English Dub Review: Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These, “Bloodshed In Space”

 

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The civil war in the Empire begins, as the Nobles Coalition takes the initiative to reclaim the capital. Reinhard meets their attempts in battle and blood begins to flow.

Our Take

The myriad claims of the imperial nobles’ selfishness prove very true once again. A sensible plan to overwhelm Reinhard’s forces on their territory is hijacked by nobles vying for the glory of capturing the capital. The Coalition’s commander, Merkatz, even spends a moment thoroughly chiding them. He claims they have zero cohesion, an element completely necessary in conducting war.

This accusation manifests itself immediately, as two nobles try to make a headstart for the capital and fall into a minefield set up by Reinhard’s admiral. Their avarice and inexperience cloud their judgment, as one of them is destroyed, while the other flees to a vital logistics fortress in the warzone. 

Reinhard then takes the opportunity to capture said vital fortress by seizing control of its reactor. However, the area around the reactor has been flooded with particles that will cause a catastrophic explosion if a firearm were to go off nearby. And so, conventional weapons must be discarded if they are to take the reactor. 

What they fall back on is something this anime has never seen before; armored mech suits, equipped with large melee weapons. As Reinhard’s forces approach they are meet the nobles’ forces, similarly equipped. The usual battles that consist of spaceship positioning, formation posturing, and long-range laser blasts are replaced in this episode with an old-fashioned sword fight, something more akin to medieval times. 

The complete change in the style of combat not only alters the pace and energy of the battle but also results in real blood being shed everywhere. And unlike the brief gunshot splatters of the previous episode, the blood truly starts spilling here. Swords and axes are being plunged into armor, tearing through them and carving open flesh. The industrial, unadorned green and grey of the mech suits are painted violently in red. It’s by far the most intense battle yet. The depravity of this battle matches the desires of those who incited it. 

The noble of note in this battle is Ovlesser, the captain of the armored grenadier mechs. A man apparently so enamored with battle, he and his men took drugs so that they could fight over eight hours without stopping. He sends a message to Reinhard during the battle,  calling out him and his sister, claiming they slept their way up the imperial ranks. Reinhard tilts hard and demands him captured so that he can kill him himself, a very rare and intense bout of emotion from him.

Ovlesser is then trapped and captured. But instead of Reinhard killing him, apparently, Oberstein was given orders to send him and his men back to the nobles as a messenger. Ovlesser is told that Reinhard now intends to take a more peaceful path so that the Empire doesn’t divide and destroy itself. 

However, Ovlesser unknowingly returns alone, as his men were killed by Reinhard’s forces. He is immediately branded as a sellout and a traitor. He resists and is shot, but even as he is riddled with bullet holes, he fights back and tries to tell the noble leaders that this is a trap. As he dies, he recalls what the previous imperial commander-in-chief told him; that Reinhard represents the new that will push out the old. The man who deals the final shot looks at Ovlesser’s pained death mask, making his final revelation. He morbidly suggests that perhaps Ovlesser should’ve made a happier face, glad to have died today rather than see the horrors of tomorrow. 

This episode cements even further the fact that Reinhard has the entirety of the Empire under his thumb, even amidst a civil war. He, as well as several others, have the nobles completely pegged and outmatched. The nobles’ greed has taken precedence over their trust for one another and without trust, they have no hope of winning a war. 

Barring some stroke of luck for the Nobles Coalition, it seems Reinhard has this war well in hand, as well as a firm grasp on the one brewing in the Alliance. Unimpeded, Reinhard is the front runner in the race for galactic domination. But we know well several key competent players that will be giving their all to try and stop him.