Crest Of The Stars, why is it not popular?

Excession · 30-05-2002, 11:01 AM

Recently I was lucky enough to buy a set of DVDs.

They are called Crest Of The Stars, or Senkai (or Seikai?) No Monsho in Japanese.
Thus far the series had greatly impressed me, though I have yet to finish watching it. The animation is quite smooth and pleasing to the eye, while the music is classical and enhances the experience. The characters are complex and have interesting personal histories, while not dwelling so much on the past as to dominate the anime.

They endeared themselves to me almost instantly, namely Laphiel, who is pretty, smart and very capable.

The story itself is not action-packed, but if it were I think the anime would lose some of its appeal. It is interesting, charming and fun, without being silly. The world is rich in detail, as you would expect from an anime based on a series of novels, and very well realized.

It sounds good, does it not?

So why are there few websites dedicated to Crest Of The Stars?
Why is it so unpopular that few people actually know about it, or its follow-ups (there are two, both good series also, from what I have read)?

It even has a commercial US release, for goodness sake (though has not reached Australia)!

I would dearly love to obtain more information on the anime, the characters and perhaps pictures of them (other than screen-captures, which are low resolution and quality). This has proved to be sadly impossible, as most of my searches have been in vain.

Can anyone help me?
Or even just explain why such a good anime goes largely unnoticed?

Siberian · 30-05-2002, 02:30 PM

Oh I love Crest of The stars... I have the full first series and the movie, though I haven't had time to sit down and watch all of it. What I have watched though is very good, I think its a great anime and don't know why its not to popular. Most likely because people haven't heard of it or something...? I like it though, sometimes it can get a bit boreing but it usually livens up. Hey did you know theres a second season as well? I don't believe it has been released in the US or other places besides Japan its called Seikai no Senki. Theres also two movies... I have one of them and I'm really not sure what either are about lol if you are looking for information this is a pretty good site to check out

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrin...ai/seikai.html

if I find anymore I'll let u know

oppa · 30-05-2002, 03:16 PM

I recently got the full series as well, but haven't watched them yet because GTA3 is taking up all my time.

I will have to agree though. This series seems to be one of those ones where you either love it or hate it. Alot of the sites I've seen for Crest of the Stars (and there weren't many) gave it a great or very poor rating. Strange.

As to WHY it's not popular, well, that's not really something that's answerable. Maybe I can come up with something after I watch it.

I looked around here for threads for CotS so after I watch some, I'll have a place to read some stuff and post some questions or comments, but of the 3 threads I saw, not a single one was very large.

I'm looking forward to watching them though.

If only I can stop playing GTA3....

Robotech Master · 30-05-2002, 04:34 PM

Look for it to gain some popularity in the US when Crest of the Stars gets its own article in the Animerica Magazine next month. In the US it goes on Sale June 15.

It is extremely popular in Japan, gaining two additional series and perhaps more on the way. Its popular there because it is based on a series of novels (6 novels so far I believe) written by a Japanese Writer, and have all been best sellers.

Anyways, I love COTS. Its a very mature anime in that its more like watching prime time shows. Its entertaining, but doesn't need continuous action to be entertaining. Still, the Battle of Gosroth and the Battle of Sufugnoff are great, and as good as they are, I hear they pale in comparisson to the Battle of the Aptic Gate in the Sequel.

AnkaraStark · 30-05-2002, 09:54 PM

I remember seeing the theatrical trailers in the "extras" section of, if I remember correctly, my Gundam Wing DVDs. It looked interesting indeed, definitely not action-packed from what I saw, but interesting nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the DVDs for that particular series in stores >_<

hGh · 31-05-2002, 12:59 PM

Dam it ! I want Crest Of Stars, I've read so many good reviews about it, not only that, but most of them were written by pll who I agree with. Damn the slow anime-distribution !

AnkaraStark · 31-05-2002, 01:19 PM

I swear that they derive some type of perverse and cruel pleasure out of making us anime fans suffer by not producing and distributing anime DVDs to stores were we consumers can buy them

Damn those "suits"!! Sell the DVDs so that we can buy them!

hGh · 31-05-2002, 01:38 PM

Maybe its the whole demand vs. supply thing. Since the demand for Crest of Stars is not big, the price is going to be relatively high. And the "suits" know that once they release it, after keeping us - the potential fans waiting, we are more willing to buy more dvd's without considering the price so mutch. So its just a good business decision to keep us waiting, I doubt they really get perverse pleasure out of it

rei-gouki · 31-05-2002, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Robotech Master
Look for it to gain some popularity in the US when Crest of the Stars gets its own article in the Animerica Magazine next month. In the US it goes on Sale June 15.

It is extremely popular in Japan, gaining two additional series and perhaps more on the way. Its popular there because it is based on a series of novels (6 novels so far I believe) written by a Japanese Writer, and have all been best sellers.

Anyways, I love COTS. Its a very mature anime in that its more like watching prime time shows. Its entertaining, but doesn't need continuous action to be entertaining. Still, the Battle of Gosroth and the Battle of Sufugnoff are great, and as good as they are, I hear they pale in comparisson to the Battle of the Aptic Gate in the Sequel.

The first sequel. Yes, the number of ships involved were alot greater. That's all I can say about it since a battle is only as great as how the players find the winning solution to me.

And it doesn't have much popularity prolly cuz it takes a while to get going. Few people would watch beyond the first disc if they didn't know what was to come. I kept watching cuz I sensed an epic tale unfolding. I live for a good story.

VPAM · 01-06-2002, 10:54 AM

well I loved seikai no monshou and senki I & II a lot.
I even intend to import the latter from japan if no R1 release is planned in the future.

I think for a lot of people it may be too 'slow' for them. It is a heavily character-driven series and has none of the 'hooks' that most anime have (kawaii girls, fanservice, spectacular action scenes, wacky humour, etc). I can understand why a lot of people wouldn't be raving about it.

Excession · 01-06-2002, 11:09 AM

Well its nice to see a show of support for the series.

I must admit, I also appreciate a story and character-driven anime. As has been suggested, perhaps this is not for everyone, regardless of how good I think it is personally.

As for it lacking "hooks" I look upon that as being one of its qualities, as many of the said hooks are a little well-worn.
Mind you, I quite like Lafiel (everybody spells that differently) and would even go so far as to describe her as being kawaii, in so far as her looks are concerned.
Of course her personality is far more interesting and charming that that term reflects.

If only I couuld locate a scanned image she would soon grace my desktop, but none of my usual sources have anything. Those that do are often too small for use.

Ah well, given time CoTS may take off in the US also, at which point the situation might begin to pick up. I will live in hope.

Eddy · 01-06-2002, 12:26 PM

I saw a trailer on my DVD..and was it about a battle of good vs evil? was the ob empire meant to be evil? i could'nt really work out what was going on from the trailer..well not where it was going anyway.

katiedid · 01-06-2002, 10:59 PM

yeah, what is it about exactly? is it comparable to anything we may have already seen?

Robotech Master · 02-06-2002, 01:11 AM

Its different from most of the Sci-Fi you will see out there, Anime or live-action.

The Abh are the "Invading Aliens," but they are not necessarily the bad guys, and they are the ones that we see the perspective of the war from.

The story actually revolves around a human from another planet that is conquered by the Abh. His father negotiates to surrender their planet without combat if he is given a high political standing in the Abh Empire, a negotiation which forces young Jinto (the Protagonist) to leave his home and train to become a political leader (as he will inherit his fathers position).

Picking up 7 years later, Jinto (now 17) has leared a lot of the Abh culture and is now joining the Military (several years of service are required). He meets Lafiel, an Abh Royal who is also serving in the military. The two, over the years, start a very perplexing relationship bordering on potential romance.

It is a terrible coicidence that a war breaks out during this military service. The first series of 13 episodes shows how this war starts. The second series of 13 episodes goes deeper into the combat of this war, and the third is sort of a side story in the war.

Robotech Master · 05-06-2002, 02:14 AM

Good news! Bandai just licensed BattleFlag of the Stars (the First sequel).

It was accidentally leaked out, but AnimeonDVD.com has confirmed that the official announcement will be made at one of the big events (AnimeExpo?)