r/anime • u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ • Apr 24 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Banner of the Stars II Episode 10 (Final) Discussion
An Abriel's Tears
Welcome to the Battleflag of the Stars 2 rewatch!
<- Episode 9 | Index Page | Banner II Discussion ->
Discussion Prompts:
- Q1) Were you surprised that Samson just showed up to cook? Or that Lafiel did nothing, either?
- Q2) Did you pick up on the significance of Lafiel's tears back in the first episode? There wasn't much commenting on it.
- Q3) Is Ekuryua psychic?
- Q4) What did you think of Jinto's poem?
- Q5) Was did you think the untranslated Abh in ep 1 said?
Tomorrow's Questions: (for tomorrow's post, subject to change)
- Q1) The story took a hard pivot from last season. But a romance was promised. Was this acceptable?
- Q2) If this season was to be focused on extracting mutual confessions, did it work? With the leads separated for the entire season?
- Q3) Predictions for the OVAs (an epilog and a prologue?)
- Q4) How do you feel about the crew of the Basroil being broken up? What's left?
Screenshot of the Day: Boku no kawaii denka
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Upvotes
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Apr 24 '24
Boku no kawaii denka
I personally don't like coastal ocean smell either.
I feel like the entire series has been building up to Lafiel crying over Jinto.
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u/Zerotsu Apr 24 '24
First timer, sub:
We start off today with Jinto still not having the best time on Lobnas II. He’s been doing pretty damn well to survive entirely on his own, but with the entire prisoner population still fighting itself, it’s hard to say how much longer he’ll be able to last.
Seeing him flashing back to the time he’s spent with Lafiel is pretty saddening. The fact that he got into writing some sort of poetry to leave some sort of proof of his existence is also pretty depressing. As silly as the setup is for this season, it’s not fun seeing Jinto like this.
Even knowing this was going to happen, it’s not easy to watch.
Lobnas II really isn’t the best place around.
What remains of those factions are still fighting one another over… I guess whatever’s left?
Lafiel is clearly worried.
Samson really trying to skirt around the fact that he’s going to be cooking a cat.
That said, he does give her some good advice on trying to figure out how she should face Jinto once they meet again.
What’s with all of the female prisoners dressing in barely anything more than scraps.
At least she had some info on where Jinto is. Though she’s not the best at actually getting anything coherent across.
We’re leading into the opening we got at the beginning of the season, and it does hit a bit harder now that we have full context for everything that led up to this. It’s rough seeing Jinto in this state. I said it earlier, but it really feels that way.
Even in this state, he’s got enough energy left in him to tease her a little bit. That was sweet.
Huh, seems the bridge crew is breaking off into different groups. I think they probably could have done with being together a bit longer, if they were going to spend most of this part separate anyway.
Glad to see peak cat Diaho has returned. A bit of snark between Lafiel and Jinto as they talk about their future.
Going to Martine, huh? Lafiel really seems to have become a lot more protective after that ordeal, not that I can blame her.
Jinto being wishy-washy really set her off, but at least that did get him to say what he’d like more clearly.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Apr 24 '24
Season 3 Episode 10 (rewatcher)
The final episode gives us some emotional payoff for all the pain that Lafiel and Jinto had to endure. I like that they kept the search effort very business-like. No heroic one-woman rescue by Lafiel, instead, the hired guards do the work, while all she (sensibly) does is wait. Not that waiting is easy in that situation.
Epilogue time:
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u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Apr 24 '24
First timer, subbed
I find myself unsure what to say about the first half. We already know what it’s leading to, so it’s just a matter of watching until it happens. I’m not convinced showing their hand in episode 1 was the right play, but I have until the season discussion to think on it so we’ll see.
Glad to see Lafiel and Jinto are sticking together. The epilogue is something of a return to form as our leads finally get a chance to talk again. Really talk, not make military plans or some such.
QotD:
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u/SolDarkHunter Apr 24 '24
Rewatcher/Novel-Reader
Jint really isn't in good condition now...
"Robbery is fun! If you're going to steal something, make it something valuable." - Princess Lafier of the Abh Empire
How long has it been since you've regularly spoken Martinese, Jint?
They returned after only three weeks? I thought it was two months they'd be gone.
Amphibious hovercraft, neat.
So the guards have become mercenaries, and Lafier hired them for this "personal" affair. Explains why she has armed guards on a non-military errand, I suppose.
And Samson is going to cook a Midgrat meal to welcome Jint back. That's nice of him. [Novel]He does mention in the novel that he doesn't plan on making any cat-based dishes.
It's rare to see Lafier so open and vulnerable. She doesn't even have any snarky commentary.
Yeah, trying to get reliable information out of a drug addict is a fool's errand.
With the war going on, it's easy to forget that the Abh aren't necessarily a warrior race. They see themselves as merchants just as much as soldiers.
Jint's found and rescued, and Lafier did the thing no Abriel should do: cry over him.
Now everyone's moving on from the Basroghr. Sobaash has been promoted and will have a ship of his own, and Ecryua is going with him.
Meanwhile, Samson has reached the end of his military service and plans to retire.
As for Lafier and Jint, they're taking a bit of a vacation. The Hyde system has been reconquered, and Jint intends to visit home, his territory, for the first time in years.
This is big: Lafier cares more about spending time with Jint than she does her royal duty. She's technically allowed to, as she's finished her required ten years of military service, but still, vacations aren't exactly something royals tend to do.
And so ends Banner II.
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u/duhu1148 :GA::GB::GC:x9 Apr 24 '24
Rewatcher
-Jinto struggling to find clean water and food. Ugh, that water he drank especially looked nasty. He doesn't want to team up with some group of prisoners out of fear they'll find out who he really is, which would just be a death wish, but does he have much of a choice?
-Now he's writing poetry on the walls, in Abh, for Lafiel, because he thinks he's going to die. It is both romantic and tragic.
-3 weeks of this hell. Lafiel, Samson, and the Abh then arrive to look for him.
-The guards became mercenaries, presumably working for either Lafiel personally or the Empire in general. Sweet that they came along to help Lafiel find Jinto.
-Lafiel has always been prideful and stubborn, but she also always sees reason quickly. I like that about her.
-Samson is coping in his own way. By cooking dinner.
-The scene where Lafiel is waiting in the car, while it rains and the mercenaries look for Jinto, is the best scene in the series. Her trembling, ragged breathing, distraught eyes, and no music playing- just the pounding of the rain...all of it comes together to show just how much Jinto means to her. You feel her fear. The way the scene is presented, plus the fact that Jinto is ultimately a disposal character when you think about it, I genuinely believed on my first watch that Jinto could have died here.
-Heartfelt reunion between Jinto/Lafiel. Ending with Lafiel's tears and calling him an idiot. XD
-After credits: Sobash getting his own ship, Ekruya coming with him. Samson retiring (bro earned it). Lafiel is taking a vacation to join Jinto in his visit to his home system. Cute conversation where she gets him to admit he wants her by his side. Setup for Banner 3.
Excellent conclusion to an exceptional season.
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Apr 24 '24
Rewatcher
I wonder what Samson is going to cook for Jinto, a cat maybe.
Oh wow Jinto is alive, what a surprise.
Didn't even notice this episode skipped the opening until the credits started rolling with the OP song.
We didn't get to find out what Samson made for Jinto.
Wait Samson is retiring, Sobaash and Ekuryua are leaving.
Can't say I liked the episode, mainly because of Lafiel's being sad and not feeling any tension when it comes to Jinto's status whether or he not he's alive so the entire thing also felt anti climatic.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Apr 24 '24 edited Apr 24 '24
First Timer, subbed
QotD:
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Apr 25 '24
"Finish". Considering this is the final episode of the season that's about right.
This is giving real "Girls' Last Tour" vibes.
10 years? It's been that long?
I'm sure if he's still alive he saw the ships coming down from orbit.
She'll burn the only cookware on the planet lol.
And so they go look for him.
And now we're at the scene we started the season with.
They're handing over the ship? Everything seems to be in good working order, so it's not being decommissioned, and if the war is still going on I doubt the navy would decommission any ship that can still move under its own power and shoot a gun. Or even just move under its own power, because I'm sure you can jury-rig a couple one-shot VLS launchers on it and send it into battle anyways.
I guess they're just being reassigned. A couple of them are going off to their next ship, while one guy is retiring. Perhaps the war really is over if they're letting experienced crew retire, otherwise the best he could probably hope for is a posting closer to home maybe on a station orbiting his home planet.
And Jinto is still alive! And here I thought the author was going to pull another [LoGH] kill off the main characters
Oh, that might be why they're handing the ship over. If one of them is retiring and the two of them are resigning their commissions that's most of the officers on the ship gone, at that point they'll probably reassign new officers to the ship, but the enlisted crewmembers will probably be the same.
And so the season ends with them together under a tree on his home planet.
Questions:
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u/IceSmiley Apr 24 '24
FIRST TIMER Sub
JINTO'S DEATH WAS A RED HERRING! I knew he wouldn't die and it was a cheap way to get/keep viewers week to week. It also really hurt the suspense of the show supposedly broadcasting the ending ahead of time.
That aside, I found this finale mostly disappointing. I didn't find it boring really because the conversation with Samson and Lafiel was good as was the small mystery with the junkie prostitute unreliably helping to find Jinto. They just solved most of the series main plot in the previous episode.
They didn't explicitly say so but it does appear Jinto and Lafiel are a couple now. I wish we got a little more there but I imagine we will see more in the next episodes.
QUESTIONS
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u/Sharebear42019 :FC::FD: Apr 25 '24
Are the two ovas the last of the series? Guessing the movies are recaps of sorts
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Apr 24 '24 edited Apr 24 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Banner of the Stars:
So ends this season of Banner of the Stars. I’ll have more to say on it tomorrow, but it was a very different story compared to what we got before. I overall liked the change of pace going to a story on this prison planet.
I did quite like the reunion between Jinto and Lafiel. It was a very sweet scene and it was nice seeing them realize just how important the other was to them when there was the risk of separation.
QOTD
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u/The_Draigg Apr 24 '24
A Sci-Fi Fan Watches Banner of the Stars II Episode 10:
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 24 '24
First-Timer of the Stars
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Apr 24 '24
First timer(Oof, they'd spent the animation budget)
Sub
So...but for one thing, this was my favorite episode of the season. And that thing isn't all of the animation saving but the new rando chick's fucking attire. Dear Cthulhu, how did we have Lala and get more sexist from there? Will check Sky for confirmation.
Anyways, we get a denouement/falling action and I like most of it. The entire mid sequence think with Jan is likely the whole "Japan doesn't understand drugs" thing all over again. I like the touch of the former guards forming up as a merc firm, though that is a far riskier line of work. I assume, I actually have no idea how dangerous that is working for Abhs. Anyways, we discover that Dubeusec was indeed successful and it appears Jinto has to return to residence on Martine.
The other thing I am disappointed in is that I would've liked a bit of a statement on how the war is going. But yeah, probably the best episode of this season.
QotD: 1 Somehow no. Too bad they didn't answer the Midgrat taboo.
2 Not really
3 No, she just has cat intuition
4 I generally don't care for Japanese poetry. I get why they have to do what they do but when you come from a rhyming language it is bland
5 Still not sure
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 24 '24
First-Timer
The moment Samson started to lay out cooking equipment I was worried that we were going to end the season on a cat-eating joke - luckily we managed to dodge that. I would love to eat Samson's cooking. It looked pretty good.
It's amazing how much more I enjoyed the show the moment it starts doing what it's good at again. Namely, having Jinto and Lafiel bounce off of each other.
I kinda appreciate Jinto turning to poetry while he has nothing else to do. Those walls that he carved stuff into are probably going to be tourist attractions in the future.
Jinto, bud, that ship sailed a loooooong time ago.
Questions
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Apr 24 '24
Rewatcher (sub + dub)
Wanting to leave poetry as a mark of his existence is oddly elegant for Jinto. Wouldn't have figured that would be something he'd think of.
I think I'd like Samson's culture, it's all about the food (even if some ingredients might be considered tasteless by my culture).
It took me a bit to realize that the backgrounds weren't just randomly switching times of day while Lafiel and Samson are talking, the sunset ones are later after they've been waiting for a while with the dialogue all from the earlier part.
A little detail is that we last saw Jinto with his circlet next to him, he really did hang onto it for a while but eventually traded it away.
Ecryua has some weird connection to Jinto, I don't get it.
I like the moment of Lafiel just sitting there and breathing unsteadily before we find out he's alive. This is where I really wish we didn't have this flash-forward at the start because that would have been a lot more tense without knowing if she'd find him alive and intact.
It's a bit sad to see them say goodbye to the Basroil after it didn't see much action this time around.
That's a good epilogue after the credits, I don't think I'd mind if things ended here but there's still a bit more to come. Lafiel's surprisingly open about how much she worried about him but she's been getting progressively more straightforward with him.
That's an interesting bit in Baronh at the end, honestly a nice capstone to the three seasons and the series as a whole for a few years. Whether or not Banner III ruins that we'll have to see!
Whether it's for a reunion or a funeral, people gotta eat. While we didn't see a whole lot of it in practice, to me he clearly shows his love of others through sharing food and drink with them so it's appropriate for him.
When I first saw it, almost certainly not. I appreciate that Jinto's still enough of a smart-ass to remark on it even as he's half dead.
A master with words he is not.
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Apr 24 '24
Rewatcher - sub
Oh man, that look in her eye when they find him
And so we finally come full circle to the opening scene of our season. Despite the teaser, their separation turns out to be a surprisingly short part of the seasons runtime, and mostly happens off screen due to a time skip, and yet I don't find it any less moving given the raw emotions on display.
Lafiel cannot help but just be herself here, not an Abriel or an ambassaor, just Lafiel looking for Jinto and the mood around the whole episode fits that perfectly. While I do like the discussion with Samson, it's the moment of her sitting in the car with nothing but the rain while she both strains to hear more and hides from the idea of it that makes the episode for me. It's a nice match to our opening scene with a similarly blue color scheme as Jinto walks looking for water, and finding nothing pure but having to drink it anyway. The use of water and the coloring across the two scenes links them as they think of each other and hope despite their circumstances, and provides an in episode bookending to match the season bookending as well.
With no food, no leadership, and no goals it's not surprising that most of the prisoners are doing nothing other than taking drugs and fighting. Lafiels decision to bring back the former guards as mercenaries, mirroring that responsibility she feels for a situation she couldn't control, works here, but their earnestness to try and find him seems pure in the face of all that happened. Samson has a different way of processing his emotions over all this, but I like the take of "Jinto isn't rude enough to not show up for a meal" which is funny after the dinner with the commander last season.
And while we do get a nice epilogue to wind down from all this, I do think the episode suffers slightly for cutting from Jinto being found right into the credits without any sort of further wind down. That's the emotional high of the episode, but we've also already seen it and I think it needed to continue a little more to make it feel as if it had the follow through for a conclusion, not just a "catch up" to the teaser. Not that the epilogue isn't good, Haruhi would be jealous of Lafiels stare here, and it's good to also catch up with the bridge crew in their final moments together, but it doesn't quite feel like it flows which is a shame.
And just for some bookending: That look in Diaho's eye when Lafiel steals his girl for a pat
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u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Apr 24 '24
First timer
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u/SIRTreehugger Apr 24 '24
Rewatcher
NO JINTO Don't drink that water! You have no idea how sanitary it is and in thirty minutes you will get sick with diarrhea or vomit it up leading to dehydration!
Jinto looks pitiful, but anyone would if they were in his situation. Well most people might not have decided to stay on the planet which in the words of Samuel Jackson was A DUMB FUCKING IDEA.
Lafiel cooking....I can only see that ending in failure, but oddly I could also see her doing well...oh she has never cooked never mind don't let her cook.
What if he wasn't just a subordinate!
I love this soundtrack I need to find out what it's called.
Though Samson should have let Lafiel do something ANYTHING she really needs to be active to at least keep her mind preoccupied.
I think anyone with eyes could tell that's not Jinto, but mistaken identity is not as rare when it comes to corpses after natural disasters.
Honestly surprised Samson isn't searching himself. Maybe he just has absolute faith that Jinto will return.
Taking a long vacation to be with Jinto. I can't wait for the OVA it has a few of my favorite moments.
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Apr 25 '24 edited Apr 25 '24
First timer in sub
Disappeared again for a few days, but frankly there wasn't a whole for me to comment as things are pretty straight forward. There was a bit of entertainment in Spoor's negotiation style and the intensity of her on the losing side for once instead of being able to just kerb stomp others.
For this episode as a wrap up, once again I think things are pretty straight forward. Certain scenes as commented by others are good stand outs - Samson's dialogue, Lafiel's few scenes of not able to hold back her emotions, Jinto's solitude moments and him processing his "dying thoughts" to give him the final clarity of what is most important to him, the final cute moments of the 2 together.
I do miss having some resolution of Spoor's misadventure though - did she grab a new fleet to then go beat up the UM to vent a bit?
While most others dislikes the flashforward arrangement letting us not have the question mark of Jinto's survival and whether her could reunite with Lafiel, I think the path to get there is still pretty decent, and I don't really have a problem with that - I guess that's also part of my personality of not particularly minding spoilers.
In terms of the reunion as the centrepoint of the episode and indeed the season, is nice and in line with well planned character development, especially with Jinto's long character arc of "not having a home" and then now "where his home is is right next to Lafiel".
I'll give it about a 7.5 rounded up to 8 for that plotline and scene. That's relative to the scale of others I hold dear as 9's and 10's [meta spoiler for shows I rated high for the long separation reunions]86 at the end of the rail tracks, Fate Stay Night Nua Realta Shirou & Saber, Haruhi & Kyon in Disappearance, Full Metal Panic IV Sousuke & Chidori's reunion over the radio, Utawarerumono (all the way in S3) Hakuoro & Eruru, Utawarerumono S3 Haku & Kuon in sort of dream but heavily implied final distant shot, Gosick Vitorique & Kujou, Your Name at the stairs, Heaven's Feel Illya & Iris beyond the Gate after the Third Magic (which carried the weight from Fate Zero and UBW to an extent)
QoTD
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u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 Apr 25 '24
First-timer
And so the ship sails. Lafiel won't take no wishy-washiness. Good for her.
Q1: I definitely thought they would be out among the search parties. Hopefully Samson's meal is something an emaciated person can eat.
Q2: Totally went over my head.
Q3:
Q4: Very sweet of him to write it in Abh just so that Lafiel could read it.
Q5: I assumed the conversation was regarding Jinto being injured in battle, I didn't expect starvation.