Crest of the Stars is one of rarities among films and more so among anime. It is a tv series that actually has a great script behind it and it covers a lot of background very fast. Based on several Japanese science fiction books, Crest of the Stars is still a relatively short tv series (13 episodes, covering its first season), that was a hit in Japan and word of mouth is also slowly making it a hit in the States within anime fan groups. The series has now expanded to be three seasons' length. Crest of the Stars turns a lot of the predictable science fiction conventions on its head: a race that experiments with human genetics but ends up being more human than those that don't; a Galactic Empire more interested in trading than political conquest and that instead of destruction relies on bribery to obtain its worlds, you will soon know this is not your average sci-fi series. It is probably not even your average sci-fi movie either, being way above most Holliwood offerings. This is the sort of film that fans of true and more brainy science fiction epics may enjoy (think Asimov's Foundation or Herberts' Dune). Fans looking for non-stop action in the vein of Aliens, Evangelion or Robotech will, however, most likely be disappointed. The animation, character and mechanical design (all of which tend to be of decent quality in even the cheapest anime productions) is, in my opinion, is not the strongest point of the show. I found it average at best and many times it is bottom of the barrel (most of the first episodes), even for a tv show. However, what will keep you watching this series is the intriguing story and more so, the interesting characters. And the overall feeling, as with "Blade Runner" that yes... this was a possible society... that we could evolve into this. Using flashbacks, multiple threads and subtitles to give you a lot of information (which surprisingly never becomes confusing), the tv series does ask you to be patient. It starts very, very, very slowly as it tries to convey a whole universe in a short amount of time. Eight years ago, the genetically engineered Abh race claim the planet Martine. Martine's leader, Rock Lin, surrenders and makes a deal to keep on ruling the planet and becoming part of the Abh nobility. It is so that we meet his son Jinto, now a 17 year-old boy, who has kept his identity secret all this time. But now he is about to enter the military Abh academy as part of his training to becoming a noble. He is not exactly sure about his feelings for his father who some consider a traitor. Albeit legally an Abh, ironically he has never ever seen one. But now he is about to: Lafiel, a beautiful girl a year younger than him, who also happens to be part of the nobility. She's his escort and crewmate aboard the ship that is to transport him to the academy. Both make for a strange couple as Jinto would like to be accepted as a noble, while Lafiel would rather not be part of it. The Abh empire is not the only conglomerate of planets and unknown to them all, a war is soon about to break...
