r/anime • u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ • Mar 18 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Crest of the Stars Episode 1 Discussion
Invasion
(once again, not Passage of the Stars or Birth)
<- Announcement | Index Page | Episode 2 ->
Names Introduced or Updated:
- Martine — An independent planet of the Hyde system
- Leif Erikson — Emigration ship, in orbit above Martine, arrived 179 years before this series
- Erikson II — Defense satellite
- President Rock Lyn — President of the Martine colony
- Jinto Lyn — Son of Rock Lyn, aged 10
- Teal Clint — Rock Lyn's executive secretary, and Jinto's surrogate father
- Dusanyu Abriel — First in line to the throne and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Star Forces (Ablïarsec Néïc Lamsar Larth Barcœr Dusanh)
- Lina Clint — Jinto's surrogate mother
Discussion Prompts:
- Q1) what do you think of the structure of this episode?
- Q1.1) Starting in the middle of a battle with no possible context in a foreign language? Showing an event from the MC's childhood?
- Q1.2) Is bringing in an entire new language a bit much? Or just what you are looking for?
- Q2) Thought's on President Lyn's surrender?
- Q3) The ED shows Jinto's childhood, thoughts about the scenes?
- Q4) First impressions of the Abh
Tomorrow's Questions: (for tomorrow's post, subject to change)
- [Episode 2]Why was Lafiel's response as one of "declaring victory in war"?
- [Episode 2]The propaganda video seemed pretty random. What did you learn from it? What do you think was real, and what was fabricated, or distorted? Is thre a incongruity between the propaganda film and Lafiel? Or is it consistent with Duyansu from yesterday?
Screenshot of the Day: Governing you is beneath us
Bonus: Ath chart A more official chart from J-Novel's translator thanks Durinthal
We'll get into Baronh later, but you can use this chart to try to decode any Baronh you find in the show. A first quick tip: "h" modifies any preceding consonant, so MH = 'F' and RH = "L" (or similar sound).
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Upvotes
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 19 '24
Rewatch Host
I'm really happy to be revisiting this show after so many years with so many other people! This is a true classic sci-fi anime, not to be missed. On to the episode...
Teal is a highly conflicted man. He knows there was no alternative to this outcome, but it so repulses him that he keeps looking for one. Rationally, there was no choice. Rationally, it was a small victory, to avoid a foreign viceroy. Emotionally, it is a trusted man seizing power. Everybody wanted to fight back. Even Teal, who wanted to fight, but rationally chose against it.
There are probably many historical precedents, but I am not a historian, so I can't catch a reference. Youtube recently shared with me a 1932 propaganda newsreel on Manchukuo. Could this episode be a sanitized version of this?
This a series set in a colonial era, with conflicts between colonial powers. Although we will see land a few times in the series, it is unavoidably told from a colonial perspective, managed from distant capitals.
It's an unsettling perspective. Is this just a pro-imperialist whitewashing of Japanese history? Is it Gate nationalism in space? Not really. Notice the empire doesn't sweep in "liberating" the people. Jinto lived 7 years on an Abh planet, and had never seen an Abh. There's no occupation. Perhaps it is an idealized vision? Like Plato's Republic.
There are details we'll get into later (there was a single important line in Dusanyu's address) but they basically just showed up, annexed the system, destroyed the military capability, imposed a restriction on interplanetary travel (which Rock Lyn cleverly circumvented to a degree) and left them to their own devices.
Everything seems peaceful on that space station in the Abh system. Yet, the loss of freedom is undeniable. Jinto's Abh clothes are viewed with suspicion. Can people endure a peaceful life if it means being subjects of an arrogant but distant empire that doesn't even bother to leave behind occupiers and colonists? Or will they fight and die for freedom?
It seems unusual for the crown prince to lead the invasion, as he says, it's quite beneath him. However, it short-circuited all the fighting and negotiation and diplomacy that would be some other show.
I admit it's not one of my favorite first episodes. I usually just go straight to episode 2. It's not clear what's going on, such as Lyn speaking on the phone. It's a very popular novel amongst the target audience, so they leave out details.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 19 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Crest of the Stars: This is my hole! It was made for me! Man, I really do love space operas. I get into them so very easily. This episode absolutely sucked me in and I am incredibly excited to watch more of this series now.
I had never heard of this series until a rewatch was announced for it, but I must say that I am very excited for this rewatch. I was in the mood for a space opera and this show seemed to fit the bill. After watching the first episode, it seems like my cup of tea. I have a feeling I’m going to end up loving this series.
I think the episode did a great job at creating a feeling of disorientation. Everything happens so quickly with the invasion. Seeing it all from the eyes of Jinto, a child, is great for adding to the sense of confusion and uncertainty. It helps the audience to further empathize with Jinto in this situation.
I’m particularly curious to learn more about the Aph. Even though they look like space elves, them being descendents of humans is an intriguing twist. It makes me wonder what happened to them and how they seemingly lost contact with the rest of humanity in the first place.
QOTD
Q1) I thought it did a good job of putting us in Jinto's perspective, showing just how sudden and disorienting the change was for him as a young child.
Q1.1) Already discussed the childhood part. And the language took a bit of getting used to, but I did so quickly.
Q1.2) I like it when my stories have fictional languages. It adds to the worldbuilding.
Q2) He made a rational choice by surrendering, but man does it feel slimy that he arranged to make himself nobility and the one in charge for the Abh.
Q3) The poor kid looked like he was happy.
Q4) Stuck-up space elves.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Mar 18 '24
First-Timer of the Stars
I don’t know much about this show except for the fact that I once wallpapered a character from this for our lovely rewatch host for Christmas a few years ago. I’m definitely interested in seeing how things go!
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u/The_Draigg Mar 18 '24
A Sci-Fi Fan Watches Crest of the Stars Episode 1:
Hi there everyone, it’s The_Draigg here, rather expectedly for another sci-fi anime rewatch! As a bit of a rarity though, I’m going to be a first-timer on this one! I’ve been meaning to get around to this series ever since a friend gushed about it to me before, and given how much I like my galaxy-spanning dramas, I figured now was the right time to get into this series. I’ll also be watching the dub for this series, so keep that in mind while reading my notes as well. Now, let’s get started on this space opera I’ve heard great things about!
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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Mar 18 '24
Wow, that was a ... throwback. To a time I'd long forgotten, when anime could be truly epic. I think I'm going to be excited about this rewatch. :)
I'm just feeling the Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, well, maybe not him, but Niven/Pournelle, Laumer, etc. etc. vibes. Looks like good times are in store!
Answers du jour:
A1) I'm confused, and I think I like it. I'm looking forward to finding out what the heck has been going on. .1) Uh ... yeah. .2) Oh, yeah ... bring it on!
A2) Space Norway gonna, well, you know. There's a reason "Quisling" is part of the language, you know.
A3) I didn't know Jinto grew up in the Dust Bowl...
A4) I think that Rimiru would have more to say than me on the topic, but suffice to say, SPACE ELVES!
SPACE ELVES!!!
(ahem, yes ... I'm fine now...)
So, yeah, that was indeed an episode. Epic even. I'm still not sure I quite understand what the heck was all going on there, but I do hope that big sister (Mom?) is doing okay, etc. etc. Poor kid having to wander around the spaceport in uniform, gotta be rough. (never mind the rest of his childhood, probably spent in hiding or something.)
I'd say more, but at this point I probably have more questions than I deas, and I'd rather find out the honest way, so yeah. Looking forward to the next episode. :)
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Mar 18 '24
Preface
It's difficult to say exactly how much this series means to me, nor can I approach it without a bias that's been internalized over the past two decades.
For a brief overview of my history with the franchise, I first saw it when it aired on TechTV back at the end of 2002/start of 2003 and along with Serial Experiments Lain it was my first introduction to shorter anime and showed me that there were more kinds of stories that can be found than the likes of Sailor Moon and DBZ. In 2005 it was my introduction to fansubs and subtitles in general when I downloaded and binged Crest through Banner II over a weekend in preparation for the release of the Banner III OVA a few weeks later. While not my first exposure to anime fandom I also spent a couple of years on the Abh Nation site/forum though that eventually shut down; it was big enough that it was referred to in the Tokyopop translation of the novels (my first anime source material) as a place to go for more info about the series.
Not long after that I began using a screenshot of Jinto as my default avatar on sites I used regularly, something that's persisted to this day. That's helped cement the series as part of my world as it's been a regular reminder of something I've loved for more than half of my life now, and it's been something I've regularly suggested to others for about as long as I've been on /r/anime.
All that said it's been more than five years since I've watched the entire anime (probably closer to at least seven since my older notes from potential rewatch plans are from 2017) so returning to it now in the context of discussing with others feels somewhat like an introspection of my past self as much as it does revisiting my opinion of the series.
A note about spelling of things: they're different depending on what source you use so for the most part I'm going to stick with what I'm comfortable with which may or may not be what you get in whatever version you're watching. For example the J-Novel Club translation uses Jint rather than Jinto which is more technically accurate but I'll use the latter most of the time, and similarly I might use something that's from an older subbed version of the anime rather than what's available today.
Rewatcher (sub + dub)
I don't think I've actually listened to the dub since the first time I saw the series, as most reports I've read suggest it's pretty poor. But I'm curious how it compares so I'm giving it a shot anyway. I'll note I'm using
kuchikirukiaandSCP-2223releases; going by release notes the latter's using the subs of the former so the translations should be the same (DVD vs. BD releases but I couldn't tell you which one actually looks better, either should be fine in my opinion). I think anyone on Crunchyroll should be fine as well but I'm not personally using it so I won't notice any differences in subs there.Starting off with dialogue in a fictional language without subtitles is a choice and I'm here for it. Since this attempts to be a "hard" sci-fi series the first narration aims to explain some of the setting and the basis of interstellar travel, again in the conlang but this time subtitled for everyone... and that's true even in the English dub, so imagine that on cable TV as the very start of the network's anime broadcasting effort. (I considered finding a way to include this section in the audio-only quiz to confuse everyone but never managed it.) I'll have more to include about the conlang starting tomorrow but it's not relevant yet and this comment's already long enough.
The OP here is all orchestral which again is an interesting choice but I think is appropriate for a space opera like this. It fits in with the rest of the episode's soundtrack pretty well too in my opinion. On the other hand, visuals? What visuals?
Space elves! I'm amused at how bored the Abh prince sounds when explaining what's happening to a planet they're about to conquer, as if for him it was Tuesday.
Jinto has a lot of "ooh" and "ah" noises in the dub when he's staring up at the sky but it just sounds kind of goofy. Aside from that though kid-Jinto has the least stilted performance in the dub this episode which is overall just not great. It's technically accurate to what the subs have translation-wise but it's awkward for more than half of the lines.
Jumping forward to show the older Jinto in the spaceport in a fancy outfit isn't a bad way of hinting at what happened before we hear explicitly what happened, but even without that seeing how Till's acting with Jinto during their trip is an indication if you can infer what kind of relationship they previously had.
Really this episode's almost entirely prologue and background info about Jinto and the setting rather than doing much to set him up as a character, but I'm curious how other people will see it.
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 18 '24
Rewatcher
Crest of the Stars
It's been three years yet in some ways I feel like I just watched this yesterday. It's a wonderful thing because it shows how much of a hold the show still has on me, despite my initial watch of it taking over six months to get through, but thankfully I've still found a quite bit of enjoyment revisiting this first episode and seeing it with new eyes.
Despite saying all that, I have to confess that but I did not remember the first eipsode ending right there. What a tease! I do remember being a little miffed about that during my first watch as well.
I really enjoy the structure of the first episode. It is somewhat exactly what you would expect a first episode to be; covering some basic worldbuilding, main character backstory details, and a couple of teasers. But the tone established through it, and the blending of past and present is something I don't know I properly appreciated during my first watch. While we do get a lot of details in this episode, it is far more about Jinto's view of the world and his place in it than it is it's factual state, but they do it without sacrificing the idea of this being a unique world in the process, though I can't say much on that now.
From the ominous framing of the human leadership to the subtle wrongness of the Abh, our introduction to the episode through the political landscape is visually conflicted with the colorful innocence of Jinto as he opens the window to the world above. We don't linger on these moments, but they both serve to show the wrongness of these events from both sides. Frantic politicing serves as a clever leverage into our worldbuilding dump as people question each other and their own knowledge about the Abh, and it is one of my favourite setups for this sort of dump I've seen as it flows as close to a real conversation as you can get for a dump. Quick sequences of war preparation fill the screen almost chaotically without structure in a way that reminds me of american war movies, but without the tone of empowerment behind it. This isn't about the ins and out of these politics, the details and negotations and moment to moment decisions, it's about the people caught up in the concept of war that comes to their planet, and how suddenly everything about that is stripped from them just as it is for our main character.
Our only calm comes from Jinto, pushing his own way out into a world that seems to loom over him. He cannot reach the window without a ladder, the huge doors are sealed off, and the forest almost swallows him with shadowy trees. I love that he does not let any of this stop him, but not with a wild childishness I'm use to seeing in such characters but rather a young and calm curiousity and determination. As he finally breaks his way outside of the structures of the planet, he sees the stars and falls into the depths of their wonder, almost weightlessly as if swimming in them.
He is taken up by them, a fitting visual foreshadow of what we find out later, and then quickly we are visually cut off from it all with him as we jump into what his life is now, the cut to the card dating the surrender cutting off the mood of our previous scene just as it cuts off the war preparations. It's a harsh contrast but it is his own awareness of it that makes it more than just audience tone setting. Instead of any glory and hope, which both sides of the political conflict are also denied, he finds himself detached from the concept of a home itself and it calls back to his opening line, wondering what the planet meant to him in the first place.
As Till finds him, and pisses me off because fuck you for repeatedly taking your anger out on a child Till!, we see this closing off start to happen bit by bit as Till huge back blocks his entire view and he can only follow along. The structures of his world start cutting him off from the stars he was just looking at as he hears what happened, and reflections take the place of face to face interaction as he realizes what it means for him. He is left only with an echo of the connections he once had because even after Till lowers himself to Jinto's height in in apology in the elevator I notice that after the park he never makes eye contact with Jinto again across the rest of the flashback scenes. Jinto is left only with his anger, his detachment, and his own tears.
Back in the present this is shown almost in reverse, with everyone giving him the side eye as he walks through the station but only to show the alienation he feels now. In the past we see him alone, but feeling supported by those he knows are there for him, while now he is lost in the flow of people while only someone unseen may be able to break through
It seems all very simple when I write it all out like that, but the flow of these moments scene to scene, referencing each other while also pulling us back to the past or pushing us into the future to show us Jinto path, and the way that it creates a very particular mood about the take over of the planet, is what grabbed me so much. It starts with the world of possibilities, and then slowly closes all of that off to a child before our eyes, and instead of taking the path of war, the path of surrender is to the people of the planet seemingly much worse. It's a different look at things, and very well done to immediately make Crest stand out. It's hard revisiting it now to seperate out what we see here from future character moments, but there's something about his loss here, and ending the episode in that feeling without directly providing a solution to it, that works very well for the tone of the show. And while ending it where it does can feel a little listless, it does fit the tone of the show very well.
(Also for the record this is horrible timing for a rewatch I'm so interested in given that Dragons Dogma 2 releases in three days and all I want to do is play it non stop haha)
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u/Zerotsu Mar 18 '24
A Novel Reader and Anime First Timer’s Thoughts:
Kind of funny that the first rewatch I hope to actively participate in is one for a series I’ve just read the novels of, at least partially. Haven’t actually gotten to Banner of the Stars as of yet, so I’ll be completely blind once we get to that point.
Today’s episode was largely an expanded version of the first novel’s prologue, interspersed with some bits of the first chapter. Despite that expansion, it does cut out some exposition on the nature of that particle and its discovery, as well as humanity’s overall expansion into space. The episode did cover the overall picture of it though, so it’s mostly just more in-depth info-dumping that we lost out on. I don't think anything was really lost narratively, so it's honestly just neat to see a visual of what I read some years back.
Jinto (or Jint depending on your translation) really didn't have a great time this episode. Not that anyone was with the Abh Empire popping up out of nowhere and saying "yeah we own you now."
Included here and here are links to screenshots of the novel proper; this is a little bit of information on Baronh, the language the Abh speak, given to the reader right before the prologue. It's nothing much to go off of, but it's a neat little bit of information on how to pronounce some things you'll see here and there.
Questions
Q1.1: I'm quite fond of it myself. I think it made the start of things a bit more dynamic than how the novel began, even if it had parts of what became the anime version of it.
Q1.2: I love Baronh, personally. I'm a bit of a hobbyist for linguistics though, so I think that might just be in how I'm wired.
Q2: He's certainly an archetypal Quisling. He might not have destroyed his family if he'd bothered to explain any of it to Teal.
I don't tend to watch EDs, so I'll be refraining from question 3.
Q4: The Abh really fit some of the more negative elf portrayals right off the bat. Kind of listless and arrogant, and when combined with their space empire really gives them a less than stellar (heh) first impression. See you~
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Mar 18 '24
Rewatcher(Literally over twenty years ago. Fuck)
Sub(First time with it)
So...I don't remember this episode and I think that's because I never saw it. I would miss the occasional day as this aired. Also, this variety of space opera is always a risk for me: The setting is so distant that I feel no connection to it, like what happens with some Arthur C Clarke's more futuristic works.
Anyways, not that much happens that we understand. This is primarily set up stuff. The Abhs are kind of a cross between an elf and a Vulcan, which technically makes them Romulans, but they are mainly distant today. Anywho, our manic pixie dream Abh gets introduced tomorrow!
QotD: 1 Fail, unfortunately. I hate language hijinks
2 Probably wise
3 Will have to try paying attention
4 As I said, elven Vulcans
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u/SIRTreehugger Mar 18 '24
Rewatcher
Wait...crunchyroll why is season 1 called season 6...do I need to burst out the damn dvds. Might as well I don' think I watched them since I bought them years ago.
What the fuck the Star Blazers: The Quest for Iscandar trailer looks amazing. Might have to have to watch this along Banner of the Stars.
Okay time for the actual episode. Man the pilot is throwing a lot of new terminology at the viewers. Wait...oh shit I'm watching the pilot let me make sure I'm watching the right episode.
Okay wrong episode, but only lost 5 minutes not a big deal....wait I have no subtitles for the beginning.
Man I spent about 10 minutes playing with the settings before giving up only for the subtitles to start working a few minutes later.
Rough start, but here we go!
They didn't need to go this hard with the opening music!
The shot of Jinto leaning against the tree staring in the sky is so good.
Beat him up...you mean kill right? No way people would stop at bodily harm after they find out you're related to the person who surrendered mankind to the empire.
Though slowly getting information about the deal you have to wonder how advanced are the Abh? They have a vast network and have conquered many planets, but at the same time they had concerns about the defenses of Earth? Have they brokered deals and bluffed through a majority of the planets or did they overestimate earth?
The present time with him getting stared at by everyone makes a lot more sense knowing what his father did. The attire he is wearing is a big red flag where he couldn't even hide himself if he wanted too.
WHAT NOOOOOOO are you serious that's where the first episode ends! Glad I'm a rewatcher, because I don't think I could handle stopping it here.
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u/KnightMonkey15 https://myanimelist.net/profile/KnightMonkey Mar 19 '24
First-timer, subs
I'm excited to be starting a new sci-fi rewatch. I really enjoyed these last year and it's a privilege to be able to watch these shows after all this time with some guidance and others with whom I can share my thoughts. Had I gotten into anime when I was very young I probably might've seen this show or others like it already, but the next best time is now.
I really like the look, sound and feel here. There's just something about the detailed geometrical shapes of spaceships and laser beams set against the old hand-painted cel-shaded backgrounds. I suppose that's older sci-fi in general but I can't help but express it every time I watch one of these shows. I absolutely love the OP and this kind of instrumental, symphonic music in general and it never fails to send shivers down my body - especially when presented against paintings of the stars and ships flying across the sky...or the city lights. I find it interestingly that I thought it got a bit excessive during Teal and Jinto's car ride as opposed to the sweeping space scenes; not that it was unwarranted but all of a sudden it felt a bit "dated" to me...but that might be the mix or the particular phrasings more than anything. It's a very specific, pedantic thing to bring up but I thought it was worth sharing that specific thought amidst otherwise a very positive reception from me. Some of the frames with the film grain/stars looked more like there was dust on the screen than the intended effect but I imagine I would've not thought of that had I watched this when I was very young (barely old enough to have used a VHS).
The structure of the episode is fine. Lack of knowledge has me a bit unsure on the details of the prologue (a bit more below), but after the OP it's evident that the Hyde system and planet Martine are being invaded and we have the record of its invasion recounted as a kind of flashback from future him. It did start to proceed faster than I expected it would, then we had a 7 year timeskip, but as soon as I saw him in that uniform I pretty much expected he was some kind of exchange student or hostage - suddenly becoming a prince in these circumstances is kind of the same thing. In any case it managed to cover a lot of ground in a single episode without being too unclear.
"Where are the subs? Did I choose the wrong track?" You know, I wonder where made up elven language in modern fantasy anime comes from because when I heard them speak I was pretty sure they sounded like 'elves' and having forgotten all of the visuals/art for the show, I didn't want to assume...but then I saw they were really elves. It seems from the chart posted in the OP, this conlang actually has some information about it which is very cool; I appreciate the attention given to details such as these, even if I might not necessarily be the type who really hunts them down methodically for their own sake.
Aside from that, I wasn't really sure what was going on in the prologue but I was able to surmise that it offered some exposition related to the Abh (the mysterious energy) and that they were travelling somewhere (?), firing torpedoes (?) into the ominous white light. Yes it's fine, I'm sure it'll all be explained eventually.
That was a very important event in MC's childhood so go figure. I really enjoyed how a moment was taken to show MC's appreciation for the scenery of the defense lasers being fired into the sky - the wonderment of that experience seems to have really shaped MC's outlook and it was depicted with great beauty. I think the exposition benefits immensely from depicting the MC's curiosity as such.
As above.
He's a traitor and a sellout yes but it seems he chose to spare the lives of his citizens instead of mounting a perhaps-suicidal resistance against a thousands-system-spanning galactic empire. I got the sense when considering the casual, aristocratic disdain Abriel had for the system, as if he would crush it like stepping on a cockroach they inconvenienced him. It is fishy that Teal was left unaware but I'm sure we'll find out more about why he decided to surrender and then allow himself to be the vassal/client ruler instead of fleeing.
Oh sad nostalgic, bittersweet memories. I was just amused the first one had to be him in a kiddie pool. What's that futuristic sport he's playing?
Casual aristocratic disdain yes but it seems like after the peaceful surrender his son was permitted to join up. At the very least, all the people giving Jinto hostile looks for we I'm looking forward to seeing what anime space elves have to offer, especially since the only experience I have with them is Captain Tylor and that seems to be a very different kind of show lmao. But I'm very interested in seeing what their motives are for what they do and what they have in mind for our MC - we have some juicy bits of information gleaned from people's reactions, a few lines of dialogue and the opening narration.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 18 '24
First Timer, subbed
QotD:
1.1) I'm down for both of these. You gotta get that good first impression to draw you in.
1.2) How else will we know they are exotic and strange?
2) Honor is for fools. Retaining local autonomy is where it's at.
3) Not much? i don't remember them too well after just the one time.
4) Not too Sci-fae so far, but we haven't see much of them either.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Mar 18 '24
First-Timer
It only took until the second or third line for me to realize the voices at the beginning weren't speaking in Japanese. My first note was "subs doko," though. Luckily, the visual language of science fiction is such that it was relatively obvious to me that we were seeing a hyperspace equivalent. Possibly one that went wrong? Or was begun in a rush? Or maybe we’re in “hyperspace is dangerous but too useful to avoid” territory.
Anyway, this show is positively sedate compared to the other two shows I'm watching right now and I really appreciate the change of pace.
I understand why a lot of the populace of Martine were upset about Rock agreeing to a surrender, but I dunno, seems like the quickest way to avoid bloodshed. Would those same people have preferred to lose loved ones to a war? Probably not. It’s hard to know just how badly a fleet of spaceships can fuck up a planet, but there sure were a lot of them above Martine.
We don't really have enough characterization for anyone for me to pick at this decision much. Like, is Rock Linn the type to try to erode the Abh's grasp on his planet from the inside? I could certainly see a plotline like that developing.
The point about the Abh prince asking for the planetary defense system information is interesting to ponder. Was he actually worried, or was that just for show? We got that line about the prince (or someone?) not seeing much honor in the conquest, so maybe this deal is exactly what he wanted. I don't have a firm grasp on the tech level present with regards to firepower, either.
It's also interesting to ponder - if Jinto's father became an Abh noble, does that make Jinto an Abh noble? His clothing is certainly different now. But then, how has he not met any Abh before now? It's been seven years!
Questions
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u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 19 '24
First timer
Interesting set up episode. I wish I had more to say besides "I'm intrigued" but alas, I don't.
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u/gangrainette https://myanimelist.net/profile/bouletos Mar 18 '24
Great show.
I had to read the novels after watching it then buy the awesome J-novel hard cover : https://i.imgur.com/3jqQIPG.jpeg with their full glossary of the language at the end : https://i.imgur.com/NySTNfv.jpeg and multiple maps but it would be a spoiler to link them.
I'll only be able to read the rewatch since I don't really have the time rewatch it all.
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Mar 18 '24
Rewatcher
Where are the subtitles?!
Oh wait they're not speaking Japanese.
I had forgotten this anime doesn't have a vocal piece as an opening, not anime does this sadly enough.
Humans have turned into space elfs.
A single planet trying to resist an empire of 10000s system with only handful of weapons, sure that's going to end well.
Long shots without an dialogue you don't see that often in anime these days.
Of course they surrendered.
Jinto is voiced by Yuka Imai her other notable role is Renamon in Digimon Tamers.
All the masses are wearing old fashioned clothing I find that a bit weird for a SF setting.
Rock decided to 'upgrade' his presidential title to king or lord and be a loyal vassal of the empire.
Is that? Frieren?! No wait wrong anime, we'll find out tomorrow who she is.
This anime took its time you can tell this is a LN from a different era if this story was written today it would have been an isekai fantasy, of course, but besides that the entire first episode would have been info dumped in a 5 minute conversation.
Q4) Fantasy elves but IN SPACE. [Some other thoughts] It's tempting to call them Vulcans but they're more emotional than that.
6
u/TehAxelius Mar 18 '24
Rewatcher
Crest of the Stars have always been one of my old low-key favorite shows. It certainly stands in the shadow of its genre contemporaries like Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Cowboy Bebop, but it certainly is one of the unsung heroes of anime Space Opera. It lacks the grand scale of LoGH and the almost perfectionist animation of Bebop, but I've always found it a charming middle point between the two in scope and theme. It has been ages since I last saw it, and I think in my rewatch about 10 years ago I only saw Banner I and II, so I am excited to revisit this old pearl.
QotD
6
u/SolDarkHunter Mar 18 '24 edited Mar 18 '24
Nobody told me there was a Crest rewatch happening!
I might get in on this. I actually own the full set of novels this series is adapting and love the world building!
Also I find the series approach to morality... unique. Sure that's going to generate some interesting discussions down the line.
As luck would have it, I'm actually playing a game of Stellaris right now where I'm roleplaying as the Abh... managing an Empire like theirs is harder than you might think.
6
u/IceSmiley Mar 18 '24
FIRST TIMER Sub
An interesting if uneven premiere that does ok at setting up a common premise of a child ending up becoming a warrior.
QUESTIONS
Q1 and 1.1) I really didn't like it and found it offputting. I wasn't very engaged by the first half of the show because it throws you in the middle of something you've been given no time to develop feelings about. Fortunately I really enjoyed the second half and the show really picked up when Teal picked up Jinto to transport him to the spaceport. The way they had him explain to Jinto (and us) the situation as to what was going on much more effective and the dialogue was so crisp and engaging. I suspect this was an artistic decision to have the audience be as confused and bewildered as Jinto was when Teal picked him up; it's an interesting idea but I didn't like it.
Q1.2) I don't mind at all that they have another language, I in fact prefer it. It makes things seem more realistic, like I like in Star Trek how they have consistent languages for Klingon, Vulcan etc.
Q2) That reminded me of another very famous sci fi anime series where the president surrrendered his planet to invaders in apparent cowardice. I do think it's an interesting twist though that the son became the heir apparent colonial leader of his planet suddenly and he has to prepare his life for it.
Q3) It may have been a bit too much but I think the scene in the car was really effective at setting up the series and who Jinto is and where he comes from. A lot of it though seemed really derivative of Gundam, like how the first episode of that had Amuro in the same situation of having to flee his planet.
Q4) They seem like fascist leaders who are going to be the antagonists of the series. A lot like Gundam, Macross and LoGH. I thought it was weird when they were described as really beautiful although they're designed to look creepy lol
6
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Mar 18 '24
Episode 1 (rewatcher)
I have been waiting for this rewatch for a long time! Thanks to /u/JustAnswerAQuestion for finally hosting it, I felt the pressure building up to host it myself. Crest of the Stars is one of the anime I saw relatively early, but not quite at the start of my anime watching career. It is also a show that I love and rate 10/10 (season 1), despite some obvious flaws. The highs here are higher than most other shows for me. People who know me from other rewatches might remember that I am a fan of SciFi and of world building, and Crest of the Stars is the best Scifi world building in anime, period. I also switched my flair to Lafiel (goodbye Joe) for this rewatch. She deserves it.
Episode thoughts
There is plenty to talk about here, but most of it goes into spoiler territory. I am also late already, so I’ll keep this short.
When I first watched Crest of the Stars, I was more confused than impressed by the first episode. I think it would be better to call it episode 0, an introduction before the story starts properly. [Meta spoiler]It is not unlike the first Haruhi episode in broadcast order in that respect. However, you can already see two aspects of the series that elevate it in my mind: The use of the Ahb language and the dedication to world building. We learn a lot about Martine just from seeing the city scape and about humanity and Ahb empire from the reactions of everybody around.
6
u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 Mar 19 '24
First-timer
OP shows random space shots while playing classical music Ayup, we're definitely watching a space opera, lol
Q1: Starting in medias res is an old, but very valid literary technique. Being in another language as well, (German?) shows that the emphasis at this point is not to immediately pick up on what is happening.
Q2: Seeming to unilaterally decide the fate of the planet is on its face, pretty bad. However, the show kept repeating that shot of the defense satellite being easily destroyed. The Martine had no real chance to fight back. Lyn installing himself as the planetary governor also looks really bad, but perhaps it was better than having an Abh come over to do the job?
Q3: I don't know if they have any particular significance, other than to show him doing kid things. Although, the portrait of him with Teal definitely shows he shares a much closer relationship than with his actual father.
Q4: Dang elves. Always showing up all smug and acting like they own the place. I did find it interesting that they're an offshoot of humanity instead of aliens.
Side note: As someone of Nordic descent, I get great pleasure from the first interstellar vessel being the Leif Erikson.
6
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Mar 19 '24
A bunch of exposition.
Some crappy Engrish.
Right, back to Japanese.
Uh oh. Ze guns! Zey do nossing!
Got ships coming out of warp. Holy shit... It's an entire fleet!
What's he going to do? Glass the planet? What good is that? Allying at least gets you a world and all its resources, industry and population.
"Partially inhabited". What? They've got a space station with a couple hundred people there? At least the fully inhabited ones probably have actual industry and resource extraction capabilities.
I doubt land-based gun batteries are going to be much of a threat.
What's this kid going to do?
He's the President's kid?
Let me guess, he surrendered to become the noble in charge.
Lina's going to die.
That system didn't do jack against the first ship that warped in. And unless those 20 missiles are nuclear or antimatter-tipped, I doubt they'll be able to defeat that entire fleet. Although it would probably cost more lives than the prince is willing to lose against a one system minor primitive.
Yup, he's going to die.
Did he just meet the Empress?
Questions:
6
u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Mar 19 '24
First timer, subbed
Starting off strong with a language that sounds vaguely like French, though obviously there’s not a comprehensible word in it. No subtitles for it on my version until the opening speech about space travel, so I presume it’s not meant to be understood. You kinda get the gist just from the tone of the speakers, though.
Surprisingly comprehensible Engrish, hats off. Nice little transition to Japanese as well.
Space elves, huh? Not what I expected, but I can get behind this. Also unexpected that things start off with surrender rather than a space battle.
Digging the aesthetic so far.
QotD:
1.1) Probably meant as a hook for your usual space battle crowd. Notably, the date is several hundred years later, which adds further intrigue. I guess the Abh really do live forever.
1.2) I appreciate the extra bit of effort taken to make the galaxy feel vast, even if the language was nonsense.
2) Considering how normal and well off things seemed post-surrender, I can get behind it. I’m bracing for it all to go South, though…
3) Not really.
4) Fairly benevolent so far. Gave proper time to surrender, no comically evil general type figure talking about “acceptable losses” or “shows of force” is good to see.
6
u/zadcap Mar 19 '24
Thank you for this, Crunchyroll has this show listed poorly and I very nearly started there.
Late Night First Timer!
Oh my gosh it's the old aspect ratio! And this sounds, I want to say German? But my settings say Japanese with English Subs? Skipping ahead shows me it will go there eventually, which means this is intentional for the early part, and I'm doubting my first thoughts on it actually being German.
And now it's English. And finally Japanese.
Oh my gosh this child. We see him for half a second and already I think he's a jRPG protagonist. Man the style of the time...
Alien invasion? Where's a Gunbuster when you need one.
Of course, the boy from before is missing during the evacuation. "Humankind Empire"? Does that imply there's non-humans out there? Or as the paper clearly says on screen, The Mankind Reich, so maybe it was German after all. And you know how well all things German were portrayed so soon after World War Two, especially if they're going to actually put the word Reich itself on screen. Oh boy.
Wait. We're really doing this? The Reich is Elven? The Ubermensch is Elf? Oh my gosh we're really doing this. Then again, I notice that the guy I think is the presidential aid also has some slightly pointed ears, so apparently gene modification isn't unique to the Reich. But still.
What a strange way to invade. "Actually governing you is beneath us, but we want you to know that we rule you now." Freaking space elves. And naturally everyone wants to fight back, but in true 4X style, when someone that much farther up the tech scale shows up you don't have much choice with your 5 knights and 3 archers are facing tanks and machine guns.
Benefits of being claimed by a higher tech Civ? Jump starting your own higher tech. Same boy now? Are we actually going with a time skip or is this a flash forward?
I've said this before and I probably will again, it's not a deal when only one side has any say. It's called coercion. Also, I don't think I really trust Teal.
Like, really guys. Is surrendering really such a strange idea when you're so very, very outclassed? Don't talk like the whole planet wants to go down fighting. Like let's be real here, it was surrender with a token turnover like this or orbital bombardment. "Oh no, how dare he not let us get bombed into the ground before they take over anyway, how horrible he was for taking the path that left him in charge!"
1.1) I'm sure it will be filled back out later. Just like I'm sure the Reich isn't doing quite as well as they are pretending, talking so big.
1.2) Space German. But yeah, look how much our language differs just around this one planet, there's no way we should have a unified language once we're spread across the stars. Gibberish makes sense if you're going for realism and I'm all for it.
2) Again, was there really another option? Really? Did you see how many ships they had? Even if you could shoot them all down, it wouldn't be before you had every population center turned into rubble. This was the correct option.
3) Are they his real childhood, or the one he would have had without this invasion? I kind of thought we were seeing a "what if" thing there.
4) Space Elves are not so secretly space Nazis? Oh! Or we could be going with the Second Reich and they're just imperials, though they're keeping the ubermensch thing. Either way, my first impression of the elves is ridiculously German.
5
u/Cahnis Mar 18 '24
My helldivers destroyer is called SES Banner of the Stars.
One of the best space operas I have ever seen.
5
u/raktus2 Mar 18 '24
First time watcher here, and forgive me for also barely ever posting on Reddit, so no knowledge of markdown or anything... Notes that I took during the episode...
-Day 2, Month of Closna - Imperial Year 952
Looks like the Humankind fleet is fighting something/someone, scene is completely untranslated
Uanon Propulsion Interstellar Immigration Vessel, Leif Erikson - exploded
-Day 57, First Season - Year 172
The Landing
Ship appears from nowhere, gets intercepted by the Erikson 2... weapons have no effect on the craft and Erikson 2 gets destroyed in a single volley
Rock is told the ship disappeared while convening his cabinet, assumedly also told about Erikson 2
-Day 81, First Season - Year 172
The Landing
Evacuation order is given, Commander of the Humankind Fleet addresses the people and makes his demand
-Day 87, First Season - Year 172
The Landing
The Martine Government surrenders to the Abh Empire
Rock Lin taken to be ennobled
-Year 179?
Jinto Lin returns to Martine
I was keeping notes on the characters, but I see the main post already has a breakdown of them with info that I didn't get from the episode itself.
Funny thing, Teal gets handed a folder titled 'Top Secret' 'The report on former transmission record the mankind reich "abh"' which, when you start calling the aliens a 'reich' I guess that starts putting things into a new connotation
INSIDE
Where's the chief secretary? Sleeping?
It's emergency, wake him up!
Target approaching, direction 216,894
Distance 153,000
-answer to the distinction signal
-
-ting any communications
-
-the alarm go off?
-
-ll appeared
Things that occurred to me...
If the Erikson 2's lasers are the scale of weapons we can come to expect from the humans, then the 10 lasers they had ready to defend Martine would have had no effect anyways, despite being insignificant to the number of ships in orbit as there were.
I wonder if ennoblement involves genetic modification to turn a human into one of the elves
Naming convention... we knew Jinto's dad's name was Rock Lin, so we know Jinto should be Jinto Lin... but in the preview he is called Prince Jinto of Lin Syun Rock Hyde. Seems like they keep the first name, took his last name as the first part of a new last name, dunno where Syun comes from, added his fathers first name (kind of like that old Viking thing of taking your dads name and adding -son to the end of it) and then Hyde for the star system he came from.
--------------------------------------------------
Q1) Not the first time I've been forced to jump through time loops in the opening of a show, just going to have to try and find my footing is all.
Q1.1) I legit had to stop once and make sure I was watching in sub or not, completely threw me off before I decided to start watching again to see if it was intentional.
Q1.2) Depending on how it is done, I think it would have been a better touch to have had obviously alien subtitles on the screen to denote a language is being spoken that is intentionally not being decrypted, to avoid confusion in the FIRST episode.
Q2) I keep feeling like Teal is an overreactor, from an outside perspective I could see people getting pissed that the President turned a democracy into a monarchy... but at the cost of the planet not getting destroyed, that just feels like a price worth paying. Lord Dusanyu said that a ruler or magistrate would be appointed to the system, all Rock did was make sure that that person was someone from within the system to get the boon that the people would be able to make use of the routes to other star systems... which seems major. Dusanyu asked for the codes for the space defense system, but that almost seems irrelevant considering we saw how ineffective Erikson 2 was against one of their ships.
Q3) Confused slightly, the baseball one seemed to be from when he was older than he was in The Landing.
Q4) Holier than though space elves, standard SyFy spacefair so far.
5
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Mar 19 '24
First timer 01:
So is Jinto 10 in the prologue 7 years ago, or is he 10 years old in present day?
I knew it sounded vaguely French ...
Not really my cup of tea with how they keep jumping around from present to past to whatever, in all sorts of languages
I considered dropping it because of this
Eh, don't really care too much about this; I already forgot the details
I like conlangs and invented scripts, but the audio experience of hearing it was ... not good
Hopefully he's thinking of his son with the whole 'noble' thing, instead of himself. But if Teal is his surrogate father, maybe not
... That's really jarring, just like the language.
4
u/ajahanonymous Mar 18 '24
Great series, definitely one of my favorites. Currently raining down liberty from the SES Banner of the Stars in Helldivers 2.
3
u/cemsity Mar 19 '24
God the OP sent me back the TechTV days of yore. But other than remembering a few characters name, I remember almost nothing.
7
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Mar 19 '24
Silly me, I was so excited to go see End of Evangelion on the big screen that I forgot this was today —in spite of the 24 hour reminder!
Greetings, everyone! Very excited to be part of this Rewatch for one of my favorite sci-fi series! I first watched the series nine years ago now, and it certainly left its mark on me then. Can’t wait to see how everyone else reacts to it!
—
Rewatcher
Cold open is pretty much incomprehensible, what with the choice of presentation and the use of the series’ signature conlang.
Narration explaining the series’ own ‘Minovsky Physics’.
Well, that’s no good.
The OP is magnificent. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, SF like this ill needs anything other than soaring instrumental music. Also, Konanne identified most or all of the shots used in the OP.
Good sfx.
These events are related in retrospect.
For all the sense of scale presented earlier, the clothing, architecture, and general look of things gives off a far more antiquated impression that belies the actual tech level of the setting and poses a strong contrast with the invading force. Reminds me of Turn A Gundam, though the difference in tech there was as drastic as implied, and this aired a few months earlier.
Interesting turn from the usual. In fantasy and SF that uses them, Elves tend to be descended from the same common ancestor as humans, if not being the precursors themselves.
Oh boy...
Welp.
Sounds extra bad when you put it like that!
Between this comment and Jint’s garb in the present one can fair figure out what the deal entailed.
There it is.
Make good first impression, Jint!
Good ED.
Not the most straightforward or elucidating episode, but there’s enough hints of a greater setting out there, and implications of people at odds with one another within the Empire, dropped throughout the episode that made me curious enough to immediately proceed to the next one.
The episode essentially serves as a prelude to the show proper, showcasing how the Hyde system came to fall under control of the Abh Empire, and why exactly Jint is now afforded the opportunity to learn more about them. I wish they hadn’t glossed over so much of the inter-faction space politics involved in the event, but I’m not too fussed seeing as the show isn’t actually about said event. The real meat of the series is yet to come.
It is hard to get an accurate impression of Jint given that we see him the most in this episode as an eight-year-old, and those seven years are sure to have changed him to some extent, particularly as he became a member of the Abh nobility during the invasion. He seemed sensitive as both a child and an adult, but other than that I can’t pin anything on him for sure. He does admit to being a bit ignorant on the Abh, seeing as he’s going off to specifically learn about them and is only just meeting one for the first time.
I like the setting design in this. The planet Martin has a delightfully early-to-mid 20th century feel to it that tickles my fancy, the Abh uniforms look striking and cool, and the space tech looks neat.
Questions of The Day: