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Written by maehara
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Friday, 11 March 2005 13:36 |
 Subtitled Protecting the Precious (for the manga version, anyway...), the final volume of the Seikai Trilogy
takes us largely away from things Abh and spaceborne and deals more
with the problems of a planet - Lafiel fans, prepare to feel a bit
disappointed...
1 - Operation Hunter (Kufazet Breg)
While the majority of the Abh fleet is engaged in Operation Hunter - a
plan to mop up the remaining United Mankind resistance - Lafiel, Jinto
and the Basroil have been assigned what should be an easy duty, as
territorial ambassadors to recently-'liberated' Lobnas II. But you know that it's not going to be as easy as it sounds...
2 - World of Exile (Nahen Lemdaint)
Lafiel and Jinto get their first indication that all is not well on
Lobnas II when they try to contact the planet's leader, and no less
than four people reply to their signal. Job number one for the
new Kufalia: sorting out just who really is in charge down on the
surface...
3 - Evacuation Plan (Kufazet Fullot)
Having identified a planetary administrator and determined that Lobnas
II is nothing more than a prison colony, Jinto heads down to the
surface to see what needs done. What he's not expecting is a
request for the Abh to relocate over 100,000 people to another planet...
4 - The Hunters (Breglash)
Back on the frontlines, the Labule is having to deal with a United
Mankind fleet that will soon be casuing some problems for Lafiel.
Meanwhile, Jinto's preparations for the evacuation of the planet are
interrupted when the male prisoners begin a revolt...
5 - Abh Hell (Bal Gef)
How to get on Lafiel's bad side: take Jinto captive, which is exactly
what revolt leader Angusson has done. Executing the planetary
administrator seems a minor crime, to the Abh at least. When
Angusson and his sidekick Dokufu try to negotiate with Lafiel for
Jinto's release, they're treated to a graphic descrption of what the
Abh do to those who bring revenge on themselves...
6 - The Honor of the Empire (Lue Bal)
Time's running out for Lafiel - having already resigned herself to
leaving Jinto behind, she's trying to complete the evacuation of those
who want to leave Lobnas II, but an approaching United Mankind fleet
threatens to call a halt to the operation. There's one possible
solution, though: Admiral Spoor. If Lafiel can persuade her to
defend the Lobnas II sord, it could buy her the time she needs, but
Spoor is very rarely open to persuasion...
7 - Things to Protect (BvRandonon)
Rather than go into battle for no good reason - and Spoor doesn't
believe the Lobnas II prisoners constitute a good reason, no matter how
Lafiel may put it - she opts to play a waiting game with the
approaching UM fleet, and negotiates with the UM commander for time to
allow Lafiel's ships to leave the system. She can only delay for so long, however...
8 - Lay Down the Bow (Gyoom Waka)
Lafiel's ships are finally away from Lobnas II, but without Jinto and
at great cost to Spoor's fleet. Passing through the aftermath of
battle, Lafiel is left to contemplate what she sees as her
failure. Back on the surface, Jinto has escaped from his captors,
but with his health failing and little in the way of supplies, his
situation doesn't look good. Two months after fleeing Lobnas II,
however, the Abh retake the planet, giving Lafiel an opportunity to
return and search for him...
9 - An Abriel's Tears (Demz Abrielsal)
Lafiel's first lead on Jinto turns out to be the body of someone else,
but before long a former woman prisoner provides some information that
proves to be more useful. Fearing the worst after such a long
time, she heads out to the location where she's been told he
might be - but is she too late..?
Initial verdict: Needs more Lafiel. I'm a Lafiel fanboy
through and through, and the distinct lack of most people's favourite
Abh (I believe Admiral Spoor can give her a run for her money in the
popularity stakes) left me a bit disappointed. Add in that when
you do see her, it's not the strong Lafiel that so dominated the previous two volumes, and you definitely feel a bit robbed.
That said, it's the weakness Lafiel displays in reacting to what's
happening on the planet's surface and to Jinto which is really what
this volume is all about - forget about Admiral Spoor's no-hope battle
(fanservice for the combat fans) or the rebellion on Lobnas II, this
story is all about exposing the relationship between Lafiel and Jinto,
and portraying what the lander Count has come to mean to Lafiel - to
the point that she may be prepared to give up the Imperial throne for
him. It's a point that's subtley made throughout the book, but
particularly in the final chapter it's blatantly pointed out in some
very touching scenes, just in case anyone missed it.
As for the rest of the book - the diversions to Operation Hunter and
the exploits of Lafiel's father, along with the Bebaus brothers and
Admiral Spoor, provide a good distraction from the main events on
Lobnas II, which could otherwise have become a bit too heavy to be
enjoyable.
Overall, then, Banner of the Stars II is a good book, if lacking a bit in Lafiel goodness. As part of the Seikai Trilogy,
it's probably the weakest of the three volumes, but that's more because
of the extremely high quality of the other two books, rather than any
real weakness here. Very highly recommended.
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