n the too-brief 13-episode anime series Crest of the Stars, the human-descended,
genetically engineered spacefarers of the Abh Empire were established as relatively benign dictators who conquered entire planets simply in order to control the space between them and prevent interstellar war. Jinto Lin, the fully human young scion of one such planet, was sent among the Abh to learn their ways before taking his father's place among the nobility. There he encountered an Abh princess named Lafiel, and the two bonded as Abh idealists and human rebels clashed around them.
The sequel series Banner of the Stars opens three years later; Lafiel now has command of her own interstellar ship, the Basroil, and Jinto is her supply officer and a member of her bridge crew. Ironically, the Abh's supposedly pacifistic policies have provoked open war in space, as humankind's Triple Alliance is resisting the Empire's expansion. Lafiel, Jinto and the crew of the Basroil experience their first space battles as the Abh form a key blockade in the resource-heavy Aptic System, and the Basroil is among the light ships assigned to guard the area.
Much to Jinto's surprise, Lafiel's new direct commander is the younger sister of Baron Febdash, a treacherous, crafty Abh whom Lafiel was forced to kill in Crest of the Stars. Jinto worries that Commander Atosuryua will use her power over Lafiel to engineer revenge for her sibling, but Atosuryua's intentions are gentler and far more alien. On a larger scale, some Abh doubt their emperor's decision to assign control of the Aptic campaign to a pair of identical twins from a clan known primarily for its "spectacular insanity." As the Stars series continues, Lafiel develops further as a commander, Jinto finds compensations for his isolated life among strangers, and the two of them quietly look for a balance between their friendship and their captain/officer relationship. At the same time, much exposition and character development play out over cocktails, both on the ship and in a variety of restaurants, bars and private cabins. Meanwhile, on the macro scale, the Abh continues its expansion, creating situations that are sure to put Jinto and Lafiel back into action.
This time it's at war
Banner of the Stars loses no time in getting to the action: The first episode opens on a high-tension space battle, as if to key viewers up and armor them against the soporific scenes to come. The rest of the episode deliberately plods through conversational exposition between Jinto and various crewmembers, plus Lafiel herself. This pattern repeats in many episodes; Banner's episodes often center on the Basroil's role in deadly conflict but devote far more time to character interaction and the unfolding of the Abh campaign. Rarely placing action over reflection, Banner is the kind of show that can solemnly devote entire segments to the Basroil officers' drink preferences, or Jinto's pet cat.
At times, the slow pacing and talk-heavy dynamic borders on the ridiculous: Even in the midst of pitched battle, the Abh always miraculously have time to explain, discuss and debate every order. While the Abh come from human stock, this sort of behavior makes them seem eerily alien, or at least scripted by someone who's never been in a combat situation. It also gives the series a relatively light feel, as some of the worst tension is moderated by the Abh's mild, talkative response to crisis.
The Stars series, which adapts a popular series of Japanese science-fiction novels, continues to feel rich and complex beyond the level of most anime series; Jinto's frequent dips into exposition and voiceover summary increase Banner's sense of scale, which is already impressively large. The series mostly lacks the comedic sidebars so common to even serious anime, but it's also not so dark as the genre's normal grim side. It's bread-and-butter space opera, grave and a bit dry, but devoted to thoughtfully studying its well-realized principals rather than sending them out to blow things up. Still, the series has one serious problem: It reduces humanity to a faceless, generic threat, stacking the deck a bit unfairly. The tension mostly stems from concern over Jinto and Lafiel, rather than from any larger moral question over which side is right, or any personal investment in the larger conflict. In that respect, Banner sometimes feels a bit like a movie version of a video game—a marvelously textured, detailed and character-driven video game, but still one pitting real people against shadow opponents.
One major quibble over Banner's DVD release—the scenes subtitled in Japanese, with English subtitles overlaid on them, are incredibly annoying: The two sets of titles blur into each other, and
it's practically impossible to read either.
— Tasha
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