The Internal and External Wars
- Episodes : 12
- Genre : Action, Drama, Military, Sci-Fi, Space
- Airing Date : September 27, 2019 – December 12, 2019
- Producers : Production IG
Contains Spoilers
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These Seiran (The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis – Stellar War) Introduction
Continuing from the first season, the battle escalates for both the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. However, things internally take a turn for the worst due to corruption within both governments. The Kaiser of the Galactic Empire suddenly passes away and his living relatives fight to take control of the Empire. Reinhard, an Admiral of the Imperial Navy, takes advantage of the chaos by fighting on two fronts. First, Reinhard releases a former Alliance Admiral from captivity and uses him to create a rebellion within the Alliance so they can eliminate themselves so Reinhard can easily conquer it at a later date. Second, he gets the best soldiers to side with him so they can fight the imperial establishment.
—Spoilers Ahead—
1. Equally Portrays the Empire and Alliance as Good and Evil
While most of this anime is about exploring the democracy of the Alliance and the dictatorship of the Empire, the second season is the best representation of presenting those qualities. Throughout Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu, viewers can see that democracies and dictatorships can be good and/or bad. In a democracy filled with bureaucrats elected by the people, viewers can see that change comes slowly, and there are countless instances where elected individuals serve only themselves, not the people. It’s obvious that dictatorships have gotten a bad rap thanks to Hitler, but when someone noble as Reinhard serves the people and not the 1%, then it’s possible that everyone wins when that dictator can institute change without the checks and balances of other branches of government, which could slow things down or not make them happen at all.
2. It Improves Some Scenes from the Original
While this is more of a Then Vs. Now kind of argument, we have to admit that some key scenes in Seran are a major improvement over the original 1988-1997 series. Two notables scenes in Seiran that surpass the original are when Kircheis comes to Iserlohn Fortress to exchange POWs with the Alliance, and the other is when Kircheis dies protecting Reinhard. In the original series, both scenes take place in a much smaller setting. When considering the importance of these scenes, a larger room is naturally more appropriate to complement their significance, and Seiran provides that! With these two key scenes now taking place in a larger setting, the scope, angles, and lighting further emphasize the game-changing impact of what they represent.
3. Friendship
This installment of Legend of the Galactic Heroes mostly concentrates on the internal aspects and one of its key themes is friendship. In the Empire, the audience is further treated to the relationship between Reinhard and Kircheis. After Kircheis goes against Reinhard for not preventing a nuclear strike on a planet when he could have, Reinhard strips him of some notable privileges. One notable privilege that was revoked was bringing a firearm to one of the main halls at an Imperial establishment. Thankfully, Kircheis shows he’s still loyal to Reinhard by still preventing his assassination without his firearm, but still at the cost of his own life. Touched by Kircheis’ loyalty, Reinhard grieves for his best friend and the audience and Reinhard’s own men can see that he lost a large part of himself with the loss of Kircheis.
1. You Need to Watch Season 1 First
Naturally, you’re going to have to watch season 1. If you come into Seiran without watching the first season, you’re going to be lost. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu is an anime that is intended to be watched from start to finish. If you don’t watch from the beginning, you won’t have any context to the anime’s history, terminologies, advancements, characters, and the context of the relationships.
2. No Third Season Confirmed
Considering where Seiran ends, things are about to heat up. While Seiran was confirmed during the broadcast of the first season, no news of a third season has been announced. If there is no third season to Die Neue These, then fans are going to feel cheated. Yes, viewers can always go back to the original series to see the rest of the story, but the present installment does a great job of appropriately modernizing it in the way it needs to (do we really need to watch an anime where 1000 years in the future, floppy discs and wire graphics in computers are still in use?). We can’t deny that the original is a true classic, but the remake does a great job of appealing to new and old fans alike, and new fans who don’t want to see the original (even if we recommend it) equally deserve to see the full story with what has been portrayed so far.
Final Thoughts
Without a shadow of a doubt, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu is one of the greatest pieces in the world of Sci-Fi. It appeals to people of all political persuasions because it challenges and appeals to our beliefs. It shows that what we believe in may be right, or it may be wrong. It teaches us to look at things in a different way we never considered. Is democracy truly good because it’s for the people by the people? Are dictatorships bad just because one person has absolute rule? These very questions are why we recommend this series.
Author: Justin "ParaParaJMo" Moriarty
