Crest of the Stars: Difference between revisions
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[[File:lafielresize.jpg|thumb|350px|The main heroine being elegant.]]
{{quote|''Once upon a time there was a traveler crouching in pain by the roadside. A man who was walking by sat next to the traveler before he could ask for help. The man lectured the traveler at length about having a healthy lifestyle in order to avoid sickness. Satisfied with his speech the man stood up and left. His name is the United Mankind. Next, a very beautiful woman approached the traveler with an inquisitive look on her face. The traveler said, "Well, don't just stand there, help me." The woman replied, "Do you want me to help you?" She then discussed at length the situation with the traveler until she fully understood the problem. And then she nodded and left. Shortly after, the woman brought all the doctors, nurses, and staff of the closest hospitals with her. Her name is the Humankind Empire Abh.''
|A political allegory from the planet of Midgrat}}
'''''Crest of the Stars''''' (aka ''Seikai no Monshou'') is a novel written by Hiroyuki Morioka as a prologue to his Banner of the Stars series. It was later adapted into a twelve episode anime in 1999. Anime adaptions of his ''Banner of the Stars'' novels have followed and a prologue to '''Crest of the Stars''' was produced titled "Lost Chapter of the Stars".
''Crest of the Stars'' follows the story of Jinto and Lafiel as they
Flash forward: Jinto has completed his initial education and is on his way to the Abh capital to begin his military training and an obligatory 10 years' service in the Abh navy. He will also meet his first Abh. That Abh is the Princess Lafiel, granddaughter of the Abh empress, who is herself in training and serving her military obligation as an Abh noble. They set off together on what is supposed to be an event-less courier mission to take Jinto to a military academy at the capitol. But then the brown stuff hits the fan and things begin going very bad very fast.
''Crest of the Stars'' and its sequels, ''Banner of the Stars,'' ''Banner of the Stars II'' and ''Banner of the Stars III'', focus on the developing relationship between Jinto and Lafiel against the backdrop of an interstellar war between the Abh and the allied powers of the United Mankind. "Lost Chapter of the
One of the most interesting conceits of the franchise is that, in basically ''any'' other kind of space opera, the imperialistic, militaristic Abh would be the ''unquestionable'' villains; and, indeed, at times when the bigger picture is put on prominent display it can be a bit uncomfortable to realize just what Jinto and Lafiel are a part of. In the latter ''Banner'' series, even the residents of Jinto's home planet [[What the Hell, Hero?|want to know just why the hell he's loyal to the all-conquering Abh at all]]. A large part of the point of the show is a refusal to fall into easy stereotypes, however, and no side of the great conflict is black-and-white pantomime evil.
The franchise is known for its deep characterization, colorful characters, and ability to go into long conversations over very trivial matters without seeming bland (in the second series, two characters get into a surprisingly ''interesting'' conversion over wine). There is some action, but if that's the only reason you're watching this you'll be bored to tears. Overall it's quite an entertaining and memorable series, as long as you don't mind long stretches of talking heads.
Originally released in North America by Bandai, it's been license-rescued and re-released by FUNimation.
{{tropelist}}
* [[2-D Space]] - Hyperspace in the Abhverse is two-dimensional, with important strategic and tactical consequences.▼
* [[Absent Aliens]] - {{spoiler|The Abh are a servitor species created by humans.}}
* [[Achievements in Ignorance]] - Jinto succeeds in befriending Lafiel, the 3rd in line for the Imperial throne, by asking her for her name, which no one had ever done before.
* [[Air Jousting]] - In a flashback Lafiel is shown Air Jousting in a zero G chamber when she was still attending the Abh Military Academy. She was apparently very good at it.
* [[The Alliance
* [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] - Present [[In-Universe]]. Spoor believes Jinto to be a clever, resourceful fellow; Lafiel disagrees, considering him foolish and thoughtless.
* [[Applied Phlebotinum]] - It's what allows for interstellar travel.
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* [[Retired Badass]] - Prince Dubeusec, Lamhirh's father, looks generally like [[Uncle Pennybags]] in the first novel/series. Only later it was revealed that he was a [[Authority Equals Asskicking|high-ranking general]] and retired after his brother Dusanh became a Crown Prince per Abh custom (apparently adopted from their creators, as there is the similar one in modern Japan, where all classmates of a person, who reached a position where [[There Can Be Only One]], are generally expected to retire). When the war with the United Mankind intensified, he was recalled to service and distinguished himself even more.
* [[Robot War]] - This is what's going on with the Abh from the perspective of their enemies, although through genetic engineering rather than robotics. The Abh consider themselves human of course.
* [[Rooting for the Empire]]: The heroes are the ones conquering a empire, but you're supposed to root for them anyway. Audience members who cannot accept them as good guys are rooting against an empire, yet are still Rooting for the Empire.
* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]] - noble rank Abh (the ones who own territory) must serve in the military, and members of the royal family are expected to be extra awesome, competing for the rank of commander-in-chief to become Crown Prince and the next Emperor. Old Kings and retired Emperors form the committee that scrutinizes the career and promotion of royals. Plus the Abliar, the royal family, are in a sense the living role model of the Abh ideal. And can't cry or show favoritism.
* [[Sadistic Choice]] - {{spoiler|The bad guys try to use Jinto as a bargaining chip to force Lafiel to leave the female refugees behind.}} Sobaash's speech about what they'll do to the bad guys if they carry out their threat is both [[Take a Third Option]] and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].
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* [[The Fog of Ages]] - The Abh touch upon this. They live for between 200 and 250 years and their genetic engineering technology is such that they can live much longer. It's not enough to stop The Fog Of Ages setting in though, so their bodies are designed to shut down while their mental faculties are more or less intact.
* [[The Quisling]] - Ghintec, our ''hero'', of all people can be interpreted as this. By the time ''Banner I'' opens, he's unflinchingly loyal to the Abh (by way of, well, [[The Dulcinea Effect|his loyalty to Lamhirh]]) and doesn't really seem to care too much about his old home anymore; this kind of comes back to bite him in the ass later on, as quite a few of his former friends consider him an example of this trope ''in-show''.
** He is very well aware that his position is of "traitor" in most of his subjects; the rest only consider his father the real traitor (He did surrender the world to the Abh and get a noble title for it), and are convinced Ghintec can be "corrected". When that doesn't happen, they're usually none too happy.
** This is also attributed to the fact that he left his homeworld at a very young age and in a very lonely way with even his fatherly figure hating him. Although in the novel, he is shown to be much more loyal to his home planet as he is shown to be very emotional to every thing said or done to his home planet.
* [[The Stoic]] - Nearly every Abh in the show.
* [[This Is Gonna Suck]] - Pretty much the general feeling on the ''Gosroth'', when they see they're outnumbered 10 to 1.
* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: By ''Banner III'', Jinto is showing that he's grown up and is fully qualified to be a feudal lord, even if
* [[
* [[Transhuman Aliens]] - The Abh. Engineered to be space explorers they have a third eye and some modifications to the brain so they can navigate better in three dimensions. Also longer life and adaptations to cope with extended periods of microgravity with periods of high acceleration since they were created before the in universe discovery of Faster Than Light Travel and Artificial Gravity. We can only assume that it's because they were created by an ultra nationalistic Japanese group as for why they all have blue hair.
** Though as noted below, the inhuman hair color was a slave marker. The other thing about this trope is that while they were produced by dystopic transhumanism, and depend on advanced reproductive technology themselves, as well as 'upgrading' the children of politically Abh humans, their attitudes are rather bioconservative. It's 2000 years on and they're still the Abh they were; they're very proud of having
* [[Tsundere]]: Not at first, but Lafiel becomes this after arriving at Sfagnof; she gives Jinto a hard time in between moments of affection and vulnerability. She invokes [[Baka]] complete with [[Luminescent Blush]] while telling him to shut up. Being [[Fish Out of Water|out of her comfort zone]] on land probably makes her irritable.
** By Banner of the Stars she's taken to regularly insulting Jinto despite the Basroil's entire crew acknowledging him as her 'special friend'.
* [[Truly Single Parent]] - Abh do not practice marriage, so their children (generally custom-made by [[Designer Babies|genetic engineering]]) legally have only one parent. On the other hand, they can, and often do maintain long-term relationships, and children are often born from such relationships; Lafiel is one of those "children of love" because the donor of her genes gave them out of love. It's seen in their society as a charming romantic eccentricity and looked well upon, but such kids are still registered as having only one parent.
** [[Family Relationship Switcheroo]] - Lafiel is teased by her father about the identity of her mother, even going so far as to convince her (as a child) that she was descended from ''the family cat''. {{spoiler|Later, Lafiel proudly reveals to Jinto that Captain Lexshu is her other parent, [[Tear Jerker|as the scene switches back to her mother's death in battle]].}}
▲* [[2-D Space]] - Hyperspace in the Abhverse is two-dimensional, with important strategic and tactical consequences.
* [[Undying Loyalty]]. Jinto for Lafiel. Yes, [[Ship Tease|it sounds like a marriage vow.]]
{{quote|-- ''I always want to be there for you, Lafiel, through thick and thin; through good times and bad times. I know I'll grow old faster than you because I'm a lander but to me that doesn't matter. I'll be there. If you become empress I'll be there. If we become dust in the emptiness of space I'll be there.''}}
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