Seikai no Monshou

—by John Yung

The opening scene of SEIKAI NO MONSHOU is a chaotic space battle involving humanoid combatants in a huge capital ship against an unseen enemy. We don't know what language they are speaking, but thanks to the Japanese subtitles and the voice acting, we can tell that these people are in a dire situation. The leader orders a missile launch, and then we are suddenly treated to a narrative (again done in the alien tongue and subtitled in Japanese) about the discovery of a particle that allowed mankind to develop interstellar travel.
By the time the opening credits for SEIKAI NO MONSHOU (CREST OF THE STARS) start rolling, you get the sense of the grand epic scale of the story that the series presents. Adapted from a series of novels written by Morioka Hiroyuki, SEIKAI NO MONSHOU has been compared favorably to the LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES (GINGA EIYUU DENSETSU). At a length of 13 episodes, SEIKAI may be more accessible to an audience who may be wary of the huge number of episodes in the LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES series.
The series is centered around two characters, Lynn Jint and Rafeel. In the first episode, at the age of 8, Jint saw his planet Martin surrender to the Abh Empire and his father, the Prime Minister of Martin, installed as the Earl of Martin under Abh rule. This political move angers the citizens of Martin, not realizing how fortunate they were because of the more advanced Abh technology. The story then jumps ahead seven years, where Jint is waiting at an orbital tower.
Jint is reunited with a classmate from school, and they discuss old times and Jint's future with the Abh. Jint reveals that he's waiting at the tower for transportation to the Capital of the Empire, where he'll enroll in the Space Navy academy as a requirement for succeeding his father as Earl of Martin. The two boys part ways, with Jint receiving a baseball signed by the school team as a gift. When a group of kids steal an old woman's luggage, Jint tries using the baseball to stop the thief carrying the luggage, but he nearly hits an Abh girl who catches the ball with uncanny reflexes. The girl picks up on Jint's true intentions and beans the thief in the back. The old woman gets her luggage returned, but she doesn't show any appreciation of Jint's effort because of the Abh costume he wears.
The reaction reminds Jint of the alienation he's suffered since the surrender of Martin. When the Abh girl tells him to follow her without introducing herself, Jint decides to end this cycle of loneliness by asking her for her name. The girl is surprised, but she replies, "Call me Rafeel!" (The actual romanization of her name is Lamhirh, but we'll stick with the phonetic spelling of Rafeel for this review.) This is the start of an interesting relationship between the two, a relationship that takes them on a few more adventures before arriving at the Capital.
Rafeel is a Flyer Trainee, but once aboard the battleship that will be transporting them, Jint discovers that she is a Crown Princess and the granddaughter of the Empress. When Jint starts addressing Rafeel formally, she acts insulted until he realizes that she wants a casual relationship between them. It's through this bond that the audience learns more about the Abh culture as Jint and Rafeel converse with each other.
There is a lot of detail about the Abh, and it's this richness of background information that gives SEIKAI its epic scale, especially the usage of the Abh language in the teaser narration and the opening titles. The revelation through conversation is kind of dry though, as these sequences usually turn into lengthy talking heads exchanges. The series has other plot pacing problems, such as the extended montage of an unexplained battle at the end of episode two and a side plot involving a space battle in the latter part of the series that doesn't seem to have a direct bearing on Jint and Rafeel's situation. The side plot and all the drawn-out dialogue seems to be the result of a very faithful adaptation of the novel's plot. This is acceptable in print, but it doesn't look as good on the television screen (despite how easy it makes some animator's job). Some rearrangement of plot points and dialogue editing might have fixed those problems.
There are some action sequences in SEIKAI, and since Sunrise is behind the production of the show, it's no surprise that the animation for these sequences are well done for a television series. The character designs are very clean in that they lend themselves to animation with the right amount of balance between simplicity and detail. The same can be said for the mecha and set design, especially the small spacecrafts like the shuttles and the communication boat, where the details reveal some excellent design results.
The music for SEIKAI is quite appropriate for the series. The opening theme is grand symphonic piece with booming percussion reminiscent of Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (The Monolith theme from Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY). The background music is also orchestral but used sparingly and is understated compared to the opening theme. The ending song, "Shitsuwareta Aozora" by TimeSlip-Rendezvous, is a ballad with a personal tone that fits the friendship between Jint and Rafeel.
In comparison to the LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES, SEIKAI has a smaller scope, focusing on two characters. This is not a bad thing—in fact, it's the best part of the whole series. Jint and Rafeel get plenty of character development, so you can sympathize with them. The small ensemble of characters that meet the pair are nearly as fascinating, making the interaction between them all quite interesting to watch.
If the epilogue leaves you craving for more adventures of Jint and Rafeel, your desires have been anticipated by Sunrise and WOWOW. Sometime in the spring of 2000, WOWOW will be broadcasting a 90-minute SEIKAI NO MONSHOU special which consists of a 60-minute movie compilation of the series with new footage added, and a 25-minute adaptation of the "Tanjou" story from the SEIKAI NO DANSHOU novel. That's not all, beginning in April, WOWOW will also broadcast a 13-episode sequel based on the first volume of the SEIKAI NO SENKI novel series.
There's so much information about the background of the series that's beyond the scope of this review. One of the better English web resources for SEIKAI NO MONSHOU is Ito Nobutoshi's page, which has notes on the Abh language and society, the hierarchy of the Abh Empire and Space Navy, and the fictional science that enables the story to take place.
SEIKAI NO MONSHOU comes very highly recommended for fans of science fiction dramas. It's not quite a sweeping epic like LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES that spans two empires; it's more like an engaging story about two people in a well-thought-out setting. There are a few pacing problems, but the entertaining characterization of Jint and Rafeel makes up for those problems. If Sunrise can keep up the production quality, we can also look forward to the sequel in April.

Released by Sunrise
Vol. 1, 50 mins
VHS: BES-2327 / LD: BELL-1398 / DVD: BCBA-0128
¥5000
Vol. 2, 50 mins
VHS: BES-2328 / LD: BELL-1399 / DVD: BCBA-0129
¥5000
Vol. 3, 50 mins
VHS: BES-2329 / LD: BELL-1400 / DVD: BCBA-0130
¥5000
Vol. 4, 50 mins
VHS: BES-2330 / LD: BELL-1401 / DVD: BCBA-0131
¥5000
Vol. 5, 50 mins
VHS: BES-2331 / LD: BELL-1402 / DVD: BCBA-0132
¥5000
Vol. 6, 50 mins
VHS: BES-2332 / LD: BELL-1403 / DVD: BCBA-0133
¥5000
Vol. 7, 60 mins
VHS: (unknown) / LD: BELL-1452 / DVD: BCBA-0255
¥5000

Available now in Japan
Where to buy