply magnificent, the visuals take a significant jump forward in quality over the second series (and everything is in widescreen to boot), and the dialog, camera angles, and overall feel of the show is much tighter this time around. We don't need any lengthy explanations of Abh technology anymore, and as a result we are free to learn more about the Abh code of honor and ethics, and how sometimes that code requires making incredible sacrifices.

The overall story revolves around how Lafiel and Jinto find themselves negotiating with the government of a recently conquered territory, only to find out that it is a prison planet on the brink of civil war. As the enemy approaches, Jinto and Lafiel both have to take a stand for what they believe to be right and for me the best character defining moments of the trilogy are all in this series.

While there are fewer episodes in this series than in the previous two (which may contribute to the tight feeling and lack of filler episodes), but this is made up for by the bonus episode "Birth", which deals with Lafiel's parents, and how she was born. The end of Banner of the Stars II is highly satisfying, as things truly have come full circle for the two lead characters, a chapter of their life is ending, and another is beginning. For fans of the previous two Stars series, this is required viewing.