Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Second

Episodes 1-3

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These is back! Well actually, it's been back for a while, so let's go about catching up on these episodes. As you probably already know by now, the ‘premiere’ of this Second Season frankly feels much more like a proper finale to the first, which rather frustratingly just coasted off with little in the way of any resolution at the end of its cour. That episode immediately brings back everything that was working so well about the story of the Alliance's botched invasion of the Empire and the following chase and regrouping in Armistar. There's crazy come-from-behind plans, victories of measure for both sides' leads in Yang and Reinhardt, and an assessment of the fallout, including restructuring of the Alliance government at the hands of ol' President Tricky Trunicht, which all would have made a pretty solid finale for that freshman season of this ambitious remake. As-is, it makes for a bit of a jarring re-entry after nearly a year-and-a-half, if you aren't already rather familiar with the story or took in a recap episode recently.

Conversely, the next two episodes definitely feel like a more characteristic new-season catchup for LOGH. Both episodes fourteen and fifteen focus entirely on detailing events that aren't super-exciting supreme-scale space showdowns, but are here to move the new status quo into place. Episode fourteen is mostly focused on the Imperial side, following up on the big shock from the end of the premiere: The death of the Emperor himself. The narration explains the scattered family situation that will lead to an inevitable power vacuum and succeeding struggle around the throne, introducing several new characters and placing many of their motivations in relation to our main boy on that side, Reinhardt.

Reinhardt's involvement in the swirling conspiracies and decision to use them as a power-play isn't terribly surprising. His ambitions have been known pretty much since the beginning and this fits with his character, particularly with Oberstein on-hand to nudge him now. Viewers might be a bit more taken aback, however, by Reinhardt going so far as to make his intentions known to his whole squad of fleet commanders, effectively making them culpable in his long-con coup plan. But this, as well as what we see of him in the following episode, is an aspect of Reinhardt that solidifies his abilities beyond mere combat strategies: He's a natural leader, able to ride a thin but effective line between inspiring presence to follow and deft master manipulator. It's a pointed contrast to the old ways we're shown are otherwise ruling the Empire's leadership system, chock-full of classist and sexist notions of succession that bring its governing to a halt the instant its figurehead dies of natural causes. Even with the dedicated bureaucrats of the system trying to steer it as simply as possible, we're told by Reinhardt that civil war in the Empire is the only eventual result, sooner or later.

That foresight, that long-term planning-within-planning, leads Reinhardt to orchestrate the events that cross over into Yang's part of the plot in the next episode and set up how the landscape is going to shift for the Federation. Yang, being Yang, gets to demonstrate his own acumen for thinking ahead, as he recognizes Reinhardt's intent in this situation immediately, spending almost the whole episode merely ruminating and discussing with others how to recognize and handle it. There's a certain amusement factor in the prisoner exchange between Yang and Kircheis being recognized in-universe as such a 'peaceful, respectable' event, even if you aren't aware of the explosive, far reaching consequences it will have, since the powder-keg nature is immediately communicated via Yang and the episode itself. LOGH has dabbled in it before up to this point, but it's a very interesting element to see warfare between nations carried out on fronts other than simple mass combat.

It might be more interesting, however, if the show's presentation would loosen up a little more. Maybe all the time off has tainted it by comparison, but this new season, especially the fourteenth and fifteenth episodes, feels sterile even by typical LOGH standards. With all the procedural piece-moving occuring in them, these episodes in particular come off the most ‘history documentary’ the series has been. There are a few bright spots, like Reinhardt's salute of a retiring officer or some of the atmosphere in the Alliance sections feeling amusingly modern-style for a setting ostensibly in the far-flung space future. It does an effective job selling the sometimes-uncomfortable similarities in the Alliance's simmering issues with the weaknesses we're weathering in our own western democracies. But these presentational flashes leave less impact due to the extremely dry direction and oddly-stiff characters. The biggest casualty there is Kircheis, as virtually everyone in the cast comments on his amiability that established fans will recall from previous passes at the material but is barely shown here beyond a few soft smiles.

Even as they're seemingly turned up for this reintroduction though, LOGH's style and pacing are aspects that viewers are probably familiar with and accepting enough of by this point. To that end, these episodes are still eminently watchable for what mostly amount to in-universe textbook summaries, though it's still disappointing coming off of the premiere episode's blockbuster finish to a more traditionally-exciting story arc. That execution at least bodes well for when LOGH really gets going again, whenever the various fuses lit in these opening episodes finally go off. This series has taught us enough patience to wait for that, anyway.

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