Although there are very few huge sci-fi anime, the story is epic indeed in its dimensions, and a huge amount of work has been done for this anime, a surprising little work has been done for:
A) The plot
The two basic characters are promoted from lieutenants to admirals in no time. Of course that way you get young heroes as main characters, but it is annoying in the extreme. All their classmates should be after their heads with such shameless promotions. There is only one candidate for the democratic elections in FPA, whose party is not democratically organized at all. The elected governing party is governed by a single person, which is also corrupted in the extreme and when there is unrest, a paramilitary organization which is secretly funded by the government, beats everyone senseless. This is not a democracy, this is Hitler's 3rd Reich in rebirth! Besides, While you sit and enjoy watching the series, secret organizations with huge potential come out of thin air (ie the Earth Sect), pull strings, change the plot (or do not change it at all, just fill the episode) and disappear, while there secret service sits idle. People behave irrationally from one moment to the next (so as to have a sub-plot good for a couple episodes) and get killed randomly with no purpose at all (as if the plot of each episode is designed throwing dice). It seems as if different ways to develop the plot battle in each episode along the star-ships.
B) The battle tactics
Even though the star-ships clearly use reaction engines (rockets) for propulsion, they are moving backwards and forwards like changing gears in a car. Nobody ever builds up speed, the ships stop instantly and get into reverse with a small retro burn, and orbital mechanics are thrown out of the window. Furthermore, nobody wears space-suits in battle, so whenever a ship is hit, all the crew die. And ships blow with a single hit. The huge star-fleets are deployed in formations, maneuver like dinosaurs, fire at each other and wait to be fired upon, all this in 2-dimensions! The battles are like watching the English fleet attacking the Spanish armada in the 15th century, or infantry maneuver, fire, being hit and regroup in American Civil War, while the formations are like ancient infantry phalanxes (wedge and rectangular). Even the tactical displays which the commanders look upon are 2-dimensional, like watching a strategy board-game (most probably where they got the ideas for the tactics - it is either that, or the plot was a medieval setting carelessly changed to sci-fi ).
C) Armoured knights and plot/scientific devices
Energy weapons can not be used most of the times, due to some special "particles" that explode and kill everybody. So, they end up yielding battle axes at each other and wearing body armor (which never stops either energy weapons or the axes). The whole setting is like a middle ages brawl setting thrust forward in the 25th century There is no explanation about the technologies, the engines, the weapons, the navigation methods, anything technological at all except the particles that forbid the use of energy weapons. It seems that this was done on purpose, so as to provide less technological restrictions for the senseless plot and battle tactics.
Either i am reading too much sci-fi and become very demanding of this poor anime in my old age, or this is an epic sized blunder.
A) The plot
The two basic characters are promoted from lieutenants to admirals in no time. Of course that way you get young heroes as main characters, but it is annoying in the extreme. All their classmates should be after their heads with such shameless promotions. There is only one candidate for the democratic elections in FPA, whose party is not democratically organized at all. The elected governing party is governed by a single person, which is also corrupted in the extreme and when there is unrest, a paramilitary organization which is secretly funded by the government, beats everyone senseless. This is not a democracy, this is Hitler's 3rd Reich in rebirth! Besides, While you sit and enjoy watching the series, secret organizations with huge potential come out of thin air (ie the Earth Sect), pull strings, change the plot (or do not change it at all, just fill the episode) and disappear, while there secret service sits idle. People behave irrationally from one moment to the next (so as to have a sub-plot good for a couple episodes) and get killed randomly with no purpose at all (as if the plot of each episode is designed throwing dice). It seems as if different ways to develop the plot battle in each episode along the star-ships.
B) The battle tactics
Even though the star-ships clearly use reaction engines (rockets) for propulsion, they are moving backwards and forwards like changing gears in a car. Nobody ever builds up speed, the ships stop instantly and get into reverse with a small retro burn, and orbital mechanics are thrown out of the window. Furthermore, nobody wears space-suits in battle, so whenever a ship is hit, all the crew die. And ships blow with a single hit. The huge star-fleets are deployed in formations, maneuver like dinosaurs, fire at each other and wait to be fired upon, all this in 2-dimensions! The battles are like watching the English fleet attacking the Spanish armada in the 15th century, or infantry maneuver, fire, being hit and regroup in American Civil War, while the formations are like ancient infantry phalanxes (wedge and rectangular). Even the tactical displays which the commanders look upon are 2-dimensional, like watching a strategy board-game (most probably where they got the ideas for the tactics - it is either that, or the plot was a medieval setting carelessly changed to sci-fi ).
C) Armoured knights and plot/scientific devices
Energy weapons can not be used most of the times, due to some special "particles" that explode and kill everybody. So, they end up yielding battle axes at each other and wearing body armor (which never stops either energy weapons or the axes). The whole setting is like a middle ages brawl setting thrust forward in the 25th century There is no explanation about the technologies, the engines, the weapons, the navigation methods, anything technological at all except the particles that forbid the use of energy weapons. It seems that this was done on purpose, so as to provide less technological restrictions for the senseless plot and battle tactics.
Either i am reading too much sci-fi and become very demanding of this poor anime in my old age, or this is an epic sized blunder.