Legend of the Galactic Heroes

I knew it! I knew things were going too well... Reinhard called to stop the war to talk with Yang which came out as the most unexpected thing I'd hear from him and I was jumping for joy at that moment for the prospect of them meeting. :/
It was so nice to see the alliance finally rest after being war torn like that and then that BULLSHIT happens! YANG DIES!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? The moment that happened I couldn't stop crying in a corner. The Alliance side is going to be so terrible without him! I can't even fathom this continuing with no Yang. Who's going to have epic and amazing battles with Reinhard now, it's like he lost another side of him. Yang for once was fighting a losing battle and I was praising him a lot for the mindset he had this time around. :/

I'm so angry and sad at the same time FUCK....

*Sigh*

Last night, I was thinking about how you were close to THE episode of the series, and wondering how you would react. And I started thinking about Yang slouched in the hallway like that. Suddenly I was wiping tears from my face. I was lying in bed at the time trying to sleep, a time when I'm at my most thoughtful, so maybe that's why. But there I was, crying for him. And the anger, that came back too. I might have been thinking something like 'Fuck you, Tanaka. Just... fuck you.'

I have been lucky up until this point in my life not to lose anyone. Yang's death is the closest I've ever come to grief. I am totally resigned to Kircheis' death - it doesn't evoke any stronger emotions than nostalgia and slight regret. But Yang - I can't even explain it. Although I cheered for Reinhard over Yang, although I prefer the Empire over the Alliance, Yang got under my skin in a way I was never consciously aware of. Until last night, I didn't even know the grief was still there.

:(

I was so accustomed to Yang's usual speeches about politics and his wisdom that he was in my mind the perfect counter part to Reinhard on the alliance side. I kept thinking there was no way he's going to die just like that he's the hero isn't he? Then when his death happened and he just sat down bleeding in the hallway, the tears just wouldn't stop. Like this is seriously going down as one of the saddest moments in anime I've ever watched, Yang's ghost is going to haunt me in my sleep every time I remember this and I'm going to get heartbroken. ):

I mean watching Yang for around 80 episodes I couldn't help but feel a sense of personal attachment and knowing he won't be around anymore showing his usual genius and lazy self leaves this indescribably empty feeling....

Fucking damnit LOTGH, WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?
Yang's easily one of the most memorable character's of this series and I'm going to miss him so much. ):

The after episodes of 3rd season ended on a somber note there with Yang's death made it difficult to swallow. Julian and Frederica as the heads of the now newly formed republic of Iserlohn is a logical move from the various admiral's point of view but there's sure to be difficult and tough times ahead for them though since Yang was such a central figure. So the 3rd season was just spectacular and hoping the 4th season doesn't let me down.

Well surprising start to this season, when Hilde and Reinhard did the deed tbh that was something I didn't see coming, for one Reinhard didn't seem like the kind of person who was going to get romantically invested in someone anytime soon considering the position he's in. It was the strangest thing ever to see him act all awkwardly shy about that marriage proposal. This was so different from the usual charismatic and confident Reinhard that it completely threw me off,it made me think is this really the same guy who rules the universe? As some of these episodes have progressed Reuental is heavily showing worrying signs to me,tbh I thought it'd be impossible he'd ever think of taking down the Kaiser considering how loyal he's been and considering what happened in their past history. I feel that given his position as governor now the psychological effect that's had on him feels like it's generally been negative and without Mittenmyer it's been getting worse.

With the latest episode that had my heart pounding every second! This scenario was just so similar to the previous Yang assassination ploy that I had to hold my breath the entire time to prepare for the grief in the event that Reinhard died. Thank god though it didn't happen and it was so awe inspiring to see Reinhard stare down the soldiers valiantly like that, gave me chills down my spine. Man though, Reinhard's had to lose so many close subordinates that it feels like he might end up having none of them left. :/
I get the feeling though that Reuental didn't particularly instigate or plan this assassination and felt it either had to do more with Rubinsky or the Earth church because it'd be so unlike him to do something underhanded like this although on one hand he could have realized this would happen and might have plans to make use of this incident. I'm predicting an epic showdown between the Kaiser and Reuental soon because it feels as though it's going to be inevitable.

Ultimately it's been a wild ride and I get sad thinking about how very close I am to the end.

Which reminds me, that Reinhard moment when he stares down the soldiers - my absolute favourite of his. Chills down my spine indeed!

I have to say I suspected as much that things weren't going to go too well for Reuental. I thought that Reuental would have held off the attacking forces consisting of Mittenmyer and the other admirals for a longer period of time but I guess that was too much for him to handle. Reuental is definitely a balanced genius but I don't think he's quite on the same level as Yang and Reinhard as I feel either of the two might have fared better in a situation like that hypothetically speaking. That really came out of the blue though how basically what came down to his ultimate demise was the turncoat firing at his ship resulting in him getting his artery punctured. Heck I didn't even expect Reuental to have a peaceful death like that dying in his office slowly as I would have expected a man with his pride to prefer death in a glorious battle. RIP Reuental, you will be missed and I have to give him major respect points for killing Trunhit off before his death I literally cheered when that happened, truly one of the classiest admirals.

Reinhard and Hildegard have officially got married while Hildegard's also pregnant. Tbh I'm not sure how to feel about that. I mean sure Reinhard's now has another support he can lean against and as well as a potential heir when he dies. However on the flipside of this it could be a potential weakness, with all the plotting of the conspiring forces it seems very easy to snap Reinhard's emotions like a twig in the instance that they attempt to assassinate his wife or his sister, I can see this all crumbling down the Empire because of that.

Also was disappointing for me that the republic forces are going to go to war because of the riots. I just smell the recipe for disaster coming up if they pile on to the Kaiser's growing concerns. :/
Julian himself I just don't really see as a good leader imo and if he pulls off a Yang Wenli I think I'd be annoyed by that because I frankly would find it hard to believe he could pull off the same tactical prowess and genius as him.

Hmmm Oberstein, honestly before I hated him quite a bit but over time his character's grown on me a little. Sure the guy has a fairly pragmatic view most of the time however I can respect the fact that he rather be the target of hatred for the Kaiser's sake and doesn't seem at all to be overly motivated by self interest. He's cold but it feels at this point its not very likely he'll betray Reinhard and I could see him taking the bullet for him if necessary.

Well now it's time for the last set of episodes I'm hoping the conclusion completely turns out the opposite of what I'm expecting.

Oberstein is an odd one, isn't he? I was a little disappointed when someone nearly spoiled it for you that he isn't strictly a bad guy.

It's one of the great surprises of the show. You begin loathing him, and for good reason too. And you immediately contrast him with Kircheis at the start, who is principled in a very positive way. But then you realise much later that Oberstein just has his own code, although just like Kircheis, he too is dedicated unquestioningly to the Keiser. I just loved that process of coming to understand him. Although it took 100 episodes, he was worth the slow discovery.

He ends up making the list of favourite characters for many people, I think. He's certainly on mine.

You know from Oberstein's standpoint in regards to that strategy I could kind of see his reasons for it but all the same I couldn't agree with it. How the whole thing played out with the riots, felt there was just something a little off about it. In a sense it's a possibility Oberstein plotted everything but at the same time I can't tell as I have a very difficult time discerning his true motivations and thoughts because he stays fairly neutral with his emotions. I'm so glad that Reinhard changed his mind about the thought of going to war against the Republicans and instead is at least trying to opt for negotiations because honestly before he was making quite a few unreasonable decisions imo. The admirals whenever they've gone into battle though I've been really disappointed with the mind set they have. I mean they always assume that bigger fleet equals easy win but all those times Yang's wiped the floor with them and I think it's precisely because of the underestimation in their attitude that they've consecutively lost tactically to the alliance. :/

Also when Kesler displayed such impressive feats that last episode loved every moment of that, he really does a good job as part of the military police. The moment when Reinhard also chose that name for his son felt pretty fitting and I personally liked his choice.

On a final note, god sometimes I want to shoot the narrator he constantly makes me lose hope that the dictatorship will prevail because of all the bad news for the Empire he just has to mention. :/

Seriously the idea of democracy winning because it's on the side of "justice" can screw off. >_>
I want the negotiation to happen and go well because if another war starts Reinhard will just end up losing horribly. <_<;

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It's interesting that you interpret democracy as winning so easily despite everything Julian went through to defend it. It hadn't indeed proven itself in the case of the Alliance, and maybe that's a kind of false image. LotGH only has one example each for democracy and autocracy. In our world, democracy has proven itself more enduringly just (still massively flawed as it is) than basically all other autocratic and anocratic systems in history. Reinhard's benevolent dictatorship has, as far as I'm aware, never existed.

But even if you come at it from the perspective of the show, on the theoretical level, democracy trumps benevolent dictatorship in the long term. Even Reinhard couldn't deny that. While democracy didn't prove itself in fact, it proves itself in theory (refer to my earlier ramblings about their relative merits), which also really matters. Reinhard knew that if it would always take someone as extraordinary as him to uphold a system, then it couldn't be the right system for the long haul. However, you could say that the Empire he fashioned is the perfect start for a new democracy. The values of meritocracy and equal worth for all human beings are there at the base. Just the formal institutions need to now reflect it.

That was silly Reuntal, you should know that Yang would never sacrifice the safety of Iserlohn and the Thor Hammer to engage in a fleet battle where he's seriously outnumbered. Though it made for a great episode where we got to see the Rosen Ritter being badass again, it hasn't happened for a while.

But actually, I wonder if Reuntal's underlying ambition is clouding his judgement in battle, it seems he's having a bit of an inner battle, where he can and will follow Reinhard and carry out his orders to the very best of his ability, but he also wants Reinhard's power, so is he making some silly errors in search for making an even bigger name for himself? I kind of doubt that he would have made the same move had he been fighting alongside Mittermeyer, he's a great foil to Reuntal.

I can't see how the Alliance can survive this assault, and maybe even Phezzan, the Empire is just too overwhelming, and with the Alliance only having 4-5 fleets left, they're out numbered, outgunned, and suffering from too much inner political turmoil. It seems to me that Yang will eventually take control of whatever remains of the Alliance after Ragnarok has gone through.

I guess there's the matter of the Earth Cult to consider too, though we don't know how much power they really wield yet, they seem to be pulling strings in Phezzan, but that doesn't say a lot really, if Reinhard so wished, he could easily trample over Phezzan, though it doesn't seem like the kind of heavy handed thing he would do.

Urgh this is intense, probably the most intense battle yet. I can't see both Yang and Reinhard surviving this, something has to give and one of them will probably die in thix battle.

Muller was awesome though, but where the hell is Mittermeyer and Reuntal? Aaaarrrggghhh this is too much to take.

I have never felt sadder about a death in a show. I knew it was coming having been spoiled over a year ago, but it didn't lessen the impact whatsoever. Killed by a shot to the leg, alone, by some no name terrorist, slumped against a wall. It doesn't drag out, but how he tries to think logically about it "I'm losing so much blood, theoretically my body should be lighter, so why do I feel so heavy?", fuck that hit hard. He even dies with that same old little smirk on his face. WHY ARE YOU SMILING YANG? Fuck, you have a beautiful wife to get back to, there is an endless supply of literature and history for you to read and you have YEARS to do nothing but read and think and talk. Don't die, don't smile about it.

Frederica's reaction was just too much to take. That's how it should have been, an old man in his chair with a book in his hand, with his grandkids messing around. He should always have had an anti-climatic death to his life, but not in this way, not in the corridors of a freight ship alone. This hurts more than Kircheis, this hurts more than any other death I've ever seen in a show. Even in Rose of Versailles
The same isn't true for Yang. I mean, had he died in battle like Farenheit, Steinmetz, or Bucock, I would have said that was ill fitting too, but man, I've no idea what to do with myself, I can't even bring myself to watch other shows right now.

There's still 2 cours of the show left, how can the Irregulars really go against Reinhard now? What will Reinhard fight for anymore? The galaxy is basically his now, he should turn his attention to the Earth Church again and mount a war on terror, but we all know how that works out. All I wanted was another conversation between the 2 commanders, and now I'll never get that.