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Crest of the Stars

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Distributor: Bandai
Original Story: Hiroyuki Morioka
Volumes: Not available at this time
Rating: 13+ (futuristic road trip, bring the salsa!)
Anime Code: G

The elven people known as "The Abh" take over the planet Martine then leave them alone (must be new to the whole galaxy conquering thing) appointing a lander named Rock Lyn to be their "representative."  Obviously this doesn't sit well with the people and they all but lynch him.  And that's just in the first episode.  But actually, the story follows Lyn's son, Jinto, as he goes to "Supply Officer Training School" (a nice way of saying Accounting School) so he could learn more about the Abh.  Joining him on his adventures is the beautiful but harsh-toned Abh Princess/Cadet Lafiel.

Review: I first saw Crest of the Stars (hereon referred to as CotS) as part of G4-Tech T.V.'s midnight Anime Unleashed.  There was even a period where they showed CotS episodes back-to-back with its sequel, Banner of the Stars (hereon referred to as BotS) and in a twist of irony, each episode of BotS corresponded to the CotS episode shown earlier.  I immediately got into it for the deep characters (honestly, it's for the characters).  Before I saw this, I thought Bandai was only known for three animes: Gundam, .hack, and Cowboy Bebop.  But now, I see that Bandai's arms stretch to all types of anime.  The drama is deep and thought-provoking.  It makes you want to feel for the characters, especially for the two main characters who had it tough all their lives (but in different ways).  It's so detailed that you might need to watch it over a couple of times to get all of it.

Action Level: 3/5
They don't show much of the spaceship battles but there's lots of close-quarter combat with weapons.

Romance Level: 3/5
Typical road trip scenario, two people start out hating each other than eventually get to like one another.  Sure, it takes the destruction of a spaceship, being held hostage by a rogue Abh Baron, a revolution against said Baron, targeted by the "United Mankind" (who are apparently the enemy in this series), and a shot in the shoulder for that to happen, but it does happen.  Also, you have to take into account  that one of the road trippers has albino skin, blue hair, gray eyes, and can live for 250 years.  Yup, this is the starting of a beautiful friendship.

Comedy Level: 2/5
Lafiel's reactions on stepping onto land for the first time is really funny (especially the scene in the cornfield).

Adult Level: 3/5
Young, naked Abh female in the tub, big busted women slaves who make California girls look intelligent in comparison, and blood.

Drama Level: 4/5
Moriyoka really put a lot of thought into each and every character, even the minor ones.  You might need to take a break from all the characterization.

Overall Level: 4/5
The series is very beautiful but can get quite heavy at times.  Jinto and Lafiel are definitely my favorites and it's great watching them grow.  The animation was very beautiful (especially in the way they detailed the Abh).  The dub wasn't that bad (though just between you and me, they used the same actors and actresses for Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure).  The only thing I regret is that they don't focus too much on what is happening in the world, just as it pertains to Jinto.