Legend of Galactic Heroes - Die Neue These Interlude

 It has been 4 years since the last time I watched IG Production's take on Legend of Galactic Heroes dubbed Die Neue These or "The New Thesis". To be honest DNT had rather underwhelming beginning for the series fans who watched the OVA and doomed not to be able to surpass the former. However it is very commendable for IG Production to be undaunted by their shortcomings and keep continuing their effort and commitement for this Legendary series, in fact they have made it to the 4th season is a feat that is very praiseworthy in the present anime industry. In this Blog post I will discuss some of the reasons why Die Neue These doesn't seem appear to be capable of reaching the level of the OVA's Legacy 

 As of this point I have finished the first two season of Die Neue These; Kaikou & Seiran and currently midway through Sakubou which is the 3rd season. Overall the first two seasons are totally nowhere close the OVA level but by the Third season, the production team did really put up better effort and earnestly try to reach closer height to the OVA. 

Before I am pointing out the shortcomings of DNT, I would like to point out one thing that the newer version of LOGH did very well is the voice cast and at this aspect, this series is pretty much on par with the OVA. Just like the OVA did, which the Production team at the time used Top Talent seiyuus especially for the male casts, Die Neue These also able to draw in best possible Seiyuu Talents in the present to fill in the roles especially for the Main Characters who will stick around quite long in the series. For the main character Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wenli, The Die Neue These choice of Seiyuu are just as good; Kenichi Suzumura did amazing job as Yang Wenli but Miyano Mamoru's Reinhard slightly fall behind Ryo Horikawa's version because his Reinhard managed to portray the character's sense of Justice but still lacks the air of authority.

 Moving on to the main discussion why Die Neue These are unable to reach the level of LOGH OVA Legacy, If I have to pick one main reason, it would be because DNT didn't have the Anime Director on the same caliber of Noboru Ishiguro whose capability able to lead his production teams to elevate Legend of Galactic Heroes original material into greater heights especially with his masterful use of classic musical scores for the important scenes. But to be honest the present Japanese anime industry would be hard-pressed to find an Anime Director on the same caliber with Noboru Ishiguro who had lead his team to animate legendary mecha/space opera series like Macross, Space Battleship Yamato and Megazone before working on Legend of Galactic Heroes.

 Die Neue These tried to have its selling point being a "faithful adaptation" of the Original novel however this is the pitfall that leads to this series doomed to fall behind the OVA because the story execution are stiff and less impactful at times. The OVA did took some liberties on the original material in order to make the storyline more fluid at times by introducing several main characters way earlier than their debut in the novel such as, Joao Lebello, Hilda von Mariendorf or Ulrich Kessler which comes to mind. This makes the audience able to appreciate these characters better and not unfazed too much when these characters suddenly play important role shortly after their debut. Interestingly Veteran Seiyuu Toru Furuya decided to play the role of minor villain again in Die Neue as Baron Flegel considering he served the seiyuu for Andrew Fork in the OVA who is also minor villain from opposing side. Also one thing that DNT did something new is expanding Mittermeyer background story in the 3rd season.

Lastly as for the animation department, Die Neue These did rather decent job by recent animation standard but still fall behind to OVA when it comes to executing key scenes for maximum impact. The battleship scene felt to abrupt as Die Neue These version came too conclusion of their each battle way too quick especially for Lipstadtt rebellion. But the worst offender in DNT for me would be the replacement of the Power Armor design which just make the audience unable to take severity of the fighting scene seriously especially for the Galactic Empire which just look like poor Sakura Taisen mecha rip-off (Because IG Production worked on Sakura Taisen 3). Such comical design are not suitable for the brutal and cold nature of LoGH close combat where soldiers hack each other to death to seize victory.

Despite all of these apparent shortcomings of Die Neue These when compared to its great predecessor, the anime is still good enough for anime fans who seek deep discussion for War and Politics, given they have sufficient attention span to appreciate it. I might post some afterthoughts for Die Neue These again once I finished the 4th season. Anyway here some good animation shot from 3rd Season.