barrbaric

And I think it's overrated. I have many thoughts on the show, but I'm having difficulty organizing them, so here is a wall of points (MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW probably):

• The core message of the last episode, that "democracy requires the people to be engaged politically to survive" is a good one, though the series is deeply lib and only once vaguely mentions "profit" as a possible problem. The economies of the rival powers are never discussed, which you think might be important for a century-long galaxy-spanning war.

• Despite the length of the series and the number of subjects it covers, few are given any real detail, which leaves many things feeling arbitrary. This is especially bad for the fleet battles, where there are many instances of "genius" tactics that fall flat because either they were incredibly obvious, or the audience has no reason to suspect such a thing is even possible.

• Ironically, some of the subjects that are given detail are ridiculous. Why is the Empire themed after 19th-century Germany, for instance? Oh, because the first Emperor was a larper (to the point that they worship Odin) and a racist who only appointed germans as nobility.

• There are simply far too many characters, and especially near the end of the series, this begins to show. When you have Admiral Whatshisnuts dying and every character is mourning because this will be a crippling blow to their side but the character has only been mentioned by name maybe twice in 60 episodes, it doesn't land at all for the audience.

• The show features many child soldiers (Karin is a fighter pilot at fucking 15!), especially on the "democratic" side, but this is never really addressed, as I recall.

• The depiction of women is thoroughly boomer. Every female character ends up married to a more prominent man, and the ones who are actually capable and not simply forced into the background react like anime schoolgirls to romance.

• The laser-focus on the officer class really does a poor job of representing war. As I recall, the only time an admiral mentions the suffering of regular troops is also the first time he's ever thought of them in his life, never mind civilians which are entirely an afterthought.

• Is the depiction of the Phezzani merchant elite as working with a secretive religious cabal to take over the galaxy anti-semitic?

• The series reminds me of that Marx quote about men making history but not as they please, but kind of ridiculous. A focus on the legality of eg annexation preventing a ruler from doing what they might want, but that same ruler rose to power through a blatant military coup.

• Most of the main characters (especially Imperials, but also von Schenkopp and Poplan) are toxically masculine, but I think they're meant to be "cool" rather than pathetic. Oh yeah, very proud of you to refuse to apologize and pointlessly kill hundreds of thousands of your subordinates in a civil war, good job Reuental.

• I did like how characters were killed off, especially the old emperor dying of old age, or Konev dying off-screen in a dogfight then going unmourned because he's not important to anybody but Poplan. Yang stumbling around half asleep before getting shot was a mood.

• I'm torn on Reinhard's death. On the one hand, it fit the theme of him not belonging in the new era of peace, which is mirrored with people like von Schenkopp. On the other, you know who doesn't? All the fucking Imperial admirals. You're telling me that Bittenfeld is going to be able to transition out of a wartime mentality?

• On the subject of Bittenfeld, I actually loved his small character arc. Very few characters get any growth, and his was a pleasant surprise.

• The hypocrisy of the "democrats" choosing Frederica as their new head of state by a vote held only by the military elite is never addressed.

• The Earth Cult's strength is whatever the plot needs it to be at any given time. Sure, they can assassinate Yang or cause a civil war, easy. And then the next day there are only 5 of them left.

Curious if anyone else has watched it, and what their thoughts are.

Someone tell me what it was about. In particular, what does all the various symbolism mean, what are we supposed to take away from Mikage's arc, what's the deal with Kozue, and why did Nanami turn into a cow that one time.

Impossible difficulty: explain Miki's stopwatch.