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Crest of the Stars —
Complete Series Set
Anime DVD Review
Compared to Lord of the Rings and Babylon-5 by its fanbase, Crest of the Stars is huge story-arc, epic tale involving conquering starship armadas, subjugated solar systems, and civil war between competing galactic civilizations. But this sweeping tale is seen through the eyes of two young individuals and told through the subtle unfolding of their relationship, which humanizes the drama and draws the viewer into it.
 Based on a sci-fi novel trilogy written by Morioka Hiroyuki, Crest of the Stars (Seikai no Monsho) is the first installment in this sci-fi saga.
The story follows Jinto, a young prince, whose world is taken over by the largest Empire in the Galaxy: The Abh. Jinto's father hands their world over to the Abh in exchange for a seat in the Abh Empire's council. Essentially, the war was won without firing a shot. As a result, Jinto becomes a prince and is shipped off for an Abh Education. While there, he meets a princess of the Abh Empire, Lafiel, whom he quickly befriends despite her cold exterior. There is little time for pleasantries, as Jinto and Lafiel soon find themselves in the midst of what threatens to become an interstellar war. And this unlikely duo will wind up depending upon each other for their very lives.
Lafiel and Jinto's clash of cultures and personalities, the evolution of their friendship, and what they can and can't learn from each other form the heart of the show.
The series — both the anime and novels — are particularly notable for the fact that Morioka created for them an entire language, Baronh (and an accompanying alphabet, Ath), which the Abh speak, read, and write. Almost all written text in the anime is in Baronh, with occasional text in other (invented) languages.
This series (and its sequel series') are tense, well-written, dramatic and clever. While not abundant in action sequences, what is there is amazing and well crafted. Crest of the Stars is a universe of entertainment.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, September 2006
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