Spring into 2018 Anime Impressions: Part 2—The Legendary Heroes

My coverage of the spring 2018 anime series I’m following continues. As promised from my Persona 5 the Animation write-up, I have lots to talk about in my first impressions of Legend of the Galactic Heroes and My Hero Academia.

 

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These

Animation Studio: Production I.G | Director: Shunsuke Tada | Release Date: April 03, 2018

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These is a remake of the original The Legend of the Galactic Heroes OAV which was released between December 1988 and February 1996. The OAVs consisted of four seasons with 110 episodes total. The original anime was adapted from a series of novels with the same name that were published between 1982 and 1987. The original animation studios Artland and Magic Bus wasted no time in their adaptation right after the novel series was completed. Die Neue These has a lot to live up to and a lot of material to cover given the original series’ length. After delving into my research, I’m not sure 12 episodes are enough to comfortably remake this series and the fact that sequel movies have already been announced says a lot.

Unlike Geoff, I have not seen a single frame of animation from the original 1988 series. I know of it because of the series is well-known among older anime fans and fans of older anime. That said, I have no inclination to check out the original (especially at 110 episodes), so I’m essentially going into Die Neue These blind.

Thousands of years into the future, humanity has migrated to space. Three major powers exist among the stars which fight for supremacy. The first is the autocracy, the Galactic Empire, next is the Free Planets Alliance, and finally there is the Dominion of Fezzan which claims neutrality. This has left the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance locked a seemingly never-ending war. As a fleet of Empire ships goes to attack an important sector of space, their recon notes that the Alliance has three fleets of ships ready to surround them.

 

 

Supreme Fleet Admiral Reinhard von Lohengramm orders the entire Empire fleet to pick off the smaller Alliance fleets one-by-one. His generals think the plan is insane and goes against common war tactics, but Reinhard scoffs as he’s certain of victory. The plan hinges on the fact that each individual Alliance fleet is smaller than the Empire’s, and by jamming communications an effective counter-measure can be prevented. The plan goes well as each Alliance fleet falls before the Empire’s might. However, his assistant Fleet Admiral Siegfried Kircheis fears the Alliance might have a tactician as brilliant as Reinhard. Just as the two are musing over this possibility, Yang Wen-li takes command of the last remaining Alliance fleet and begins to turn the tide of battle, despite the heavy losses.

Even with a new coat of paint in the form of beautiful sleek character designs and animation, Legend of the Galactic Heroes has a decidedly old-school feel. Although one huge change is the character designs when compared to the original OAV. While the new character designs are gorgeous, they’ve lost some of their unique flair and feel a little generic. If I was coming into this show as a fan of the older series, I might be somewhat disappointed by the changes. Even the colors which are lush still run cold and feel metallic compared to the warmer colors of the late 1980s and early 90s. On the upside, CGI occasionally makes for exciting animation and effects that would be difficult to pull off by hand.

Where Die Neue These feels old is in its politics and being a military drama. The two way power struggle between warring factions in space might have felt fresher in the 80s, in 2018 it feels tired. We’ve seen the fight between “The Empire” with nods to War World I Germany versus “The Alliance” based on a union of Western Democracies fighting for freedom done again and again. As I watched the episode and its aesthetics, the first thing that came to mind the few Gundam series I have seen, and even a bunch of other military-flavored Sunrise shows. To be fair, LotGH is free of giant mechs, but I can’t shake the “been there, done that” feel.

 

 

Seeing the conflict first through the Galactic Empire via a cocky Reinhard was a refreshing twist because these shows usually take the Alliance’s side. Of course, Siegfried’s warning about a brilliant Alliance tactician gave away what this military space drama would be about with all the subtleness of a hammer to the nose. A showdown between Reinhard’s Galactic Empire and Yang Wen-li’s Alliance? Got it. Roll credits. In all seriousness, I know the show has a lot to say about the politics via military conflict. As these two tacticians fight for the upper-hand in this war, I suspect the series will cast both sides of the conflict in shades of gray as the gears of war and politics turn. I sincerely that hope director Tada (Kuroko’s Basketball, Prince of Tennis, Starmyu) is up to the task of delivering a lot of story in the span of 12 episodes.

If you enjoy a good political drama, or are a military buff, I’d recommend this show. Hell, even if you’re curious about how it stacks up against the original Legend of the Galactic Heroes, it still may be worth your time.

 

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These is streaming on Crunchyroll.

 

My Hero Academia: Season 3

Animation Studio: BONES | Director: Kenji Nagasaki | Release Date: April 07, 2018

Season three of My Hero Academia barely skips a beat. Like the first two seasons, the entire production cast has reprised their roles and it feels like the superhero series never left the air. That said, this was the most disappointing episode of My Hero Academia to date. The last episode from season two ended in the fall of 2017. Nevertheless, director Nagasaki (Gundam Build Fighters, Classroom Crisis) felt it was necessary to start things off with a recap episode. I could understand this choice if the show had been off the air for years and was just returning, say like, Full Metal Panic! or Attack on Titan. Of course, the recap material is obviously meant for viewers who’ve never previously watched an episode of My Hero.

Summer training camp is right around the corner. Izuku Midoriya is invited by his classmates, Minoru Mineta and Denki Kaminari to train at U.A. High School’s swimming pool. Mineta and Kaminari actually want to goof off and watch the girls swim, but Izaku takes the training seriously and invites all of the boys from Class 1-A. There they complete in various training exercises while the girls use the other half of the pool to have fun. Mineta and Kaminari lament this fact. Meanwhile, Eraserhead explains the powers of his Class 1-A students to Class 1-B teacher, Vlad King, in preparation for the upcoming training camp. As the U.A. High School teachers keep the location of the camp secret for security reasons, the League of Villains lead by Tomura Shigaraki make preparations of their own to eventually strike down the heroes.

Episode one of season three wasn’t a total waste. Nagasaki was clever in his choice to include some new animation sprinkled in with the old. This was in the form of Class 1-A’s trip to the swimming pool to train. This allows the teens to showcase their powers for new viewers. New animation or not, having Eraserhead explain the class’s powers to Vlad King, while also having those powers explained again by the League of Villains was repetitive and unnecessary. Still, the hype and potential for a great season are here, despite this lackluster episode.

 

 

I’d be insane NOT to recommend My Hero Academia season three. If you’re familiar with the series, you’re probably already watching it. If you haven’t started this new season yet, I’d suggest skipping episode one and going straight to episode two. If you’re new to My Hero, I do recommend going back and catching up on the first two seasons.

 

My Hero Academia is streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation Now, and Hulu.

 

Images courtesy of Random Curiosity.