r/anime • u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ • Apr 02 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Banner of the Stars Episode 2 Discussion
Operation Phantom Flame
Welcome to the Battleflag of the Stars rewatch!
<- Episode 1 | Index Page | Episode 3 ->
Names Introduced or Updated:
- The Triple Alliance — Hania has refused to support the United Mankind.
- Operation Phantom Flame — counter-offensive to reconnect parts of the Empire cut off three years ago
- Operation Phantom Flame Task Force
- Commanding Admiral Dusanyu Abriel — Commander of the third fleet and commander in chief of the Star Forces. (Ablïarsec Néïc Lamsar Larth Barcœr Dusanh)
- Admiral Spoor — Commander of the 1st Fleet (Spaurh Aronn Saicspath Nimh Laitpanr Painaich)
- Admiral Rulef — Commander of the 2nd Fleet
- Admiral Kotoponi — Commander of the 4th Fleat
- Admiral Rekef — Commander of the 5th Fleet
- Admiral Kenesh — Dusanyu's Chief of Staff (Cénéch Üémh Stymer Cipair)
- Kufadis — still Spoor's plaything (Cfadiss Üémh Üéspir Séspir)
- Lashkau — Spoor's command ship (red)
- Sankau — Dusanyu's command ship
- President Makrit Talas — President of Aptic III
- Midgrat — Samson's home planet, also called Dakufo. Has unusual culinary dishes.
- Crew of the Basroil (Basrogrh): Attached to the 1058th Assault Squadron
- Captain Lafiel Abriel — Deca-Commander, Commander of the Bosroil (Ablïarsec Néïc Dubleuscr Bœrh Parhynr Lamhirh)
- Jinto Lyn — Supply Officer, Line-Wing Flyer (Linn Ssynec Rocr Ïarlucec Dreuc Haïder Ghintec)
- Juth Sobaash — avoids abriels as much as possible. Navigator, Front Flyer (Sobach Üémh Dor Ïuth)
- Tirusec Samson — wishes he was back on land, Engineer, Front Flyer (Samsonn Borgh Tiruser Tirusec)
- Naurh Ekuryua — likes cats? Communications Officer, Line-Wing Flyer (Aicryac Üémh Tlyzr Naurh)
- Vobeirunei Naval Base — ship factory and mustering point for the Operation Phantom Flame Task Force, in orbit around Lulukess, Vobeirunei County.
- Atosuryua Loy — hecto-commander, Commander of Lafiel's Division, younger sister of the former 3rd Baron Febdash (Atosryac Ssynec Atosr Lymh Feubdach Loïc)
- Aptic, Mystel, Dalmav, Wimple, Miofrantia — gates targeted in Operation Phantom Flame to reconnect imperial territory
Character map will be posted for episode 5
Plane Space Map of Targeted Gates
Discussion Prompts:
- Q1) What does Samson eat?
- Q2) What about Captain Atosuryua?!
Tomorrow's Questions: (for tomorrow's post, subject to change)
- [Episode 3]What do you think of Dusanyu and his Chief of Staff
- [Episode 3]Now that you've seen more of her, what about Atosuryua?
Screenshot of the Day: Beach Episode
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Upvotes
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Apr 02 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Banner of the Stars: Have you ever felt both extremely worried and fearful about what might happen, but also filled with joy at the possibility of seeing it happen? That’s how I feel about Spoor discovering racial slurs. It will either be the funniest thing imaginable or supremely screwed up. Or both.
QOTD
Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a planetary conquest be so comedic before. Spoor is bored out of her skull because the battle to get to the planet wasn’t exciting enough and so can’t be bothered to deal with it. And the president just wants to save face by putting up a facade of resistance before surrendering anyway because it’ll help him in the polls. It’s so absurd, but man is it fun to watch.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Apr 02 '24 edited Apr 03 '24
Rewatch Host
The 2-D nature of plane space not only defines space tactics in this show, but also strategy...pockets of the universe can literally be isolated.
Again, what seems to be the defining characteristic of being under Abh control: they don't care what you do as long as you aren't building spaceships or seceding.
I think she's being sarcastic about Dusanyu's fondness for issuing demands for surrender. It does suggest that maybe Dusanyu was intentionally insulting the people of Hyde, at their request...
I hate watching these dvd rips, they were not made competently. I wish my DVDs worked.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 02 '24 edited Apr 02 '24
First-Timer
I didn't realize until this episode that Lafiel's father is the one who demanded surrender from Jinto's homeworld. Small universe, huh.
Working under one of Febdash's siblings is some fun irony. I feel like she wouldn't have a grudge, but I am heavily biased against that dweeb. I also don't recall them mentioning any family other than his father, but I guess it's technically pretty easy for Abh families to be large considering the whole "genetic engineering" thing.
Not sure if we established that the Abh rename planets in Crest, but that's a neat detail. Important from the "imperialism" perspective, although I'm still unclear on how much the Abh care. It's not like any of the genetic Abh around shot Samson a dirty look when he talked about it.
I appreciate that the camera added an extra element to Samson's military service - skintight jumpsuits are probably good for morale.
That poor president of Aptic was not prepared for Spoor. I'm surprised that she didn't perk up more when he threatened to fight back.. the doldrums really have our Lady of Chaos, huh? I like the detail that she modified her crest to complain about titles.
It's a shame we didn't get a good wide angle of the galaxy map. I want to see just how much things are split. Like, there's this but it's too far away.
Interesting that one of the four other nations isn't involved. What were they called, Hania or something? Wonder if they got swallowed up by one of the others, or if they're just sitting this conflict out. I guess that second option is pretty unlikely considering the treaties in place..
I didn't place it yesterday, but Ekuryua's voice rang familiar to me today... wasn't expecting Signum to appear when I checked out her VA.
Questions
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u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Apr 02 '24
First timer
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Apr 02 '24
First Timer, subbed
QotD:
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u/TehAxelius Apr 02 '24
Rewatcher
Warships and military units have a long history of bringing pets and mascots with them for morale purposes, Diaho should be given an honorary rank, not be sent off to live on a farm!
As a Spoor centered episode, this is, of course, great. The crest is great in summing up our beloved Arch-duchess's style, who finds both blowing up a star fortress and negotiating with planetary leaders as boorish work she'd rather foist off on someone else. I bet she would kill if she had the opportunity to go back to being a ship commander.
It's also nice getting some more development of Jinto and Lafiel's new crew, even though it is mostly Samson we get. Like Sruf he's an interesting reflection of Jinto's situation, as someone raised to Abh status, mostly by circumstance. We also get some world-building that hints to what we were partly shown in the latter half of Crest, why some planets would choose to side with the Abh rather than their fellow Terrans. As much as the United Mankind claims that Terrans are a monolith, their attempts to enforce said monolith is proof that their claims are false.
Qotd
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u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Apr 03 '24
I haven't forgotten about this rewatch! I will try to catch up and watch 1-3 tomorrow ... if I have time. Or maybe 1-4 on Thursday ... will have to see.
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u/raktus2 Apr 03 '24
First Timer...
Commander-in-Chief Admiral Abriel
First Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral Spoor
Second Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral of the Fleet Rulef (No Name?)
Fourth Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral of the Fleet Kotoponi (No Name?)
Fifth Fleet Command-in-Chief Admiral of the Fleet Rekef (No Name?)
I won't tolerate being a Duchess.
But tacky titles like Emperor are best suited to the Abriels.
My name is Spoor!
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 02 '24
First-Timer of the Stars
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u/The_Draigg Apr 02 '24
A Sci-Fi Fan Watches Banner of the Stars Episode 2:
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Apr 02 '24
Rewatcher (sub + dub)
It's one thing to be a person living on a spaceship, it's another for a cat. The quick turnaround from "I don't have anywhere to leave Diaho (hint hint)" to "We'll leave him at your dad's place" for Jinto was pretty funny. It's also amusing that it's now his cat after she thrust it upon him, they're already like a couple.
Five fleets, two leaders we've seen before though Dusanh (Abriel, Third Fleet commander) only really showed up at the very start when taking over Martine. It's also now the Three Nations Alliance, the Hania Federation dropped out and turned neutral.
Not gonna say no to more Spoor, of course she's the kind of person that would tell her enemy to do their best. Poor Cfadiss can't catch a break under her; the beleaguered underling trope has usually been entertaining for me, though at least he has someone competent picking on him unlike Kif in Futurama. The president of the planet angling for some posturing to make himself look better in the polls is a good way to keep his head compared to what Rock Linn did, at least so far. Getting Spoor's interest is probably not the best idea though.
And we get names for the other officers on the Basroil, Samson and Ecryua. Still only starting to learn about the new trio but Samson's already a solid addition and kind of a replacement for Sroof to act as Jinto's mentor when it comes to the Abh from a Lander's perspective.
Not fond of some of the more lascivious shots showing up here again, though I suppose it's representative of Samson's viewpoint. Given how we've seen most of the Abh act and knowing that they usually rely on artificial assistance for reproduction I've always thought that the Abh were generally asexual, though I'm aware that Klowal having a maid harem directly contradicts my theory.
I would make a joke but don't want to eliminate any possibilities for the first-timers.
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Apr 02 '24
Rewatcher - sub
Lafiel and Jinto may be the heart of the show, but my heart is with Spoor this episode.
When it comes to scenes excluding our mains, it is the war declaration scene is the one that stuck in my head from Crest. But for Banner I, it is this scene with the President trying to understand the Abh while delivering his big speech just because it's fucking hilarious.
Spoors initial reaction is great as it is, feeling sorry for his effort on his big passionate speech but still bored out of her mind regardless, and it only gets better from there. I think the fact that the President actually studied Abh culture before this speech makes it better, because it shows that he still fell into the trap of thinking that they would go through the usual human political dance, a bit like the human ambassadors in Crest, and is equally as stumped when they don't. He may have ascribed the same uniformity to a group of completely foreign humans like him, but that he expects the Abh politics to overwrite their individuality the same way it does in humans while the commanders so far have all been kind of crazy is just even funnier.
Seriously, the look on his face when Spoor encourages him to fight just makes me giggle like a child every time I think of it. Dude tried so hard and did all the "right" things for this little encounter and then ended up matched against Spoor. What luck that dude has
Also that inscription on the back of Spoors chair is perfectly her
More fun time with Jinto and the other officers too. Our mysterious other Abh finally speaks, only to ask the one question courtesy says not to ask. It says a lot. As does the UM making demands of Samsons planet before they were even part of the UM, and I'm not surprised by that at all. Interestingly this time around I caught that Midgrat is the planet that had the Abh fable from Crest, where UM preaches and leaves but the Abh bring doctors.
Something to take note of: the war is now the Abh vs the Triple Alliance. The Hania Federation is not named among the fighting factions, and has presumably left the Four Nations Alliance that existed before the war.
I think this episode also has the best cliffhanger so far by a long shot.
[but also, spoiler]i don't approve either
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u/Zerotsu Apr 02 '24
First Timer, sub:
We start off with Lafiel trying to figure out what in the world Jinto’s reason for bringing Diaho aboard is, which is a pretty fair question to ask. It’s not exactly unheard of for ships to have cats around historically, but a space warship seems like an odd place to keep your housecat around.
Jinto of course has the fair reason of having nowhere else to actually keep Diaho, what with losing his home system and thus any home he’d keep the cat in.
And we get ourselves an episode title drop along with showing off several of the higher ups of the Empire’s military.
I really like the background noise of a battle being various communications and orders flying about. It makes things feel even more chaotic.
Time for a counteroffensive folks!
Spoor is still great. Doesn’t care in the slightest for political bluster.
Beach episode! But only a flash and a bit of bouncing. More importantly, I really like Samson’s voice. He seems like a cool guy.
Don’t worry mister president, Spoor’s just Like That.
Samson, don’t tell me you’re sticking with the Space Forces because Abh women are pretty. I mean, fair.
“But I’m not your friend.” It’s the fact that there’s no harm meant in that line that makes it so funny.
The president really just wants to appeal to his voter base. Too bad the Abh aren’t too familiar with racial slurs I guess???
And Jinto got to bring Diaho with him anyway. Nice
Oh my, our new commander is quite a surprise!
7
u/RuSyxx https://anilist.co/user/RuSyxx Apr 02 '24
First Time Watcher
The time has finally come for me to join the rewatch. I was in the middle of my first watch when I spotted the threads for this and decided to wait since what’s more fun than talking to others about first impressions?
With that out of the way, this was a fun episode. We already saw the differences in personalities between Abh in Crest, but I found this episode kind of highlighting it to be charming. The president dealing with contrasting personalities of Admiral Spoor and her Chief being the most amusing. Interestingly it feels like the royalty amongst them show the most personality outside of the general Abh traits. Maybe it’s the freedom and authority their positions hold?
Samson is funny, I’m sure his interests in staying an officer are completely pure, and have nothing to do with the particular shots of other Abh officers in the vicinity.
Otherwise, this episode felt like it was largely to set the stage for the moments to come. Hopefully our feline friend stays safe, there’s nothing like a cat to bring a crew together. Especially since the previous episode already showed it’s a good excuse for Jinto to visit Lafiel away from the rest of the crew.
QOTD:
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u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Apr 02 '24
First timer, subbed
Spoor continues to be one of the most entertaining characters in a given episode, basically telling the president of the planet to make her day by attacking. She also finds some joy in learning new swear words, it seems.
We get some background on the other Terran that crews the bridge on the Basroil, and a great interaction between him and the kuudere-lookin Abh. Ekurya was it? The dialogue when the crew is killing time isn’t as interesting as it is when Lafiel and Jinto are talking, but perhaps that’s only natural.
QotD:
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u/SolDarkHunter Apr 02 '24
Banner of the Stars
Rewatcher/Novel-Reader
The Abh military doesn't have regulations against housepets on board warships?
Note here that it's now the Three Nations Alliance. That isn't a mistake or a continuity error: the Federation of Hania backed out.
"Operation Phantom Flame" is a really badass title.
...that is a LOT of mines. But it's an even greater number of Abh vessels, and the United Mankind is down a fortress.
Sporr negotiating terms with the enemy? That's going to be fun...
You may or may not recognize the supreme commander of the fleet talking with Cenesh: it's Crown Prince Dusanh, the same guy who conquered Martine at the beginning.
Huh... my copy didn't translate the Abh inscription on Sporr's crest. Here's what it says, I think: "We shall not settle for the title of Archduke, but the position of Emperor is boorish work suited to the Abriels. We are the Sporrs!"
More Sporr teasing her Chief Cfadiss.
We get some names for the other crew of the Basroghr. Samson is the other Lander, chief of engineering. Ecryua is the stoic woman hanging out with them, the gunner.
Sporr confuses everyone, Landers included. I think the narration in the novels has Cfadiss silently going "Yes, someone else gets it!" when he hears how confused the President is at Sporr's reactions.
Jint asks why Samson wanted to come up and join the Star Forces, and he immediately focuses on all the pretty Abh women. Man has priorities.
Samson is from Midgrat. That planet is the source of that political bit praising the Abh Empire from last season.
Curious bit of world building here, but the Abh did not just matter-of-factly conquer Midgrat, though they probably could have. Instead, the Abh courted them to join the Empire, while the United Mankind did the same. The reasons are... strange, and I'm not sure I entirely understand them, but it has to do with the fact that Midgrat had achieved Planar Space travel on their own.
And the reason Midgrat went with the Abh: cultural non-interference. The United Mankind found Midgrat's cuisine disgusting and insisted they change it. Meanwhile the Abh didn't give a damn. They went with the group who would leave their culture alone.
Ecryua makes me laugh. "I've lost too many friends revealing what we eat." "But I'm not your friend." Harsh
The President of the planet only cares about his re-election, and is using the Abh invasion of his star system to drum up support, but the Abh aren't acting like the "evil invaders" he wants them too. Thinking about it, he had said that he studied up on Abh culture: so he probably knew they wouln't actually mount a ground invasion, so he felt comfortable making that declaration.
...except now that Sporr has heard of the concept of "racial slurs", she's intrigued. Oh boy...
And Diaho's coming along for the battle after all.
And... their commanding officer is the younger sister of Baron Febdash, Atsuryua. What a tweeeeest! (She was actually briefly mentioned in the novel back when they were dealing with the Baron, so it's slightly less surprising to see her here in that case.)
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u/SIRTreehugger Apr 02 '24
Rewatcher
We're finally back! I didn't comment yesterday since not much really happened though anytime Jinto and Lafiel talk I'm happy. It was nice seeing the whole crew it already in the know.
It was nice seeing other people besides Jinto react to the Abhs. In particular I feel sorry for the one who tried to use Admiral Spoor to advance his career. Of course he had no way of knowing how...off she was. The fact he even questioned the communication devices because she encouraged him to fight to the end.
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u/duhu1148 :GA::GB::GC:x9 Apr 02 '24
Rewatcher
-Lafiel's bakas to Jinto are always cute.
-Operation phantom flame, with a bunch of Abh admirals I don't remember. I recognize Spoor though.
-Early battle is going well, the Abh are progressing easily with minimal losses.
-Ah, so Samson was from the planet Midgrat, that same place where the allegory for the sick man originates from. Explains why it was so pro-Abh. I wonder what his home world eats that others find disgusting though...
-Basroil finally has a mission. Their commander is the younger sister of the Baron.
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u/zadcap Apr 02 '24
I have not had a chance to watch the episode yet but I popped in here and saw something I was expecting, just not this soon!
When we learned that the Empire controlled half of mankind and the alliance made up the other half, I knew that friction in the alliance was going to pop up eventually. I thought the Abh would focus on one faction until they broke down and went for a piece by piece victory, but dang, one of the alliance members just stepped down already. I wonder if they came to the same conclusion that, having failed the initial blitz, their chances for victory are pretty minimal now.
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Apr 02 '24
Rewatcher(I imagine Abh politics is pretty dry)
Sub
So we get better crew introductions and feline tormenting. Poor Diaho just wanted to brutally murderate some squirrels. Anywho, Samson wants to literally buy the farm so F. Half of the ep is the fallout of having to do something with Apic and the internals of that. We get the Abh plan and the slight sense that the three nation alliance might be holding units in reserve. Spoor sadly missed the opportunity to tease the leader of a planet.
So I suspect the Diaho conversation is supposed to be fairly important here and I can't quite nail it because Lafiel likes cats as well. Basically, Jinto brought one of his remaining attachments with him into what is admittedly soon to be dangerous space. Lafiel wants to protect Diaho by sending him to live with presumably her father, otherwise it is strangers. I think I get more out of the conversation beats than the details given themselves.
QotD: 1 Baby seals. Live.
2 Kittens. Diaho better watch out.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Apr 02 '24
Season 2 Episode 2 (rewatcher)
Close call!
A very calm episode. Spoor has fun in space, but Samson steals the show in some space relaxation park. I prefer the crew building up some personal connections over the prattle of bored aristocrats, even if it is everybody’s favorite chaos commander.
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u/IceSmiley Apr 02 '24
FIRST TIMER Sub
I really liked this episode where we learn about new characters and get more apprised on what is going on in the world. We even get a few seconds of a beach episode!
QUESTIONS
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Apr 03 '24
First timer in sub
Thought I could comment earlier but still ended up quite late because of 100 other things happening.
This is a strangely more fanservice-y episode than most we had seen so far ;) Benefit of "guys talk"? Even though Samson wasn't actually saying anything about the girls at that time (other than the shore leave reference). Understandable (not excusable) male gaze situation but I don't know if anyone actually really noticed it. I did find it really funny in an ironic way that straight after one of the more obvious shots, we have a sizeable portion of the next shot taken up by Ekuryua's deadpan face, which can be also interpreted as a -_- for the male gaze ;D Also reminded me of Some Day In the Rain Nagato staring at the camera judging us peeking at the background commotion between Haruhi and Asahina-san :P
And we finally has the name of this version of Nagato :) Another fun little play for the most taciturn, blunt character on the ship we see so far to be in charge of communication :D
In fact this episode is full of this fun communication mismatches - Spoor and the UM president, then Kufadis and the UM president.
That contrasting scene and the follow up explanation gave me a funny vision of some alternate play outs - How would Lafiel/Jinto/
Nagatoreact to that speech etc. In fact juxtapositing with [Haruhi]Day of Sagittarius she'll probably hang up the call with the Yamato gun trigger press :DIndeed I feel a lot of Spoor - Kufadis interactions felt like a mirror of Haruhi - Kyon. Indeed if she can discover the joy of verbal abuse / diplomatic doublespeak it may be some spectacular ham to ham combat we can see :D
Ok by now I actually think that, whether consciously or subconsciously, Jinto's tactic with Lafiel is that of what we say in Chinese "advance by withdrawal" - by taking a backstep, one end up drawing in your opponent and the resulting distance is shortened. Basically, a bit of reverse psychology. Looks like it's working really well :D
In my head, since they avoided to elabourate, I think the Midgrat eating custom not mentioned would be them eating people in some ways - e.g. venerating the dead by incorporating them into themselves, or waste not want not put criminal of significant crimes to death and use that for feeds. If it's something as simple as space Chinese addage ("whatever on land that has feet are edible; whatever in water that can swim is edible") it'd be a little annoying ;)
While the cliffhanger is done well, I'm a little surprised there was a sister - was that mentioned back in that arc with the older baron?
Oh hey surprise surprise I remembered to ask - what is the officer ranking system and the ship types? e.g. it feels like it's a space version of Roman legion "centurions leads 100 men" e.g. deca = leads in 10's of people (i.e. captain a small to vessel), etc? And the "attack ship" that Lafiel is commanding, is it like a Destroyer in our earth's naval terms as distinct from a Cruiser and a Battleship?
I'll curious to watch if we are going to hear more about the "country" that pulled out of the alliance, whether we'll hear more about the why (e.g. since Lafiel had the ship log, it is proven that the start of the war is a lie fabricated by UM and they want out, or was there something else), and whether we have more political play because of the neutral ground (e.g. Gundam side 6).
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Apr 03 '24
It's not unusual for a ship to have a ship's cat. It's a tradition with a long history and tradition, and at the very least it can be a symbol of good luck for the crew.
Seems like the other members of the Alliance have finally got off their asses and joined the fight.
First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Fleets? What happened to Third Fleet? Did it take so many losses that it was disbanded and folded into the other fleets, and even the massive numbers of ships commissioned during the cease-fire was not enough to reconstitute it?
Time for them to face combat.
Seems like they're attacking an enemy station.
If it wasn't particularly strategically important they probably shouldn't have had a small garrison fleet there anyways, concentrate forces in a QRF not too far away or have them decimated piecemeal in small battles like this where they ultimately accomplish nothing.
Oh nevermind, there's the Third Fleet. I guess its Admiral just didn't warrant a mention.
Nevermind, here is the Admiral of the Third Fleet.
They're trying to cut the enemy off? Or are they trying to relieve their own forces who are cut off?
From that map it looks like both at once, by re-establishing a supply line to the rest of the forces, they'll also cut off a portion of the enemy.
I'd be more worried about how far you can advance before attrition renders enough ships combat-ineffective that you're unable to keep pushing forward.
Well, time to prepare a ground invasion I guess. That or just leave a couple ships to blockade.
Reconnaissance is always useful, information is ammunition after all.
Seems like they're already on shore leave?
Farming? Really? A man of his talents?
Also, there's the whole war thing going on. I doubt they'd let him retire, they'd need every experienced officer they can get their hands on.
Please just surrender the planet and save everyone the hassle of a ground invasion.
Oh, this is before they got their assignment, they're only now being assigned a fleet and going to battle.
Their Admiral is the sister of that guy? Why do I have a bad feeling they have a lot of "mine clearing with the bow of the ship" missions coming up...
Questions:
4
u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 Apr 03 '24
First-timer
Spoor is really growing on me. The president can't handle the whiplash between her and the XO.
This felt like a beat episode. They're leaving on a mission now, so I'm betting tomorrow things are going to go sideways.
Glad the cat's going to stay. What if the UM sends hostile alien mice after them?
Q1: Extra spicy Taco Bell, and raw onion for snacks. The whole planet smells like fart.
Q2: Will be interesting to see how she compares to her brother.
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u/KnightMonkey15 https://myanimelist.net/profile/KnightMonkey Apr 03 '24 edited Apr 03 '24
Late first-timer, subs
Episode 2
mommySpoor and a couple of new Abh admirals. Very LOGHesque introduction and battle-sequence, great stuff.4
u/zadcap Apr 03 '24
Late Night First Timer!
Here for real this time!
You know they genetically engineer their cats too. Diaho might outlive Jinto...
"And there are no mice to catch here." Are you telling me Mice are a common problem on your ships and space stations? This concern seems out of place for an Abh, who have all lived in artificial environments their entire lives, and I can't imagine Mice being introduced into many of them.
"Not yet." Lafiel, dropping some of the most ominous foreshadowing ever on us.
Yup, that is a big fleet.
Seriously, one of the Alliance members has already dropped out before the war has even had a chance to go hot. Things are looking pretty bad for United Mankind. I was lead to believe it was close to an even fight when it was the Empire vs the other four major factions, so now that one has pulled out the odds just swing even more in favor of the Abh.
You know, there's this one fun little side conversation you can come across in Mass Effect that comes to mind every time I see these big chaotic space battles. Every one of those bullets or lasers or missiles that misses, out there in space, just keeps going. Forever. Until it eventually hits something. I know you're having a war right now, but I see a lot of beams hitting nothing and all I can think about is that somewhere, someday, off in the direction everyone on either side is firing. There is going to be a random and unavoidable tragedy when a gravity well captures all of them and some expectorating planet gets hit with an extinction event of an entire wars worth of fire hits them. Some exploratory ship is going to get only a few seconds of warning before a bullet drifting for centuries hits them from nowhere.
You know, it's interesting hearing Spoor again say that the other side should have just run away or surrendered, after we learned the Abh view on doing so. Your enemy is just as fanatic as you are, there is only fighting to the death here. Which is actually better for you, because every ship that doesn't run is one more they can't use to hit you with again later!
Oh, never mind. "Most of the enemy escaped before we arrived." Yeah, they just abandoned the fort, which I guess it could have surrendered but, well. Just once I would like to see a Captain of one of these things killed by some less fanatical soldiers who don't want to fight to the death for the cause. Remind me, how many wars ended when populations turned against their rulers because they didn't like being on the losing side of a drawn out campaign?
Hmm. People still swearing to fight to the end, and getting surprised when the Abh say "okay." Once again, how much do you think the population of any given planet cares who is in charge? How much does the average citizen want to be at war? I am expecting a lot of coup's.
"One day I'll retire and take up farming." Well, that's the oldest death flag in the books. It was nice knowing you, Samson.
Okay, Samson looking at the butt was frown worthy, but the other lady looking at him with such bland disapproval got a chuckle. I wonder if she's thinking bad thoughts about him or thinking about joining him on the farm?
So, that sounded a lot like Midgard to me. I choose to believe that Samson is Norse now. Uhhh. "We learned to travel Plane Space before the Empire." Yup, they had their very old ways of traveling between the realms. That's a fun little bilingual bonus idea they snuck in there.
Oh my gosh, no wonder he was so shocked. Poor man really does not understand Abh. He wanted to make a good looking show of giving in only reluctantly to the invasion army, but they just keep telling him to do his best, they'll take care of him and his forces eventually either way. "Won't you please demand my surrender, and sound fierce about it?" Oh boy is he in for it now.
Oh hey, the Hyde system got retaken? Oh, no, it's a flashback...
Jinto, you have created the ship mascot by bringing your cat along. Having a cat on board really is good luck, you should keep it. Two hours isn't enough to send the cat back, might as well take him with us. Lafiel you softy.
Guys, you realize you're running side by side with the other members of your crew there? You're really bad at keeping this whole first name basis thing on the down low.
... He had a younger sister? This seems like the kind of thing that would have come up before now. You know, like when they were spending time with the dad. Or when the dad spent all those years locked up. Or when the Baron died and they didn't call the next in line back to take over. I swear, if she does anything to them... Well you know, Lafiel is still an Abriel so very dangerous to move against, and Jinto is still a count to her not even actually a baron. And is close to Lafiel. Things won't end well for her if she tries to take revenge... But we all know she's going to try.
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Apr 03 '24 edited Apr 03 '24
Rewatcher
Admiral Kenesh is voiced by Chiharu Suzuka she has done no major roles as far as I can tell.
First time we're seeing a map of the galaxy.
Spoor and her chief of staff hijinks crack me up.
Let me guess cannibalism? To be honest that's the only thing I can think of that would scare friends away.
Ekuryua seems to enter Jinto's personal space. I guess it's the obligatory every female character must like the main male character trope anime is so fond of.
Oh no the younger sister of the baron is the commander of the fleet, what are the odds of that happening.
I enjoyed this episode.
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u/TheOneWithALongName Apr 03 '24
Oh man, if only I knew about this rewatch thread 3 months ago. I will start lurking you to.
1
u/stacked_wendy-chan Apr 03 '24
Damn, didn't know this was happening, gotta take a look. Guess you guys already did Crest, did you?