Seikai no Monshou - Anime - AniDB (2024)

Note: This review applies to all animated series of Crest of the Stars franchise. It is based on, first, KAA for Monshou, later A-Et for Senki I and II, and finally, AonE-Conclave for Senki III. Too bad KAA didn't do the whole series, their use of Baronh was neat. Otherwise, good quality and plausible translation, the best you can get for that age. AonE-Conclave is a must for Senki III, as they offer Director's Cut. Funny how some of the best scenes from that adaption are exclusive to it.

Originally written as a series of novels by Hiroyuki Morioka and directed by Nagaoka Yasuchika Crest of the Stars is a space opera masterwork like no other, a shining diamond in the sea of mediocrity. Set in a distant future during the galaxy-scale conflict between Humanity and the Abh, it takes a completely different approach to reach epic heights. Rather than following a stature of a grand leader, the plot of this show concentrates on adventures of a young man, once a land dweller, now an Abh nobleman, Count Linn Ssynec-Rocr Haïder Ghintec and his unlikely companion Viscountess Ablïarsec néïc Dubreuscr Parhynr Lamhirh, who happens to be a granddaughter of the all-mighty empress of the Abh. The existence of the two have little, if any, impact on the grand war, while a single decision of a war leader can destroy everything they have worked for. Thus starts an epic tale about romance born under the shackles of war, between a melancholic land-dweller and the princess of Abriels, infamous for their malicious and ruthless nature.

So, yeah... Frankly, Crest of the Stars (or Banner for that matter) is such a highly refined piece of art that it leaves but two options for its viewers. You'll either love it, if it's your thing, or you will feel indifferent towards it, if it's not. Apart from financial troubles it has no flaws, be it original content or its adaptation. There are things it does, there are things it doesn't, but it never shows any faults. However, Seikai no Monshou is certainly not for everyone (which is evident from its relatively small, but zealous fanbase). You might be turned off by its slow pace, ruthless nature of the Abh or by the fact that epic war is but background for the show's real story. Are those flaws? Hell no, and I'd cut out tongues of everyone who says they are, if I could. Crest of the Stars is an overwhelmingly well-detailed slow-paced love story between two people who are likely the best characters to ever grace anime realm. War and space are but background, but tools to draw out emotions and paint relationship between two unlikely matches, characters, who'd never express their feelings if not under extreme pressure. I personally have never came across a similar work of fiction, and you bet I've searched for years. Is it good? It's damn best... if you know where you are getting in, that is.

While my other two favourites, Neon Genesis Evangelion has introduced me to the path of knowledge and Berserk has shown me the meaning of ambition, Seikai no Monshou is the only thing I have ever experienced to move my feelings. Well, at least I can read the myth of Pygmalion with full understanding now, can I?

Animation: 7/10

While animation by Sunrise does not exceed in technicals it sure excels in style. Foremost, the original character designs by Watabe Keisuke are extremely attractive. Though marred down by, sometimes, rough geometric faces, the characters of the show, especially the light-blue haired Abh simply brim with elegance, they are so obsessed with. The best thing about them though, is facial gimmicks. There is much of wonderful "dialogue" told through nothing else but facial gimmicks of the two heavy-introverted leads. Careful detail and great camera work during dialogues does wonders when it comes to demonstrating Lamhirh's body lines, giving the show slightly erotic vibe without any need for ecchi or similar low level techniques. Backgrounds, on the other hand, are mostly dull, it sure is nice that Abh, unlike virtually anyone else in space, are tasteful enough to decorate their spaceship walls with pictures, or even bring couches with canopies on board, but you are still treated to blue barren walls of the spaceship most of the time. Never-ending illumination of blue, though, helps to create and maintain the profound sense of elegance this show tries its best to exhibit. Landscapes, however, are relatively well-detailed and attractive, if you account for the age this show has seen the light, that is.

Motion fluidity, on the other hand, is the aspect of animation which has aged considerably. If you are picky about animation you might be annoyed by some choppy movements and dull action scenes. Well, it's not like you'd be watching this show, if you were like that, right? Space battles, however, look relatively good, at least if you compare them to the even older Legend of Galactic Heroes. However, the plot never really tries to make them all that interesting, thus using them for a good mood maker (some battles are even waged during the hardly relevant, but great dialogues or monologues of the characters). However aged the animation is though, it still offers some breathtaking scenes, particularly the scene of Abh invasion during the first episode. All you really see are lights flickering in the vast sky, but the mutual timing of animation and marvelous musical composition (I'll get into later) made that scene into one of the most memorable moments of my narrative art otaku career. Incidentally, the technical quality increases over the seasons, but as much as it gets better, the artistic quality gets worse, proving that money and new technologies eat away artistic souls. Personally, I found the animation of Seikai no Monshou, the first season, favourite, but there is barely any difference between the shows in overall quality.

Sound 10/10

So, after getting it over with somewhat aged, but stylish animation, let's talk about what makes Crest of the Stars into a (*subjectivity warning*) flawless masterpiece it is. Frankly, the musical arrangement present in this show is by far the best musical work I have dared to witness in any fictitious space opera so far, but let's maybe start from the opening song, which alone kicks the ass of all the leery warbles other anime have to offer. All you get is a solemn song, free of any bumpkin lyrics, and imagery of various space objects. Aah, I remember the day I have put this anime on my screen for the first time. After double-checking if it's really anime I have downloaded, I resumed being mesmerized by the epic composition while trying to suppress my, at that time, seemingly overblown expectations for this show, which eventually were surpassed anyway *cough*. So yeah, OP is great, I wish other space operas also learned that pop songs with colorful characters jumping around isn't exactly what mature people call epic. Little surprise, it was composed by the same composer as the background music was, Hattori Katsuhisa (Infinite Ryvius). His taste for music is proven by the fact that he had helped publicizing Final Fantasy OSTs. Anyway, EDs, unlike the OP, concentrate on the more melancholic part of the show offering ballads, while not really contenders for the OP, there are some really neat ideas you can find in them. For example, the ED of Seikai no Monshou works as a flashback for both Ghintec and Lamhirh, while the one of Senki II, Farewell to My Love, is sung by Kawasumi Ayako herself, making it sound as if Lamhirh herself is singing the feelings she will never be able to express in words.

Background music itself, while slightly inconsistent over the seasons as Senki I introduces few less-distinctive pieces, still kicks the ass of virtually all compositions I have heard in my life. Be it melancholic flute melodies for love, ruthless yet gallant string music for the Abh themselves, or orchestral themes for war, which is fought proud and elegant by the kin of the stars - all the music freakin' rocks (pardon, lost my cool here). Also, it's not just the music that is supreme, the timing of it is nothing less of god-like (running out of adjectives here). Like the aforementioned scene of Abh invasion, there are loads of scenes dealing both with the beauty of the space and the romantic relationship which made me doubt my ears/eyes and even brains to some extent. If there is a negative thing about the music of this show it's that it made me inclined to frown whenever I hear the lame pipipipipapapas of other space operas. I know of no other ways to express my admiration for the music of Crest of the Stars, short of mentioning its OST is on top of my winamp playlists.

Sound stage wouldn't be perfect without good seiyuu to support it, and you bet, Seikai no Monshou offers both what might be the best female and best female-to-male performances in the history of anime. The show is filled with so many dialogues/monologues that there is hardly a second you spend without listening to the voice-actors and what Kawasumi Ayako does with her role is nothing short of astounding. Rather than just going on and on about her ingenious brassy voice and remarkable ability at bringing cold, ruthless characters to life, I'll just tell you that there are moments where she expresses the state of Lamhirh's mind by clenching teeth, gasping or even manipulating the rate of breathing with precision. Making Lamhirh into one of the most alive characters in anime realm nets her the title of my favourite female seiyuu, not forgetting her Fate//Stay Night's Saber role. However, even the oh-so-awesome performance by Kawasumi Ayako can't completely overshadow Ghintec's elaborate monologues by Imai Yuka. I'm surprised she has so few roles considering her talent, but it also makes Ghintec's voice sound so much fresher. I am not a big fan of females voicing male characters, but, hell, no male could do Ghintec so well she did. Even side characters spurt voice worthy of admiration, Abh imperial prince has about the most arrogant voice I have ever heard, done by none other, but Shiozawa Kaneto, known for his awesome role of Paul Oberstain in Legend of Galactic Heroes. You can also notice other big names, like Koyasu Takehito or Inoue Kazuhiko speaking good stuff in the background.

Story: 9/10

The setting of Crest of the Stars might as well be the best to grace the world of space fiction. Sure, you could go at lengths how the setting of Legend of Galactic Heroes is more vast, offers galaxy-scale leaders as main characters and is far richer in politics, but while Seikai no Monshou might lose in these terms it offers emotion and elegance LoGH could never dream about. If LoGH is a refined technical work of art, then Seikai no Monshou is what you'd call art from heart. It might lose in details, but it sure wont lose in beauty. Then again, there is about nothing else apart from LoGH to compare its epic scale to Crest of the Stars, and it's not even its strongest point. Space has never been more elegant than in Seikai no Monshou. Just look at the Abh, the most elegant race of creatures you will ever have a chance to witness. Free of religion, moral norms and even marital system, the only things kin of the stars value are intelligence, class and space domination, known and feared by humans for their ruthless and vengeful nature. If that is not the most awesome race in the world of fiction, then I don't know what is. Have I mentioned the author has devised a new original language exclusive for the Abh? You can learn it if you want.

I was really torn between ten and nine in this particular section, and eventually was forced to go with nine, thanks neither to the original work, nor to the talented team which adapted it. Yes, it's thanks you, the bastard who controls the funds. What's the big idea behind turning the whole Senki III novel into a mere two episodes long OVA? Work so full of great things is, at best, summarized in such a short time. Not to mention the fact that Senki IV haven't even seen the light. Well, either way, the conclusion offered by the summary of Senki III is still great and beats down about every single romance I know. That's about it for negative things, now let's see what makes Seikai no Monshou so exceptional. Firstly there are many details which make the story rich and engrossing. For example, every single episode of this anime is introduced by Abh culture lessons told in Baronh language. Crest of the Stars also delves, albeit lightly, into war strategy and politics (I have yet to see a similar prisoner evacuation plot) to, again, give the lovely relationship a more epic feel. On a side note, this is about the only fiction in existence which deals with the nasty oh-noes-my-friend's-a-hostage situations in a way I respect. Damn, I still get watery eyes when I remember some.

The fact that you actually have to follow Abhs ant not Humanity in this conflict is brilliant. However evil everyone proclaims them to be, all you see are varying personalities of really cool and attractive characters who simply don't hold back when crossed and enjoy to blow ships of opposing faction with elegance. There is even a scene where Ghintec is having the most heart-warming conversation with Lamhirh ever and the camera suddenly jumps to Abh seeding mass destruction. You know what my feelings were? "Screw the humans, let Lamhirh finish her speech!". So morals are a no go in this love story, you can't imagine how refreshing that is. Either way, even the most minor of details make viewers fall for Lamhirh and discard anything they hold dear when treating her, what, likewise, is the main theme of the show when dealing with Ghintec's lost homeland.

The best thing in the plot, naturally, is the essence of the romantic relationship itself. The show aimed for mature and patient never discards its slow pace, making you simply listen to dialogues and monologues for more than two-thirds of the whole anime's running length. The introverted nature and unbalanced position of the two leads never really let them express their feelings in words, making the relationship so subtle it's told via facial gimmicks and attitude alone. What is so great about this, is that characters are so engrossing you will be keeping your eyes big and open for any gimmick they make. Furthermore, introverted vague romance makes you use your head quite a bit, trying to guess what each character is really thinking as they rarely let on to everything they know, sure beats brain-dead cheesy romances the world is stuffed with. Love story with virtually no bodily contact concentrated on overblown, long dialogues/monologues builds a relationship so strong, yet subtle, that a single facial gimmick of a character warms your heart more than all the kisses and cheesy lines in other shows combined.

Characters: 10/10

Aah, and now comes the time to exhibit my lack of literary talent by failing to explain why exactly the characters of Crest of the Stars are, without doubt, the best any anime, or fiction for that matter, has ever succeeded at giving birth to. Not to state the obvious that Lamhirh is my favourite heroine and Ghintec is, not subjectively, but objectively the best main lead I have ever came across, Seikai no Monshou is also basis for my 'character' rating system. To make long story short - how close your characters come to the greatness of this show's cast, the better grade you get, while there is, of course, nothing above it. What most anime lack, are monologues, the best devise of characterization ever devised by mankind. Fortunately, Sunrise and Hiroiyuki Morioka know this very well, filling their works of art with so many monologues viewers with little taste and patience go away crying. Naturally, monologues alone wont make characters good by default, but it will sure flesh them out well. The next thing what makes Crest of the Stars cast extraordinary is the pace of development. Characters change ever so slightly, ever so subtly, you'd miss their little change of facial expression if you didn't pay utmost attention. Years pass and characters grow, mature, without a single unjustified development, without a single illogical reaction, so alive I actually find Ghintec and Lamhirh more realistic than my friends are... and much more interesting.

Talking about interest... It's usually spawned by the clearly exhibited potential of the character, by what he or she makes you believe you can expect. And while I didn't particularly notice Ghintec at the beginning, Lamhirh blew most of my danger meters at first sight, the last few went down with her first line. Not only Lamhirh is, what you could only call, a sea (space?) of limitless potential, she is, in fact, set on the road to use and exhibit that potential with seemingly boundless yield. Frankly, all I could do was gape at the masterpiece of a character she is during my first watch. It took me second to be able to think, third to actually do that objectively, and fourth to finally put it into comprehensive words (I hope). AniDB article on Lamhirh goes through the details of her character quite well, so I'll refrain from repeating the same things and making this over-sized review even longer. What is not mentioned there, however, is that she possesses a "smile" which can freeze even a murderer in fear, second only to maybe some Griffith's sinister expressions. Now imagine an ice queen with personality qualities not that far from Light's giving an unplanned facial gimmick of affection and all the potential romance of that... yeah. What's even better is that despite her ruthless nature, high self-esteem and huge ambitions Lamhirh comes off as more feminine than about every single fictitious... or real person I know. The funny thing is that, not only Ghintec's pessimistic, sometimes even nihilistic, calm nature makes him into an interesting character type virtually never put into main's shoes, his relaxed and kind attitude is about the only thing that gets through Lamhirh's thick hide. Not to mention that he is the only person her age who can speak with her without shaking in fear. Either way, I can't tell if I justified it enough or not, but the two main characters of Crest of the Stars is what I, at the moment, and for the past three years, have held as the epitome of greatness when dealing with characterization. Incidentally, it's likely that tsundere and kuudere archetypes derived from the old-days characters like Lamhirh, stealing what are but superficial traits of her personality, falling apart while trying to justify what the hell they are doing. Maybe that's why I have a soft spot for the archetype, they remind of Lamhirh and the days when fiction wasn't understood as a copy-paste mechanism.

Side characters, though not as awesome as the main two, are, indeed, great as well. Though it took me the third watch to actually let myself listen to characters who are not Lamhirh and Ghintec (sorry I was possessed). Anyway, the admirality of Abh is full of interesting and really entertaining characters, though I guess it's a given, being an Abh makes your characteristic traits awesome by default. Anyway, Duchess Spoor, also know as Lady of Chaos, would be my favourite from the side cast. Commanding fleet for pure entertainment she gets it off from demoralizing enemy fleets and picking their weak scattered ships to fulfill her sadistic desires. Not to mention she plays mind games on everyone in her own fleet, bullying them to tears in the process. Then there is an Abh imperial prince with a very hard name who commands all the fleets and is likely the most elegant... and arrogant character I have ever seen. There are even brothers nicknamed Spectacular Insanity who love little else more than sarcastically biting each other about their own, well, infamous name. Crew members who follow Lamhirh and Ghintec through their war campaign, all have justified and interesting personalities, however, they certainly take a backseat when it comes to loving characters, but who cares, Lamhirh is still the best fiction has to offer.

Myers-Briggs personality type indicator:

Value: 10/10

It's hard to believe, that three years have already passed and I still haven't found anything to even relatively match the level of heart-warming Seikai no Monshou offers, despite doing my best to use every single second of my free time to dissect masterpieces from all fiction I know of. What's even harder to believe is that I actually found this show even better than it was in my memories during the 4th re-watch. Maybe I am already banned from ever getting satisfied with any love story I come across, having experienced Seikai no Monshou at such a young age...

Well, at least I still have upcoming novels to look forward to (sure is taking long for V to come out, *uncertainty*), as it seems all seiyuu will be likely dead before Senki IV gets announced. All thanks to the system which makes it smarter to finance mediocre crap like One Piece and Bleach, maybe I'd be happier if I just banged my head to a wall until my aesthetic sense drops down to that level...

1. Conclusion: Crest of the Stars is a brilliant masterwork like no other, with virtually every aspect polished to perfection. It's not easy to get into, and it choses its viewers. However, if you are a person who values character interaction over action and aesthetic sense over politics, romance flavored space opera Seikai no Monshou will doubtless become one of your favourites. If you have liked this show and you want another epic space opera, full of politics and conquest, Legend of Galactic Heroes is your choice. If you, however, want a romantic story on par with Crest of the Stars, I am forced to disappoint - there is none. At least, I couldn't find one in my five years of anime watching, novel reading, poetry deciphering and even game playing. If you know one - please, enlighten me... Mention Clannad and I will boil you alive though.