English Dub Review: Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These”Birth of the 13th Fleet”

The lucky 13?

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Secretary of Defence Job Trüniht is giving a speech at a memorial for the over 1 million soldiers who died in the “Battle of Astarte” and expectedly this guy has some people who disagree with him. Chief among them is Yang who refuses to stand for an applause and one Jessica Edwards, who shows up to Job’s speech and interrupts in fury over the fact that this guy basically got her fiance killed in battle. Yang escorts her off the premise and is involved in a car chase with the Patriotic Knights Corps (P.K.C.) which is lead by Trüniht and is nearly taken out if not for Yang’s skilled driving. Back at home, the PKC takes another shot at Yang, but this time the military mastermind has the power of a turbocharged sprinkler system at his disposal which dispels an angry mob outside. Later on, Yang gets a promotion to rear admiral and is tasked with his first assignment…lead the newly formed 13th fleet to take down the impenetrable forces of the Iserlohn fortress.

Our Take

This show just got a violent shift into badassery. The car chase scene was well-produced and featured top-level sequences that showcase an art differentiation from the numerous other space operas Funimation is streaming at this very moment. Even more so, I’m thoroughly enjoying Yang’s storylines versus Reinhold’s as I think they are a little less cliched and a little more action-packed. I loved the introduction of the PKC, a true reflection of what’s going on in today’s America even with a show that was produced originally in Japanese years before American-extremism decided to rear its ugly head.

Production I.G.’s technical prowess on the aforementioned car chase scene was, again, very good and was probably the best-animated car chase scene I’ve seen this year this side of FXX’s Archer. Moreso, I’m looking forward to seeing how Yang can balance his new military responsibilities and keep people he cares about from potentially being harmed by the aforementioned group.

Ian Sinclair’s take on “Yang” is being more impressive as time goes on, most likely outshining Dismuke’s take on “Reinhold” which I believe will ultimately be looked back on as a miscast. Dawn’s take on “Jessica Edwards” was excellent, doing an outstanding job displaying emotions for a grieving character after having lost a loved one. Can Reinhold’s half of the story begin to feature some of the storytelling that Yang’s does? I hope so, I’d hate to think this show is only going to be half-good.