For over a century and a half, two interstellar states have wrested for control of the Milky Way. The Galactic Empire, an absolute monarchy ruled by Kaiser Friedrich IV and an entrenched nobility, seeks to suppress the rebels daring to oppose the inviolable crown. The Free Planets Alliance, a representative democracy led by a corrupt High Council, degenerates as its elected leaders use war and conflict as a way to win popular support.
But this long-standing stalemate between the Empire and the Alliance ends with the rise of two opposing military geniuses. Reinhard von Lohengramm, a minor noble and High Admiral of the Empire through his strategic brilliance and his sister's position as the favored concubine of the Kaiser, dreams of conquering the galaxy and uniting mankind under his iron fist. Meanwhile, Yang Wen-li of the Alliance, an avid historian and reluctant commodore hailed as the Hero of El Facil, uses his tactical prowess to navigate around his leaders' incompetence—and to carve the path to lasting peace. As the war rages on, Reinhard and Yang each strive for their ideals and to secure their place among the stars as the leaders of a new era of galactic heroes.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Lindle
Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Die Neue These stands in the unenviable position of being a remake of one of the greatest and most beloved anime ever made. The original OVA series commands a passionate and loyal cult fanbase, to whom the slightest fault or deviation is tantamount to a personal insult. Considering the baggage this show is carrying, it can be difficult to judge it by its own merits. Which is a shame - viewed in a bubble in which the OVA series does not exist, Die Neue These is not a bad anime. In fact, it's quite a good one. It is, however,a bad remake, and a bad adaptation.
That it is a bad adaptation is curious, as this serves as a more faithful adaptation of the source material than the OVA. But the problem lies in that adapting Legend of the Galactic Heroes into a visual medium is nigh impossible, and it's a small miracle that it was done successfully once. The original novels are so dense with description, backstory, context, lore, and philosophical navel-gazing that to adapt only that which is shown is to adapt around a third of its actual content.
While there is minimal narration at the start of each episode, Die Neue These otherwise ejects the narration that was so frequent in the first adaptation in favour of showing rather than telling. "Show, don't tell" is a good principle in theory, but here it doesn't work in practice, resulting in the loss of vital information, important context, and thematic weight. This leads to a lack of emotional investment in certain major battles that the significance of is not made clear, and character moments that echo historical events not shown to the audience. In some instances, the lack of information can simply be baffling - a notable example includes a mob being dispersed by the activation of fire hoses, which in turn automatically alert the fire department. However, these fire hoses are only previously shown to be sprinklers, and their function as fire hoses is not explained, nor is the fact that their activation alerts the fire brigade - as such, it looks like an angry, bloodthirsty mob dispersed because they got a little bit wet.
Likewise, without the room to explore their motivations, many minor characters come off as one-dimensional strawmen, whereas their reasoning and motives, whilst usually misguided, were actually grounded in some kind of reasoning or principle in both the OVA and novels. The worst example is Maximillion von Kastrop, who in the original OVA punches a couple of subordinates towards the end when his impending defeat becomes clear, and only when at wits' end. Here, he is characterized entirely by punching everybody who speaks.
Aesthetically, the overall design of the FPA and the Empire's societies and uniforms are excellent, sticking close to the design of the original series, and showing a clear divide between the European-styled aristocracy of the Empire and the modern metropolis of the FPA. The ships are similarly well-designed, with a mechanical, utilitarian feel to them that suits their role. By contrast to the rest of the series' design, the much-maligned character designs stick out like a sore thumb. There is a very shallow variation in the character faces, and whilst not quite samefaced, it would be hard to tell most characters apart by face alone. This would not be worth comment in most series, but in Legend of the Galactic Heroes this presents a unique problem. To compensate for the similarity in faces, focus was put into giving the characters unique hair, as this was not possible with character costumes due to 95% of the cast being in uniform. The problem is that this leads to many of the characters having very over-the-top and elaborate hairstyles that are unfitting of military personnel who doubtlessly do not spend an hour every morning fixing their hair up. It's a distracting feature that breaks the immersion of a series otherwise grounded in realism (It is also worth noting that the original series managed to give most of the cast distinctive hair without the need to overly stylize any of it). Similarly, many characters appearances are otherwise ill-fit to their lifestyle and personality, such as Fahrenheit and Schenkopf.
For all the errors that Die Neue These makes as an adaptation, however, it still retains a great deal of what made the source material so excellent in the first place. Legend of the Galactic Heroes follows a dual narrative with protagonists from both sides of a centuries-long intergalactic war, in which both sides are almost as bad as each other. The Galactic Empire is a fascist autocracy in which nobility are an oppressive ruling class, whereas the Free Planets Alliance are a corrupt, failing democracy, controlled entirely by politicians motivated by greed and self-interest. The Empire's side of the story is a slow-burning tale of political intrigue, while the alliance's story focuses on scathing social and political commentary, both of which are pulled off excellently.
This divide between two sides of the story also shows a dichotomy between its two leads, Yang Wenli of the Alliance and Reinhard von Musel (later Lohengramm) of the Empire. Where Reinhard is a character wronged by the empire, determined to exact his revenge and take over the empire from within by any means necessary, Yang is a scholar at heart, only joining the military to gain a history scholarship he couldn't otherwise afford, and was drafted into the military when his tactical prowess came to light. While both are extremely skilled, they otherwise offer a direct contrast in temperament and motive.Their combat ability also brings to focus grounded and realistic battle tactics ripped straight from the pages of history.
It's this, along with Yang's fascination with history, that lends LotGH a tone of a historian looking back on past events. Yang often wonders how the events of the present will be regarded in the future, whilst comparing them to those of the distant past.
This gives LotGH an excellent sense of scale, which is also shown in how war is perceived - shown not only in the bigger picture of grand victories and defeats, but focusing on the human element of it all. It's made clear that for every one of the many ships that sink in this series, thousands of lives are lost. It even goes so far as to explore the societal impact of war, focusing on the effect on the economy and standard of labour.
Unfortunately, Die Neue These - Kaikou is only the prologue, a taste of things to come. It was never going to achieve greatness in of itself - even the original adaptation was only able to do so much in its first 12 episodes. However, Die Neue These gets enough of the core elements of the series right in spite of some issues in execution that it's a solid show unto itself. It is somewhat hard to recommend, however, as the original series accomplishes almost everything this series does just as well, and more. The only things DNT has to offer in comparison are slightly better pacing, and an excellent score by Hiroyuki Sawano. But if it didn't have an older sibling to be compared to, Die Neue These would no doubt be considered excellent.
Story/Plot: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Animation/Art: 5/10
Sound: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
For Fans Of: Mobile Suit Gundam, Monster
literaturenerd
Background: Life is funny sometimes. I've been in the anime community long enough to see the popularity of series rise, fall, and sometimes even rise again. I'm somewhat of an anime paleoconservative in that I love many anime that are no longer popular or even acceptable to like in the current year. Hell, I've spent the last 8 years trying to convince folks that Elfen Lied isn't that bad! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine having to defend LotGH from getting unfairly shit on, but here we are! Overview: This is MAL, so I assume everyone reading this has either seen or knows a lot aboutthe original Galactic Heroes OVAs. Just in case you recently joined, LotGH is an epic scale space opera that explores the conflict between a corrupt democracy and and an authoritarian monarchy. Rather than simply saying Democracy is correct and autocracy is bad, LotGH fully explores the positives and negatives of both systems and introduces us to dozens of complex and realistic characters on both sides. It's kind of like Mobile Suit Gundam for adults as opposed to young teens. At it's best, it's a series with sophistication, nuance, entertainment, and everything you could possibly want. It also has a few issues, but we'll be getting to those.
Story:
Firstly, it must be said that this is NOT a remake of the OVA series or an attempt to replace it. It is explicitly stated to be a new series that closer follows the original novels. Think of this as FMA Brotherhood and the original as FMA 03. An issue with the original series is pacing. Fans of LotGH will seriously tell newcomers "Don't worry, it gets really good after the first 60 episodes!". Not everyone in the world is a NEET. Not everyone has that kind of time to invest in a series that begins at a snail's pace. New Thesis only covers a small portion of the story, but is in general better paced than the OVA.
I was personally a big fan of how they changed back the Iserlohn Fortress plot to NOT involve the "Space Axes" the OVA made up. Those idiotic plot devices only existed to shower some blood into the series because Japanese executives in the 80s thought the show was too boring and wouldn't capture viewers. This dead serious political drama became Fist of the North Star every few episodes because the original OVA lacked faith in its audience. I don't want to hear ANYONE defend the space axes. They were dumb in the 80s and they're dumb now!
Edit: Walter does use a tomahawk in the novels in a few places, just not the massive battle axes from the anime and they weren't used at Iserlohn. Thanks to Lindle for correcting this!
Another complaint is that it's too condensed and we don't get that nameless history professor cramming exposition down our throats. Honestly, it is the characters, themes, and the politics that drive this series and not the world building. It's actually better to NOT go into super deep detail with the history because aspects of it make ZERO sense. The Empire exists because the original author thought the concept of Space Prussia was cool. He wasn't thinking about HOW this could end up happening and it leads to some serious gaps in logic. For example, the logistics of why 90% of the human population in 2600 are ethnic Germans is never explored in the novels or the OVAs and makes little sense. Ethnic Germans are currently just 2 percent of the human population in 2018 and are projected to be under 2 percent by 2100. Even if we assume that Rudolf von Goldenbaum's "Inferior Genes Exclusion Act" targeted non-Germans, which is NEVER stated in any material, it is still logistically impossible for so few to kill so many while maintaining a stable society and economy. If the series isn't going to give a fuck about the logic of its world building than why should we?! Don't waste 4 episodes of my time giving history lectures on how many shits the 4th emperor of the Goldenbaum dynasty took when a fundamental premise of the series is unexplained and makes no sense.
Characters:
It is true that Yang, Reinhardt, Oberstein, and all the boys aren't yet as fleshed out as they were in the original OVAs. Keep in mind, this is only the beginning if this series does well. New Thesis has done a very solid job with the characters thus far and still should have PLENTY of time to develop the characters if all goes to plan.
One character I LOVED in the original, but admittedly works better in New Thesis is Walter von Schenkopf. He has been returned to the loyal, loveable, but realistic soldier he was in the novels. In the OVAs, Walter is transformed into this God among Men that basically becomes a joke. He's either fighting 100 on 1 and winning, banging 20 chicks at the same time, or some other act of laughably over the top manliness. OVA Walter is basically the German version of Black Dynamite and yet he's placed in this political space opera that takes itself DEAD SERIOUSLY. I swear to god the most stuffy and elitist LotGH fans must close their eyes and ears every time Walter is on screen in the OVAs and just pretend he doesn't exist. Now in New Thesis he can still be a badass and a ladies man and yet not torpedo the seriousness of the series!
Art:
The characters do have a kind of pretty boy style it's true. I personally like a lot of the character designs in the original OVAs much better. Having said that, the overall art and animation is WAY better in New Thesis. Let's be honest here for a minute folks. The first 3 seasons of the original OVAs were animated by Studio Magic Bus, the motherfuckers who did Mad Bull 34 and other schlock that nobody wanted. It was never a pretty looking series, even in the 80s. Finally the ship battles aren't stationary ships firing the same 2 frames of blue laser animation. It no longer looks like total shit, and this isn't a bad thing.
Music:
Now HERE is where the original OVAs just tower head and shoulders above New Thesis. The OVAs had that AMAZING classic composer lineup vs 1 decent anime composer for New Thesis. However, I will still defend New Thesis in this category. The OVA soundtrack created a copyright clusterfuck by using performances from dozens of major orchestras around the world. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason why you can't waltz into any Walmart in the US and pickup the original OVAs on DVD and Blu-Ray. They are not available anywhere outside Japan despite massive demand. The only way to watch them is pirate them on Kissanime.ru All hail the beauty of the copyright ignoring Runet. That is until Roskomnadzor inevitably fucks it all up.
Overall:
It is obviously difficult to compare New Thesis with the OVAs. The OVAs are a finished product and New Thesis is just covering a small portion. New Thesis at this point still has a LONG way to go in order to surpass the OVas in quality and for many people that would be impossible. Even so, I feel that New Thesis is a high quality series that gets WAY more shit than it deserves. If you've never seen Galactic Heroes I would give New Thesis a watch. If you love it, you can also check out the OVAs. There is no reason you can't love both. If you love the OVAs as 98 percent of MAL does, I would still check out New Thesis. The animation, quick pacing, and closer adaptation of the source material makes it well worth your while. For now I'm giving LotGH New Thesis a well deserved 8 out of 10.
SingleH
This review was written by someone who has not seen, and honestly could not care less about the original 1988 OVA, Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I’ll begin by saying this anime is extremely unique in its presentation and tone in that is doesn’t even feel like a story anyone would think to put to animation in the first place. It certainly doesn’t use the medium to its fullest, it’s not very artistically creative, and nothing about it is particularly inventive except for the fact it isn’t inventive at all. It feels less like a piece of art and more like a stage play, an opera,a wartime drama, or even just a straight-up documentary. In fact, it actually feels most like one of those books I’d be assigned to read back in school. An epic which spans far, far, far past the first novel, but a story which I’d never see the end of because I was only assigned to read book one for my report, and I didn’t care to finish the remaining books after I got my grade.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis is told like an actual historical tale would be, and Hiroyuki Sawano’s breathtaking opening theme personifies this atmosphere perfectly. It doesn’t hesitate to walk you though events with dry narration, and it doesn’t feel like it was constructed by a screenwriter, but like it was taught by a professor. Events in anime are scripted, obviously. They’re pieces of fiction a team of professional storytellers wrote in a writers’ room to construct entertainment, but this show feels like something else, like the telling of chaos theory in a middle to upper level world history course. No nation on either side of the conflict is acting per expectation, and events don’t resolve as simply and finally as they typically do in film. There’s a lot of back and forth between conflicting parties, all with their own complex motives and sets of values. There’s just so, so, so much social politics you simply don’t see in conventional storytelling because, while it’s highly realistic, it can be honestly boring to watch. In a phrase, “You couldn’t make this shit up.”
With the unusual yet surprisingly intriguing presentation aside, the story is extremely simple. Humanity within the known galaxy is united under two banners, The Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. The monarchy of The Galactic Empire was historically the sole galactic state, and the force who would become the Free Planets Alliance rebelled against them in favor of democracy, and that’s it. That’s all there is to the story because one hundred percent of conflict and drama the series has offered so far is all what you’d expect to be derivative of such. The Galactic Empire suffers from corruption, embezzlement, feudalism, classism, and any other common abuse of power which comes with a non-elected government, and the Free Planets Alliance suffers from poverty, pacifism, protests, riots, mob mentality, desperation for re-election, and any other common disrupts which come with a nation led by its people. There wasn’t a single theme or message in this show you can’t derive from an Introductory Government & Politics textbook, and while executed to the letter, it’s still utterly bland.
The strongest aspect of this story by far, as well as the only difference between itself and a scholastic lecture, were the characters, which in conjunction with the dialogue scripting were absolutely stellar. The two main characters, Reinhard von Lohengramm of The Galactic Empire and Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance, find themselves at the head of their respective fleets, and they maintain an epic intellectual rivalry which obviously came to inspire the likes of Death Note or Code Geass. It’s not only a battle of wits, but a battle of ideology which carries the entire thematic gravity of the show, and I must say it is truly intoxicating to watch. Both men are so multifaceted and complex you find yourself naturally taking sides in the war, almost like your time spent watching their trials and tribulations was their way of recruiting you into their fleet and proving themselves as a capable leader worthy of your service and devotion. On top of their ideologies and charisma, they each have their own forces to support them which are populated with equally well constructed cast members who make both armies feel like they’re actually made of real people. When you see a starship get shot down in the background you actually feel a small sense of loss and urgency towards the battle at large, and that’s something almost no show can do.
Using that last bit as a segue, I’ll finally talk about the space battles. You’re probably already aware of this, but the spaceships are all constructed with CG animation. I know a lot of people will stay away from this show on that fact alone, but if you’ve seen anime by Orange or TROYCA, then you know CG animation isn’t always bad. Seeing as both armies are proper military forces, all their ships have a standard design with the exception of some of the more decorated Lords’ ships in The Galactic Empire, so given the very limited models they actually had to make, Production IG really took their time perfecting the few designs necessary, and their detailed work clearly shows. No matter what angle the absolutely massive battles are shown from, the tens of thousands of ships all fighting in formation at a single time all look flawless, and I was genuinely impressed with some of the more dynamic cinematography which would've been impossible without the use of CG. I thought battles of this size would be impossible to comprehend, but the strong directing coupled with holograms of the battlefield made each encounter easy to follow, as well as giving you a sense of where the battle is actually going. While the space battles do look nice, though, the rest of the show is terribly average and very underwhelming for an IG show.
In the introduction to this review, I compared this story to a novel I’d be assigned to read back in school, a series I’d never finish because the assignment only concerned book one and I was too thickheaded to commit to serious literature. On one occasion which this happened, I had already started to forget about the series along with the rest of my classmates, but there was this one quiet bookworm type who I would see reading book two and so on during breaks. After months had passed and she’d continued through the series, I thought I’d ask her “if it got good or something”. When I did, she glared at me and snapped, “It was good from the beginning. You guys just weren’t patient enough to read something like this.” After watching these first twelve episodes of such an expansive narrative epic, I think I finally get what she was saying.
Thank you for reading.
TakaCode
Out of all the anime of 2018 Legend of the Galactic Heroes The New Thesis is the most overlooked and underestimate anime of the 2018 thanks to the anime elitist crowd bashing the series for its Kuroko no Basket character designs. For a short while, I was part of that crowd as I like to make fun of the new series by memeing they face on social media website however when I eventually cut all ties with the elite crowd I decided to give it a proper chance and when I finished it I was shocked of good it was for the most part. Sure it maynot have the same flare and charm that is present in the original series but for a standalone project this series was pretty solid and am going to tell you why. Hello, everyone, this is Shawn aka PhantomKurata and welcome to my review of Legend of the Galactic Heroes The New Thesis and with that out of the way let's get started.
Story.
For over 150 years in the distant future two interstellar human states – the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance – were embroiled in what seem to be a never-ending war within the Milky Way galaxy. Out from the ravages of war emerged two young stars whose deeds would make them worthy of the appellation of Galactic Heroes. They are Reinhard von Lohengramm from the Galactic Empire and Yang Wen li from the Free Planets Alliance.
The story for Legend Of The Galactic Heroes Die Neue These is pretty solid for the most part.
For starters the show for the most part at introducing it's characters where instead of introducing it's main character all at once like in the first episodes of the original series the show decided to have viewer focus on the perspective of a single character which was Reinhard in episode 1 in The New Thesis. This new approach really helps with the show narrative as it gives plenty of time for the viewer to understand and care about theses characters in they respective factions.This later happens in the original series as well but I liked the mainly focus on one character in a respective factions right out of the gate.
It does a great job at building it own world that is believable and intriguing.
The thing that I loved about this show is how it's it tackles serious political themes such as racism, money, control and the way the show handle it's themes and topics were pretty good for the most part and it keeps the viewer interested.
The writing in the series is pretty good the most part. Sure it may have it's hipcups along the way but I thought it was consistent enough to be good.
As much I liked the story of Legend Of The Galactic Heroes Heroes The New Thesis it does has some problems which at times can hurt the show depending on where you look at it.
For starters do you remember when I praised the show of it tackles serious political themes. Well I thought the show can be a bit too over the top with it's core political themes where the original series did not have this problem at all.
The same thing can apply for episode 1 where as much I liked the different approach of introducing it character in a different way it has it downside such as Reinhard magically overpowering the Free Planets Alliance force in the most simplest way possible. What really made upset the most is how the show paints Reinhard as a smart person. That is not smart at they. He's just been fighting with and against incompetent solders in that entire time who clearly did not what the hell they were doing.
Another issue that I have with the show it would be the pacing.
While the original series least the first 26 episodes slightly had this problem as well I think it much worse here but at times the show can be pretty inconstant as it times the show either moves way too fast. Meaning that the viewer would potentially miss up on certain story elements just because the shows pacing is pretty inconstant times.
The biggest problem with Legend of The Galactic Heroes The New Thesis is how at various times don't feel like this epic space opera. I know am going be biased here but comparing the space opera elements in the original series with Legend of The Galactic Heroes The New Thesis it's like comparing Season 1-3 of Spongebob Squarepants with Season 9 and beyond of Spongebob Squarepants. It may have the charm as the original but at the same time it's different and it's inferior compare to it's older self.
I know I ended by being quite negative there but that honestly how I feel especially coming from someone who is a fan of the series. I just thought certain things could have been a lot better.
Overall the story is good for what it was but there were certain things that could have been done a lot better.
7/10
Characters.
The characters in Legend Of The Galactic Heroes Die Neue These are pretty great overall as they all likable and mostly interesting characters in they own rights.
Reinhard is a great, fun and intriguing character that I really enjoyed from start to finish. I really his ambition to change the world for the better. I really liked his duo relationship with his best friend Kircheis and he's overall a joy to watch.
Yang is also a pretty great character in he's own right. Compare to Reinhard who more a serious individual despite being a bit bratty at times Yang is more easy going and lay back person who has he's own meaning ideals of democracy.
Like with Reinhard he's an intriguing and fun character that I really liked.
I was honestly very worried that the character in Legend of The Galactic Heroes The New Thesis where they not going to get much character development thanks to it's 12 episode count. Luckily Production IG least for the most part manages to flesh out it's large character cast in a great and meaningful way. However there were certain characters in the show were left underdeveloped but I think they will have a spotlight in the movies. I won't spoil who but if you were a fan of certain characters Legend of The Galactic Heroes universe don't feel too disappointed as they may get they time to shine in the movies.
Overall the characters, for the most part, were pretty damm good.
8.5/10
Visuals.
Visually Legend of The Galactic Heroes The New Thesis is pretty good for the most part.
The background scenery is top notice as it has a great use of sci-fi color palette that adds more atmosphere to the show setting and themes.
This may sound off as an unpopular opinion coming from a fan of the original series but I actually prefer the character designs more than the season 1 of the original series. Yes the character designs may not be for everyone especially for die-hard fans of the original series of how modernise it was but I really liked the new designs for the most part. There were some character designs that were questionable but they didn't really bother me all that much.
The animation is pretty good for what it was. I loved how the space battle in the series were animated. While the use of CGI for the space battles wasnt that good in the first episodes in grandly improved as the series goes on.Outside the space battles the animation is smooth and consistent.
8/10
Sound.
The soundtrack is pretty good for the most part. It may not be at great as the original but it still has great sci-fi/space feel that perfectly captures the tone and setting of the series.
The opening theme Binary Star by Sawano Hiroyuki is hands own the best opening theme of 2018 as it does a masterful job at capturing the tone and setting of the series. It may not be as truly masterful as the original ones from the OVA series but it still is an awesome opening that that I really adored.
The ending Wish by " ELISA is a wonderful ending that perfectly sets that beautiful mood when finishing an episode of this show plus it ending song at times sounds feel like an orchestral version of the original first opening theme Skies of Love even thought it's a different song.
Now for sub vs dub.
The sub is overall amazing as you expect as each pf the Seiyuus did a fantastic job with the roles that they were given.
The dub for Legend of the Galactic Heroes The New Thesis is pretty damm great. Sure some actors can start off a bit rocky but they better as the series progresses as they get used to the they roles that they were given.
9/10
Final Thoughts.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes The New Thesis is a pretty good show. It may not be great as it has some problem with certain narrative decisions as having pacing issues the show for the most part still has that original series charm that I loved.
The story while having some issues was still pretty solid, the character are great and very enjoyable. The visuals were good, the soundtrack is nice and the voice acting for both the sub and dub was great.
It's may not be as masterful as the original series but for a standalone production, this was a good show for both newcomers as well as fans of the show. The show may not be for everyone but what it's worth it's still a pretty good anime that I enjoyed.
Final Score 7.5/10
NoizyFrog
I did not read the original novel or watched the OVA from the late 80s, but I heard a lot of praise for those works, as Legend of the Galactic Heroes (LotGH) is apparently one of the greatest anime of all time. Now, in 2018, we got a new take on this hot classic property and I thought it would be a perfect entry point for me. It is hard to find any value in this anime: characters are not interesting to pull all the attention; action is dull; mind games are weak; depiction of war lacks necessary authenticity or meaningful commentary; rivalry is done betterin any shounen anime. Where is the epos I heard so much about?
RATING: 3 – Bad
STORY: “Legend of the Galactic Heroes” - except every word is a lie.
“Legend” is an overstatement in association with events in this show. Yes, we see a greater scope of corrupt and egoistic governments mismanaging countries, disillusioned about their dependence on permanent state of war. However, (unintentional?) bad writing coupled with serious delivery tanks any credibility as social commentary as well as a parody.
“Galactic” does not serve the setting any justice, because the show lacks sci-fi vision. Technological progress is present only in military tools; everyday tech, clothing or architecture are frozen in time. It seems like society structures also did not evolve despite new hurdles, like administration of multiple planets; on the contrary, the society even degraded back in case of the Empire. Furthermore, warfare is executed with practices from Napoleon wars: huge armies stand before each other and trade losses or undertake a head on charge, which is sold as strategic masterpiece. Considering war is one of the major themes, the presentation is disappointing or even laughable. Just let it take place in 17th century with stupidity in commando tents and on the battlefield. The show simply does not explore potential of its own setting.
“Heroes” implies there are individuals, who excel above the masses. However, there are no such characters in this show. Wen and Reinhard are considered strategic prodigies, yet their skill is just an illusion, created by comparing those two with utterly incompetent and/or mentally challenged side characters, whose sole purpose is to make the supposed heroes look good. As one example look at Commodore Falk. The show simply fails to build up genuinely smart lead characters.
There are even more issues, like blatant introduction scenes and info dumps. The later ones are sometimes incomplete, like the world-building attempt in ep 3, which explains the history behind the conflict between Empire and Alliance, yet does not mention the 3rd faction. Where did they come from?
“Anecdotes of the Unimaginative Fakes” would be an appropriate title.
CHARACTERS: No bonds, no motivations, no characters.
The main characters are Reinhard, on the side of the Empire, and Wen on the side of the Alliance. In their environment, those two are considered strategic prodigies, as repeated ad nauseam on multiple occasions. Wen acquired his skills by reading history books, whereas Reinhard is a natural, I guess, because the show never bothers to show his development.
Should Wen’s character be close to source material, it would make him grandfather of all lazy and laid back attitude main characters infesting today’s light novels. Occasionally he will make a smart comment on events or dumb speeches, however his words are directed more towards the viewer and not his environment, thus have little narrative impact and serve as moral guideline for the viewer, which further devalues this character.
Reinhard is an ambitious smug with hatred towards the Empire because…I actually don’t know. How is it not an honor, but disgrace, for his sister to be Emperor’s wife? What are those motivations?
Support characters also got a budget treatment; relationships are clearly defined in dedicated introduction scenes, however there is no time to reinforce those bonds, so that in the end you know who they are but you do not care about them. “Wen’s little slave is cleaning the house and cooking meals again? Oh, it’s his adopted son. Didn’t notice that.”
ART & ANIMATIONS: talking heads; Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V ships.
LftGH 2018 is bland: bland character designs, bland ship designs, bland backgrounds, everything is bland. Animation did not strain the budget either, because there is not much to animate in a dialogue heavy show. Around episode 10 the overall quality takes a major dip with off model characters and horrible gray backgrounds.
Space battles are boring and void of any energy or tension: all you see are copy & paste CGI ships trading red or blue laser beams left and right. Expect to get zero visual entertainment. Fast-paced battles between small fighters, as you can witness in the OP, are rare and not impressive.
SOUND: Geshiikaaa!!!!!!!!!
Music, especially the OP, is way better than the show deserves and is the only positive remark I can make. Original voice act runs into serious troubles pronouncing overabundance of western names; professionals should show more expertize on their field.
Krunchyman
Crafting a masterful anime is similar to cultivating a delicate flower, it requires a willingness to accept circumstances the way they are, and not the way we wish them to be. Lithops, a flower with a low dependence on water, can have their skins burst if they are oversaturated with excess liquids. In the same breath, an anime that strives for over-the-top action sequences (e.g. run-of-the-mill Shounen anime) but neglects the political, economic, and social struggles that accompany those events, falsely establishes a dichotomous situation that rarely, if ever, exists. The original Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) understood theseconcepts extremely well, taking every opportunity it could to flesh out characters, explore pertinent historical events, and question the role(s) of government and its people. If it were required to sum up the original series in one-word, it would be: methodical. Nothing ever felt rushed, hurried, or crammed down our throats. Everything blossomed from the seeds of past events. And while the outcomes may, or may not, have been what we had expected, it all blended into a larger political narrative that is relevant today, and, I suspect, for many generations to come.
Enter the next installment of LotGH: The New Thesis
Call me pessimistic if you will, but I was having legitimate concerns with this series after viewing the third episode. It started by retelling the history of Rudolf Goldenbaum and the birth of the Free Planets Alliance; however, the episode only dedicated two minutes to the documentary-styled recap of the war between the two powerhouses. In the original series, an entire episode was dedicated towards this recap, and it occurred much later on. Not saying that I did not enjoy the presentation of the material in this manner, but it felt like the meticulous gradualness of the original series might be interchanged for a more robust-paced narrative in the The New Thesis. Luckily, this was not the case. As the series seems to have found its rightful mode of delivery: languid (unhurried).
My next area of concern rests with the most dreaded three words in the anime community: C..G…I. Fans of Berserk — including myself — know all-to-well what can happen to fantastic source material when mixed with gaudy, half-assed animation. The New Thesis is nowhere near as terrible as Berserk (2016), that is to be sure, but it is not unblemished. The action sequences, in particular, reveal numerous imperfections that leave the viewer feeling somewhat disappointed. This can be forgiven, for the most part, considering that LotGH relies on the strength of its narrative, as opposed to elegant battle scenes. That being said, however, the animation is not all bad. The landscapes are especially gorgeous, displaying a vibrant blend of beautiful colors. Granted, landscape shots are typically still images, but it doesn’t take away from its beauty. The character designs can be a bit jarring upon the first viewing, a good majority of the characters look remarkably similar to one another. In fact, I would wager, that if you made everyone bald, for the sake of comparison, it would be difficult to differentiate several of the key characters; except for Rubinsky, dude’s rocking those mutton chops like its 1838 (putting Martin Van Buren to shame). That all being said, the animation is not flagrant enough to diminish the numerous positive aspects of the show, nor is it exceptional enough to classify it as groundbreaking. It’s, more or less, middle of the road.
In terms of enjoyment, the series may not have attained its previous glory of being a masterpiece (not yet, at least), but it still carries the aura of being the Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu we all know and love. There have been a few hiccups here and there, like the sprinkler scene with the Patriotic Knight Corps and the random car chase with Yang and Jessica; but, taken as a whole, the series has been a source of great entertainment. The capture of Iserlohn, in my opinion, has been the hallmark moment of the first season — and with good reason. It highlighted the subtle genius of Yang to circumvent the “courageous” leaders of Iserlohn, using nothing more than a few crafty men, and a well conceived plan. Considering that most anime perpetuate the myth of dying on the sword with honor, it is refreshing to view a series that understands that it is more appropriate to fight another day — like Oberstein — rather than die in obscurity.
The large cast of characters, as expected, is complimenting the expansive narrative quite well. With the exception of a few blowhard leaders in the Empire, everyone is portrayed through an impartial eye, allowing the viewer to empathize with characters in both the Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. Furthermore, we are beginning to see the faults with both the Authoritarian and Democratic governments, giving the viewer much to ponder in terms of what role does/should government play in a society? And why governments, for the most part, tend to favor the powerful elite, allowing the poor and middle class to fight “their” battles. Jessica Edwards, a Free Planets Alliance peace activist, does a nice job of highlighting this discrepancy to a crowd of sympathetic people, while the politicians in charge think only of their possible reelection. The juxtaposition of the decadent board room of these influential policy-makers, mixes well with their conversation regarding the “struggling” economy of the Free Planets Alliance. Proving that no matter the hardships, and no matter the political system, the ruling elite will always prosper.
Overall: 8/10
12 episodes in a series that spanned 110 episodes in its original iteration, is akin to dipping your toes in the water of a swimming pool. Depending on how long they plan on making the series, and the quality of the episodes, I could see myself revisiting this score to bump it up to a “9.” Be that as it may, there is still significant work to be done. Considering the track record of most remakes nowadays, The New Thesis is nothing short of being superb in its approach. But, we are only just beginning — hopefully.
Eanki
The New Thesis will have to stand or fall on its own merits. The fact that the series takes great pains to introduce and endear its main characters tells us the series is intended to be enjoyed on its own without previous knowledge of the source material and the OVA. One of the things I ask myself with every time I encounter a remake/reboot/reimagining is “Why? What does it offer that wasn’t done before?” Admittedly, I haven’t finished watching the OVA, nor have I read the source material. So I can’t in good conscience tackle the issue about what the story offers more than what was toldbefore. Here’s what I do know though: The New Thesis will have updated visuals. It is only expected. A New Thesis and a generation to entice; and it went okay. I guess.
For one, despite criticisms of its character designs, exemplified by the mocking fan title “Legend of the Generation of Miracles”, the characters feel a little more varied than what we usually get in anime, some with distinct facial features and enough variety in hairstyles and facial hairs to easily identify them if you’re that much of a hardcore fan, at least for the more visible characters.
The rest of the show’s aesthetics is nothing too surprising. It is par for the course of what I would expect from a modern day depiction of the future environment and technology. There’s the usual drill of holograms, although it’s far more toned down, far less intrusive, and far more useful than some movies I can name. Other than that, there’s also the same old cinematic technique of having a contrast between the spaceships of both factions: the Alliance’s ship designs and ship interiors is austere while the Empire’s is steeped in grandeur.
In terms of battle, it puts priority on spectacle as is expected. It evokes the same technique of fleet-wide battles Star Trek and Star Wars employ: cinematic first and foremost. Think DS9's Sacrifice of Angels. And it is as illogical and inefficient. In fact, LoGH has often been described as a series that views warfare in only two dimensions. And it retains that aspect. Fleet tactics doesn’t seem to be more advance than the line-of-battle approach of the 1600s.
This approach is probably the most pleasing visually and the most workable one in fleet-wide battles, cinematically speaking. I can understand. I'm okay with that. It’s simply the one that gives you plenty of frames of reference for the action occurring on the screen. It’s for the same reason fighter aircraft engagements in movies are set to occur within visual range. It gives you visual cues that are easy to understand and process. You can easily pinpoint who is winning and who is losing. The problem with this series in particular is that it doesn’t make full use of the visuals. The battles feel like set piece engagements instead of dynamic and ever-shifting. It’s just two sides exchanging a volley of fire, with no meaningful information given. It doesn’t help the viewer(s) understand what is happening. It just gives them something to look at. Given the space battle style used, I feel like that’s missing half the purpose. Heck, the visual cues (holograms) inside the spaceships' bridge areas are more informative and helpful in informing us of the state of battle. This is a series that banks on improved visuals as one of its perks. Its visuals should be more useful and informative. That or they utilize the holograms more and create more focus and depth on the commanding officers as they give the orders that decides the fates of entire planets.
Because, ultimately, I consider this to be the main draw of the series: two legends in the making, their choices, and their intertwined story that spans the galaxies and affects the entire course of humanity.
I feel that the series has taken solid steps in that direction. Episode 1 begins in the Battle of Astarte and wastes no time in introducing and establishing one of its main characters while Episode 2 shows us the same battle, this time through the perspective of the other main character. It then utilizes Episodes 3 & 4 to individually introduce each character, where they’re coming from, and how they got to where they were in the Battle of Astarte. This setup allows us to appreciate and understand where both characters are coming from without fighting for our attention over the course of a single episode -a far, far stronger approach than the first episode of the 110 episode OVA where both characters are fighting for screentime, resulting in a far more fragmented introduction. Here, we are allowed to focus on one character for one episode, and then the other in the next.
It could have done more though. It wasted some prime opportunities to delve even deeper.
Case in point: the simulation in Episode 4 flashback. Episode 4 tries to paint Yang, still a cadet, as someone worthy of the title magician, through a simulation against the top student of the class. Demonstrating a character’s capability and, well, measure of his character, using a simulations program is not a new concept. It’s the futuristic space exploration stories’ shorthand/equivalent to demonstrating a character’s intellect using chess. It has been used for example, to paint a picture of James T. Kirk, in what is commonly known as the Kobayashi Maru scenario.
The series did not use its simulations effectively. It could have been used far more effectively to tell us what kind of commander he is by putting him in a situation where he has to make difficult choices or emphasizing clearly how he pursues his mission. Perhaps it tried to tell us what kind of commander/tactician Yang is (one that values the objective much more than anything else, according to his actions in this test at least) but it was vague and inconclusive because we don’t understand what that test entails. Was his move really a gambit, sacrificing the bulk of his fleet in an outnumbered fight of attrition while a detachment the opponent blatantly ignored accomplished the objective? We don’t know. All we know is that it was supposed to be the test that gets him noticed and set him on his path, and he won over the top student of the class because the top student of the class simply forgot Yang’s win condition.
But still, all in all, it could be a decent space opera. Viewers who came here for political intrigue or military strategems would be disappointed however.
The series attempts to tackle the political sphere and sets up its narrative in part to cater to that. But it strikes me more as a space opera than a debate, a space age set drama about the follies and triumphs of humans. With that, it attempts to put its characters to the forefront at first, and the political sphere is secondary; which is nice, because its politics and arguments are basic and simple. It lacks nuance and detail, and relies on simplified versions and preconceived notions of concepts such as liberty, the social contract, and government. How they view political systems may not be as black or white as is the norm but it also still boils down to the basic identities of what constitutes a democratic and an authoritarian government. That it is different from the way political viewpoints are normally tackled in the entertainment industry is not a testament to its genius but a reminder of how low that particular bar is set.
At times it can even get more comically, unintentionally or not. Those patriot patrol guys or something should have been a far more insidious symptom of the cracks in the Alliance’s façade. The reaction of the kid especially should have been the creepier option: thinking this was all perfectly normal and acceptable in this society rather than being self-aware, extremely so. The scene felt like it wasn’t given gravity it needed. It could have felt as fucked up as a child continuing to love the parents who neglect and hurt him because he thinks that it’s one of their ways of showing love or that because it’s his fault he misbehaved that they beat him severely.
Its views and understanding of warfare roughly falls under the same pattern. The first episode attempts to demonstrate to us the cranial capacity of one of its main characters, Reinhard, by having him prevail while outnumbered two to one. Reinhard pulls this “amazing and unprecedented victory” off in a rather straightforward manner, through a concept we call Force Concentration. Look it up in Wikipedia. The problem with this is that it’s such a basic and commonly accepted concept in war that it’s hardly daring or revolutionary. And yet for the admirals and commodores of both sides that are not the main characters, this was baffling and overwhelming. The factions these characters are in have been at war for over 150 years and yet this is a revolutionary and daring plan, one that helps justify him getting promoted to one of the highest echelons of the Imperial Military? This doesn’t paint Reinhard as a genius. This paints him as a slightly competent man in a war fought by insufferable idiots. He’s not necessarily smart. He’s just fighting with and against dumbasses.
And frankly, that last couple of sentences sums up this series. This one stands out because it is different from the score of repetitive mediocrity.
WitchFromMercury
This is a remake of the original 1980s OVA series (which in turn was based on the novel series) of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. If you remove "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" and made this it's own sci-fi anime it would be worth a watch but for someone who saw the original it can't compare. For one LotGH had a score that was entirely classical musical (with no exception except the endings and openings). They had a classical piece for almost every scene and it was all appropriate. It never felt forced or pretentious either. Instead Die Neue These has its own score and it's reallyboring and at times awkward. One of the major appeals of this show is the music and it got ruined.
Also the character designs were changed severely. It seems like the demographic of this remake is for girls and that they turned it into a fujoshi version of LotGH.
For one, they made Kircheis a Chad with a deep voice and a really intimidating ultra serious almost robotic person. In the OVAs Kircheis was a big softie and a sperg and very gentle. This new Kircheis is like a terminator in comparison to him. Also Kircheis always looked like a sperg and awkward in the OVA but they made him way too cool in this one (and thus boring).
Since the episodes are a lot less they condensed a lot of events and much is missing. For someone who didn't see the original nothing will seem rushed to you (the story flows smoothly) but having known what was cut it's really unacceptable to me.
For example the massive fleet battles instead of showing all of the destruction it's pretty much just some talking scenes and a few key battles between specific officers (but not the massive fleet warfare you would see in the original).
The art style of the Empire is ruined because they went for a medieval theme when it's supposed to be 1800s/early 1900s Prussian. The Imperial palace of Neue Sanssouci isn't a palace at all anymore but instead a really tall castle which clashes with the Prussian uniforms the characters wear.
Fraulein Mariendorf is also ruined because in the original she was portrayed as a very awkward woman but now she looks like a typical OL you'd find in any anime.
Frederica Greenhill is cute in this but looks kind of generic and they made her tackle a member of the Rosenritter (the strongest ground forces in the entire series (one of these men is worth 15 regular ground soldiers in combat)) after he sexually harassed her. This scene was really out of place and never existed in the books or the OVAs and she's not the kind of person to get violent with someone on her side. She's supposed to be really mousey not throwing giant muscular men over her shoulder. It seemed like blatant feminism inserted.
The Empire this time around is extremely boring while the FPA is interesting because they have new scenes of the civilian life on Heinessen. It's cool seeing Yang Wenli in his car and walking on the sidewalk. The scenes with Julian (his adopted son) at his house are way more detailed. In fact there's probably an entire arc of Yang Wenli's home life.
As a fan of the original series which didn't really have such scenes (they were there but not as indepth) it was kind of cool. But slow scenes like this that are dialogue heavy and are "slice of life" will make it really boring in a rewatch (the original is extremely rewatchable because of the lack of these "slide of life" scenes that pretty much all modern anime are about now).
The battles are really boring because of how condensed they are now with how few episodes they had for what they had to cover.
The CGI is also awful. Sure it's really shiny but shiny and flashy is a cheap way to make the graphics seem impressive.
The original series was way more impressive with how detailed it was considering it was all hand drawn. So seeing lots of strobe lights and spinning stuff on the ships doesn't impress me compared to how beautifully drawn the ones in the original were.
Also the Alliance uniforms are not as good. Instead of Green bomber jackets, white khaki pants, black boots, berets, and white scarves they now wear these pea coats (traditional navy coat I know) that look like they're made out of polyester.
I don't like the blue. I preferred the greenish black bomber jackets from the original and the scarves. The original had more of an Air Force theme to the FPA while this new one went more Navy.
Aside from that the FPA new character designs aren't that bad. Yang got a little softened up but he's still recognizeable. Schenkopp also looks 10 or even 20 years younger but I like his personality more in this adaptation. Cazellnu is different (way more of a sarcastic jerk) but the change is also welcome (not because it's better but it's not necessarily worse), he at least stands out more now.
I also liked the way they handled the Iserlohn infiltration in this series. In the original Schenkopp blew it halfway through and they had to end up fighting dozens of soldiers before they could secure Iserlohn after the lockdown was initiated after they siezed the bridge. In this series Schenkopp killed the soldier who would've activated the lockdown prior to him pushing the button as he was reaching for it.
They did it for time reasons (since it would've took another episode to cover getting the lock down reversed by resetting the Iserlohn main reactor and fighting their way to there) but in the end it made Schenkopp seem cooler with how smoother this infiltration went.
However we lost one of my favorite scenes in the process, when Schenkopp while grappling down the reactor plunged nearly to his death and ended up hanging above a woman in the civilian city within the center of Iserlohn who looked up and smiled at him and he smiled back before activating his grappel which zipped him back to the reactor level. The city itself was beautiful and extremely well animated. In this new series you wouldn't know that Iserlohn housed a civilian population.
It's worth watching even for someone who watched the original but you would really be cheating yourself if you watched this instead of the original.
Perhaps for someone new to the series it would be a good start but they should instead watch the original first.
I feel bad giving it 5/10 because it does bear the Legend of the Galactic Heroes name so I will give it 6/10 (which is the score I would give this series if it was its own standalone anime).
AnimeSocMegan
Contrary to almost anyone’s expectations, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These is a new adaptation that doesn’t just exist in the shadow of the OVA adaptation; it has earned the right to stand alongside it. DNT had an almost impossible task set before it. It had to please both OVA fans (who are as demanding and resistant to change as a fanbase as any that exists) AND try to draw in a new viewerbase in a modern anime environment not receptive to lengthy space political epics. Considering this context, it’s practically a miracle that DNT hasn’t been torn to shreds from the firstepisode onwards, and has in fact been warmly received by many old and new fans.
Before we dive into the main review, it Many when considering DNT want to know not how it stacks up by itself, but how it stacks up as an adaptation of the novels (or, secondarily, the OVA). And here, I actually think DNT has done a much better job at adaptation than many give it credit for.
As many will know, DNT sticks fairly closely to the novel. The first book is utterly dense with countless details on every page. DNT didn’t capture all of it, but it it captures a surprisingly high amount of it, both in background detail and lengthy dialogue scenes lifted straight from the novel. The attention to detail in the adaptation process is impressive. The occasional changes made were often smart too, such as showing more of Jessica, or the scenes on the planet surface in ep 11.
Overall, while not matching the range of detail and depth found in the novel, it isn’t fair to describe DNT as a “dumbed down” or simplified version lacking in detail. It packed a hell of a lot into just 12 episodes (so far) and cut surprisingly little that was important from the novel out if you actually compare the anime directly to the novel. With that out of the way, let’s discuss the story.
-Story-
Undoubtedly the most important part of GinEiDen is the story, namely the politics, space battles, and the characters. In this respect, DNT is very faithful to the (already brilliant) novel source material. Most scenes and dialogue closely follow their novel counterparts, apart from some scenes that are anime-original or taken from the OVA in order to flesh certain moments out. Overall the story is the same as the OVA, except for the rearrangement of some scenes to be closer to the novel order or for narrative effect, and also OVA-original filler is not present here.
LotGH is essentially a story about the conflict between two states - the autocratic Galactic Empire, and the democratic Free Planets Alliance. The whole story explores many different political and philosophical themes, and asks what the best form of government and philosophy to live by is. It’s truly fascinating a lot of the time, and still very relevant to the world we live in despite being written back in 1982. The sides of the conflict aren’t portrayed as black and white, and how the show proceeds to show the morality of the Empire and Alliance might surprise you. Ofcourse, much of this is well in the future for DNT, but so far the political aspects have been well-handled.
DNT has a slower pace of introducing key elements compared to the OVA, which being made for existing novel readers wasn’t concerned with introducing many elements at once. However, DNT’s approach is faithful to the novel (also, obviously, intended for new fans), and in any case, a vast world of many dozens of named characters, relationships, and locations is introduced just during these first 12 episodes, and there’s much more to come.
If you’re a military otaku, you may notice that LotGH’s tactics are often not that sophisticated. Some might see this as a flaw, and for some it may take them out of the experience. But I’d make two points. Firstly, LotGH’s battles are more of an allegory for 18th-century warfare than anything else. Secondly, the focus of this series is on politics, so the battles are mostly simple enough for ordinary people to understand.
This is only the first season which covers the first novel (of 10 + 4 side novels). So the score is only for the very first part of the story, which is not as good as that comes later. The story will improve much further in later parts, but is already highly intriguing for fans of space opera, politics or history.
-Characters-
DNT already has a cast of dozens of named characters on both sides. However, GinEiDen being such a long story as it is, only about half a dozen get a significant amount of focus in this first series. As for the characters in general, everything is well-handled and there are no characters that are out of character or handled particularly poorly compared to their counterparts in the old versions. I’ll talk about the half dozen
Reinhard is the first character to be which we are introduced, and it is fair to call him the overall protagonist of the series. He’s an ambitious upstart rising rapidly up the ranks, a genius at military strategy, but also very young (just 20) so prone to immaturity and brattiness at times. He’s also a very morally ambiguous character. Reinhard throughout this first season is rather distant and cold for the viewer, leading one to wonder what exactly is going through his head. While his performance hasn’t blown me away just yet, Miyano is one of the best possible modern voice actors for Reinhard, and he’s done a good job so far. I’m looking forward to seeing how this new version will take his character going forward.
Yang, our protagonist on the Free Planets’ Alliance side, is probably the most sympathetic character for most viewers new and old alike. Infact, Yang’s character may be the best part of DNT thus far, providing a likeable lead for the viewer to latch onto. Some of the best character animation of the series, and indeed of recent anime in general, is given to him, and it made the relatively slow episodes of 2 and 4 surprisingly engaging to watch. SuzuKen, best known as Sougo from Gintama, also pulls off a very likeable VA performance. New viewers, prepare to discover a new best boy; old viewers, say hello again to an old friend.
Kircheis is Reinhard’s best friend and also a gifted strategist in his own right. Now my reaction to Kircheis’ portrayal in DNT is a little mixed. I do actually like some of the things they’re doing to make his character more three dimensional here and maybe closer to the novel portrayal. His VA, while quite different to the OVA one, I don’t have a problem with either. Still, so far he could do with coming off friendlier than he currently is doing.
Yang ally Schoenkopf is possibly the best developed of the 2nd-tier cast, getting a 2 episode arc focusing on him, especially ep 7. His look and voice is different to before, but still faithful to the soul of the character as described. He’s definitely an entertaining presence on screen, being quite larger than life - he has some of the best lines in the series - but also with strong ideals and a moral backbone.
Then there’s Julian, Yang’s adopted son. He was always my least favourite major character, and I can’t say DNT is doing a better job with him, though perhaps there’s no way to.
We’ve also been introduced to the fan-favourite Oberstein. Hig greatest moments in the story are yet to come, but everything was present and correct as far as his character goes - including a great tribute by his new voice actor Suwabe.
Finally, the star of the show in eps 10 and 11 was Andrew Fork, played by the master of jerkish characters, Kamiya. The facial animations and vocal performance on this character was really well handled, just delightful all round, especially a standout scene with him and Bewcock in ep 11.
- Animation-
The studio behind LotGH:DNT is Production IG, one of the best in the business. While this isn’t the best work IG have put out, for a primarily “talking heads” sort of anime, this is a very strong production. The 2D work has a good level of detail and there is some very nice character animation, something IG tends to excel at. Particular noteworthy is the background art which is frequently excellent, some of the best I’ve seen in TV anime recently.
Some people hate any sort of CGI in anime, but the CGI here is pretty good. The ship models and the lighting used on them are good, and they convey a great sense of scale during the battles. There are some awkward looking shots especially the space explosions and the ships do arguably lack weight to them, but overall the space battles are visually pleasing and are easier to follow than the 80s version.
Much has been said about the character designs, especially before the show came out, as has been acknowledged by most they did look worse on paper than on screen. Now, I’m someone who read through Umineko with the original sprites, so I’m not one to get annoyed by this aspect, but it does bother some people. There have even been some people who are refusing to watch the new show because of it. But honestly, while I do miss Reinhard’s curly hair and the like, the look of DNT is not bad for most characters. The exceptions to that are Kircheis who doesn’t look friendly enough, and some of the less important admirals whose designs are kinda silly looking compared to the OVA.
-Sound-
Voice acting is very solid throughout. Lots of prominent male seiyuu in all the main roles. Minor or older characters have fitting VAs too, some of them returning from the old series. Deliveries were fine and fitted the emotional tone of the scenes they were performing. Overall, nothing to complain about in the seiyuu department.
I really like the OP for DNT, despite the Starship plagiarism. Actually I’ve been playing the single CD quite a bit since it arrived. On the one hand, it doesn’t seem to fit LotGH… But on the other hand, somehow, it actually does. The ED is much slower but is also pleasant, even if the ED animation is disappointingly limited.
As for the in-show music, it has an orchestral sound to it, though the famous stock Classical music of the OVA hasn’t returned. Overall the new music hasn’t bothered me and there are some nice tracks such as those that played during much of episode 3. Furthermore the show wisely lets there be silence during many of the dialogue scenes, similar to the OVA. The one thing that has annoyed me is the piano track that plays during the battle scenes of ep 1 and 2, which was quite distracting. Sometimes the use of music hasn’t fit a scene too well, though there’s other times it was very fitting. Overall the
-Sub vs Dub-
DNT, unlike the OVA, has a dub courtesy of Funimation. And it’s… okay, I guess, aside from the infuriating mispronunciation of Kircheis’ name. The script is pretty strong, and the series by its nature avoids the problem of other dubbed anime My problem is that many of the key roles feel quite miscast, especially Reinhard, but Yang also (while a good performance) sounds too old and deep for his character.
The dub is far from terrible, but definitely inferior to the Japanese track, so if you’re able to watch subs then go with the subbed version.
-Criticisms-
Despite my overall praise of the new series I do have some criticisms, mainly related to the storytelling:
- Kastop rebellion felt very underdeveloped compared to other versions, here it was more a vehicle for Kircheis to get a promotion
- Phezzan wasn’t introduced early enough, leaving some viewers confused about their role in the story.
- The particulars of Reinhard’s plan in ep 11 weren’t explained. This is also true of the novel, but the OVA adding some details here was appreciated.
- Most of ep 5, aside from the first scene, wasn’t that good in general
- Some awkward space CGI shots. Most definitely looked good, though.
- Not much of a “historical” feel due to modern presentation and lack of narrator for long stretches
- Can be difficult to tell time skips or the length of time between events, as the show rarely tells you how much time has passed.
- Ends on a poor cliffhanger for the 2nd part
General criticisms of GinEiDen as a whole:
- Many may be annoyed at the incompetence of the leadership on both sides
-Very slow pacing. Again this is YMMV but there are full episodes where not much “happens”. Please don’t expect a series focused on space battles
- Very soft sci fi, don’t expect explanations of how the future tech works
-Lots of elements introduced at once often with little explanation or reason to care yet.
-Conclusion-
Overall, LotGH:DNT has pulled off a satisfying mix of familiarity and freshness for old fans of the series. For new fans, well, it’s the same old excellence of LotGH with a new lick of paint. If you’re a new viewer who hasn’t watched it yet, I wholeheartedly recommend you do and finally find out what we fans have been gushing about (some people are of the opinion this new series isn’t a good starting point - I disagree, I actually think this is probably the version of GinEiDen that is easiest to ease yourself into the story and characters).
I’ve chosen to give a rating of 9. Now, I should say that the content on its own deserves in my view somewhere from a high 8 to a low 9, I’ve chosen to go with a 9 here though to represent that this page could be the first port of call for a new viewer and that the story will get even better later.
Thevsamovies
Did you come here for GALACTIC HEROES? Well get ready for a full two of them, because everyone else in this show is seemingly incompetent! Welcome to "Military Space Politics - The Anime!" I understood what the show was trying to do in the beginning. It started off with a good opening battle, and then pushed out all the backstory so that it could focus on the WAR in the end. But just because it's understandable doesn't mean it's a good way of telling a story. The story was actually the WORST part of this anime. It was just.. mediocre. The beginning was way tooslow and progressed in this most BASIC way possible, solely relying on the nice art and -anticipation- of "EPIC" space battles to keep the viewers interested. Perhaps the beginning would've been more interesting if it was fleshed out, and a proper amount of time was spent building up an enjoyable cast of characters... But that's not what this anime did. The whole thing felt rushed, which makes sense because this should've been a 24 episode anime at least.
Thanks to the rushed story-line, and just some bad writing, the only really likeable characters are the two main protagonists. All the other characters exist ONLY to further the protagonists' story-lines. The other characters have no real depth to themselves. You don't feel for them at all. You feel even LESS, somehow, for the cast of basic stock characters that get slaughtered in huge space battles. In my humble opinion, the anime would've meant so much more if it spent time building up each general similar stories, such as Kingdom, tend to do.
Taking a break from the story for a second: the art in this anime is rather good, and it's the main reason why I wanted to watch this instead of the ancient OVA that people go on in praise about. The sound is also rather good, and I especially enjoy the opening.
Now! Back to the story:
The latter half of the anime was a major disappointment. I figured the beginning would pay off, since they at least got all the backstory out of the way so they could focus on some cool space battles and strategies -- but that isn't what they do. Instead, they dedicate most of this anime's run-time to politics and mostly pointless talking. The high command, on both sides, is so hilariously dumb you wonder how they even got into their positions in the first place. Prepare to feel aggravated when no one listens to the basic logic from the protagonist, and instead goes with a screaming maniac who literally seizures randomly when he gets frustrated. Seriously, there is no justification for the guy being in the military.
After watching politics for 80% of the anime, you finally get the big hyped up space battle in the final episode of the anime... kinda. In reality, you only get part of it because it ends on a cliffhanger. Even in the final episode, most of the time is spent on everything BUT cool strategies and tactics. There are a few CGI space battles, talking between characters that you don't care about, politics, and then... Possibly three total minutes of the content you'd actually expect from this anime.
Overall this anime was a complete disappointment. I rated it 5 (which is rather low for my standards, as a 7 is supposed to be average for me) because it did have some good qualities, and I REALLY wanted to like it, but unfortunately it just didn't come through. Hopefully next season is better, if they manage to produce one.
If there is no season two, do NOT watch this anime!
Story: 3
Art: 8
Sound: 8
Character: 5
Enjoyment: 6
Overall: 5
Khalfanii
I can’t believe I never heard of this whole series before, I binged it all and loved it. It’s almost a cross between code geass and death note but without any magic. This show watches unlike a typical anime, unpredictable, fast and well paced with no unnecessary stretches of drama. Also great animation quality, art, voice acting, likable characters;I really hope this show continues to be made. It’s my number one space related show for sure! There’s only about 48 episodes so far but if it had 1000 episodes I would happily watch it all. This is one of those shows I wish would neverend and now I’m just rambling to try and fill the text requirements.
InfiniteRhapsody
This adaptation has been overlooked and frowned upon by many, but as someone who finished 110 ova (my fault is that i never finished other things in the series) I understand the disappointment other people feel when it comes to their designs, but let me tell you something. As someone who has also read the books - the actual original source, their appearances fit more into those categories. Not to mention most of them look the same age because they are, and there is not much change between 25-35. Anyway, back to the story. For those who haven't seen first adaptation, you can watch itwithout any problems. It takes it's time to introduce characters - just like the novels - unlike OVA who was made for the people who were already familiar with novels and wanted to introduce everyone as soon as possible.
In the first four episodes you can see that already first 3 chapters are adapted, and even while they don't follow word for word either, they are making a really good job at adapting it. In the end they adapted first novel very well, while still adding and changing some minor bits.
3D designs for the ships are spot on and you quickly get used to it. Battles are made even more interesting with stunning music by Sawano Hiroyuki, known for their many gorgeous instrumental works, and it fits as a good replacement for the classical music that was done in the OVA. Music is gorgeous but instead of being diverse, it feels like they used only three to four tracks in all of the series.
But, it lacks originality on ship diversity as was the fact in OVA version. There were distinguished cruisers, carriers and ships of the commanders. These are not really that much distinguished.
They are introducing characters slowly and steadily, by incorporating them in the flashbacks episodes (For example, Jessica, Jean and Alex (and Frederica) were introduced during the flashback of Yang Wen Li, and it doesn't come as big info dump.)
Once you get past the "kuroko no basket team is producing this" and calling the OVA original source and conveniently forgetting that novels are the material everything is based on, take a look around and try to enjoy this. It's not a remake, and see it for what it is - a completely new adaptation that follows novels as closely as they can.
TL;DR = for the new commers to the franchise, I recommend it.
To the old fans, consider this a new adaptation. It may not live up to the masterpiece that OVA is or it's popularity, but there is hope that this whole series if adapted whole till the end could prove to be excellent.
0207xander
The reason this show was not successful is not because it was bad. Personally, I actually enjoyed it and would recommend it to people if the original did not exist. But it does. And to make a long story short, this show is just a slightly inferior version of the original. What made this show unsuccessful was the conceptual planning of the show as a remake and certain creative choices by Production IG. See, the problem in remaking the first 12 episodes in Legend of the Galactic Heroes is that these episodes are objectively the least interesting and eventful part in the show. They quite literally tookthe worst part of the show and made it into a series. I get the feeling that if this remake had been a COMPLETE remake of the entire original series, by the end of its run we would have a very different opinion of the remake as a standalone piece due to it giving us time to get used to its own style and actually letting it get into the parts of Legend of the Galactic Heroes that make it so fucking good. Think about how much you would've liked the original if only the first 12 episodes existed. I would probably argue that (while much more subtle) it is less entertaining than this version. You can argue about which you prefer all you want, but the fact of the matter is, the original is 110 episodes and this is 12. For what this had to work with, it did a good job. The problem is that it just didn't have the best source material to work with. So this show only gets kudos, no actual bonus points.
Production IG has a very distinct style in almost all of their shows. It's a sleek, clean, modern look that carries through into this LotGH remake. The problem with that style is that it just doesn't fit the story of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. This is a political war drama, not a military battle show with some politics and philosophy sprinkled in. The main problem is that they tried to infuse their style on an already established franchise and story, which caused a clash between what we are used to vs what we are being given. People don't like change. Regardless of psychological tendencies, the character designs (which is the main subject of complaint for most fans of the original) are truly bad. They took the elegant bourgeois designs of the Empire and the distinguished and serious designs of the Alliance and just made them so generic and uninteresting. Also going back to what I said about Production IG's style earlier, Reinhardt and Yang Wenli both had appearances that matched their personalities in the original, yet in this they looked like an imitation of an already established design, with nothing new added to them. This causes a dissonance that is hard to ignore.
TLDR: The style of Production IG clashes with the story it's trying to tell. The quiet, methodical subtlety of the original does so much more to build to an ultimate climax than this could.
I will say though, Production IG did get one thing right. Remakes almost always fail because they try to make it new without changing anything about the events that take place or the story of the original. Successful adaptations all have various creative liberties taken in order to ensure that whatever is being made is actually good as it is on its own, not just a copycat product. They really used the increase in animation quality to make the battles much better and the technology used in the show so much more futuristic and cool. They also moved away from what the original had done story-wise to add their own twists, which is something I actually appreciated. I already watched the original, I don't need to see the same events play out in the same order they did last time, show me something new. The best example of this is the capture of Iserlohn. While the main concept remained the same, the execution was different enough that it still excited me despite me having already seen it before.
All in all, this was a good show, but it wasn't great. The reason it was good is because the story it was based off of is good. It didn't take enough risks and it didn't adapt a complete enough version of the source to make it a standalone piece that I would recommend to anyone. However, that is not to say that this is a piece of trash.
Somz
Story - 5 Characters - 5 Audio - 9 Visuals - 9 Personal enjoyment - 10 Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a much praised series, and the praise is well-deserved. Having spent 110 episodes (excluding 50+ episodes worth of prequels + some movies) on introducing, establishing and developing its characters, its world, customs and politics, LotGH truly is outstanding. Enter 'Die Neue These'. Enjoyment? For me, a 10/10 easily. But this is not an alternative version, a prequel, a sequel or a summary. This is a stand-alone piece of literature, a retelling of the same story. The upsides? A nice way to refresh your memories of the OVA, topped with spectacularvisuals.
The downside? You pretty much have to have watched LotGH beforehand to be able to truly appreciate 'Die Neue These', because it takes no time to introduce characters, skip many of them in fact, as well as character development of the few it introduces, and it skips much of the politics and world building also. It's rushed into mediocrity, its only saving grace being that most of us have probably seen the OVA and so we can relatively easily fill in the gaps using memories of a show that did take its time to make us know and love it all, thus giving us the illusion of greatness. But judging this show as it is, as a stand-alone piece of literature, in and of itself? The story and the characters, the two factors that made LotGH so good, are average at the very best, which makes the show itself average. Art and sound be damned, they're a good bonus to have, but they do not substitute characters and story, not in literature.
I'd suggest it to anyone who watched and liked the OVA, it's nice to have, but anyone who didn't (yet) see OVA should stay away from it and watch that first. Or better yet, start with the prequels and watch it in chronological order.
Sumirerireri
I understand this anime might not be for everyone. Those who have loved the previous adaptation might be a little bewildered by the new animation and the fast developement of the events when compared to the previous version. On the other hand, those who have no previous contact with the franchise and approach this anime expecting what modern shounen shows usually have to offer, may find it disappointing as well, because this anime is anything but common. Animation and Art: The battles are not the most epic. The names of the characters are not the easiest to remember. CG animation is used, and that's oftenannoying for those of us accustomed to "regular" animation. But honestly, I'm finding it very hard to find negative aspects to enumerate as possible reasons that would make people draw away from this awesome anime.
I'm not a fan of CGI either, but saying No to this show only because of that would be a terrible mistake, since it's only applied to space battles, and it's rather well done.
Story:
Be sure to not be misled by the promotional images showing the protagonists' pretty faces. The beautiful aesthetics of this show are just the tip of the iceberg. The true value of this anime lies on the script, and what could be expected out of Tanaka Yoshiki's work? Nothing less than historical, anthropological and political genius.
The story narrates the events of a war between a galactic empire and a free planets alliance, from the perspective of two main characters, one from each side of the conflict. As the plot unfolds, we see how these characters and all the ones around them interact according to their own point of view of the situation. While the premise is nothing new, what makes this story so special is its ability to analyse the essence of human behaviour, and prove that beyond belief systems or political tendencies, humans are the same everywhere, have always been and always will be.
Many animes use mythological names and references to actual human civilizations in some sort of random attempt to enhance a mythical atmosphere, but very few know how to do it right. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu knows how. The story is full of contemporary cultural references and none of them is random. Nazi structures and beliefs, bolivarian suits, european institutions, american slogans, communist iconography.... everything has a rightful place in this story and it does for a very good reason, which now and then makes this show look like the ultimate display of the essence of modern politics.
In spite of been a space opera that doesn't take place in the real world, through the plot we can have a glimpse of the lights and shadows of our own recent political history, and by "our" I mean "all humans'", because no political system is left untouched while it digs out what lies beyond all parties; which is done in such a subtle and respectful way, that it feels like an invitation to make peace with our own history. And so it leaves an overall heartwarming aftertaste.
Script and Characters:
Being clearly a lover of history and strategy himself, the author has known how to create a plot that will certainly please other history fans as well. And one of the reasons the plot is so good, is due to the quality of the script. There are no empty discourses in this show. Everything that's said is important and it's said for a reason. And if the script is so neat, so are the characters. Since no time is lost in shallow information, all the dialogues are focused on the construction of the reasoning behind the action. In order to do so, the main characters appear as complex multi-layered individuals. We get to see how they are as members of the military, but also as friends, as family, and as routine creatures. We get to see their struggle to live according to their beliefs while they have to face the actual (and often ridiculous) reality of their world. The anime is full of little gestures and comments that provide its characters with a striking human depth. Besides, the social conventions of an actual society are respected, meaning that there are not sudden outbursts or exagerated personal dramas nor fights, which enhaces its realism all the same.
The anime is not flawless, and many things could have been certainly perfected with a little more runtime. This will be evident since the first episode, which is not specially impressive. However, this anime undoubtedly hides the glimmer of a misunderstood masterpiece, so if something of the above mentioned resonates with you, you will probably find yourself in love with the show by episode 4. For those who may be interested in the story and don't feel like watching the more than 100 episodes the previous adaptation has, this may be an interesting alternative for a first contact with the franchise.
Story - 9/10
Art - 8/10
Sound - 10/10
Characters - 10/10
Enjoyment - 10/10
Overall - 9/10
gabrielrroiz
A good point to start a ginga eiyuu densetsu (named as logh from now for brevity sake) review is the questioning on why the lives of powerful people are just so fascinating? Where does this amazing interest comes from in seeing generals, emperors, dictators, enacting strings of power, intrigue, tragedy. In following the lives and death of individuals with such ambition, chosen to change the destiny and history of people, societies, worlds. Such allure comes from way more than the facts actually being shown, Rubinsky discussing his plans becomes way more than a character we know barely nothing about, explaining his ambitions, and JobTruniht announcing a single vote, becomes the most epic thing ever. In my opinion this feeling is at the heart of the appeal in series such as game of thrones, house of cards, heck half of code geass popularity can be traced to how it taps into the same aspect. One of actually feeling like what we are experiencing is some extensive mind game, truly clever battle between those in power. You can actually slate it everywhere, by doing so with a minimal quality, your show can put up an air of sophistication, self-importance. Logh is probably the series that taps the most into said appeal, take the examples I said above, Rubisnky speech means very little in terms of his relevance as a character, but by making it all connect to a web, a system of power surrounding several major players, it gains a whole new importance. It ingeniously connects and gives meaning to the mundane, making it all part of a big machine, a gigantic game for dominance between truly powerful individuals. Nevertheless, it never ends up feeling like a ruse, simply an air of pretension, because of having the study of power and its implications takes central stage in this narrative, and the political intrigue being spectacularly well handled. In this analysis I will try to look to several key aspects of this show, in trying to give some insight to its flaws and merits. Comparisons to its older (and superior) version in the 1988 ovas will not be absent, but will not be the focus of the text. As always (sadly, apparently I still have to say this) there will be spoilers in the review (happy now?).
At the core LOGH is the story of the ascension to prominence of two young individuals, Yang and Reinhard. Yang in particular is really hard to define when looking to some of his attributes. Because of being marked by contrasting characteristics, a pacifist that acts as the brightest and most successful admiral in the history of the free planets alliance. An idealist, always thinking and talking of the world as it should be, instead of how it is, but always keeping his actions, to a degree of enviable practicality. A historian at heart, with the eyes firmly at the past, but usually against his will is forced to create and become a part of history, in deciding the key events that change the fate of nations. The freedom of thinking and acid critic he enacts, being directly against the strict dogmatism and value of authority, which makes the organization he is in, the army, in pretty all its occurrences. A humble man always doubting his own judgement and the paths he chooses, while getting forced to make the most important decisions imaginable. Which give a lot of understanding to his passive aggressive nature, that some find off-putting. It comes from a place of never getting your wishes achieved or listened to, and having your own existence to be about following other people dreams and illusions. He in effect knows the problems and defects in society better than everyone, but finds himself unable and unwilling to do something about it. As Yang does not believe, he has the right to do so. Onto him, you can find the maximum ideals of democracy represented. No matter how Yang personally can disagree, find an order stupid or preposterous, they come off as absolute to him. Because they come from the system, are issued by the elected representatives of the people, the only ones capable of exerting sovereignty through the popular vote, there is no room for not obeying here. One of the more general conceits of democracy is to exert control not only on the ends, the objective society’s wants, but on the means, the way to get there. A single instance illustrates this perfectly and is the apotheoses of what the character stands for (spoilers for the freaking OVA). When faced with a golden opportunity, a way to destroy the leader of the galactic empire, in effect saving the free planet alliance, the ultimate goal anyone on the country could advocate for, he does not act. Instead he obeys an order of cease fire, which would most certainly doom the country, because regardless of how justified the ends may be, they are only as righteous as their means. The correct ways and means for acting, make the correct goals in a democratic society, and Yang express the full extension of that, with a single decision. A general humanism also marks the character, human lives are never tools to be played with, used to achieve superiority or tactical advantages. Instead he makes them the goal, saving and ensuring the lives of as many people as he can, is the modus operandi and tactic for Yang. Satisfaction of the individual can be traced as main ideological objective for most modern democracy, and for putting those in the forefront it helps to drives this point, something that paradoxically his government completely forgot, amidst its nationalistic ideals.
As a contrasting figure (not as good though) we have Reinhard. Looking at his worries with efficiency and results gives great insight into the character. Unlike Yang, those are the major things he cares about, his conflict with the nobles does not come from a moral rejection from the awful things they enact, since he is willing to go to the same lengths, but from how they lack the capacity to rule, a complete inefficiency in doing so. Instead of worrying about methods the results are absolute to him. His justification to strive for power, to think as righteous in ruling over others, is a believed conceit of being actually superior, he has the best talent and knowledge, can bring results no one else can. Reinhard is entitled to issue orders, to become a supreme ruler of the galaxy, because of being in effect the best man. Yes, he is this kind of conceited, egotistical brat. Where to someone else with more abilities to appear, he would be right to challenge and attempt to rule as well. His ideology is born from an idea of putting the capacity to decide, and actually solving the issues as main goals, the justification of a government. Despite bizarrely never taking such ideas to its logical conclusion, since those are encapsulated by his subordinate, Oberstein. There are hints of romanticism, a valorization of a fair fight and some general ethical ideals (as hypocritical as they come), which never allows him to do so. Both the in history parallel with the Rudolf dictatorship and the historical parallel with the Nazi regime are also pertinent here. In either, you can see the same worries with efficiency, the debates and democratic system, the individual liberties were silenced, to allow for greater decidability. In the name of efficiency and nebulous goals, any form of control of a government acts were dropped, which gave birth to a catastrophe that killed millions. They give a certain air of terror to young Reinhard’s ascension, since the audience is never sure he will not fall to the same pitfalls, become a similar monster in another display of history ever repeating cycle.
To be fair, the focus on powerful people also makes for what I believe is LOGH greatest flaw. In displaying a fascination with history, it becomes very clear what kind of history is attempted to be portrayed here, the one focused on individuals, great names and figures, that eclipse everything else and mold its run. This universe seems to be inhabited, by barely anyone else but those in power. How many foot soldiers, the unknowns, with names forgotten by time, that actually fight and act in wars did we follow on this narrative? Very little and their appearances barely have an impact, or much relevance only being tools to represent the horrors of war (cutting 90% of Poplan and his group scenes and relevance is like the dumbest creative decision they could take). With the only moment you could argue otherwise is the Schenkopp sequence on Iserlohn (isn`t he also a really high level commander though?). This leads to a weirdly impersonal way of combat, where the things that matter are the commander plans (those little graphics of fleets are more relevant than any foot soldier), rather than the reality of the people amidst the battle. This is really far from the ideal, not allowing to get a full grasp of what is happening, the full magnitude of the massacres displayed before our eyes. The maximum you can get of that, is brief glimpse of unknowns getting tricked and killed in a flash, so hooray for giving a dawn.
Though it could be argued, it makes up for everything I said above, with the sheer scope of what is being attempted. The scale of the developing narrative is something very rarely reproduced in fiction, most important plot beats give this sense of grandness something really epic happening. Most twists and turns matter a lot, seem to change and mold the mere fabric of this universe, its long standing history. The takeover of the greatest fortress and the largest invasion force ever seen, being great examples of that, giving the sense we can merely grasp the magnitude of what is occurring. Despite this season still presenting a really straightforward, and simple republican x empire conflict. Most of the major players, which will make for a way more multifaceted, complex struggle were merely introduced like Oberstein, Trunhilt, Reuenthal, the nobles, Rubinky. Which is when LOGH actually comes to shine, with lots of interesting well developed character, each moving their own political and personal agendas, making for a way more engaging and developed conflict. Nevertheless, the seeds of it all can be traced here, and this quality of the narrative can be perceived really early on (not that the animation does much to capitalize on this, but whatever).
There is also a long standing issue I have with the way it presents some antagonistic characters (calling for villains in this narrative is kind of hard). The show has kind of an attitude of trying really hard with those, to the point they are fleshed out, bring meaningful and well developed ideological and personal conflicts, or not all with some that have absolutely nothing going for them. The series is infamous for the stupidity of some of its cast and for good reasons. The sheer idiocy they manage to achieve is kind of hard to describe. An apt comparison would be to say they are a lot like the antagonist in the famous anime series Akame Ga Kill, shallow, idiotic mass murders. You can see the type whenever there is an admiral which usually hits his subordinates a lot, or is really eager to meaningless die by sacrificing his entire fleet for a warrior’s pride or bullshit like that. They have this really exaggerated and hard to take serious personality, and make the dumbest decisions possible in the face of battle. Having these over the top personalities would be not of an issue in of itself, the problem is they really lack variety in their madness, usually displaying a really boring monotone mindset and actions. Like the most different of those is the proclaimed rival of Yang, and only because of hiding his own stupidity in a lot of empty rhetoric. And they also never create, are the source for interesting conflict, or really add anything of value to the overall narrative. They represent worthless obstacles, which our protagonists surpass with ease, and to show how fucking awesome they are supposed to be. It’s like having everybody to say this is not enough already, we have to nerf everybody else for them to look even better.
On a better note, the pacing which was the long standing fear of the franchise fans was not much of an issue here. It is a bit more rushed than the older version, but tells mostly the same events just fine. That is until the last episode, which finds to be a good idea to rush as fuck some key narrative elements. What is supposed to be happening is not really easy to understand, much less to engage and feel the impact of certain events. I swear, I would not be bringing this up as a flaw, if it was for the sake of amounting to a satisfying end note for some narrative threads. Which is completely not the case, the story stops in the middle of the conflict, leaving us in one of the more insulting cliffhangers endings (or as I like to call them, fuck you finales) I have ever seen. So well done guys, you almost made it, but fucked in the last possible moment.
Being frank, I was also really not a fan of the character designs, pretty noticeably the ones that changed drastically from the old OVA. They took one of the titles with more varied and iconic character designs in the medium (like frankly there no two individuals with the same, from the hundreds in Ova’s cast) and turned the main ones into generic bishounens. A weird case where you can find the importance of the character being inversely proportional to how generic they are designed.
A way larger problem comes with the way the empire is represented in this series. A huge part of the appeal of the older series, was how the conflict was rather ambiguous, with no clear good and bad guys (in some instances). This quality is lost when you have such a great focus on the alliance side though. It is kind of hard to argue the imperial side is not being represented as a villain in this particular narrative. The aesthetical way they presented pretty much says so, they enact morally reprehensible acts, which barely anyone in the free planets alliance does. And not much happens on their side of things, sure Reinhard and Kircheis get some development and are represented in a more sympathetic light, but this makes them closer to understandable complex villains than anything else. Not sure how to fix this though, most of the important events in this part of the novel and 1988 OVA are happening in the alliance’s side, to the point if they stopped at this point, they would have the same issue. So here is just a wish that they fix this on later seasons, movies, getting to the point where the galactic empire is more meaningfully fleshed out and becomes way more than the adversary, because so far that is not really the case.
An utmost understated quality LOGH always had is how it always have known how to bring out the fun. In such a serious looking narrative, encompassing a war epic with lots of mature themes, this may come as a surprise to some (there are no characters staring blankly for hours while no dialogue happens, making for a boring pseudo contemplative tone here). This narrative contains elements of pulpy ridiculous violence, when we have soldiers actually fighting hand to hand with hammers, axes and the sorts, and this being the decisive factor in space warfare (can you think of something more ridiculous and awesome than that?). There are also the really cheesy melodramatic speeches, and character deaths culminating on those over the top displays of their lives and paths, the really hammy exaggerated villains (okay those were always lame). These are funny additions to the narrative and help to showcase how you are actually allowed to have fun, and portray some ridiculous shit in such a serious narrative. Which comes off as a shame, because those were mostly absent in the remakes narrative so far.
So does this new anime deserve a ludicrous title of savior of anime, because of its amazing quality? Hell no. Is it a worthy successor to the original 1988 OVA? Not quite. However, it is a thematically interesting experiment, with (emphasis on some) great characters, and elements that are hard to find elsewhere. I am definitely interested to see how they can further develop this in movies, and in what our galactic heroes will do next. If you have an interest in history though, just do yourself a favor and watch it, the fascination this series has with this topic is impalpable, and can be seen though several parallels, references and just the general story.
PaladinAlchemist
I think it’s a good sign that I’d like to see this adaptation cover the full story. Director Tada Shunsuke took on quite the undertaking in adapting something already beloved by many (myself included) that already has a fantastic adaptation - trying to make a product that did not alienate older fans, but modernized the story enough to gain new ones. Given that Die Neue These only covers a small part of the full story that is Legend of the Galactic Heroes, it’s hard to review. It’s a bit like trying to judge a Lord of the Rings adaptation when the hobbits haven’t even gottento Rivendell yet. LOTGH builds on itself more than most material anime adapts and a lot of the early stuff is just laying the groundwork for what comes later. Even so, this set of 12 episodes are meant to stand on their own as part one, and so I’ll digress.
LOTGH is (probably) the most epic story anime has ever adapted. The world building and attention to realism, history, and detail are on a scale most anime don’t even come close to. It also ignores most anime tropes and is plotted more like a traditional novel than most anime. So when a remake was announced, I was cautiously excited, wondering how much they’d change certain aspects to make the storytelling more in-line with modern anime.
My fears that Die Neue These would favor style over substance in order to satisfy a more “modern” audience - that isn’t credited with having the patience to sit through battle strategy or political discussions - were unfounded. I’m sure there are people out there who will nitpick and point out every little detail DNT left out, but overall it stuck with LOTGH’s strong sense of realism and detail that many other stories ignore for the sake of drama.
While LOTGH’s penchant for realism and discussions is one aspect that sets it apart from other stories and endears its fans, it can comes across as dry and boring to some audiences. I don’t think DNT did anything to “spice up” the drier parts of LOTGH’s storytelling. If anything, the initial episode and last few seem to drag its feet in places in order to cut the story off in certain places. I was always entertained because I love this kind of detail, and I already love the story and characters, but if the original OVA or light novel series bored you, I don’t think DNT did much to change that for better (in my opinion) or worse.
Politics and battle strategy isn’t the only place DNT stayed true to the original material. It stuck to the original light novels almost religiously, including pieces and details the OVA ignored or left out - including Yang Wen-li’s backstory (a much appreciated addition).
All this is great, but it’s hard to invest in a story when you don’t care about what happens to the cast. Thankfully, this isn’t a problem for LOTGH: DNT. To be fair, they had a great cast to work with, all they had to do was not screw it up. While the facial expressions don’t portray the same range of emotion I would’ve liked, the voice acting choices (for the sub at least) were well chosen. While the characterization could’ve been better, the production crew gave us far more than the bare minimum and remembered to include the little details and bigger personality traits (without overdoing it or turning characters into caricatures of their other selves) that help the LOTGH cast sit heads and shoulders above most anime casts in terms of depth.
Not everything worked out well though. The flashier, shiner look and character design might be the standard modern anime aesthetic, but it doesn’t suit the more gritty, realistic story that is LOTGH all that well. It looks great on the spaceships, and the battles and background shots looked fantastic, but overall look and feel (and especially with the characters) look far too shiny and pretty for a world that is everything but (Reinhard aside ;).
The soundtrack could’ve been better. This critique is partly the OVA’s fault - as the original adaptation opted to use nearly exclusively classic works - which added a lot to the epic scale and feel of the story. So it’s not that DNT’s OST is bad, just kind of there. I’m sure there’s a handful of good songs on it, but it didn’t enhance DNT the same way the OST did for the OVA.
Also, as mentioned earlier, DNT seemed to drag in parts because it wanted to cut episodes off at certain points and needed to find ways to fill in the rest of the episode in order to reach that goal.
Overall, I think this a great adaptation and want to see it run through the entire story. But I find myself asking if DNT succeeded in its goal of attracting a new audience and if it really did anything that the OVA didn’t do as good or better. Still, it’s a solid adaptation that stayed true to what makes LOTGH so great with an obvious amount of care and consideration put into every aspect of the story, and I’d really, really like to see more.
LackOfARealLife
This is more of a review for both seasons, given how the start of season 2 is what the end of season 1 should be and the stories are otherwise so connected that you probably couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. This review won't spoil anything though. My biggest weakness with anime is that I really can't sit down and watch a sub. I am far more willing to put up with the same 10 voice actors providing diminished dialouge in every anime I watch simply because I have an autistic lack of attention. However, this HIGHLY underrated remake is about to help meovercome this weakness. I simply cannot let myself undermine just how awesome this anime is.
Despite its slow moments and weaker first season, I found myself completely gripped by this intergalactic sci-fi war story. At first I wasn't sure about telling the telling of two stories from two different perspectives but the main characters are both as interesting as eachother, and as a result you don't feel like you're missing out on what might be a better story. Eventually I found it more fun to be seeing these earily similar situations and exploring how two different personalities deal with their respetive dilemas.
The latter end of the series is where this anime truely starts to shine. The mix of politics, morality, loss and worth are all explored in a way that harkons to genuine perspectives and issues that we have with war today. I think a special attention to detail was made to put these problems infront of us as viewers in order to give us that sense of similarity between this totally fantasized world and the world we find outselves in now. War in this imagined world has changed in scale and style but it hasn't escaped the same questions we ask ourselves every time we hear of conflict around the world and the same issues that often derive from these conflicts. These questions do well to ground you when watching this show, and it helps us to associate with the mental dilema our main characters always come back to, which they suffer from thanks to being young soldiers born into the war.
Outside of reading between the lines: This is an excellently realised scifi world. It surprises me that Japan doesn't have more stories like this. Intergalactic sci-fi is a criminally underused genre in the industry from what I've seen. The characters are interesting, likable and entertaining. Artistically, its excellently realised. And philosophically, it hits the nail on the head. It's kind of sad that we don't see many adversaries that arn't arrogant nobles who believe power is their birthright, and while it does ring true to the old phrase : "Lions lead by donkeys" (which fittingly comes out of WW1), I understand that you can't attribute 95% of your antagonists to a 100 year old proverb.
I reallydon't see why this entry on MAL is as low as it is. I guess I'll maybe find it when I watch the original. For the time being though, I can say it does an excellent job as a remaster of a 20-30 year old OVA and is, certifiably, an excellent gateway into the other forms of media that this universe has taken form in over the duration of those years.
I highly reccomend you give this a go. I haven't come across anything quite like it.
Shadmankc
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis- Encounter is a remake of the 1988 ova series 'Legend of the Galactic Heroes' that spans for 110 episodes and according to people who have read the novel, it is a much more accurate adaption of the original novel series. There are a few things to consider from this information. First of all, the show is a remake and automatically tries to make money of off nostalgia from the old fans as well as gathering new fans for the franchise with use of new technology. Sadly it also suffers from the curse of being a remake. Whichis being compared to the original all the way and getting heavily criticized for every minor thing they change about the show that the old audience likes which also leads people to not being open enough to appreciate the good things the new series adds to the franchise. The other important detail for the new viewers is that it is adapted from a novel series. Basically, it doesn't have the flamboyance and occasionally over the top storytelling of Light Novels. It doesn't have the immediate punch a manga adaption is supposed to deliver. It takes things slowly and spends a lot of time on world building and character development. Details are heavily appreciated and are supposed to be one of the strong points about the series. The presentation is similar to the closest hypothesis of what a day to day life would be if the world building were to be real. There is not much room for a extravagance or over the top entertainment. This is why an anime adaption of a novel series doesn't easily attract the general audience. Which is why it makes work harder for the remake as it suffers from the same problem. Moreover, the people who appreciated the original series are divided into 2 sections. Ones who like the series and ones who don't. For reasons mentioned above I don't think the new thesis will be a major success and a beloved series among anime fans. With that being said the effort put into this remake did please me. They appointed a very competent group of voice actors for this series. The show seemingly gets a good amount of budget. Most importantly it can introduce a new generation of fans to the original novel and the 1988 ova series. What do I personally think about the show? Well give me Reinhard and Young talking and you don't have to do a whole lot to get me to love the series.
Plot: The series is a space opera with seemingly every day yet thought-provoking political themes. It deals with the ideas and perspectives of autocracy and democracy. What's more is that it can show how insignificant the general people can be when it comes to actual politics. It also shows our perspective on how we are willing to accept anything as long as we can fulfill our basic needs The show asks questions about each and every perspective presented in the series. It asks the audience to pick a side early on and tries to show the consequences and flaws of every one of them. But that's a thing for the sequels. The first part of the remake which I'm reviewing is a 12 episode tv series and obviously, it covers very little of the original source material. Hence it is far from being complete. The plot deals with the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance embroiling in a never-ending war. The story focuses on the journey of our 2 lead characters Reinhard Von Lohengramm of the Galactic Empire and Yang Wen-Li of the free planets alliance. The 2 characters who are almost polar opposite of each other are the best strategists of their respective military forces. We see individual episodes focusing on the story and ideas built around either Yang's or Reinhard's characters. The plot doesn't really take off in this particular part of the remake and they focus more on introducing the characters and introducing us to the world building.
While strategy plays an important role in the series, it's purpose is more or less to tell you how smart our lead characters are. It's written in the 80's by a student with very limited resources on military strategy and is strongly influenced by history. This is something I assumed because Yang's strategical knowledge is influenced by his own study of history. Since the show tries to portray the dominance of the Galactic Empire and helplessness of the Free planets alliance very early it can be assumed that it also tries to justify the stupidity of most of the other military personnel. Naturally, since the Galactic Empire didn't have any competition they never really needed to hone their basic strategic game. The free planets alliance is a mess from the inside and hence a lot of the military is driven by the intention of climbing up the ladder somehow and is presented as arrogant since they didn't have a reason to truly care for a system that didn't care about them. A lot of people will try to overhype the strategical influence which leads people often being disappointed about the series. I truly want people to love this series and hence warning everyone beforehand to not pay attention to them.
Sound: The opening of the this series 'Binary Star' is very very nice and I also love the ending theme. But can't say the same for all the soundtracks. With that being said, the content the show offers doesn't need a lot of support from the soundtrack as long as they don't ruin it by overplaying the soundtrack.
Characters: The characters are the strongest point of this show and I love almost every single one of the major plot players. Yang and Reinhard both fall within my fav 5 characters anime has given me. While there is still a lot to come from them I'm very much satisfied with what I've been given in this span of 12 episodes. I absolutely love the political angles of the free planets alliance and their characters are as much of a scum as our leaders in the real world.
Art; The character arts eventually grew on me. It was something I was initially worried about but I took a liking to most of them. Most people in their 20s and 30s look the same but that's not very different from what we have in real life. The space battle CGI has been kind of problematic but it has only improved since a horrible first episode.
Enjoyment: I hated the first episode and it didn't help after a subtitle error of Yang saying "I will not lose". They fix this after the first episode and since then this show has been nothing short of a gem if I talk about the usual anime standards. I absolutely love the series and while there's a lot more work yet to be done I can enjoy what has been given to me for now.
Conclusion; Watch this for sure if slow-paced storytelling and character development doesn't bother you.
