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by Dan Borses |
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In the distant future, mankind has spread itself throughout the galaxy. A large portion of space is the domain of the Humankind Empire of Abh, a genetically altered race of nobles who claim space - rather than any planet - as their home. The young Jinto Lin finds himself thrust into Abh nobility by his father's betrayal of their home planet. On his way to the military academy, Jinto meets and befriends Lafiel, an Abh princess serving her time in the Star Forces. Unfortunately, the possibility of war casts doubt upon both their futures.
Episode 5: Battle of Gosroth
After ordering Lafiel to take Jinto to safety in a shuttle, Captain Lexshue of the patrol ship Gosroth engage ten ships of the United Mankind in battle. Despite the ship's strength and the crew's competence, the Gosroth is able to defeat only nine of its attackers. With the magnetic shields disabled, and one enemy left in the field, Lexshue, orders a ramming action against the tenth ship. Despite its valiance, the Patrol Ship Gosroth is destroyed.
Episode 6: Mysterious Conspiracy
In order to refuel their shuttlecraft on the way to warn the Abhs about the impending war, Lafiel and Jinto enter the tiny region of Febdash, a domain constituted only of the Baron Klowal Febdash, the Baron's father, and the Baron's vassals. Lafiel wants desperately to complete her mission, and is annoyed by the cloying attention she receives from the Baron and his vassals. When the Baron informs her he has no fuel and that she cannot leave, Lafiel and Jinto become suspicious.
Episode 7: Fortunate Revolt
Alarmed at the prospect of being unable to complete her mission to Sufugnoff, Lafiel takes up arms against the Baron. With the help of Seelnay, one of the Baron's scantily clad, sycophantic vassals, Lafiel manages to contact Jinto who has been confined to a holographic garden with the Baron's father, Sluf. Meanwhile, Sluf reveals to Jinto that Baron Klowal suffers from a severe inferiority complex: he cannot come to terms with the fact he is a first generation Abh and not a member of a long-established family. Klowal hopes to use Lafiel, herself a member of the Abh royal family, either as a bargaining tool to acquire an important position in the conquering empire of the United Mankind, or as a wife to raise his own status in the Abh Empire.
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After an intriguing but sappy set-up in its first set of episodes, director Yasuchika Nagaoka delivers a faster-paced, though still character-driven, drama in "Crest of the Stars 2: The Politics of War." Once in motion, the story flows smoothly, and the oftentimes laborious back-story of the first disc enhances the enjoyment of the second disc.
Much of the exposition in disc one's fourth episode established the extraordinary size and battle-readiness of the Gosroth while introducing its talented crew, but it is not until "Battle of Gosroth" that the efforts of writers Miroyuki Morioka and Aya Yoshinaga' bear fruit. At long last, the Abh Patrol ship finds itself in serious jeopardy, banishing the thought that the writers planned to establish a permanent home for the protagonists aboard the ship. More likely, the writers used the long trip aboard the Gosroth to draw attention to the intricacies of the space-faring Abh society and help them sympathize with the conquering race during the long epic. Further, the writers provide themselves with an opportunity to satisfy the demands of technically oriented fans in a drawn-out battle sequence in which the exhaustively well-designed Gosroth community finds itself fatally outnumbered. The final destruction of the ship propels character growth as Jinto and Lafiel realize that they have now been abandoned in a galaxy on the edge of war.
Lafiel and Jinto pass breakneck speed into a new adventure arc as ship-to-ship warfare gives way to a subtle conspiracy plot hatched by the semi-mad Baron Klowal Febdash. The looming war backdrops an exploration of the Abh nobility and the internal strains of the Humankind Empire of Abh. Baron Klowal is the first generation of his family to have been genetically altered in an Abh, and he is ashamed that his family lacks ancient ties to nobility. He resents his terran father, the former Baron, whom he keeps locked in a holographic garden. He also resents Jinto, another fully human noble who reminds him of his father. Furthermore, Klowal recognizes that he has no way to defend his domain should the United Mankind decide to take it over. As a result, he relishes the arrival of Lafiel, a royal princess who provides him with options. In the meantime, Klowal cherishes all the trappings of nobility that Lafiel detests. He has his vassals fawn over his needs, bathing him and cooking for him without the aid of machines. He appreciates their fear as they nervously attend to him. In contrast, Lafiel who holds a higher station is kind and considerate. In order to free Jinto and complete her mission, Lafiel must persuade Klowal's vassals to support her, even at the risk of betraying the Baron.
Klowal's unusual obsessions also tie neatly in to Jinto's sense of self-doubt. The parallels between Sluf and himself are startling, as both became noblemen recently, because of the actions of others. Furthermore, both are genetically distinct from the rest of the Abh nobility they represent. Though Jinto expects a degree of alienation at the beginning of his career in the Star Force, Sluf's situation makes him consider the possibility Jinto will always be an outsider, and supports his fear that there are some Abh who may never accept him or his descendents as true royalty.
While most of the plot elements in "Crest of the Stars 2" benefit immensely from the exhaustively cultivated back-story of the first disc, the awkwardly polite relationship between Jinto and Lafiel still mars the surface of the second disc. Much of the dialogue paints the picture that the two of them are becoming close companions, but their interaction smacks much of the first dance of awkward preteens. Part of this stems from the writers' desire to avoid making Lafiel imperious and thus unappealing. Unfortunately, the prodigious amount of awkwardness has the effect of stripping her of her forcefulness around Jinto, which likewise drains her strength of character. To alleviate the problem, the writers must find a way to emphasize her confidence without making her overly brash. This one shortcoming aside, the unfolding character drama and space combat make "Crest of the Stars 2" a sterling example of the best of both science fiction and animation.
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