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12.09.2019

Legend Of The Galactic Heroes Review

Legend Of The Galactic Heroes Review 3,6/5 4908 reviews

Legend Of The Galactic Heroes Blu Ray Review
Galactic Heroes Anime
Galactic Heroes Set

Although the main anime series, Legend of the Galactic Heroes (henceforth LOGH), is beloved by nearly all of those who have bothered to view the damn thing (at the time of writing, it boasts an impressive 9.1 rating on IMBD and is ranked as the 8 th best anime on MAL), many anime fans abstain from watching it due to a number of issues.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes shines in that it doesn't attempt to force an answer upon the reader. There is no black or white in this novel; neither faction is painted as 'good' or 'evil'. Characters in both the Galactic Empire and Free Planets Alliance are well-developed, their motivations explored, their actions realistic.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Vol. Read 6 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Reinhard, under his Golden Lion banner, is set.

I’ve always been fascinated with science-fiction since I was a small child. From reading fantastical stories of men on the moon to building massive LEGO models of TIE fighters to binge-watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it’s safe to say that sci-fi had a profound influence on my early childhood days.

As I grew up, this draw towards futuristic worlds continued to linger one within me, and I continued to be a sci-fi superfan, with sci-fi literature and merchandise still occupying most of my room.

Star Wars, for one, had a lot of sway when it came to captivating my hunger for sci-fi. Its simple yet rich story, likeable characters, fun technology and intriguing setting made up for why I liked it so much. In fact, I’m still trying to hunt down more Thrawn trilogy books from Timothy Zahn at the moment, who did quite a bit of work when it came to expanding the galaxy beyond a farmboy and a smuggler running around shooting and slicing people up while tagging a furball and a princess along.

Don’t get me wrong, I still like Star Wars, and I do wish the franchise a bright future. But then, while searching for stuff on the Internet one day, I stumbled across something better. A lot better.

That, my friends, is the subject of this review, Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

For the uninitiated, LOGH, as I’ll call it from now on, started out as a series of 10 novels from Japanese author Yoshiki Tanaka written in the 1980s. Its claim to fame, however, lay in its anime adaptation of the same name of the 1990s, spanning across more than 100 episodes and quite a few movies, becoming one of the longest anime to date.

Legend Of The Galactic Heroes Blu Ray Review

As obscure as it is, both the anime and the novels have been critically acclaimed by almost everyone who has seen it since its release. The novel series, for instance, won the Seiun awards in 1988 (basically the Japanese Hugo awards), while the anime consistently ranks as one of the best in polls made even 20 years after the series ended. If you don’t believe me, search LOGH up, and you’ll find yourself gawking at the abnormally high ratings given by the anime fandom. Yes, it’s that good.

Unfortunately, due to the extreme length of the anime, the series remained obscure to the Western world, that is, until 2016, when Viz Media started to translate the novels into English for the first time. They originally said they would only be translating the first three novels, but given how they’re now at number 8, I’d assume that the books are selling like hot cakes. Also, there’s a new anime adaptation going on at the moment, Die Neue These, which considerably picks up the pace of the story, though at the expense of some of the plot.

So, with all the history out of the way, let’s dive into the review itself.

Set nearly 1000 years into the future, where mankind has colonised and moved to countless planets in space, the novel kicks off by dividing the known galaxy into two factions-the tyrannical, autocratic, but strong Galactic Empire, and the democratic, yet corrupt, Free Planets Alliance. Both have hated each other with fervour since they sprouted up, but given the exhaustive resources it would take to invade each other, they have been in a stalemate for 150 years, with the exception of tiny border skirmishes. Oh, and there’s also a third faction, Phezzan, which is basically the galactic equivalent of Switzerland, where everyone stores their money and people profit off of their neutrality.

The previously-mentioned stalemate, however, is quickly broken when two men on opposing sides quickly climb through their respective ranks. On the imperial side, we have Reinhard von Lohengramm, a ‘young brat’, as his admirals call him, a cunning military strategist and political idealist with a tendency to obliterate every fleet that stands before him. On the FPA, meanwhile, we have Yang Wen-li, a mildly older, but comparatively young (he’s only 30), tactician and strategist, with a strikingly calm and laid-back demeanor. On the surface, the two seem to have similar traits and abilities, but when one looks closer, they can’t be any more different. While Reinhard wishes to overthrow the current dynasty and become emperor himself, ushering in a new era of benevolent tyranny and creating a better world for his sister to live in, Yang didn’t even want to join the military in the first place, wishing to get a chance to resign and become a historian.

Over the course of the novel, we see how the two develop their political leanings and demonstrate their abilities through epic battles and tension-filled political incidents, but since this is just volume 1 of 10, they don’t exactly go full-on with their actions, rather taking time to interact with the world they inhabit and sow the seeds for the subsequent plot. Along the way, we get to see countless side characters, such as Reinhard’s childhood friend, Siegfried Kircheis, and Yang’s adopted ward, Julian Mintz, a young war orphan, that aid or impede the main characters’ actions.

As you read this review, you might be wondering how this is better than other sci-fi properties, like Star Wars. Let me put it this way. In Star Wars, you get rather black and white factions, in the form of the evil Empire and the heroic Rebel Alliance. In LOGH, however, the situation is a lot more muted, and it’s a lot more grey-on-grey than one might expect it to be. Almost every character on either side is worth sympathising with, having their own understandable goals and thought processes, and if anything, both forms of government are depicted in equal light.

The comparison between democracy and autocracy is a strong theme, and will continue to prevail throughout the series as a whole. Through the eyes of the characters, we get to see how there is no perfect form of government. An autocracy would restrict one’s freedoms, but in the right hands, could lead to a strong and powerful country. A democracy, meanwhile, would grant everyone freedom, yet allow for mass abuse of power and corruption, with the massive discord in opinions resulting in not much being done while the people suffer. It’s subtle comparisons like these that really draw me into the story, and compel me to keep on reading. Add into the mix unrivalled technical detail (Mao, Jesus and Genghis Khan are all mentioned as hailing from the distant past), and blatantly obvious historical parallels between the plot and 19th century warfare, and you get something truly intellectual yet enjoyable at the same time.

Granted, the breadth of the content we’re talking about in this book might not interest everyone, and admittedly, the pace can drag on a lot if it wanted to. You might even get lost in the sea of characters bombarding you. But if you find yourself enjoying Star Wars, and want something better, check this series out. This is just volume one, and things only get better from here.

TL;DR:

The Good: Unrivalled technical detail, intriguing setting, fascinating characterisations, interesting (and intellectual) comparison of politics, wonderfully crafted story

Galactic Heroes Anime

The Bad: The pacing can get out of hand

The ‘Eh’: The equivalent of an army of characters can get confusing at first, historical references might fly over your head, and it can get very long

Conclusion: Highly recommended to everyone. If you can’t stand reading, watch the anime. You won’t be disappointed.

BTW, Here’s the intro to the new anime adaptation for those who are interested:

Galactic Heroes Set

The Story:

'“The Golden Brat” Reinhard von Lohengramm, a military prodigy and admiral of the Galactic Empire, has ambitions beyond protecting the borders or even defeating the Empire’s enemies. He seeks to overthrow the old order and become a truly absolute—yet benevolent—dictator. His rival, the humble Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance, wishes to preserve democracy even if he must sacrifice his political ideals to defeat the Empire. Their political and military battles play out over a galactic chessboard in an epic saga fifteen centuries in the making!'

The Review

As somebody who only saw glimpses of the anime adaptation at best, I can tell you that this is a cracking read with more depth and character than many modern SciFi works. None of the trappings of modern japanese light novels are present here, so leave your prejudices in the drawer when it comes to the heavily trope-laden stuff you see nowadays.
This is a scifi story with large-scale space battles (with thousands of battleships on either side, usually), intriguing characters, strong politics and exploration of human history, fascism, patriotism, philosophy and more. It is the full package of what I enjoy about science fiction.
I previously said in my review of The Emperor Expects that I'm not usually fond of space battles. Well, of course I would pick this book up next, not fully realizing just how many of those I would get! However, as large as they are described, I felt that every battle was firmly anchored around the overall strategies and generals, their reactions to the enemy and also their follies. Rather than lasers, pew-pew, it was all the more about fleet formations, tactical maneuvering, attempts to outwit the opponent.
It was also commenting a whole lot on the selfishness of the higher echelon and political leaders who would gamble with the lives of soldiers and their families back home, all for the sake of maintaining their own power, or increasing it. There are strong threads of anti-war messages in Dawn, and plenty of examples of extremist factions, short-sighted management and how a democratic civilization can go wrong.
When the book opened up with a prologue outlining humanity's growth and decline over the course of centuries, including the rise of a galactic empire established by what are essentially space Nazis, I was hooked. Most of them even have german names and still use german terminology in the book's present day. It isn't trying to hide its influences by any means, but then, it didn't need to in my opinion; The messages it was trying to send were amplified quite a bit this way.
On the other hand we have a galactic alliance of free planets, which, as it turns out, lost its ideals and is on the route of becoming no better than the empire it seeks to free the galaxy from. It depicts the precarious balance society has to maintain to not end up like the very evil it seeks to overthrow. Throughout the novel, the alliance became more and more openly abhorrent to me. The sheer hypocrisy of it all made it clear that neither of the two opposing sides in this conflict can hold much of a higher ground, and both have their share of relatable characters.
The protagonists of these two nations are the 'Golden Brat' Reinhard von Lohengramm, supported by his childhood friend Sigfried Kircheis (which translates to Churchice. Had it been Kirscheis, with an added s, it would have been yummy cherry ice cream, which I got reminded of every time... But I digress), as well as the alliance's magician admiral Yang Wen-li and his closest friends.
Both of these characters are charismatic in their own way, and go the whole mile from promotion to promotion.
They're two sides of the same coin; Where Reinhard is ambitious and often ruthless, Yang would like nothing more than to quit the navy and keep his subordinates safe. Where one uses warfare as a means to propell himself through the ranks, the other scoffs at the waste of lives. Yet both are masterful tacticians who draw on different sources of talent and strategic knowledge. Both despise the system they are caught up in. Both care deeply about their close ones, even though their attitudes are very different from one another.
They both present the different cultural backgrounds of empire and alliance in a way that made it all matter to me, as the reader. I could understand these characters, and being told about their childhood experiences helped that along nicely. There is a lot of clever writing involved, and their pasts mirror each other in a sense.
All these parallels and strong differences made their growing rivalry and clashes throughout the book tough. I rooted for both of them and their goals, while condemning neither. While it seems clear that Reinhard isn't as easy to like and trust as Yang, who does not seem to realize just how good a leadership figure he is, I found myself drawn to count von Lohengramm's natural charisma.
Adding the strong supporting cast to it all, from the war orphan Julian, who Yang took in at some point before the story began and rocks his household, over the generals and political figures, everything falls into place around the duo. I cannot wait to see where they are headed next.
Honestly, I cannot do more than condemn the circumstances that saw this novel only see its way into the english language now. Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol.1: Dawn is an underrated, often overlooked gem of international science fiction that can play with the big ones.
It is a political space opera of the best kind: Engaging, thought-provoking, relatable and with a good sense of humor and sarcasm where applicable.
I already preordered my copies of volumes two and three, and am prepared to go nuclear if the publisher decides to stop translating this series halfway through. Let us hope it will not come to that. The best way to achieve that would be to take my enthusiasm at face value and pick this book up: It is very well worth reading.
It would be a shame if you decided to let it pass you by.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Vol. 1: Dawn on Goodreads

fullpacforkids – 2019