(CR) Legend of the Galactic Heroes remake

[ultimate_noob]

Announced at an LoGH event.

https://twitter.com/harujiro_0508/st...78660453306368
https://twitter.com/harujiro_0508/st...77906141278208

[saya_leviathan]

http://gineiden-anime.com/

Key visual is out.

The studio will be Production I.G.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...acters/.115900
They'll be also recasting Reinhard, Yang, Kircheis and probably the rest.

There's going to be an event on September 20 of this year where they'll announce who are the new cast and staff.

[kuromitsu]

PV: http://gineiden-anime.com/

The art is, eh... it looks OK in the PV, but it's still fairly bland. This is why I would have wanted something with more flair and creativity... the OVA designs were dramatic and elegant, the Fujisaki designs were fresh and fun, but this is kind of nowhere in-between.

cast:
Reinhard: Miyano Mamoru - and here imagine me heaving the biggest, most worried sigh ever. I hope whoever is doing the voice direction will keep him on the tightest leash and mercilessly weeds out the mannerisms and clichés. But I really would have wanted someone else.

Kircheis: Umehara Yuuichirou - OK, I guess? But I can't help thinking that this is utterly wasting Umehara's talents. He would have been so much better in a meatier role.

Yang: Suzumura Kenichi - who was one of my hopes for this role, so yay!

[kuromitsu]

OP theme will be by Sawano Hiroyuki, with the title of "Binary Star". Going by Sawano's comment it's going to be a ballad. ED theme is by ELISA, I've no idea who she is but she apparently did the theme song to Rakuen Tsuihou.

(Btw, this is a small thing but man, one would think that anyone involved with LoGH would know that a theme of twin/binary/pair of anything refers to Reuenthal and Mittermeier, or maybe Poplin and Konev... none of whom I expect to play much of a role in the TV anime. )

(Also, no matter how many times I see it I can't get over how terrible Reinhard looks on that image. The chara design is one thing, but the expression! Sigh.)

[AntonKutovoi]

More voice cast:
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...e-cast/.128424

Galactic Empire:
Unshō Ishizuka as Willibard Joachim von Merkatz
Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi as Staden
Takahiro Fujiwara as Fogel
Naomi Kusumi as Erlache
Ryota Takeuchi as Adalbert von Fahrenheit

Free Planets Alliance:
Shinya Fukumatsu as Paetta
Kosuke Meguro as Pastolle
Tooru Sakurai as Moore
Tasuku Hatanaka as Lao
Yuuki Ono as Jean Robert Lapp

Ishizuka voiced Job Trunicht in the OVA and Mizuuchi voiced Armsdorf.

[AntonKutovoi]

More cast members and designs:
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...embers/.128453

None of the cast members would be my first choices, but they all could work, I guess,

[kuromitsu]

Well, well, well... another one dropped early.

My thoughts...

Spoiler for episode 1 reactions:

1. The first 1 minute and its narration are by far the strongest part of the episode. It seriously got my hopes up.

2. Then I had to face reality: as far as visuals go, they just copied the OVA. Aside from a few minor details and updates this is basically the OVA, visually. So boring, so damn disappointing. Coupled with the bland and uninspired character designs and the bland and uninspired BGM, this is pretty much what I'd been afraid of.

3. The seiyuu: Miyano Mamoru's Reinhard is basically what I expected from Miyano Mamoru's Reinhard, that is, it's not really Reinhard. He lacks the tension and the anger driving Reinhard, he sounds way too calm. And old. Umehara Yuuichirou fares better, but this Kircheis is definitely not as gentle and warm as one would expect. That might not be a bad thing, though.

4. Pacing is weeeird. Don't they only have 12 episodes? Can they afford to waste so much time? :O If at least they incorporated some more main characters, but no! I wouldn't be surprised if people watching this show with no knowledge of LoGH ended up thinking that Fahrenheit is a much more important character than he actually is!

5. I don't know whose idea that cliffhanger was but it actually made me say "what a stupid cliffhanger!" out loud.

In short: disappointing, but I expected that much based on the previews and whatnot. Will keep watching in hopes that it will improve, also I'm very curious to hear how Umehara handles Kircheis. (Also, is it just me or did they kind of tweak Kircheis' character design to make it fit his voice better? Probably just me...) But the show will have to prove itself to be a lot more ambitious than this if it wants me to like it and not watch it just because it's LoGH and I have to.

[RDNexus]

Like I said before, I totally welcome the current character design, more visually modern and appealing to me

This version of the story seems to be set to 24 episodes, actually. Don't forget the Season2 Movie Trilogy, with 4 episodes of content each.

I've seen the entire original/classic series, but I have to admit...being 110 episodes made me already forget a nice amount of content of the story.
But since I'm not inclined to compare this new series to the classic one, I have no problems with what may be coming up.

About your disappointment of the current version of the story...well, I can't quite comment on how people should feel about something they're a fan of, since I'm kind of a fan of stories like Sonic the Hedgehog and Dragon Ball, and still I see myself scratching my head over the current state of both stories

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by xrick

About your disappointment of the current version of the story...well, I can't quite comment on how people should feel about something they're a fan of, since I'm kind of a fan of stories like Sonic the Hedgehog and Dragon Ball, and still I see myself scratching my head over the current state of both stories

Just that we're on the same page... I'm disappointed because it's way too similar to the previous anime, instead of trying to do something interesting and new. It seems it's trying to play safe, but what's the point of doing a new adaptation if you just copy-paste what came before? The OVA is immensely huge shoes to fill, and if awkwardly aping it is all this new anime is capable of then that is immensely disappointing. (This is why I kept saying that the new adaptation should be as unlike the OVA as possible, and do its own thing with the novels. Alas...)

I mean... the visuals are just a somewhat touched-up version of the OVA visuals. The chara designs are bland and uninspired. The BGM is bland and uninspired. The voice acting is... not all bland and uninspired, but so far it seems they completely missed the mark with the main character himself. (Again. What is it with recent-ish adaptations of materials I love that they keep messing up the main characters? ) This is boring, and I think a boring LoGH is a much bigger sin than a LoGH that tries to be new and fresh and doesn't 100% succeed.

As for the story, thing is, the TV series will have 12 episodes as far as I'm aware so even if they plan to pick up the story in the movies they'll have to reach a stopping point in these 12 episodes. And they just wasted an entire episode.

That first minute was pretty awesome, though. Perhaps unintentionally, but I hope it wasn't a single flash of greatness in a sea of meh, but a sign of what is ahead. (I'm optimistic, dammit! I'm going to try and be positive about this damn show. ...not that it worked last time, with Altair. )

[Hata]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

The first 1 minute and its narration are by far the strongest part of the episode.

that narration actually reminds me the opening of the movie Dune (1984)

my initial first episode impression

story:
since it is one season that speed up the pace quite a bit, nice details of the novel and old oav were lost, but we don’t get a new adaption to rehash the old thing, I am okay with the first episode so far, let’s see when they get to the political stages of the story how much more parts they have to cut off, I am guessing, a lot more.

BGM and song:
sorry, not epic enough compares to the OAV, I will just give it a passing grade.

character design:
Siegfried is new manga version bad, all other empire side so far are passable.

seiyu:
I actually getting used to the new Reinhard voice, even if it lacks the wildness and youth of the oav one, (yes, about 10 years too old.) Siegfried again is awful, for such important character such non distinguish voice, the one that I like to heard a bit more is Merkatz, the OAV has a very unique sandy voice, this one while not that scratchy, has promise.

ship design:
movable bridge is a nice new idea, actually making it clear the shield and ECM concept instead of the fuzzy OAV version is a plus, the altering look of the ships compares to OAV, while sort of strange, is something I can get used to and it is a good thing, for they are able to add many more small details to the ship compares to the 480 resolution of the OAV DVD.

CG:
this is where the new anime should, and did shine compares to the old one thanks to the advance of technology, the only complain is there is not enough of it.

next week we will have the alliance’s side to go over.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Hata

story:
since it is one season that speed up the pace quite a bit, nice details of the novel and old oav were lost, but we don’t get a new adaption to rehash the old thing, I am okay with the first episode so far, let’s see when they get to the political stages of the story how much more parts they have to cut off, I am guessing, a lot more.

I wonder why you think that the pace was speedy - I thought it was really really slow, especially considering the episode count. And it ended on a cliffhanger! (How far are they planning to get in the TV series, really?)

Originally Posted by Hata

seiyu:
I actually getting used to the new Reinhard voice, even if it lacks the wildness and youth of the oav one, (yes, about 10 years too old.)

It's not a matter of being similar or not similar to the OVA. IMO a Reinhard who is not young and not simmering with pent-up tension and anger is not Reinhard. Getting used to the voice is one thing, but it's obvious from this episode that Miyano just can't provide some of the absolute key aspects of Reinhard's personality.

Originally Posted by Hata

Siegfried again is awful, for such important character such non distinguish voice,

Perhaps it's just me but I think Umehara has a very characteristic voice... Due to his voice and style of delivery he can't really do the same Kircheis most people are used to, and it remains to be seen if he can sound warm and gentle enough for the role, but to me his performance was interesting enough to want to hear more of it. Although considering how Miyano's Reinhard sounds, I'm kind of worried that the seiyuu will upset the balance of the Reinhard-Kircheis dynamics. (That is, Kircheis being a tempering force to Reinhard's ambition, anger and drive. A calm Reinhard and hard-edged Kircheis would be... strange.)

[xellos2099]

I think it turn out better than expected. As for how far, I am guessing it could end after the disaster know as

Spoiler for spoiler:

Andrew Fork

. Also, should we play a game on who is who in the ending credit?

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by xellos2099

Also, should we play a game on who is who in the ending credit?

From left to right, Empire side:
Reinhard, Annerose, Kircheis, the Emperor, Oberstein, Reuenthal, maybe Mecklinger #1, Fahrenheit, Mittermeier, Wittenfeld (it's ridiculous how much he looks like Mittermeier), Müller, maybe Ansbach, maybe Mecklinger #2 (again, why do they have two characters with the exact same character design except for the style of their ponytail?), eyebrow guy I have no idea, shifty-looking old guy is probably Lichtenlade, sideburns guy is probably Braunschweig, Merkatz we've seen already, Reinhard with less shiny blond hair is probably Flegel.

Or maybe shouty ponytail guy is Braunschweig and sideburns guy is Mückenberger. Which would be weird.

FPA side:
Sitolet, probably Bucock #1, Poplin, Konev, dunno, dunno, Dusty, probably Bucock #2, no idea, perhaps Greenhill?, Caselnes looking very differently from his design at the official website, Frederica, Schönkopf, Julian, Yang.

Curiously missing: Hilda (why?!) and Rubinsky.

[DragoonKain3]

I personally like the action scenes, as something about fleets shooting lasers and launching squadrons makes my blood pumping. How they visualized the battle via HUD was also much better handled, as one of my peeves were the tetris blocks of old when space is 3D lol.

Can't wait for my boy Oberstein. Really REALLY disappointed they haven't announced or even put Hilde, as IMO she's the female character that had the most impact. Then again it's only 12 episodes, so maybe she'll appear next season?

Which yeah, is my biggest downer for the series. I want to get hyped up and be excited, but having only 1 cour really kills the mood. Then again, the original didn't really grip me till like eps 20, so maybe I'll be more excited for the following season lol.

[teddychan]

>_> no subs >_> yet Tokyo Ghoul re have =_=

How come no love is given with LOGTH

[RDNexus]

This first episode showed me exactly what I hoped for when I marathoned the entire classic series, how modern fiction conventions and animation plus character design can make this story seem better for nowadays viewers, new and old alike. I sure hope things go on without much problems.

@teddychan:
No subs? It's being simulcast, I just watched it yesterday...
Wait...maybe you watch in a sub language other than english?

[Tak]

Personally I like the uniform designs, even if they were similar to the original. After all, the Empire is space Prussia, and should have the uniform to match.

Alright, so one minor complaint, Frederica Greenhill looks too young... tch.

- Tak

[Kanon]

That was better than I expected. For one, I love how modernized the technology is compared to the OVAs, it looks really good. New character designs will take some time to get used to, but they're not bad per say.

I was surprised they're spending so much time on this battle, given how little episodes they have to work with. Could have dealt with it in just one episode. Reinhard seems off to me as well (too calm and composed, that's supposed to be Yang, not him, guys!), but I'm waiting for next week, where he'll be challenged, before handing down judgment.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

It's pretty good. There's nothing here that's offensively bad. I even kinda like the OP & ED. The visuals are nice too. As someone who already watched the OVAs, I'm pleasantly entertained. So yeah, I'll follow this.

And tbh, out of all things, I'm most interested in the stopping point they'll use to end the cour on a good cliffhanging note. This kind of pacing isn't bad at all, but on the other hand, we won't get much out of it, just like in Alderamin. Boy do I wish for a second season for Alderamin since that one also features a Yang Wen Li-ish MC with a taste for MILFs.

[Tak]

Ah, yeah... Alderamin entered a scenario I did not expect, and I posted my impressions on the 'other' forum...

As far as new LoGH goes, 12 episodes? Is that right?

- Tak