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Written by maehara
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Monday, 05 June 2006 00:00 |
 Crest of the Stars is a real contender for my personal favourite series, and it's finally made it to UK shores, thanks to Beez. Jinto Lin is on his way to the Abh military academy and a new life as a noble in the Humankind Empire Abh, but war is just around the corner. For his escort Lafiel, a member of Abh royalty who's been dealing with her position all her life, Jinto's a breath of fresh air - and the war looks set to make sure they spend a lot of time together...
1 - Invasion
The far future, and mankind has spread to the stars. When the planet Martine finds itself beseiged by the Abh - once the slaves of man, but now the genetically-engineered masters of a huge empire - its leader is faced with a simple choice: submit to Abh rule, or face the destruction of his planet. President Rock Lin surrenders to the Abh before a single shot is fired, an act that, while protecting the future of Martine, also sees him elevated to Abh nobility and branded a traitor by his own people. Forced into the role of a noble, young Jinto Lin finds himself sent to another world to learn about the culture of the Abh and the responsibilities of his new rank. After seven years of training, it's time for Jinto to join the military academy...
2 - Kin of the Stars
As Jinto waits at the orbital station for his escort to pick him up, he has time for one last talk with classmate Dorin. Like all his friends, Dorin's having trouble coming to terms with discovering that Jinto is Abh nobility - for the past 7 years he's kept his status to himself, only revealing it when it was time for him to leave for the academy. Their farewell brings a lot of memories back to him - but before long his escort arrives and it's time for him to leave. It soon becomes apparent to Jinto that even after seven years of schooling, he still has a lot to learn about the Abh - but his escort Lafiel looks set to become a good guide...
3 - Daughter of Love
Jinto and Lafiel finally arrive at the Gosroth, the patrol ship on which he'll be travelling to the imperial capital. On arrival, there are two surprises for him - first, the sheer size of the ship (especially as it's one of the smaller ships in the fleet), and second, that Lafiel's no ordinary trainee - rather, she's a princess of the royal family Clyuve and potentially his future Empress. That little discovery turns his budding friendship with Lafiel into an awkward situation, until he realises that Lafiel's as unhappy with having her title used as he is with his own. Meanwhile, the first rumblings of war between the Humankind Empire Abh and the United Mankind are beginning to appear...
4 - Surprise Attack
A group of unidentified space-time clusters - usually representing other ships - is detected approaching the Gosroth. Fearing an attack & not liking the odds, Captain Lexshue orders Lafiel to take Jinto to safety aboard one of the Gosroth's shuttles - something Lafiel's not at all happy with, as she sees leaving the ship at such a crucial time to be a dereliction of her duty. A lesson in responsibility from Lexshue sees her reluctantly accept her orders, and the two leave the Gosroth in an attempt to reach the Sufognoff sord and safety. Meanwhile, the approaching fleet signals the Gosroth with a challenge...
While on the surface Lafiel and Jinto couldn't be much more different, underneath they're both not entirely happy with their positions and looking for people to treat them normally - and by meeting each other they've both found the person who'll do that for them. It's the basis of a friendship (and possibly more) that forms the bedrock of both Crest of the Stars and the sequel Banner of the Stars series, and that has become one of the anime relationships. Forget epic interstellar wars - yes, Crest has that, but it's just the background to the story of Lafiel and Jinto.
These first four episodes introduce the main characters, with a lot of time given to fleshing out the personalities of Lafiel and Jinto, before bringing the Four Nations Alliance and the first acts of the coming war into the frame. As well as looking at Jinto's own origins, we get given the first look at the nature of the Abh and the way they see their land-based subjects. The Abh themselves are creatures of space - the "kin of the stars", as the call themselves. Their empire may be huge, but their interest is in the value of the trade between those worlds, so their interest in landers pretty much stops at keeping the worlds they control from waging war and disrupting their trade routes. Past that, their worlds are left to run themselves more or less as they please - after all, ruling them would be considered "inelegant". Jinto may be Abh by law, but he's a lander by origin and fitting in to the world he now finds himself in is not going to be easy for him.
Enter Lafiel, a member of one of the Abh royal families, grand-daughter of the current Empress and supremely confident in her own abilities. She's the last person you'd expect to be looking for companionship, but in her own way she is. Jinto's initially unaware of her royal status - to him she's just another military cadet - and it's that ignorance that leads to the first seeds of friendship being planted between them. Jinto's the first person to ever treat her "normally", and even from the look on her face when Jinto asks her name you can see that means a lot to her. When Jinto eventually learns of her family history and starts behaving properly towards her, she's genuinely angry and really makes him suffer - that's one of the funnier scenes on this disc, and a glimpse at a key part of Lafiel's personality that comes into play on several occasions down the line. This is one girl you do not want to make angry.
The anime is based on a series of novels by Hiroyuki Morioka, who has put an immense amount of effort into creating a highly detailed, believable universe to set his story in. From the Abh language & culture to the science behind travel through plane space, the setting has been well thought through and holds together really well. It's definitely worth paying close attention to everything that goes on here, as even the smallest thing can give an insight into how people behave and react or how a battle may play out. It's that level of detail, combined with the obvious chemistry between Lafiel and Jinto, that gives Crest a lot of its appeal - a well-developed universe makes it that much easier to immerse yourself in the story, and Crest manages that better than almost any series out there.
With this disc being mostly set-up and the real meat of the story still to come, it's all the more surprising that it's as engrossing as it is. Crest won't be for everyone - it's a little slow in times, and being so heavily dialogue-based will count against it with some people - but for dedicated science fiction fans, it really in one series that is a must to check out.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: The universe of Crest of the Stars is so detailed the anime can't possibly convey it all. If you want to know more about the background and origins of the Abh without having to buy the novels, nonchan's Seikai on Monshou site is well worth a read.
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