Banner of the Stars Episode 9: The Basroil's Battle
Manga volume 1-1
Oshimeter
3 Ratings
EPISODE REVIEWS
Great pre-battle tension episode, love the quiet Jinto and Lafiel conversation about their futures right before all hell is about to break loose. Turns out Lafiel would rather run a merchant ship than be Empress, which is such a nice character detail. The mine reveal at the end is stressful in the best way.
the Abh fleet command trying to determine the nature of the enemy's new weapon while Admiral Spoor makes her way to join the main fleet gives the show room to operate on a larger strategic scale than it has before. Spoor is a fantastic character — eccentric, brilliant, completely unpredictable — and her presence adds a different kind of energy to the command level scenes. the strategic puzzle of what the enemy is actually doing and why their new weapon has been so effective is genuinely interesting as a military SF problem. the episode does good work making the galaxy feel vast while keeping the focus intimate.
The show continues to struggle with lifeless pacing, relying on flat dialogue and recycled static visuals rather than dynamic emotional payoffs or tight sci-fi suspense.
10
