Banner of the Stars Episode 10: Shooting Star
Manga volume 1-1
Oshimeter
3 Ratings
EPISODE REVIEWS
This one's peak. The new UM cluster mines that split apart to dodge point-defense fire are a genuinely clever escalation, and losing the Kidroil hits hard after everything we've seen this crew go through. Lafiel's line about the mines looking like souls is such a gut-punch. Best action episode so far.
the 2nd and 4th fleets moving in a pincer movement around the 1st fleet's path is exactly the kind of large scale tactical maneuvering this show does better than almost any other military SF anime. what makes it work is that you understand the human stakes behind every strategic decision — these aren't chess pieces, they're ships with crews the show has made you care about. Lafiel and the Basroil waiting above Lulukess with the rest of the assembled Abh ships has a beautiful stillness to it. the calm before the next storm. the show understands perfectly that tension is built in the waiting not the fighting.
Rather than a dramatic, high-stakes rescue led by Lafiel, the narrative delegates the ground search on Lobnas II to hired mercenary landers while Lafiel sits back in administrative limbo.
10
