Crest Of The Stars
Vol. 1-2
—by Mark L. Johnson
I was very interested in checking out CREST OF THE STARS after reading EX's SEIKAI NO MONSHOU review of the Japanese release. Being a fan of LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES, I have enjoyed the politics and technology of stories dealing with space empires. And while CREST OF THE STARS may be less of an epic by focusing on two young characters, by the end of watching the first two disks I found myself desperately wanting to see more.
Based on a series of Japanese novels, CREST OF THE STARS takes place in the distant future, where humankind has gone out into the stars and now lives on thousands of worlds. The story starts over the planet of Martine, startled by the sudden appearance of a massive fleet of ships with vastly superior technology. They are given the choice to surrender or be destroyed.
This fleet came from the Humankind Abh Empire that spans tens of thousands of planets. The Abh themselves are rather mysterious, being more concerned with living in and controlling space rather than ruling the planets themselves. They have done extensive genetic engineering, characterized by their blue hair, extended longevity and youthful elfin appearance.
Jinto Lin is the son of the leader of Martine. When his father surrenders without an apparent fight and gains a royal title in the Abh Empire, he faces the bitterness of a planet's people who have been humbled and shamed. A few years later, Jinto is to join the Star Forces for mandatory military service as a son of a nobleman.
At the starport waiting for his ship, he meets with the Abh Lafiel. She is serving as a Pilot Trainee and escorts Jinto to the Gosroth, an advanced Abh battleship. Together they make for an interesting match, as Jinto tries to live up to his new nobility rank while Lafiel escapes hers. Soon enough, these two will be caught up in the potential of an interstellar war. For more in-depth information be sure to check out EX's SEIKAI NO MONSHOU review.
The early episodes are slow moving and very continuous, with lots of dialogue setting the political stage of an epic galaxy. The story revolves around Jinto and Lafiel, and their adventures thrust on them due to events beyond their control. Even though some parts degrade into talking heads, I found myself really enjoying the interaction and culture clash between them.
My favorite episode so far, which also sold me solidly on the series, was the fifth episode "The Battle of Gosroth" (the first episode on Volume 2). While I will not spoil it for you, I found the hyperspace ship battle to be very dramatic and well done. This battle also transitions CREST OF THE STARS into the heart of the story and ups the pace.
Looking at the DVDs themselves, the video quality on the first two disks is great. Following information gleamed from various anime forums, the first pressing of Volume 1 was badly compressed by ComChoice (a DVD authoring house) and suffered from poor video quality. However, it seems that Bandai has now returned to using Cinram/POP instead and has remastered the first volume, which should be the only version available now. Bonuses on these disks include a brief historic overview of the Abh and other essays, and a textless opening and ending, although I must admit the opening to CREST OF THE STARS is rather dull.
On the audio side, the dubbing is well done in both languages, although I personally preferred listening to the Japanese track for this review. It's important to note that CREST OF THE STARS occasionally uses the Abh language that was left as is and subtitled in the same places as the Japanese version (so if you do not understand the language, and no subtitles appear, it was in Abh). Since the show is primarily consisting of dialogue, I did not really notice the orchestral music to any great extent.
Overall, I'm putting CREST OF THE STARS as one of my favorite anime releases this year. It may prove to be a bit slow to people expecting fast action, and the pacing is a bit off for the first few episodes. However, once the story kicks into gear, the characters and plot really set CREST OF THE STARS apart in my mind. I highly recommend this series for fans of dramatic science fiction with a solid plot.
Released by in North America by Bandai Entertainment
Vol. 1, 100 minutes (4 episodes), DVD: 0680, $29.98
Vol. 2, 75 minutes (3 episodes), DVD: 0681, $29.98
Vol. 3, 75 minutes (3 episodes), DVD: 0682, $29.98
Vol. 4, 75 minutes (3 episodes), DVD: 0683, $29.98
Available now in North America
Vol. 1-2
—by Mark L. Johnson
I was very interested in checking out CREST OF THE STARS after reading EX's SEIKAI NO MONSHOU review of the Japanese release. Being a fan of LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES, I have enjoyed the politics and technology of stories dealing with space empires. And while CREST OF THE STARS may be less of an epic by focusing on two young characters, by the end of watching the first two disks I found myself desperately wanting to see more.
Based on a series of Japanese novels, CREST OF THE STARS takes place in the distant future, where humankind has gone out into the stars and now lives on thousands of worlds. The story starts over the planet of Martine, startled by the sudden appearance of a massive fleet of ships with vastly superior technology. They are given the choice to surrender or be destroyed.
This fleet came from the Humankind Abh Empire that spans tens of thousands of planets. The Abh themselves are rather mysterious, being more concerned with living in and controlling space rather than ruling the planets themselves. They have done extensive genetic engineering, characterized by their blue hair, extended longevity and youthful elfin appearance.
Jinto Lin is the son of the leader of Martine. When his father surrenders without an apparent fight and gains a royal title in the Abh Empire, he faces the bitterness of a planet's people who have been humbled and shamed. A few years later, Jinto is to join the Star Forces for mandatory military service as a son of a nobleman.
At the starport waiting for his ship, he meets with the Abh Lafiel. She is serving as a Pilot Trainee and escorts Jinto to the Gosroth, an advanced Abh battleship. Together they make for an interesting match, as Jinto tries to live up to his new nobility rank while Lafiel escapes hers. Soon enough, these two will be caught up in the potential of an interstellar war. For more in-depth information be sure to check out EX's SEIKAI NO MONSHOU review.
The early episodes are slow moving and very continuous, with lots of dialogue setting the political stage of an epic galaxy. The story revolves around Jinto and Lafiel, and their adventures thrust on them due to events beyond their control. Even though some parts degrade into talking heads, I found myself really enjoying the interaction and culture clash between them.
My favorite episode so far, which also sold me solidly on the series, was the fifth episode "The Battle of Gosroth" (the first episode on Volume 2). While I will not spoil it for you, I found the hyperspace ship battle to be very dramatic and well done. This battle also transitions CREST OF THE STARS into the heart of the story and ups the pace.
Looking at the DVDs themselves, the video quality on the first two disks is great. Following information gleamed from various anime forums, the first pressing of Volume 1 was badly compressed by ComChoice (a DVD authoring house) and suffered from poor video quality. However, it seems that Bandai has now returned to using Cinram/POP instead and has remastered the first volume, which should be the only version available now. Bonuses on these disks include a brief historic overview of the Abh and other essays, and a textless opening and ending, although I must admit the opening to CREST OF THE STARS is rather dull.
On the audio side, the dubbing is well done in both languages, although I personally preferred listening to the Japanese track for this review. It's important to note that CREST OF THE STARS occasionally uses the Abh language that was left as is and subtitled in the same places as the Japanese version (so if you do not understand the language, and no subtitles appear, it was in Abh). Since the show is primarily consisting of dialogue, I did not really notice the orchestral music to any great extent.
Overall, I'm putting CREST OF THE STARS as one of my favorite anime releases this year. It may prove to be a bit slow to people expecting fast action, and the pacing is a bit off for the first few episodes. However, once the story kicks into gear, the characters and plot really set CREST OF THE STARS apart in my mind. I highly recommend this series for fans of dramatic science fiction with a solid plot.
Released by in North America by Bandai Entertainment
Vol. 1, 100 minutes (4 episodes), DVD: 0680, $29.98
Vol. 2, 75 minutes (3 episodes), DVD: 0681, $29.98
Vol. 3, 75 minutes (3 episodes), DVD: 0682, $29.98
Vol. 4, 75 minutes (3 episodes), DVD: 0683, $29.98
Available now in North America
