Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War
It's ironic that the last piece of LoGH media I watch is the one that kicks off the whole narrative, and arguably the pinnacle of the franchise. The direction is strong throughout, and while the budget is not lavish, the animation is good where it counts and the use of lightning and composition elevates it to a level of visual interest above the OVAs.
It's impressive what this film was able to convey without the helpful place and name cards of the main series. For example, to show the distinction and distance between the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance, the camera slowly pans away from Odin, where we have been observing Reinhard's situation, until it reaches a blanket of indistinguishable stars, then rushes through the star field at a blinding speed until it reaches Heinessen, showing the Alliance's fleet in orbit, focusing in on a recently landed plane, then the officers getting off that plane, and finally coming to rest on Yang. With one striking move, we understand the scale of the setting in which our two protagonists reside.
Careful attention is paid to the subtlety of human interaction, going against the general impression of LoGH as a series of talking heads. The scene between Yang, Lapp, and Jessica after Yang's return is a tour-de-force, painting the complexity of their various emotions without any dialogue whatsoever. Something as simple as Yang's clumsy dancing becomes the trigger for deep, yet understated emotions. Later scenes aren't quite as impressive, but also exhibit non-verbal expressions of a character's personality, such as when Yang's commander turns towards him, opens his mouth, shuts it again, turns away and wrestles with indecision before reluctantly asking Yang for tactical advice. A lot is said by brief movements such as those.
The film's only weakness is that it doesn't stand by itself, but requires the continuation of the OVA series. Of course, you can't blame it for that. Watching it made me dream of the masterpiece that would have resulted had the entire story been adapted in a series of films as high quality as this one. But I won't be an unrealistic glutton. I'm happy that what we got was as good as it was; and I'm certainly happy that this film was made.
