Banner of the Stars

[valondar]

The time skip does mostly seem to be for the express purpose of putting them in positions of authority. Lafiel going from trainee to commander of her own ship - even a small ship and even given the favouritism she's doubtless getting as one of the Abh imperial family - is easier to swallow over a three year period than three weeks.

[Funkgun]

Love the time skip, glad it was not too long. It works better for a title like this in which we have a long time to get to know the characters. The correlation I still get from Episode 1, is the Master and Commander feel. He is the one voice that can give her a sense of how she could conduct herself as the new commander.
Although, it was a bit annoying that it too the whole bridge command staff to tell him how to act with her.
He should have known by this time.
Episode 2, I am much like the Admiral, who is finding the battle boring. The victory is almost too easy.
The guy with the scar is an unusual bloke. How long is it before we find out "what" he eats that is seen as detestable?

Glad they are about to get their assignment, I had that early Kelly's Heroes feel for a team waiting for orders.

[MugiwaraMarius]

3 and 4:

The Baron's sister was surprisingly accepting of Jinto and Lafiel. It's possible she's faking it and waiting for her revenge but I think she was being honest when she said she wasn't holding a grudge. They made such a big deal out of coming and then it turns out to be nothing.

The battles are more interesting now that the main characters are involved. There feels like there is something at risk during these fights. Of Lafiel's crew only Samson really leaves much of an impression. He is an interesting guy with actual battle experience. The other two Abh haven't really registered so far. They are a little bland and boring.

The fight against the patrol ship was interesting because it paralleled the first battle from CotS. The situation was reversed this time with the Abh having the upper hand on the single patrol ship. It was like watching a whole being slowly nibbled to death by sharks. The patrol ship put up a valiant fight but it was just overwhelmed in the end.

This was the first sortie from the human alliance in a while. It looks like they have beefed up their troop strength and are ready to fight. So far they've done nothing but their asses kicked by rge Abh though.

Also I love Spoor and her chief subordinate. They are quite funny together and it's even funnier that they actually get along in private.

[SoTaPoP]

ah, reading all this has put a fire in me to re-watch Crest and Banner of the stars. The way it plays out mid season 2 is when it really starts to get interesting to me. Just a good damn watch.

[Funkgun]

Admiral Abriel seemed almost happy that

the forces, were larger than expected.

I am only thinking this, due to a slight smile while drifting in his floating think tank.
Speaking of which, I dig the chill factor of this room.


I feel relaxed, zen like, and prepared for war. All in one room.

Anyhow, there is one other character on the bridge that is being fleshed out, and that is the one who seems to be overly attached to the cat.
I will give her this, I think she used data, and statistics to sway Lafiel's opinion on sending it back.
Once again, I am amazed at the detail of how combat takes place in this story.
The fact that the fragments of the mines caused that one Ahb ship to loose speed (with all the debris) is very cool.
You could theoretically out-run a ship by loading the pursuer with a mess of mass.
... when did a mine become a projectile weapon?

Last thought. Clear ball/bell ringing/holograph/pool looks like a lot of fun.

[Funkgun]

Episode 5

Ok, so, it is funny to see that even in a straight laced sci fi show, there is the unintentional "falling" into another woman, while the one you love is just around the corner.

Anime, your cliches live on to infamy.

Anyhow things I note about this episode
1. Supply is more important than gossip
2. Cats can give Ahb a hard time
3. and never accept a diner invitation, without a clause that you have to talk it over with your commanding officer.

Last note, I now see what LesterF was talking about with "spectacularly Insane" characters.
=D I hope they live up to their namesake.

Ep 6 guess who's coming to diner.

Going to have to skip a day ol bean, 7 and 8 resumed tomorrow. =D

[MugiwaraMarius]

Okay so I was busy with Legend of the Galactic Heroes the last few days and I just got around to finishing this off. So here are my final thoughts on this season.

Originally Posted by Marius2000

Banner of the Stars:

Taking off where the previous season ended, the space combat element takes precedence in this second installment of this saga. Generally confrontations in space operas take the form of naval battles. Banner displays a variation of this by utilizing the nature of Planar Space to create the feel of skirmishes between submarines. The way the battles are presented does well to create a sense of uncertainty and chaos… sometimes a little too chaotic. But this is how it should be, especially since the Basroil is never in a situation where the crew has a clear advantage.

But space combat takes up only so much of Banner of the Stars. The bulk of the story, much like the predecessor, is spent on character drama. The crux of Crest of the Stars was rooted in the relationship between Lafiel and Jinto. And here, it is only more so. Thanks to the more static location, things can evolve with greater ease, not only for the two protagonists, but for the rest of the cast as well. Supreme Commander Abriel and his Chief of Staff, the eccentric Admiral Bebaus and his cold brother, the ever so entertaining Admiral Spoor and her first officer, among others get their own time in the limelight, with moments full of wit and charm. Chemistry is there for everyone, and is only made better when coupled with great dialog. Saying that something is all talk is generally an insult. This is the exception. The show is really helped by the broader focus on the characters. While I like Jinto and Lafiel I don't think they are enough to carry the show by themselves. The side characters add a nice new element to the show. However I still don't like this one sided look at the war. We get plenty of information about the Abh side of the war but the enemy still remains mostly faceless. It would make everything so more interesting if we were to learn even a little about the Human Alliance on the other side of this fight. Instead the enemy remains pretty much faceless throughout taking away some of the tension from the battles.

In comparison to its previous entry, Banner is certainly the better paced of the two. Granted the pacing still falls somewhere between that of a snail and a tortoise. But at least this time, there is greater consistency. In theory, this would make Banner superior to Crest, if it weren’t for one glaring problem: flashbacks. It was quite the issue in Crest, and here it is only worse, sometimes taking up as much as five minutes per episode. I understand that this is a pensive show, but it does feel like a real waste of time when episodes could have been utilized to instead further expound upon the situation at hand rather than tread previously trodden ground.

Overall I think this was an improvement over the first season but my enjoyment was severely hampered by the fact that I'd just finished Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I had to keep reminding myself that with only 13 episodes this show was never going to be as intricate or complex as an 110 episodes space opera. However in trying to wrap up my thoughts on the show I'm doing my best to be fair to banner as it's own entity and not make unfair comparisons. Although it did have a few notable flaws I still enjoyed Banner of the Stars. 3.5- out of 5

[Funkgun]

O.K. I was more like at episode 10, but I guess I will get back to you later once I finish it.

[Funkgun]

finally finished it man, sorry for the delay.

Sometimes I felt like the series see sawed between a young crew in a small Sloop ship learning how well they were going to be, vs a bunch of admirals bantering between themselves on how well or badly they were overestimating/underestimating the enemies forces. I did like theat by the end your finally getting to know all the rest of the admirals that the show kept teasing you with in the opening credits.

I did like the analogy of the jousting that the show used. In a lot of ways this is almost like World War I in combat. Instead of trenches, there is a Sord that you HAVE to go through to slog it out with the other side. Basically the mines were like an artillery barrage, followed by ships having to cross one side or the other to do actual combat.

Jinto, and Lafiel do get some time to flesh out their story, but obviously, the show has shirted to war. I for one have enjoyed that aspect.


You know what the show lacks?
Real enemies. You never see them, it is hard to dislike the United Mankind, when there is no face to put with the hate. About the only thing you can rally around not liking is the faceless Dormant mines.

I normally would have thought that was a good thing, refreshing, something to look forward too. But even in the world wars there was the face of your enemy plastered to posters and on pamphlets. Songs about Bismark, Pictures of Mussolini, or an Adolf mustache. Something.

Probably why the original Gundam was good. The heavies were almost more entertaining than the protagonist, ALSO Probably why you can enjoy a series like Galactic heroes. No real bad guy side, however, At least you see two sides to the conflict.


I am reminded that we are but a 3rd of the way through the series, leaving much room for all the characters, and even more so for the continuation of conflict, even if this one does sort of have a cap off end for this part.