Crest of the Stars
1999 TV Series
Studio-Sunrise (Studio 5), Director-Yasuchika Nagaoka, Writer: Aya Yoshinago
 |
| Lafiel and Jinto, main character duo |
Well, Tech TV: Anime Unleashed month
starts off with the first series I watched for this anime programming
block: Crest of the Stars. I enjoyed this series when it was on TV
back in the day, and having it on DVD as part of my collection is
very worthwhile.
Crest of the Stars is based on series
of novels by Hiroyuki Morioka back in the mid-90s. A few years later,
Studio Sunrise picked up the series for an animated adaptation. It
tells the story of Jinto, a young human nobleman as he finds his
place in the universe. This is set in the far future, when humanity
has flown through the stars and colonized all over. In the process,
they developed through genetic manipulation, a race of beings called
the Abh. The kin of the stars, as they are called, they formed their
own empire and are involved in a long war against the United Mankind
Empire. Well, Jinto, in his journey to be inducted into school to be
an Abh officer, he makes a friend in Lafiel, an Abh princess/soldier
who takes quite a liking for him. However, the path to the Abh
capital is wrought with challenges, but they are met with resolve and
confidence.
Now, onto the great things about Crest
of the Stars. First, this story is very good. Superfically, it a
standard space opera in the vein of Macross and Gundam with spaceship
battles and sociopolitical commentary. However, at its heart it is a
love story between Jinto and Lafiel and a coming of age story for
Jinto himself. They meet and as they go off on their journey they
develop a relationship together. It is very interesting to see how
the progression feels natural. Even when the space opera elements
come into place, the focus stays on the core story. Of course, the
core story is very well-written in terms of dialogue/exposition so
not really an issue. It is full of ideas (sociopolitical commentary,
diplomacy, genetic engineering, conduct of war in space) but it
takes time to explore and develop them enough so none of it seems
excessive or underdeveloped.
Second, the opening song is a sweeping
and majestic instrumental piece, reminding one of Star Trek and Star
Wars. Same can be said for the rest of the soundtrack, equally space
operatic-style with sweeping strings, thunderous percussion and
blasting brass fanfares.
Finally the animation is outstanding.
This was done by Sunrise Studio 5 which have done work on Escaflowne,
the Inuyasha movies and more recently Gintama. It is well done cel
animation (solid character designs and backgrounds) from the late
90s, right around the same time as Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star.
Granted, there is some instances of CG graphics but its hardly
noticeable except to the most astute viewer.
Of course, the big weak link of this
show is the English dub. For all the praise I can muster for the
show, the dub is not really good. The vocal performances all round
are very stiff and dry, with either not enough emoting or small
bursts of overacting. While this wouldn't be so bad, the fact is that
Crest of the Stars relies on a lot on its dialogue as the driving
force of the story, with long stretches of time spent with characters
talking to each other. So, if the English dub fails, the series just
about fails as well. Still its a commendable effort. Bandai farmed
out this dub to Vancouver and that shows a bit, especially with some
of the bit parts. By the end of the series, Jinto and Lafiel's
English V.A.s improve a bit, but not by much. In fairness, the dub
just goes to show how far we have come in doing English dubs of anime
from that time to the present.
Another weak link is that this is only
the prologue tale to a larger story it seems. Well that because Crest
of the Stars is the first of three series for this franchise. This is
followed up by Banner of the Stars, which did aired on Anime
Unleashed block. There is also Banner of the Stars II which get
released with a dub but never got aired. So, a bit of a bummer. I
might do a review of the two sequels, if I can get them.
Overall, a very good show that
unfortunately is hampered by its English dub. Other than that, it has
great animation, music and story to it, so if you can please check
this out.
Two weeks from now....well, Read or
Die the TV series
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