Banner of the Stars (BotS) is, oddly enough, a sequel to Crest of the Stars (CotS), but I am lying, because this is the way I am. If you'd ask the author of the original story - Hiroyuki Morioka - it's actually the other way around - Crest is the prequel to Banner, and Banner is actually the main story, while Crest is there to be an extended prologue.
Note 1: this review inevitably spoils Crest of the Stars, so please do watch it before reading okaythanks.
Note 2: This review might reference my Crest of the Stars review. It is fat enough already, so I will not repeat certain fundamental stuff, though I might elaborate on some.
While Crest is a small-scale story about two people trying to survive while the war starts to rage on, Banner is actually the story of that war. Misunderstanding this is probably the reason why so many people feel weird dissonance between Crest and Banner. The central character of the story is now Lafiel. Jinto is a supporting character, who loses his importance as the story goes on. At this point he still is an important narrative anchor, and still has a character arc to complete, but structurally he's here to provide a comfortable viewpoint for the reader; this approach migrated to the anime version, but now the original main duo is no longer the main focus.
This is the story of two major... let's say -- processes.
First - this is the story of the Humankind Empire of Abh going through their greatest war in order to achieve their eternal goal. In this war the fundamental principles of the philosophy the Empire proclaims are constantly tested on multiple levels, and this is why we barely see anything of the opposing factions - at this point of the war they are unimportant, and their approach to internal policies was shown in Crest well enough - for those who forgot, I'll remind: United Mankind, the major force in Four Nations Alliance, is a monolithic entity, which forces its planets into their cultural paradigm, streams non-stop propaganda and builds its war effort morale on brutal dehumanisation of the enemy. Further down the line we'll see that everything is not that simple, too, but fundamentals are there and will remain unchanged.
Second is a personal story of Lafiels ascension to power. It was explained in Crest, but was really cut down from the books, so I'll more or less fill in the basics here: the Emperor is not a title that is inherited. Due to the nature of the Imperial order, there are many founding families in the Empire, who were founded even before the Empire came to be, when the Abh were wandering through the stars on their city-ship. Professions were taught by a parent to the child, forming tightly related specialized clans. The most powerful clan - the Abriels - were responsible for navigation and command duty, as this is what their originator was literally breeded to be. Now Abriels form 8 royal families, each of which nominally rules over 8 kingdoms of the Empire. Abriel family is symbolic to the Empire - the star they rule is named after them, and this symbolism lies within the concept that Abriels are the empire; they exist to be the cogs who run it, not to rule it from above. Basically, Abriels are the most duty-bound family in the Empire, and they strictly oversee this order of things from within. The Imperial Elder Counsil, consisting of ex-emperors and kings, oversees careers of young Abriels, and the Emperor himself, and has the power to eliminate any of them at any point. Each Abriel is bound to aspire to become the Emperor. They compete by military advancement - the Abriel, who reaches the rank of Imperial Marshal of the Fleet (Rue Spen) -- the highest rank in Star Forces - is declared to be the crown prince, and when the other Abriel from next generation reaches the same rank, current Emperor resigns, crown prince becomes the Emperor, and the new Marshal becomes the crown prince. Now, the important part: Lafiel at this moment is the leader in her generation. Dusanyu, king of Barker, is the current crown prince. He is not related to the ruling Empress Ramaj, as she belongs to the Kryb branch, as well as Lafiel.
Lafiel is currently a deca-commander, a rank allowing her to captain a ligth ship. She is assigned to a Roil-class destroyer "Basroil". She drags in Jinto, who just has finished the Academy, as an administrative officer, and the rest of her crew is assigned by the crew commission (and the picks were clearly dictated by the Elder Counsil, but shhhhhh). So, who is in the crew?
First Mate Sobaash, and old and skilled officer, who just no so long ago rejoined the Star Forces, as he spent most his life as a captain of a trade ship and an owner of a trading company. Smart, decisive, pragmatic and stoic, he's the perfect foil to impulsive Lafiel. His function on the ship - planar navigation, consulting of the captain, secondary command duties. In the books he sports a moustache :D
Chief Engineer Samsonn, the only crew member who was in actual battle, an optimistic man's man, who likes booze, girls, and preferably at the same time. He's responsible for machinery and equipment on the ship.
Officer-navigator Ekurya - a menacingly calm girl with empty look, who hates cats but likes Jinto in her own odd way. She manages 3d navigation and secondary armaments of the ship.
Officer-administrator Linn, also known as Jinto, or, more commonly, baka, is, obviously, the administrator. He oversees supplies and staff on the ship - cargo, medical section, life support etcetera. Makes clumsy attempts to hide his friendship with Lafiel, but discovered immediatley; the crew gives no damns on the subject, though.
Chief manager of catness Diaho, the ruling ruler of the ship - Jinto's cat, whom Lafiel gifted to Jinto at the end of Crest. Was not supposed to be on board, as cats are traditionally not allowed on ships during the war (per tradition - the order "No cats allowed!"; it's book stuff, ignored in the anime), but Jinto is Jinto, and Diaho ends up on Basroil despite all.
Captain, deca-commander Abriel - Lafiel, the hero of the story to some extent. She is doubly burdened in Banner I - on one side, whe kinda lives in the future, when she's the admiral of the fleet, giving orders to the entire armadas, but, heh, the reality is here - and she commands a destroyer, responsible for the lives of 20-something crewmembers, while being a subordinate to an unexpected commander, who probably has the most negative opinion of her, and to the Admiral, who is well known to be insane. Good stuff. For her this is the main test of her ability to continue the Emperor contest - if she will be able to command this ship properly __and survive_, she might be considered a worthwhile investment as the Emperor material.
The war got stagnant after the events of Crest. Invasion of Clasbul system and annexation of significant part of the Iriish kingdom was a side maneuver, while the main assult fleet was headed straight to the Imperial Capital of Lakfakalle. Prince Dusanyu managed to fend Lakfakalle off, but both fleets were barely capable of any further expansion, Three yeras later, the Empire is finally ready to start pushing back against the Alliance. A large assault force is formed, ready to push into the territory of United Mankind, and to create the connection between separated kingdoms of the Empire - operation Renibu, "Phantom Flame", begins. MAin force of the United Mankind is immediately pulled to the invasion area, ready to stop the progress of Imperial forces and they are armed with some new interesting weaponry.
With Banner it is important to understand that the scale of events is much smaller than it seems. i saw complaints that the Empire is "just winning all the time" -- but it is deeply wrong. For example, the success of Operation Renibu allows the Empire to chip off a small chunk of the territory of the United Mankind, barely damaging either their economy, or their productive potential. All they would achieve by this success - is securing direct supply routes between separated territories of the Empire, and gaining momentum to retake what they lost in the first act of war. All sides of the conflict are straining their economies to supply the war effort - the fleets brought in are the attacking arms of the general forces, the part of the fleet, considered extreme for the defence efforts, and able to operate without creating risks for the main territories. This is classic warfare, in which the military forces are an expendable resource which is hard to recover. Loss of a fleet leads to several years of initiative provided to the enemy.
Admirals of the fleet played high role in Crest already, but now we see a large war effort to be performed. The logistics, manoeuvrers, and decision making process are brilliantly shown, depicting the strategic side of warfare, which is almost often omitted or outright ignored in space operas, even as significant as the Legend of Galactic Heroes, where the war is mostly a foil for character progression. In Banner the war is the centrepiece, and it is flawlessly knitted into character stories and the rules of the setting.
Character interactions and writing are still superb in this season, with highlights, except for "Basroil" crew, being Prince Dusanyu and his chief of staff archduchess Kenesh, who oversee the operation, the "brilliantly insane" Bebaus brothers and, returning from Crest, admiral Spaurh and her chief of staff Kufadiss in all their glory.
large emphasis is made on tactical level as well - the battles are structured in a realistic manner, with sides trying to utilize their forces to their best, and utilizing ship classes to their proper function. We can see layered defences, mass "artillery" attacks, the doctrine of defensive supremacy in action, as well as smart usage of invented physics to amplify the way the battles are played out.
In this one I can criticize only small things - final acts are a bit rushed at certain points, and the nonlinear structure strikes again a little bit. Jinto's narration in early episodes is equally unbearable to Crest, but is shortened. The scene with dresses, which I mentioned in CotS review, breaks the canon for no reason, as it could equally smexy with traditional Abh garments.
Overall I can absolutely recommend the series, yet again, as the quality on the technical side only grows from here, while writing and narrative structure never fails. If you want a deep and realistic depiction of warfare with equally deep and realistic character interactions - please, do watch this. Or better read the books.
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