Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Encounter (銀河英雄伝説 DIE NEUE THESE 邂逅) is the first 12 episodes of the remake based on the novel series Legend of the Galactic Heroes by Tanaka Yoshiki. The series was originally aired during the Spring of 2018.
Set in the 36th century, hundreds of years after humanity left Earth for the stars, the galaxy is split between 3 factions. On one side is an absolute imperial monarchy known as the Galactic Empire, ruled by a dynasty that has held its territory under authoritarian rule for almost 500 years. A system modeled after the ancient Austrian Empire with deference to the Norse Pantheon and a hierarchy of nobility serving under the imperial house of Goldenbaum. Early in the empires existence, a large number of planets rebelled and successfully form a democratic coalition government known as the Free Planets Alliance. The two factions have been engaged in open warfare for the past 150 years will a third power, the Fezzan Domain, sits by claiming neutrality. As the unending conflict rages in two young military officers from both sides begin to encounter each other on the battlefield, both skilled tacticians who become rivals as their respective power groups begin to shift in monumental ways.
Reinhard von Lohengramm is part of a low ranking noble family. His older sister, Annerose, caught the attention of Emperor Friedrich IV and became her concubine. Reinhard is so incensed by this affront he vows to do whatever it takes to take down the Goldenbaum dynasty. He enrolls in cadet school, convincing his common born childhood friend Siegfried Kircheis to join him. His tactical abilities are exemplary, allowing him to rapidly rise through the ranks in the imperial navy, dragging Siegfried along with him. The opportunity to cement his ability is given to him when his fleet has cornered a much smaller Alliance fleet and moves to destroy it entirely.
Unknown to him his equal on the Alliance side is serving under the commander of their fleet. Yang Wen-li grew up wanting to be a historian, enrolling into the military academy to gain access to their libraries. His obsession with history has lead him to studying much of humanities recording military conflicts, giving him a broad view of humanities consistencies and patterns. Just such knowledge leads him to save as many ships in the doomed fleet as he can once his commanding officer succumbs to wounds in the conflict. Recognizing Reinhard's strategy he quickly implements a counter measure that will minimize further loss and allow them to escape to safety. High command is impressed with his ability to take control in the heat of the moment while constructing a way to not be utterly destroyed. While Reinhard's forces were victorious, the fact he was denied total annihilation angers him and he burns Yang's name into his memory...sure they will encounter each other on another battle field.
For their efforts both Reinhard and Yang receive promotions from their respective high command. Both men are given their own forces to command. Reinhard uses his freshly crafted armada to crush a rebellion in the empire. Yang is ordered to make a daring assault on a strategically vital space installation built by the Empire. Yang, recruiting a division of foot soldiers comprised of Imperial defectors launches a surprise attack on the imperial base, Iserlohn. The base, an artificial moon, sits in the center of a narrow space lane that is the only navigable region between the Empire and the Alliance. The Empire uses it as a forward base to launch assaults on Alliance plants and to prevent the reverse from happening. With the invasion succeeding, the shift in power has drastically changed and the Empire is suddenly exposed to a direct attack from the navies of the Alliance.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes has been on my watch list for a long time now, but until the release of the remake a few years ago it was hard to come by the original series. This is a well regarded epic space opera and if the remake is anywhere as close to the quality of the original source material it has earned its praise. This is a fantastically crafted tale of political intrigue, monumental shifts in society and pure tactical wizardry and an amount of plot armor. The setting is firmly established with a lot of realism in place. You can truly believe that the future of humanity could turn out this way, with the mistakes of the past always repeating themselves. While the remake largely focuses on Yang and Reinhard, the novels and original anime show great depth in a wide range of characters, giving the viewer a very broad taste of the reality they live in. That's not to say that omitting some of the side stories is detrimental, it leads to a leaner story...even though the remake is 48 episodes long. The original anime spanned almost 3 times that episode count.
The focus of the story, at least in this first part, is the rise of both Yang and Reinhard. It begins at their first direct confrontation and digs into their background leading up to that point. This is the beginning of their story, where their base motivations are laid out and the path ahead of them is still uncertain. This first part does a good job in establishing the baseline and the setting, allowing further seasons to push the narrative forward more aggressively while continuing to reveal a larger cast of players. Yang is undoubtedly the good guy but Reinhard it not a character that can be identified as bad or evil. He has ambitions that are born from altruism. He is an antagonist but not actually a villain. Yang on the other hand is the unlikely hero who would rather be unremarkable but is swept up in events without his control. His goal is to do the best job he can in preserving life. He only does what is necessary to achieve that goal and is not driven by ambition. Hes just happens to be the right person at the right time with a healthy dose of plot armor to guide him along the way.
The series is available on Crunchyroll in both dub and sub formats.
Click her for the review of the second season.
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