Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These

Episode 5

Despite its depiction of flashy space battles and the glorified strategies that propel them, the portrayal of war in Legend of the Galactic Heroes has mostly come across as apolitical so far. That feeling of a historical documentary persists even as we get the know the main characters' pasts over these flashback episodes, showing war as a matter-of-fact setting that simply informed each character's actions. However, the nitty-gritty reality of this world has slowly been catching up with the history these characters are living out. Finally addressing the politics at the core of its narrative lends this episode its strength, but in some ways it still doesn't go far enough.

This episode is bound to work differently depending on the viewer for several reasons. First and foremost, the political angles beg to be considered. The story goes out of its way to make the point that the fate of people in wartime should be politicized. In the episode's first half, Yang attends a memorial service where the widowed Jessica appears. There's definitely some discussion to be mined from Yang being harassed for his sitting protest during what is effectively a nationalist pep rally, and this exact scene was also present in LOGH's source material. In fact, this whole episode hews very closely to the book's version of the story, which will be a boon for some fans. However, it does shortchange Jessica's role as a result.

To be sure, Jessica's speech before the Minister is the highlight of this episode, as it was in the novels and original OVAs. The production's talent for setting a cinematic scene is in full force here, and the importance of Jessica explicitly politicizing her fiancé's death is laid out clearly, illustrating LOGH's unique take on the role of soldiers and their leaders. The front-line soldiers, who do all of the fighting and killing and dying, are viewed differently by various characters as elements of an unfeeling war machine. Jessica describes their deaths as noble while Yang seems to mostly regard their use with pity. But in either case, both of these rebellious characters believe that blame lies almost entirely at the feet of the leaders, both for incompetence that gets their men killed and the successes that lead them to glorify the slaughter of enemy soldiers. Yang actually having this conversation with Jessica after the memorial is a detail added by Die Neue These, and it helps to dovetail their stories and perspectives at the episode's midway point.

Clearly explaining Yang's feelings on war do help expand him in character complexity from the likable but only nominal underdog he's been cast as until now. The paradox of his life is obvious; he hates war, but he's also extremely good at it. His nation's attitude toward those skills makes him too valuable for anyone in power to allow him avenues to escape that life, and this contrasts neatly with Reinhard's situation. The imperial noble is also skilled as a commander of warfare, but he desires to go out on the battlefield, only to be opposed by his superiors at every turn, barely tolerated due to the value of his skills. Firmly establishing what makes these characters such tailor-made foils is probably the biggest accomplishment of the episode, even if it's still not as clear as it could have been, given that Reinhard doesn't actually appear and Yang's obligations are still nebulous.

This absence of a clearly illustrated thematic through-line is the biggest thing holding this episode down. Jessica's relatively early departure makes it seem like her role was simply to act as a sounding board for Yang's own motivations. (Her actions in this mini-political-thriller were significantly expanded in the original OVA series.) And while the appearance of the Patriotic Knights Corps would seem to lead to Yang being coerced into accepting an impossible mission, it's hinted at so nonchalantly that it's easy to miss. Though their appearance ends up not amounting to much, I am glad the Patriotic Knights were left in this adaptation, since I'm 100% down with author Yoshiki Tanaka unambiguously illustrating the evils of nationalism. But that otherwise welcome detail could also have informed the characters and their actions more clearly, so it also feels like a major missed opportunity.

Those little missed opportunities define the shortcomings of this episode. It's understandable that Die Neue These would aim to stay truer to the original text and distinguish itself from its OVA progenitor as a result, but it would do better to expand in its own ways as well. There are traces of attempts at this, including a car chase with Yang ferrying Jessica to play up the threat she also presents to the patriotic fervor of the Alliance war effort, but it still doesn't feel like enough to drive this episode's many ideas home.

All this eventually gives way to Yang's basic-but-supposedly-brilliant tactical thinking being praised as he's prepped for another big showpiece battle. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how the series plays this next segment of glorified warfare, now that it's made clear what its characters really think of the fighting. Of course, these political attitudes are bound to be subjective, but I really like the core ideas present in this episode, as well as the story's willingness to take a hard stance on its subject matter. However, the execution petered out in the follow-through, and I was left with an episode that I wished I enjoyed more than I actually did.

Rating: B

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.