sacrilegious review & boring rant
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This show is considered the most based anime ever and is constantly talked about on image boards and twitter. Unfortunately, I just can't get into it. I started once and got about 13 episodes in before I got busy with life and forgot about it. Recently, I tried again and the same thing happened but around episode 18 or so. Watching it feels like a chore. There's 100 episodes and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

It's not bad by any means. But it feels like "Star Trek" where every episode has characters from a planet you'll never see again. However, unlike "Star Trek" there isn't a subtext, moral of the story, or philosophical question you can continue to chew on once the credits roll. Instead, it's just a lot of "Game Of Thrones" scheming and plotting with really slow pacing and autistic levels of geopolitical exposition. It reminds me of the "All Future Tomorrows" book.

"First, so-and-so of such-and-such planet did such-and-such. And then so-and-so did..."

Both the "All Future Tomorrows" author and the LOGH creator are very imaginative and skilled at universe building but I don't really care what happens to the characters within. And am having trouble seeing the parallels with modern society. I'm sure they will come if I am patient but c'mon man. 100 episodes and I'm almost 20% of the way in. I doubt the delivery will change that much later on.
Hmm, maybe that's it.

The tagline is: "In every time, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same..."  I'm a brainlet when it comes to history but even I see the parallels to empires and war in the past. Still, parallels alone aren't enough to captivate me. The thing that feels lacking is the relatability of the characters that should permeate all eras. On paper, their motivations match historical figures of the past, but they lack the humanity. "Star Trek" still retains it no matter the galaxy. Maybe that's because "Star Trek" emphasizes modern social issues like racism whereas LOGH emphasizes geopolitical trends? Not sure. "Attack On Titan" focuses more on history too, but you can't help but be enthralled in the interpersonal drama. Then again, "Attack On Titan" has only one planet so you can really soak in each character. Hmm....



I think the other reason I am not entirely sold on it, (other than my impossible to reach expectations due to all the recommendations), is because its conception was motivated by a history buff rather than a romantic. Gene Roddenberry may have been a commie with fruity ideas, but his idealistic humanist spirit saturated his work and made it fun to watch. Whereas, (as far as I can tell), the LOGH creator fits the Otaku stereotype of simply gathering data rather than making grandiose conclusions about it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiki_Tanaka

https://www.reddit.com/r/logh/comments/3jvb9t/historical_and_fictional_influences_on_logh/

https://www.cbr.com/legend-galactic-heroes-anime-real-life-history-inspiration/



In an attempt to avoid spoilers I didn't look ahead, but I think the main reason it's considered "based" is because they have a character like Adolf: Rudolph the Great. And he created The Inferior Genes Exclusion Act.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Monster/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes

There's also a gif I've seen floating around that talks about the decline of an empire and the hedonistic citizens which feels like Weimerica.

Is that it, though? If those things being included is why people sh*t their pants over the series, I'm gonna' skip it. Or should I wait it out? Does it get better? Should I watch the 48 episode reboot instead?

"Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7407236/

Idk. I think you should give it a shot. I will likely continue it. Just don't get your hopes up.

Jan 5th 2023
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