Banner of the Stars II

Banner of the Stars II continues where Banner of the Stars I left off. With Operation Phantom Flame completed, the Abh empire is now chasing the remnants of The United Mankind fleet with the aim of wiping them out, in Operation Hunter. As the Abh fleet advances, reconquering worlds, it becomes apparent that there is a shortage of bureaucrats and ambassadors to oversee the administration of the re-conquered worlds. This is where Banner of the Stars II starts off, with Lafiel being appointed Territorial Ambassador of the planet Lobnas II with Jinto as the deputy ambassador. Unfortunately for them, the planet happens to be a prisonplanet with 4 distinct factions. Faction 1 : Prison guards Faction 2 : West side - women prisoners, fertile Faction 3 : East side - really bad men Faction 4 : Central compound, men and sterilized women. Lafiel and Jinto give territorial governorship to the prison guard's administrator, and Jinto stays behind to oversee the details of the prisoner's immigration, when all hell breaks loose and Lafiel is forced to leave him behind. Will he survive?!? Banner II is a very good plot driven story. The characters are all well done and act as you would expect them to. The animation is fluid but not of the best quality and there is a lot of reuse of scenes. However, the ending song is one of the best ever. At it's heart, Banner is still a love story featuring star/race-crossed lovers Jinto and Lafiel. Overall I really enjoyed this series and am looking forward to more.

The reason why I say this is better than Banner of the Stars and even the prequel of the series, Crest of The Stars is because of a few reasons. Also here is the reasons why I gave it a perfect score too! 1. This one totally explores the relationship of Jinto and Lafiel. And what I mean by explore, I mean it literally focus on just how much Jinto and Lafiel love each other, and how they would react if anything ever happens to them, Mainly Jinto. I thought Crest of The Stars was a good series, since it shows how Jinto and Lafiel firstmet each other. And I thought Banner of The Stars was alright, though it did get kinda boring after a while. But this one totally tops it by exploring more into their relationship and also showing what happens as well as what was going on and etc. 2. You gotta love the ending song. Now the ending song to Banner of the Stars was good (in fact it's my favorite ending song so far), but this one is even better. The ending song shows more emotion and in the end it will leave you feeling remorsed or sad, but at the same time really falling in love with this series like i did. I think this is a very underrated series, and i thought that this was the best out of all of them. Overall, I say this is a really good series that will have you crying at the end, and also saying "About Time". I thought that this was way better than Banner of The Stars and it's prequel Crest of the Stars, but you might think otherwise. Either way, I recommend this series to anyone, regardless of age. A great series worth watching even if your not fond of space operas.

Seikai no Senki II unravels yet another story act of Jinto and Lafiel as they continue the voyage into space and planar space (yep, they have two different types of space here woohoo). Admittedly, the plot this time can be a bit predictable, especially with the pretty awkward spoiler-ish prologue in the first episode. Nonetheless, just as I thought my enjoyment was soiled from the get-go, SnS II threw me in a rollercoaster trip of emotion while barely reaching the half-way point. By the time the end credit rolled, I had already found myself being overwhelmed by a rather indescribable sense of catharsis. Though Jinto andLafiel are undoubtedly the focal points of the series, the anime doesn't solely rely on them to keep the ride engaging. Far surpassing my anticipation, the creator managed to further expand world-building compared to the previous installments with intricate politics and enthralling lore, which can get very hyped IMO. The best part is that, despite all those interludes, the relationship between Lafiel and Jinto could still progress and develop so seamlessly. I'm not even exaggerating. For a 10-episode work, they really outdid themselves with so many quality contents. The anime can indeed get a bit long-winded at some points, but those moments are like short breaks from tension, and as soon as I got bored, they threw me back in the rabbit hole. Although politics is a recurring subject, it is usually accompanied by engaging dialogue with well pacing and good directing that focus on characters' facial expressions and the likes to emphasize their meaning and subtle foreshadowing. By doing so, it is easy to get a better understanding of the situation and how the world of Seikai operates in general. On top of that, there was virtually no loose end despite having so many subplots going on at once. And to add the cherry on top, the show even managed to sneak a top-notch space battle in the late game for hype material, yet that's not even all to it. While these events run discretely, they can still connect one another from a bird-eye view, which is pretty sick as I've always enjoyed this kind of multi-scale, multi-layered level of storytelling. One of the best things about Seikai no Senki II is the strong presence of the opposing faction, which barely had any focus in the earlier works. In this act, the context can be a bit messy at first glance, but there's more to it than meets the eyes. In the beginning, I wholeheartedly thought it was a bad idea to include so many different viewpoints, four to be more specific, from extra new side characters. However, as the curtain unveils the full picture, everything makes perfect sense. For real, no matter how hard I tried to find a hole in their logic, it really can't be helped that things ended up this way. Each side has its motive, reasoning, and circumstance to justify their actions. I never thought I'd be invested in these 4 temporarily introduced factions in this act. In all honesty, some of them can be flawed, such as, uhhhh, capturing women for the sake of having children just because they want to see kids running joyfully in a hellhole, but I digress. What really matters here IMO is how it grants these characters a purpose, a compelling drive to fully commit themselves, thus be able to deliver one hell of a performance in the climax. For one thing, I do not agree in the slightest with their actions but rather find them to be compelling as characters, not as some sort of cheap, shallow, 2nd rated kind of villains with taking over the world non-sense that we usually see. Moving on to the main cast, I cannot describe how well they were handled. Frankly speaking, I never really liked Jinto as a character early on, for he seems too ordinary and well, kinda a wimp lol. However, SnS II pretty much solidified his ideal and position in the story. He is well aware of his shortcomings, yet continued to stay firm to himself and yeah, I kinda enjoy his decisions in this act as well. Though they appear to be naive, there’s no sign of ill-will which is cool. Furthermore, his tiny bit of internal conflict between being originally a lander and his current position as an Abh noble is a nice touch to his character. That said, Lafiel stole the spotlight for me and I'm not even fanboying… yet. She easily underwent the most sophisticated transformation as a character in the whole series. Spanning across the entire season, we get to see Lafiel in a myriad of emotional states, such as chilling, fury, resolve, melancholy, sadness, despair, and hope. Looking back at the Lafiel from Crest of the Star, she sure has come a long way, from being a Yolo-ish young lady who had a propensity toward rash acts, to the Lafiel of Banner II with an extremely calm attitude filled with rational thoughts and a decisive mindset, but not without compassion and, of course, soft nature inside, WOW, it simply boggles the mind. In the end, I guess what really sold me on Lafiel and Jinto is how well are they meant to be for each other, fr, just get married already lmao. Other than that, admiral Spoor did not disappoint despite being a supporting character. Part of the reason is that she has a bit of privilege for playing a crucial role in this act. Anyhow, I just can't get enough of the constant switching between her trolling and no non-sense mode, which is both hilarious and awesome. Apart from that, her capability as a commander is a sight to behold, for she truly lives up to her reputation and hype provided early on. It would be a lie to say I was not fired up whenever her fleet is on a roll. The other admirals have their quirks, still, I feel like the time spent on them is a bit excessive with so many lengthy random talks that barely add anything to the plot. Nonetheless, the cast of SnS overall is very diverse and well-built with compelling interactions. Visual-wise, SnS is quite ahead of its time given the limited resources in the early 2000s. The aspect ratio bump from 4:3 to 16:9 is hands down the most welcomed change ever. Some scenes rely on reusing old sequences, yet when it comes to the moments of truth and climax, the directing is basically on steroids. It is not just about having the right detail but more so about getting the right angle to highlight the subjects or their expressions. As a space opera anime, it is no surprise that SnS will feature majestic spaceships and the likes to cater to sci-fi enthusiasts. For something that came out in early 2000, I must say it is a bit illegal for an anime to be this epic of many scales. While there aren't many battles in this season, the constant fleet formation assembles shots are more than enough to satisfy me. Furthermore, the perspective of a commander from a higher plane is a very refreshing aspect since it prompts a much better and definitive view of the entire situation at some major events. What's truly mesmerizing to me is how insanely synergized the animation and sound are since, at some point of the ride, I felt like I was being engulfed in a tranquil atmosphere mixing some melancholy vibe. Moreover, having spent so much time on space segments must have probably dulled my mind a bit, but damn, these breathtaking landscape shots in a planet almost filled with oceans are just so refreshing and astonishing. There weren't many of them, yet the timing is so on point that it emits a rather ataraxy vibe in this mildly depressing story. Lastly, the creator even went to extra mile to explain the mechanism behind the sci-fi concepts of SnS with spectacular animation sequences. The prime example of this is the Basroil's battle configuration moment, which showcases the launching logic of the assault space ship, legit the most 'kino' moment to me in this anime as it incorporates so many factors in a short span of nearly 1 minute. In terms of the sound effect, I'm more than satisfied. I actually disliked the OP in the beginning, but somehow over time, it grows on me a great lot. The opening sequence is also spot on by going full starry theme that resonates well with the epicness of the OP. The ED, on the other hand, just simply hits right at the feel. They really know how to make the most out of this track, as it is usually played at the turning point of the main characters, thus further deepen the already desperate atmosphere. On a side note, the BGMs are rather powerful assets of SnS II. They're not just there for the sake of having music but rather to serve as an indication of something sinister or theatrical is about to commence, or at least, implied in those specific scenes. This goes double when a closure to certain moments was drawing near, as the music kicked in, I could not help but YOOOOOOOOOO. As for voice acting, it’s pretty standard for the most part I’d say. The cast is relatively big, yet not all of which have frequent appearances, so I can’t commend much here. If anything, the switch between the Abh language and Japanese at some pivotal scenes can be very wholesome indeed. Apart from that, Lafiel’s VA really did an incredible job at expressing the various emotional outbursts, especially that one moment where all that is left on the screen is but Lafiel’s heavy breathing in tandem with a surreal time-frozen atmosphere, which completely took me aback. The bottom line is, Seikai no Senki II is a visually stunning anime packed with an intricate and tangible plot, a splendid cast, and distinguished soundtracks. Seldom can I find an anime that is capable of masterfully blending all those essential elements, let alone being constrained by a limited duration. Throughout the journey, I got to experience a plethora of reactions. Even though I was quite sure of what was going to happen next, it didn't stop me from being on edge all the time. And just as I thought everything was already over when the end credit rolled, the epilogue just had to deliver one last tiny bit of surprise to properly conclude this story act, which is 100% HHHRRRNNNGGG.