The Legend of the Galactic Heroes is an Anime title that
has kind of been lost to time. Heck I
never even heard of it until maybe a couple of years ago. And really, its impressive that, given its
production background, this series isn’t as revered in main Anime circles like
Gundam, Macross or even Space Battleship Yamato. The original series ran as an epicly long OVA
that began in 1988…and didn’t finish until 1997, almost a decade and 110
episodes later. Yikes that is a long
time to tell a story (which is saying little considering One Piece and Naruto
refuse to end, YES BORUTO IS JUST A NARUTO CONTINUATION JUST ACCEPT IT). Still, LGH is a well regarded piece of scifi
Anime for purists who know it and have likely watched it all. It’s a wonder an HD remake hasn’t happened
sooner. Yet her it is: The Legend of the
Galactic Heroes Die Neue These KaikÅ (or The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The
New Thesis-Star Crossed).
The new series may look as pretty and crisp as any new
Anime to come out of Japan today, but it still has the feel of an old school space
opera, not unlike Macross or any work from Leiji Matsumoto. While I thought the soundtrack was nice, I
wondered why there weren’t more classical pieces chosen to play cause both
premiere episodes felt really operatic in scope and design. LGH is best known for a couple of things,
both of which are highlighted in spades in this retelling. The first is the aforementioned sense of
scale. The original series showed
literally thousands of space battleships on screen blasting each other back and
forth (it’s even parodied in an episode of The Melancholy of Haruhi
Suzumiya…and its one of my favorite episodes too). Well, leave it Production I.G. to claim the
ultimate win when it comes to presentation.
It feels like an absolute shame im watching this show on a TV at home
and not on a freaking IMAX screen somewhere.
It doesn’t diminish how awesome it is to watch everything unfold but I
do think youre not getting the true experience unless you’re watching Legend of
the Galactic Heroes on the biggest screen you can possibly find.
And then there’s the intellectual duel between series
rivals Yang and Reinhard. Not since
Light Yagami vs. L has a battle of the brains seemed so freaking epic (a word
that rightfully describes Legend of the Galactic Heroes as a whole). Both men have confidence in their plans and
their own skills as tacticioners.
Reinhard seems the more arrogant of the two (not just because he’s a
flashy dresser looking to catch the eye of his first mate…yes it gives off that
kind of vibe). Still there are way more
stuck up members of the Galactic Empire than he is so it is cool to see his
plans work if only to put his elderly seniors in their place. Yang has more of an uphill battle to fight,
not just against Reinhard but against his own superiors who refuse to see the
flaws in their own plans and Yangs ideas to turn defeat into victory. Still when Yang finally gets his shot at
battle, it’s a big moment and I wont lie, I did smirk when Reinhard realized
he’d been duped. This is gonna be a fun
rivalry to watch.
Oh and don’t think I didn’t notice that these two groups
of combatants are known as the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets
Alliance…it’s too on the nose not to see the obvious Star Wars reference and
not chuckle.
I really am curious how they’ll try to condense such a
huge story into this reimagining/update but Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The
New Thesis has my attention in a way I didn’t expect. I wonder if old school fans scoff at the idea
of an update. I mean, why not just try
to track down the original and watch that?
Yet I didn’t feel for a second that The New Thesis was trying to one up
the original OVA in anyway. Production
I.G. may bring a spectacularly animated powerhouse to play but the story feels
respectful of its old school source material and hopes to keep it intact, even
if it is a bit wordy at times. But if a
guy like me who loves more fast paced scifi can look at this and go “wow…this
is incredible,” I think Legend of the Galactic Heroes fans have nothing to
worry about. Normally id wait to binge a
season and I still might with this one but I might have to try watching this
week to week…like I said, it has my attention and I want to see more.
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