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Seikai Trilogy [Manga] #3
Banner Of The Stars II
Based on the author's science fiction novels, presents the story of a future universe where mankind has spread throughout the stars and war is immanent between the dominant Humankind Empire Abh and a coalition of rivals led by the United Mankind.
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First published October 12, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 10, 2018
Having read some reviews before starting this, my hopes that it would be better than at least the second book were lifted. In reality, it is only marginally better. Largely because the balance is off – scenes that seem less important get much more screen time than scenes that are more important. Generally speaking, this means that in the former category, we have scenes of the military strategizing for attack and defense plans. In the latter category, we have the scenes of interpersonal relationships, not only limited to those between Lafiel and Jinto, but also between each of them and different members of the ship’s crew or the planet’s leaders.
The scenes of military strategizing, especially showing Admiral Spoor and the twins, were convoluted with not only Abh terminology, but also seemingly complex manipulations of who is where and why which really held no interest to me. Especially since from the beginning of this series, the whole war itself seems hollow, as we don’t really get much of an ‘on the ground’ view of the incentives and reasoning behind it continuing. Yes, it is because the United Mankind wants access to make their own space-faring trade routes, essentially making this a sort of trade war, but we never get much more than that passing explanation for the war. At least in this book, with the prison planet, we do get a little bit more of the opinions of people on a planet who will be affected by a change in interplanetary leadership. Which tangentially brings about Jinto and the situation with his homeworld – it was made clear in the very first book that his father, and by extension, him, are viewed as traitors to their people on Martine, and Jinto is afraid even to go back to his home planet because of the negative reception he thinks the people will give him. Yet this does not prevent him from embracing the Abh and all they stand for, seemingly without question, even going so far as to fight for them without any evident questioning. I find it curious that he is so loyal to the Abh when he is actually well placed to change his people’s minds at least about how they view him, and release them from Abh rule.
I suppose a possible valid explanation for Jinto’s loyalty to the Abh is his loyalty and love for Lafiel. Because let’s face it, they are the center of the romance in this space opera, and their relationship ends up being the driving force behind many of their actions. But the blurb on the back of the book regarding this seemed rather over-blown: “Lafiel has to make a life-or-death decision: rescue her friend who has been her mentor and guide…or retreat to protect the lives of her crew.” Maybe it’s because it was late and I was reading this in a very tired frame of mind, but it seemed to me like she .
Going back to the off-pacing of this installment, we have scenes of Lafiel’s father and younger brother talking (I’m still not entirely sure why this was really important to have, other than shoe-horning in some messages about everyone accomplishes things at their own pace and that is okay), and we have a disconnect during Jinto’s capture/imprisonment, .
Instead of spending more time on this, I think you get the idea that his book is marginally better than the second book (at least I wasn’t asking myself each page how much did I have left/was it almost done), but still lacks solidity in its story & telling, and has pacing and believability issues. Not to mention the continued issue of too much unnecessary Abh vocabulary peppered throughout the story. Maybe the tv series (which apparently exists?) is better balanced between the war story and the love/relationship story, and has a smoother execution with the Abh words fitting in better.
The scenes of military strategizing, especially showing Admiral Spoor and the twins, were convoluted with not only Abh terminology, but also seemingly complex manipulations of who is where and why which really held no interest to me. Especially since from the beginning of this series, the whole war itself seems hollow, as we don’t really get much of an ‘on the ground’ view of the incentives and reasoning behind it continuing. Yes, it is because the United Mankind wants access to make their own space-faring trade routes, essentially making this a sort of trade war, but we never get much more than that passing explanation for the war. At least in this book, with the prison planet, we do get a little bit more of the opinions of people on a planet who will be affected by a change in interplanetary leadership. Which tangentially brings about Jinto and the situation with his homeworld – it was made clear in the very first book that his father, and by extension, him, are viewed as traitors to their people on Martine, and Jinto is afraid even to go back to his home planet because of the negative reception he thinks the people will give him. Yet this does not prevent him from embracing the Abh and all they stand for, seemingly without question, even going so far as to fight for them without any evident questioning. I find it curious that he is so loyal to the Abh when he is actually well placed to change his people’s minds at least about how they view him, and release them from Abh rule.
I suppose a possible valid explanation for Jinto’s loyalty to the Abh is his loyalty and love for Lafiel. Because let’s face it, they are the center of the romance in this space opera, and their relationship ends up being the driving force behind many of their actions. But the blurb on the back of the book regarding this seemed rather over-blown: “Lafiel has to make a life-or-death decision: rescue her friend who has been her mentor and guide…or retreat to protect the lives of her crew.” Maybe it’s because it was late and I was reading this in a very tired frame of mind, but it seemed to me like she .
Going back to the off-pacing of this installment, we have scenes of Lafiel’s father and younger brother talking (I’m still not entirely sure why this was really important to have, other than shoe-horning in some messages about everyone accomplishes things at their own pace and that is okay), and we have a disconnect during Jinto’s capture/imprisonment, .
Instead of spending more time on this, I think you get the idea that his book is marginally better than the second book (at least I wasn’t asking myself each page how much did I have left/was it almost done), but still lacks solidity in its story & telling, and has pacing and believability issues. Not to mention the continued issue of too much unnecessary Abh vocabulary peppered throughout the story. Maybe the tv series (which apparently exists?) is better balanced between the war story and the love/relationship story, and has a smoother execution with the Abh words fitting in better.
August 13, 2017
This is the best book so far of the three in this series, because there was an actual story from start to finish and I could understand everything happening once I looked past the screen of all the made up words. The secondary characters were good and the conflict was great. Here you also can see behind Jinto's hero-worship of Lafiel and that he is a little in love with her.
August 18, 2010
This volume starts off slowly, but once we reach chapter two and get to the situation Jinto and Lafiel find themselves in, things really pick up. As this volume has a different artist than the first two, it feels a bit inconsistent due to the differences in their styles, but overall the art is good and works well. Once again the series is a bit rushed, with certain parts of the story moving too quickly while showing too little. However, this installment easily has the best plot of the three volumes and the most exciting conclusion. For fans of the series it's worth a read. For those who just like good space opera, the first two volumes are somewhat satisfying, but this one will reel you in more. Fans of the anime will likely be distracted by its rushed pace. Overall, it's a good adaptation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews