Fuzzy’s First Impression
Okay, favorite series of all time getting rebooted. Let’s see how this goes.
The pre opening sequence alone is amazing. Imperial ships soaring towards space, dwarfing the castles and ships of royalty below. People of all kinds gazing upwards at the gargantuan hunks of pure CGI beauty, from the nobles dressed in color, to of course, the magnificent Reinhard von Lohengramm. God, what a start. It actually encapsulates what Legend of the Galactic Heroes is really about while showcasing those absolutely beautiful ships. All those nobles can live their lives on the ground, but men with ambition like Reinhard look to the skies. That furious ambition! I can’t get enough!
The opening theme itself is quite nice, although the constant parallel shots between pairs of men are giving me flashbacks to the super fujoshi vibes of the original. I’m all for it though, give me fujo bait and a good show over no fujo bait and a bad show! Also can I just say that the dogfight featured in the opening looks absolutely beautiful, I mean I know it’s just an opening so it should have great animation and art, but my god look at it! Two fighters going at it amidst a minefield of enemy ships and projectiles, please let us have some sakuga for the actual show. Even if it’s just a little bit!
Ahh, classic Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It wouldn’t be the same without its exposition! People sometimes hate it, but being such a huge fan of the show, I don’t care! Also I’m curious as to why Fezzan hasn’t just been swallowed up by either the Free States or the Empire. What do they have that makes them able to stand autonomous?
The Brunhild is still super gorgeous. I love the old design, but this one sorta has “wings?” like an eagle of sorts, and I think it reflects Reinhard quite well. White and shining, a bright beacon surrounded by dark ships. All the ships look great actually, and I think the CGI designs really add to the war like atmosphere of the show. The original had boxy ships with small white lines acting as laser weaponry, but here we have sidewinding missiles, huge red hyper beams, and massive explosions! However, I’m a bit worried that the show is glorifying the battles too much without touching on the consequences of war that the original did. Nevertheless, that can be touched on later!
It also occurred to me that to first time viewers, it might seem like Reinhard has a strong case of Kirito syndrome, where his confidence in himself is justified by being one of the main characters, and he’ll never lose. But if the show develops him as he should be, soon you’ll see that Reinhard isn’t just all bark with plot armor. He earns everything he deserves, and I absolutely love that. But as of yet, his maneuver wasn’t absolutely mind blowing, and we haven’t really gotten to see the true crux of his talent. In fact it seems less that he’s super talented, but that everyone else is just grossly incompetent.
When the older admirals were grouchy about Reinhard, I could understand where they were coming from. I mean if I was more than thirty years elder to the guy commanding me, I might be pretty salty too. But that’s just how space is homie! The new generation takes over for the old. Get with the times ossan. Also, Reinhard telling Kircheis not to call him “Your Excellency” when no one is around, is like a high school anime girl telling her crush to drop the formalities. CUTE. Give me the ship. I’m kidding. No wait, I’m not.
Alright so the first battle looks amazing. Not only is it beautiful, it’s super fast paced! Orders are being barked around everywhere, leaving no room for hesitation. Maneuvers are executed so quickly, and the escalating soundtrack only makes it more tense. The beauty of battles should never be the focus of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but god this adaptation has done it well, I just hope the show never forgets its roots among all the colors and explosions. Also with Farenheit (White haired admiral) launching the Walkure squadron, it’s quite clear that they can do some serious damage. Fighter squads aren’t just fodder in this world fellas, they can dish out some serious damage!
As for the second battle, in typical Legend of the Galactic Heroes fashion, there’s a lot of outdated admirals refusing to heed the suggestions of the men under their command. Classic. Also can I just say that the uniforms on the Free Planets Alliance are really pleasing to look at? The bright blue was a bit iffy for me at first, and I sorta miss the black of the original, but I’m warming up to it. Also once again, music is absolutely brilliant! It’s fast paced and fits the situations, but I must say I do miss the classical tracks. I’m iffy about Lap’s death. It was done so quickly and abruptly, but I guess that’s a common motif that could up quite a lot, the horror of war and the fragile lives of those under the control of incompetent men. 
Yang Wenli’s entry had me openly saying, “Aw Fuck Yeah!” God I got chills when I heard his voice on the coms. It’s amazing, the music set up his reveal perfectly and for long time fans, that was such a blessed fanservice. It’s also quite cool how we the viewer discover Yang at the same time as Reinhard and Kircheis over the coms. The final frame with him fixing his beret was top notch, if he had a cup of tea in hand, it would’ve been perfect! But is was still damn good.
All in all, I’m a Legend of the Galactic Heroes Elitist but I have to say this first episode has not left me disappointed. In fact I’m very excited for whatever is coming up. My biggest gripe is that perhaps there’s been an increase in the, “Impossible!” or “How did he do that?” type of dialogue that is prevalent in the shounen genre today, but that’s just the effect of changing times and it isn’t big enough to throw me off that much. I’m so excited, please live up to my expectations! I’m just hoping fellow Legend of the Galactic Hero elitists are willing to give this a chance before shooting it down into smithereens.
Possibility of Blogging: Super High!
Possibility of Watching: 100%
I’m glad to see some positivity of this new series. Many people already hate it because of the new designs. Like what do you expect, dude? This series was made to appeal women. Many female characters from 80’s anime get moefied in 2018 adaptation (Neko Musume in Kitarou), but I don’t see the uproar. But as soon as male characters being modified into bishonen, all hell breaks loose.
I think a lot of the uproar just has to do with the critical acclaim of the original. A lot of fans of it consider it one of the greatest anime of all time, and drastically changing any aspect of it may seem very negative to a lot of people. I found the design changes very iffy at first, but the first episode left such a great impression, and I realized it wasn’t even that bad. Nowhere near bad honestly, just a bit different.
The problem with this first episode is that it covers pretty much the first episode of the OVA. I don’t expect them to cover the whole 110 episode storyline with what they’re allotted (12), but at this pace, we’ll barely get through to FPA’s disastrous invasion and not even to the Empire’s civil war.
The new reboot is formatted with a 12 episode series, followed by three films. Not the best, and of course I would love a straight up reboot with as many episodes as needed, but with three films they’ll probably get to the Civil War, which isn’t that bad. Especially since there’s hope for more if all goes well. If the studio goes nuts and try to cram 110 episodes in those three films, I am going to be both very sad and very angry.
I love LOGH, it’s one of my all time favs. So I’m willing for any LOGH to come on down. Ppl hang onto nostalgia too much, if they want to see the old one they can just rewatch it.
Cus I’m here for this remake with the all star star seiyuu cast of today. Suzu is great as Yang Wen Li!
Suzu as Yang was definitely a solid choice. The combination of the voice and its presentation in the first episode definitely made me feel both super nostalgic and hype for the future. Can’t wait for more Yang focus!