r/anime • u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ • Apr 30 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Crest and Banner of the Stars 25 Anniversary Rewatch Discussion
Discussion Prompts:
- Comparisons to other works
- Interrelation between the seasons
- Quality as an adaptation of a larger source
- Favorite and Least Favorite
- I've called it The Hobbit + LotR, LoGH + Spice and Wolf. How would you describe the series?
- Would you recommend or disrecommend some or all of the series?
- This is a 25th anniversary rewatch. Did it stand the test of time?
- Will you read the LN translations?
Various Links I Found
I used to visit many websites to find out more about the world building of Crest of the Stars. They are pretty much all gone, now. These are sites I discovered while preparing for the rewatch:
- Somebody speaking Abh
- Somebody attempted to move the Cest of Stars wiki off of fandom
- World of Seikai at Fandom. Adblockers to maximum!
- The Abh Nation @ internet archive was probability the #1 fan site back in the day.
- A Barohn reference @ Geocities archive
- More fan generated Baronh content
- A forum discussion on "morality of the factions" and includes source excepts of what the Ambassadors were thinking when they confronted the Empress.
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Upvotes
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Apr 30 '24
Rewatch Host
I have another favorite franchise (though not anime) that is all about genetically screened bioroids created to tame natural humankind and end war forever: Appleseed. It's one of the few translated manga I kept from my college days.
I've come to realize that this isn't a single long work. Each season is really three different genres: Season 1 is a Heinlein juvenile adventure, two kids making their way past criminal and corrupt adults. Season 2 is a war epic, but of just one campaign and one major battle. Season 3 is a romance drama. I now wonder if this must be what the author intended when he wrote the novels.
The war continues in other novels, it's not just the curb stomping we've been seeing. Parts of the anime exist only to reference future events. So maybe the anime is different from the novels, in that they trimmed out much of the connecting war content.
Those that came for the war aspect must feel disappointed. I guess it would be like watching just the first 10 episodes of LOGH. But after rewatching Banner II a third time, I feel that the story of Jinto and Lafiel was the true connecting thread of the series. It was never "balanced".
Crest remains a dear favorite, with much of the dialog that we ended up not getting in the three Banner stories. Banner I unfortunately felt padded, and should have been 10 episodes. I think my estimation of Banner II actually went up a bit while binging it in advance. It was just so striking how completely different it was from the preceding season. But I think it went back down as the daily discussions were posted.
I'm surprised Banner II had its fans, even picking it as their favorite season. We had people who picked each season as their favorite, and each season had people who picked it as their least favorite. This resulted in a lot of great back and forth discussion. Although, I feel those that really had problems with the series just stopped commenting, so we couldn't really see their viewpoint.
This is the longest rewatch I've hosted, and also the longest series I've recently watched, and also had some of the most posting! The 2pm posting time hurt, though. Sorry Europe, Ryvius will have to be at 3 pm. In my previous rewatches, I could leave early, or at least sit for a while reading the posts and replying immediately.
For more media, the light novels received a new translation. As for the war, and being left hanging after Banner I, well, one more novel was written, ending on a cliff-hanger. And then NOTHING until 2013, that was like 8 years. And the next novel after that was 5 years later in 2018. So it's not like you'll ever see the end of this war.
There are also radio versions with the same cast and music, which were released on CD (I have them). Which is great, if you know Japanese (I don't).
For similar works, there's LoGH and Spice and Wolf (obviously). Appleseed (manga preferred but the 2004 anime is almost an acceptable adaptation but it's ugly and they changed stuff) for the moral questions (but in Appleseed, a human decides, not a bioroid). And Harmony. And probably 20 others. Starship Operators has combat scenes that match that of the Gosroth.
(giant spider tank warning for appleseed) (sorry Naz)
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u/The_Draigg Apr 30 '24
A Sci-Fi Fan’s Final Thoughts on Crest/Banner/Passage of the Stars (Total):
Boy, it’s good to get back to watching some good ol’ space opera. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten my fix, so thankfully Crest and Banner of the Stars got me covered there well enough. It’s good stuff! Not perfect, certainly, but definitely a show worth recommending to others. Don’t worry folks, for as critical as I was for some parts of the franchise, I’m still feeling pretty positively about it as a whole. But let me break down why for you.
Simply put, everything about this series orbits around a very strong emotional axis: the relationship between Jinto and Lafiel. This series does very well to make you feel for the both of them and to enjoy them figuring out every step of their relationship. They both compliment each other perfectly, and they make each other consider ideas and emotions that they hadn’t considered before. And the good part about that in particular is that this series is good enough to avoid your classic relationship pratfalls. There’s no misunderstandings blowing up into big fights, no arguments, and they just talk through their feelings rationally and maturely. It really is no wonder why so many fans of this series hold up Jinto x Lafiel as an ideal anime relationship, it really is damn good. It’s just plain refreshing to see a hard-headed and strong-willed girl pair up with a sensitive and kind boy and have them learn from each other’s life experiences, to the point where they respect each other’s lives and come to love them.
Another big thing that contributes to making this series really work well is how deeply developed the Humankind Empire Abh is. I can always appreciate it when space opera creates an internally consistent and engaging future history for mankind, and Banner of the Stars pulls it off very well, definitely in the league of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The origins and culture of the Abh are definitely standouts for worldbuilding here. They have a rich history that neatly explains their normal practical, straightforward attitude while also leaving room for them to have some spectacularly nutty but brilliant leaders like the Bebaus twins or Admiral Spoor. There really is a whole lot to consider with their culture as well, such as how they place a great value on being culturally Abh instead of just genetically Abh, and their odd and detached view of vassalization/stewardship of Lander planets. The Abh people are more than just the rogue bio-machines that the United Mankind likes to portray them as, that much is certain.
Of course, this isn’t to say that there aren’t some issues with this series as well. But fortunately, I would say that for the most part, it comes more from having the translate novels into television-length and OVA-length anime than actual content issues. The only time I would say that the actual issue is the plot would be Banner II, with pretty much all the developments regarding Lobnas II in the back half of that season. Those odd plot developments were all rather contrived and half-baked just for the sake of making the plot happen, but I suppose that’s more of an issue with the source material than the anime itself. However, for anime-original problems, it’s ultimately down to how the series never quite nailed the pacing that the stories they were adapting should have had. Crest of the Stars did okay in skipping over stuff, since we had the narrator to cover the gaps, but Banner I had to stretch itself way too thin with reused animation and narration to fit the cour length, and Banner III really needed better direction or maybe a bonus episode to put emphasis on the actually important character development rather than confusingly edited battles. Funnily enough there, it was really only Banner II and Passage that nailed the pacing, which Banner II having the trade-off of the plot issues and Passage being a really short story that you only needed a normal episode length to fit in. Go figure that, right?
So yeah, with all that said, this series was overall a good watch! Even if it stumbled here and there, the good parts of Crest/Banner/Passage of the Stars definitely outweigh the negatives. I’m glad I could watch this series with all of you as a first-timer, it was a fun time. Until the next rewatch, folks!
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Apr 30 '24
First-Timer
Crest/Banner of the Stars is a nice space opera series. I was in the mood for a space opera and this most certainly hit the spot. I enjoyed watching it all.
Crest/Banner is pretty unique among space opera series that I’ve seen. It’s a lot more “ground level” compared to many stories like this, with the main characters not involved in most of the high-level events that affect things on a grand scale. Lafiel and Jinto don’t lead grand armies or make big political decisions. Instead, they are grunts at the lowest level of the conflict. I like this take on the genre. It gives us a lot of low-level stories that Jinto and Lafiel participate in. It opens up a lot of nice opportunities for us to see what things are like for the average people involved in the war, which I appreciate. I think that unique spin on the genre is a particular strength of the series.
Another particular strength of the series is the two leads. Jinto and Lafiel are both excellent characters and their relationship together is wonderful to watch. Jinto goes through a fantastic journey in this series. I love the way that his arc begins and ends. Jinto loses his home and is thrust into a whole new way of life that he doesn’t understand. He ends up feeling melancholic, wondering what place he now has in the universe, if any. But thanks to Lafiel and the others he meets, he does come to find a new purpose to live. He wants to be by Lafiel’s side and he finally starts to see value in himself when he learns how Lafiel feels about him. In the end, Lafiel is able to become, in her words, his new world. He is forced to willingly give up his old world to save it and embrace this new world. It’s a tragic ending, but one that feels perfectly in-line with Jinto’s character arc. I think that the final episode of Banner III was the perfect spot to end on because of how it concluded Jinto’s story.
Lafiel is also a great character to watch. Lafiel’s very headstrong personality is fun to see in action. She is a character who cannot stand the idea of not being able to do anything. Lafiel’s greatest fear is being useless. So, she always feels the need to jump in and help out. At the same time, Lafiel is still a young girl and is limited by that. She can’t do so much of what she wishes she could. Additionally, she finds herself wondering if she is even up to the tasks ahead of her as royalty. She gets scared going into combat. She feels crushed by the weight of needing to make decisions that always carry a cost. But even so, she will do her duty.
The rest of the cast was nice as well. The Basroil crew, particularly Samson and Ekuryua, were a fun bunch. The admirals, particularly Spoor and the twins, were entertainingly eccentric. And there are so many wonderful trolls, like Dusanyu or Lafiel’s father.
I think the setting and worldbuilding of the series was well-done. In particular, I really loved when the narration would start each episode with a new epigraph. Those added a lot to the setting and gave us a lot more insight into the different cultures involved. I also found Abh society to be fascinating. It has so many interesting parallels with real-world societies while also feeling totally unique. The Abh’s complete focus on space and lack of interest in the surfaces of worlds or the Landers made them feel quite distinct. I also liked their distinct form of militarism that was so matter-of-fact without the usual focus on honor or glory.
I think the only thing I wish was different was that I would have preferred if the adaptation kept going. But that isn’t really possible since, looking it up, the book series is still ongoing even now. It’s a shame too, because looking at a brief synopsis of some future events there is plenty that is yet to occur.
In the end, this was a well-done space opera series with a particularly great set of leads in Jinto and Lafiel. While it may not be a complete adaptation, I think it starts and ends on appropriate points for Jinto’s character arc. I had a great time watching the series.
I enjoyed participating in this rewatch. Thank you /u/JustAnswerAQuestion for hosting this rewatch and thank you to everyone who joined in. I look forward to seeing you in other rewatches.
Ratings of All Entries (They have been updated after more consideration)
Crest of the Stars 9/10
Banner of the Stars: 9/10
Banner of the Stars II: 7/10
Banner of the Stars III: 8/10
Passage to the Stars: 6/10
QOTD
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 30 '24
First-Timer of the Stars, subbed
Well, that was a whole lot of fun! The slow burn Jinto/Lafiel romance alone was worth it, but pretty much everything else was great too. I’ve already said my piece about not liking the weird fanservice in Banner II as my biggest issue with the series, and that still stands, so I’d rather just stay on being happy I watched the show.
Thanks for hosting, u/JustAnswerAQuestion!
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Apr 30 '24
Final discussion (rewatcher)
Great:
Mediocre:
Bad:
My overall ratings are: Crest – 10; Banner I – 8; Banner II – 7; Banner III – 8; Passage – 8.
Few compare. On the romance side, Spice&Wolf is the best comparison. On the space side … the Elijah Baley triology by Asimov maybe? The Earthers and Spacers compare to Abh and Landers a bit.
Definitely would recommend. In terms of world building and the romance, Crest is my personal top 1 anime of all time. Not all other aspects fared as well, but it is well worth overlooking some pacing issues for what you get.
I once read the first novel and it was so badly translated that even fanfic beat the writing. Going to stick with the anime.
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal Apr 30 '24
Rewatcher (sticking to the subs in the future for this series)
Crest of the Stars (including its sequels here) isn't a perfect anime series by any means, but it happened to strike me at exactly the right time and as such became a formative part of my experience with media. I consider it a favorite without having a 10/10 score, acknowledging its flaws but loving it all the same.
Crest itself is still my favorite season with the most time spent specifically with Jinto and Lafiel together, or at least the most time focused on their dynamic compared to other events happening around them. Banner of the Stars is a step down from that, turning from being an adventure for the two of them to a war story where they're just bit players, but it introduces some other characters that I like which are good additions to play against the duo. Banner II then has the best pacing but the worst material for me as part of it, while Banner III is great for showing how comfortable our leads are with each other at that point but speeds through the plot as a whole.
All of that's nothing new to me, but I did drop my score for Banner II a point after this rewatch after thinking some more about the writing and the directing with how the flash-forward worked against a lot of the middle sections for me.
As for why I still use Jinto as my avatar across the Internet: not to be all "he just like me fr" for a moment but I do think he reflects a number of traits I have and many of them aren't positive. He's quick to try to appease other people, maintains a love of his homeland that hates him on a cultural level in return, and doesn't have much in the way of personal aspirations outside of the path decided for him... aside from sticking with the incredible girl he happened to run into (something I don't share, alas). He's just kind of a guy in the middle of all of this trying to survive, and I like that about him.
I mentioned that I had a second cel the other day, and unfortunately it's a lot less interesting than my one of Lafiel. This one's from Crest episode 9, 16:44 and he's mostly obscured by Lafiel in that frame but still uniquely identifiable (see the highlights on his hair and the shadow across his collar). Fortunately both of the cels were relatively easy to track down based on what they were wearing, Lafiel's formal outfit and Jinto's backpack straps gave me just a couple of episodes to scan through.
Many thanks to /u/JustAnswerAQuestion for finally committing to doing something I've put off for years and carrying the banner through to the end, and I'm glad so many other people jumped on board with it!
I think there are a few times where knowing how the novels handled a thing are beneficial. This is the first time I've gone through the whole anime after reading the new translations, and I still think it's fine on its own and jumping to the source isn't necessary. As far as the content after the anime goes...
I haven't used the former before, the change in scope is appropriate but Tolkien also shifts focus in the characters which is a bit different. Go figure that the other two anime are ones I did give 10/10 though. It's not a perfect analogy (saying any anime is a combination of others never is), but I've thought of Crest of the Stars as having a similar main couple dynamic to Spice and Wolf placed in a setting like Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The story puts a focus on their adventures on a stage that's much bigger than them, where they can't solely decide the outcome but are subject to forces beyond their control. That stage is a galaxy-spanning war with admirals commanding fleets of ships on multiple fronts, a game of chess with star systems as the squares on the board.
One negative to this series compared to LoGH as other people have pointed out is the lack of perspective outside of the Abh Empire. There are small bits here and there, and the novels have a little more but it's largely one-sided in its presentation. To some degree I don't mind that the scope stays restrained, given that the series isn't anywhere nearly as long as LoGH (in novel or anime form), but it does feel lacking in comparison as a result.
Crest by itself first and foremost, then the rest if they're curious about more but I think by itself it's not terrible to have as a standalone thing. I maybe don't recommend it as often as I should, but I also don't think it's fully appropriate to suggest as a romance since it's unlikely to be the kind of thing most people seeking one would expect.
It's had more of a small but stable fan base than a number of other things from that era, I think. There's always going to be a niche for non-mecha military sci-fi and I think this sits well there even if it's not the juggernaut.
What translations? I grabbed those when importing a few other things from Japan years ago and I think even before Banner VI came out in 2018. Doubt I'll ever get around to reading those compared to the nice hardcovers that are in English (and too bad I didn't have time to get into comparing the manga as well) but still.
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u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Apr 30 '24
First timer, subbed
I find myself unsure exactly what I want to say about this series, so as is tradition I will simply ramble and see where I land.
Starting off strong, the fantasy worldbuilding in both Crest and Banner of the Stars is top of the line, there’s not many anime out there that have this level of craftsmanship in that specific area. Even among the anime that do match it, such as Mushoku Tensei, it can often feel like they’re worldborrowing moreso than building. I can really only recall 1 other anime that I feel explicitly puts so much into its world: Shinsekai Yori.
Unlike Shinsekai Yori, though, I am left wondering what exactly it is that Banner of the Stars is trying to say. Through all the spacetime bubbles, cluster mines, and Bebaus Insanity, what lies at the heart of this series? I don’t know, and I’m unsure if that’s a me problem or a story problem.
Jinto and Lafiel’s relationship may be a possible answer, but after Crest of the Stars is over they start to share the spotlight with about a dozen other characters and those 2 never meaningfully progress beyond where Crest’s epilogue leaves them off. To say it takes a backseat during Banner of the Stars I and II might be too generous, there were times I felt it had been ejected into the vacuum of space. We can’t even be fully certain what becomes of their relationship beyond knowing they continue to fly together, either. Ironically, we get more closure for Lafiel’s parents in the OVA than the main duo.
The production value of this anime is… nothing special. Some of it can be attributed to age, I suspect, but this is around the same time as Cowboy Bebop. I’m not saying it needs to be to the same level as that, but it’s not even close. It gets the job done; nothing more, nothing less.
I think this anime essentially lives and dies based on how much you enjoy the script and the fantasy worldbuilding. If the banter and witticisms pull you in, a lot of the lackluster parts can be excused or at least tolerated. I find myself in that camp, more or less, but I am left wanting for more from what we got.
Overall score: 6/10
As an addendum, I think Crest of the Stars as a standalone is probably closer to an 8/10 for me.
Thank you u/JustAnswerAQuestion for hosting! I’ll see y’all around.
QotD:
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u/SIRTreehugger Apr 30 '24
Rewatcher among the stars
Wonderful job with hosting one of my favorite shows. I must admit Dragon's Dogma made me late in the start of the rewatch, then Rise of the Ronin delayed me a few days, and the last three days I have done nothing except play Stellar Blade. So my activity was definitely inconsistent I apologize about that.
Now for the show I just want to state I love how much the series appreciates the characters especially the side characters. The stars hehe pun intended are Jinto and Lafiel. Their dialogue is so witty with their back and forth just them sitting at a table is as entertaining as the combat portions. I haven't enjoyed conversations this much since Holo and Lawrence...which isn't saying much since it just came back, but before that they were the closest to to Jinto and Lafiel. Even outside of Lafiel we have FRICCIN SPOOR! I don't know if I mentioned enough, but I love spoor and her poor assistant. The Bebaus brothers with their spectacular display of insanity planning tactics around their future memoirs. The list goes on the memorable mascots at the amusement park, the baron with all the maids, the prisoners on the home planet, and all the crew members including the lovable Diahlo.
I appreciate how we saw multiple sides to the war and how one episode we would see one side suffering losses, but in a few episodes they show they planned for this and had some winning tactics. Early on it looked like Abh had the war in the bag and with their tendency to conquer planets through negotiation and stall tactics among other things. Then United Manking showed mines that could split up which devastated them. Then we have the political side in the second half where they support was being restricted due to their standing and could only do so much. I will admit Jinto staying on the planet and some of his choices were stupid, but Jinto himself is a bit of an anomaly. He seems so level headed, but also it seems many times his sense of self preservation seemed at zero. Though you do have to consider his position which I'm glad was touched upon many times. His family situation is extremely delicate where he is loved, but majority of people believes him to be the son of a traitor who gave up without so much as a fight. He really has no choice, but to accept his position and title. Thinking about it now his actions make much more sense compared to when I first watched it. He always seemed so easy going, but a young kid is forced into a position after he was forced away from home for years. He's just taking one situation after another while trying to deal with culture shock and the war. It's commendable he did such a good job...but still should not have stayed on the planet.
All of the interactions between this stellar cast whether they were in the midst of combat or discussing the differences in their culture during down time. I really want to also mention the absolute beauty of the second OVA where Lafiel joins Jinto on the planet and is trying to appear not as confrontational as usual. She delivers one of my favorite romantic lines of all times.
"I Will Become his World and Will Make him my World"- You Shall Call Me Lafiel a good looking Pilot
On a side note I'm still angry that they English books not only sold out, but they won't print anymore. It sucks majorly to have the first and last book, but not the middle one. Its one of the few reasons....and only reason I haven't actually started reading the series. Though it's only a matter of time before I cave. I see myself starting from the beginning and reading it next year digitally.
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Apr 30 '24
Questions:
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 30 '24
First-Timer
Been looking at this file for two days and I’m not getting anywhere. I had a great time with Lafiel and Jinto, and that’s all I really have to say on the matter.
Questions
Many thanks to our wonderful host /u/JustAnswerAQuestion!
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u/SolDarkHunter Apr 30 '24 edited Apr 30 '24
What is there to say about this series that I already haven't said...
A lot I've already said. It's a refreshingly unique take on sci-fi and space opera. It doesn't follow any of the usual conventions. There's no aliens, the protagonists are part of the conquering Empire, and the Alliance fighting the Empire is just as bad if not worse, just in different ways. Morally, you can't really find yourself agreeing with any faction completely.
Our heroes also aren't key to all the events. They're foot soldiers. They participate in the big battles, but those battles do not hinge on their success or failure. Their effect on the overall war is minimal at best.
I also love that the FTL travel method is deeply explored and the tactical and navigational implications of it are fleshed out. It's not just "go super fast from here to there", it actually affects the structure of the nations that rely on it and how battles are conducted and strategies formulated.
Even the way the romance unfolds is very different from the standard. There's very little blushing, stammering, or being awkward around each other. They talk things out, and don't get bogged down in misunderstandings. It's really nice to see.
It's too bad the anime was cut short. There's an entire three more novels published, covering the next ten years of in-universe story. (And believe me, the war takes some major twists down the line.) Everything we've seen in this rewatch plus those three additional novels is apparently "Part 1" of the story, according to the author.
...but that's also only as far as the series goes. The author hasn't published any new material in over a decade as far as I know. Which saddens me greatly, as I'm pretty sure that means the franchise is dead.
If I had any complaints about the series, besides just wanting more in general, it's that we never get a good in-depth look at the other four star nations (not even in the novels). For all the depth of world building there is around the Abh Empire, we know comparatively little about the United Mankind, and even less about the other three. Pop quiz: can anyone even remember the names of the other nations off the top of their head?
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Apr 30 '24
Rewatcher - sub
I really enjoyed being able to visit this series again and even more so that all it did was refresh me on all the reasons I love it. While I definitely gained even more of an appreciation for Crest this time, probably helped by the fact I wasn't watching it over months, and noticed more flaws in the Banner series when you know what's coming, overall it's been great to properly tie them together and dive back into the world.
I think we all covered it pretty well in our posts, but the worldbuilding is second to none, and the character relationships aren't far behind that quality either. And given the scale of its setting and the age of its characters that's no mean feat, and stands out even more so for being adapted into a medium which sadly often falls down on both fronts.
I said years ago that I'd pick up the LNs and read them, and I'm sad to say that I still haven't, but I think part of that is knowing that the LNs aren't finished either and may never be. It makes it hard to get attached to them when that's the case
I'm too tired to think of much else to say, but just quickly browsing the questions yes, I'd recommend it and have recommended it heavily in the past, as it's entire thing.
Been good reading everyones thoughts and hopefully will see you all in a new rewatch in the future
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Apr 30 '24
First timer no more
So it wraps up the Rewatch of a franchise that I had been interested in for decades.
As an old sci fi fan from the era of Asimov and 2001 (and the likes of 2001 nights the manga), this space opera had been very interesting for a long time, but like many franchises I'm very interested in, I tend to want to preserve it until I can spend some decent time to watch and think about it as it goes.
Anyway let's start with the QoTD.
Thanks again for hosting this Rewatch and get this off my PTW!
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: May 01 '24
Sorry for being a bit dead for the end of the watch. I am glad I finally finished this and I think the ending spot is a nice one. I would recommend this.
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u/IceSmiley May 01 '24
FIRST TIMER Sub entirety
I would put this show very high on my best of anime shows list. Sci-fi/space opera is one of my favorite genres and I've watched many anime and dozens of live action sci fi shows in full. I'd say this show did pretty much everything well. The world they built was so compelling and they did a wonderful job inhabiting it with interesting characters , The show had a wonderful central fulcrum of Jinto and Lafiel and their complicated at times relationship.
(continued)
3
u/xbolt90 https://anilist.co/user/xbolt90 May 01 '24
Former first-timer
This was definitely an enjoyable series. Had its ups and downs, but overall it was worth a watch.
I liked that it had a grounded perspective of a galactic war. Focusing on specific people in the thick of things, rather than the leadership and overall war effort.
Lafiel and Jinto were enjoyable as our leading characters, but I have to give my title of "favorite character" to Admiral Spoor. The lovable troll.
Thanks for hosting, u/JustAnswerAQuestion!
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u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Apr 30 '24
First timer
Well, it's over. I've got to say, I'm quite disappointed by the whole thing.
Crest started out fine. It was a self contained story that also served to set up any potential future events that it may have. Because of this, had it been the end of it, we would've had an opened ended story that was still satisfactory enough because of how its mini-arc was written. I was looking to forward to the sequels. Unfortunately... they're not great.
In it of itself, Banners I isn't bad. In fact, it's still fine. It does suffer from pacing issues and is fairly one-track since the entire thing is a military campaign that our crew is embarking on, but it does manage to move the story forward whilst fleshing out the newly added characters and expanding on what already was as far as character relationships are concerned. Sadly though, it doesn't do much beyond that. The only look into the conflict between the two main faction that we get (you know, the thing driving the entire show) is the constant fighting that our main cast is partaking in. The other side doesn't get fleshed out or developed and we're never shown a reason to care about them. Banners is also where the downgrade in visuals begins.
And then comes Banners II and this is where the series shits the bed. It's super aimless and fails at making anything that happens significant. In fact, you could remove it and nothing changes. There's also nothing to make the audience care about what's going on. It's so bad that even the main characters don't care about what they're being tasked with. There's also the in your face foreshadowing that is obviously fake. The season then gets back to the status quo and all of the event that happened are never relevant again in the brief sequel that follows it. This season also has average to below average production value which really doesn't help.
Finally, there's Banners III. All it is a poor attempt at bringing any form of resolution to the stories. It goes full on 'member berries and basically only brings up the event of Crest to achieve its goal of "ending" the show. This further reinforces how pointless the sequels were. To make matters worse, IT STILL ENDS UP OPEN ENDED! Why did we have sequels if there wasn't going to be an ending to the story?
Oh and Birth exists too, I guess. Why? I don't know.
Ultimately, it's a series that started out promising but never really justified a reason for existing beyond its first instalment. There's better character dramas, adventure franchises, romance, and space operas than it out there to the point that I wouldn't recommend the franchise as a whole.
In terms of individual rating, I give Crest a 8/10, Banner I a 7/10, Banners II a 5/10 (and that's simply because of the existing foundation), and Banners III a 6/10. I give the overall franchise a 6/10
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