A year ago I started reading the first volume of "Legend of the Galactic Heroes". Every week, sometimes every two weeks, I included reviews of individual chapters. At some point, I stopped doing it, because with each subsequent text, I had to think more and more about how to artificially lengthen the text so as not to be limited to a few sentences of commentary and simply comparing the book and anime. I didn't want to spoil or summarize the book too much, so I had limited room for maneuvering. During the fall, I decided to stop reading because of too much work, lack of time and, above all, because I can't read at home because too many things distract me. However, with the advent of spring, I resolved to review only entire volumes this time, without breaking up into individual chapters, so as not to waste time and water down my comment too much.
As for the story, our story begins with the present status quo and the past when Rudolf von Goldenbaum rose to and wielded power. She was an outstanding individual, both in terms of physical aspects (tall, muscular, strong bull), strong character and above-average intelligence that enabled him to become the founder of the Galactic Empire. As soon as he left the army, he immediately entered politics. He founded a party with highly conservative views, became a senator, then president, and eventually became the first Emperor. He was famous for annihilating space pirates (probably using nuclear weapons) and creating a powerful state. As for the negative achievements, well ... The list goes on much longer. It can be said that it is such an amalgam of the cosmic Hitler and Stalin. He issued a decree which murdered all homosexuals, people who were born with any defects, diseases or disorders (even those who could be cured or at least partially limited their disability), political opponents, people who in any way questioned his person, office or party. He also introduced a dictatorship, placing wiretaps and cameras wherever he could (also in monuments, which he eagerly erected in his honor), generally among citizens it was "joked" that when a man ends up at a police station, he will come out dead or at least strongly broken. Like Adolf, he believed that he and some people had the right to call themselves superhumans. A man can have many talents, he can stand out above most, or even all, but ... A man is only a man. It has the same weaknesses as everyone else. His weakness was that he was unable to beget a healthy male offspring. He had one wife who gave him 4 daughters and one documented concubine (there were probably more, but there is no hard evidence for that) who bore him a son. Unfortunately, he was handicapped, which caused the Emperor to murder all medical personnel and his mistress, thus cutting off any conversation and pretending that nothing had ever happened. Which, however, made more gossip about it.
The growing terror made Arle Heinessen decide to save some of the inhabitants of the Empire and build a new state with them, which was later called the Alliance of Free Planets. Inspired by the fun of a few children with an ice boat, he came up with the idea of how to escape in a safe way. They flew away in a spaceship hidden in hard, deep-frozen ice to the asteroid on which they built a fleet of 80 ships later named the Exodus Fleet. They flew into unexplored outer space, exploring its hitherto unknown areas, thus discovering the Iserlohn corridor. The journey was difficult and some did not survive, one of the victims was Heinessen himself. When they reached a planet that was possible to settle (had the right temperature, climate, food, etc.), they named it Heinessen in memory of their savior. This planet became the capital of the Free Planets Alliance.
However, this is the past, and the main characters of LotGH are Reinhard von Lohengramm (a poor nobleman, the most important commander of the Empire's troops, and at the same time a war genius) and Yang Wen-Li (son of a merchant, history enthusiast, one of the most important commanders of the Alliance troops, even bigger the genius of military craftsmanship). They both differ in their views and character. Yang is a light-hearted man who chose a military career because he did not have many options for a light life (his father left him nothing but debts and many items of often questionable quality). Reinhard, in turn, is a down-to-earth 20-year-old who has been badly experienced by life, which makes him less open to other people and has a clearly defined goal in life - to kill the Emperor and take over his throne. Although their rivalry is the leading thread of this story (or rather between the Empire and the Alliance), in my humble opinion, the series of books presents and compares the amalgam of a democratic system modeled on the countries of Western Europe and the USA and authoritarian systems modeled on Germany under the Kaiser rule, as well as, to some extent, the Third Reich and Russia under Stalin. We also have Phezzan, a third force in space that is to some extent independent (although it is under the tutelage of the Empire, something like the kingdom of Poland, which had some freedom but remained dependent on Russia). I associate it with Israel and its citizens (difficult conditions for development, water shortage, money is very important to them) and a country that tries to balance between the two powers, as well as trade, lend, spy on both factions, etc. In this regard, they remind me of, for example, the British (forgive my ignorance of history, I cannot give another example), who sometimes cynically supported both sides if it was good for the Crown's interests.
The author of the books shows the differences between the two models of the state on various examples, e.g. managing the army, the state, citizens, creating politics, differences in the decision-making process, etc. Thus, showing in a fairly honest and objective way, both the advantages and disadvantages of both models. Although the first part was published in 1982, its content and message have not aged a bit! Maybe if I were to search for archaisms by force, there would be a few examples, but they are overwhelmed by a gigantic number of accurate observations and conclusions of the author. If, like me, you like politics and you are genuinely interested in this topic, this is a must-have. I have never seen a better work (maybe apart from "House of Cards", although there are more and more elements there from season to season that would not pass in normal life) that would show politics in a substantive way. It is similar with stories and references to different rulers, situations, remembered by the history of battles - there are many such references in these books, and the more you know about it, the more things you will find.
Well, returning to the characters ... In the first volume we do not get to know too many of them (in the sense that I mean getting to know them better or at least an important role within one volume). More specifically - Yang Wen-Li, Julian Mintz, Walter von Schonkopf, Frederica Greenhill, Alexander Bucock (Alliance of Free Planets), Adrian Rubinsky (Phezzan), Siegfried Kircheis, Reinhard von Lohengramm, Paul von Oberstein, commanders Reinhard and Rudolf von Goldenbaum ( Empire). Starting at the end - Rudolf and Reinhard have already been discussed, and the commanders have not distinguished themselves too much so far and serve mainly as an extension of Reinhard's will or a tool to carry out his orders (this will change in later volumes). Except for Kircheis, who has been Reinhard's friend since childhood. Such a true friend who will not slap the back when we do something wrong, but only stand up and keep us from making a big mistake. Paul von Oberstein is Reinhard's loyal adviser, who is like a Trotskyist towards ordinary communists (he is more radical, capable of making great sacrifices for the sake of the state or his ruler). However, unlike the communists, she is an eminently intelligent, cunning and methodical person in her work.
Adrian Rubinsky is the steward of Phezzan, and in some respects he can be compared to Littlefinger and Varys from Game of Thrones. He knows everything about everyone, has lots of lovers, is always a few steps ahead of everyone and consistently pursues his own policy. He does it so cleverly and cunningly that he doesn't attract too much attention to himself. As for the Alliance, I have already introduced Yang. Julian Mintz is his foster son, a war orphan. The boy, despite his relatively young age, shows exceptional intelligence and maturity. Although he is younger than his guardian, he often looks after him and makes sure that he does not drink too much alcohol. Walter von Schonkopf is Yang's right hand, commander of the elite Rossen Ritter special forces (something like GROM, Delta Force, SAS, Seal). Hand-to-hand combat expert, highly skilled shooter who can control emotions and keep a cool mind. I love him for his comments on the nationalists of the LOTGH universe. Alexander Bucock is a senior commander with enormous experience. Despite his advanced age, he has an efficient brain (read: he is not a representative of military concrete and does not fall into infallibility) and knows how to use the experience gained over the years. Frederica Greenhill, in turn, is Yang's nice aide. Despite the fact that she looks nice, and by some even delicate little girl, she can knock the soldier Rosen Ritter to the ground and stand up to her supervisor when he makes a mistake (which often comes down to refusing to carry out an order to bring another glass of alcohol).
As I have written many times, LOTGH is characterized by a huge number of interesting characters. So far, I have not managed to get to know all the acquaintances (I have read 1/3 of the 2nd volume), but seeing with what piety IG studio adapts books to the anime language, I have a fully justified suspicion that getting to know their book equivalents will be as pleasant as in the case of the serial adaptation . Each of them has been perfectly portrayed, both in terms of appearance, character, views and others. Nay! They often say the same things in the same way. I always involuntarily imagine an anime scene or a character I'm just reading about. LOTGH in this respect is one of the best works I have ever come across. There are no irrelevant characters here, each hero or heroine has a significant contribution to the development of this story and gets at least one important task to do.
I don't want to compare anime to a book yet. Mainly because I saw the first anime series in my last year of high school or after I wrote my high school exams, and even though I have a good memory, I forgot most of the stuff. And even if I remembered, it was the fact that I saw the second adaptation and read the book that it all blended into one whole. I am not going to watch the first anime a second time, because it is too much time investment + the series has aged badly. Pacing is too noticeable, everything happens much too slowly (especially after watching "Die Neue These" and reading the first volume of the book, where the events happen noticeably faster), the line does not make such an impression, the spaceships are too similar to each other, blood looks nasty, technology looks like sci-fi movies from the '70s or early' 80s. Maybe I will compare the second anime with books one day, when I.G studio adopts all the source material. At the moment I can say that "Die Neue These" reflected the pace of Yoshika Tanaka better. It's not a good comparison, but I can't think of a better one - Tolkien's Lord of the Rings has a lot of descriptions of the nature, culture and history of each race. Some people do not mind it, but according to some (including me) you can safely remove some of these things or just skip them while reading and we will not lose much.
Well, unless you want to get to know the universe thoroughly. Mr. Tanaka, on the other hand (similar to Sapkowski in "The Witcher"), writes quite specifically, explaining most things in a few precise sentences. It describes everything in sufficient detail, but does not extend to the description of technology, events, characters, differences between the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance, etc. on several pages. This made it difficult for me to imagine certain things or characters, if not for the fact that I had watched the anime before. I had to repeat some passages more than once, not only because of my average knowledge of the English language, but also because my brain didn't remember some passages the first time. "Die Neue These" develops these few sentences of a rudimentary description and we get the full picture while maintaining its fast pace of the story. The books sometimes lacked side threads and at times I had the impression that the author wrote his book like a cyborg - we read about the event, pause, move the action to another place, pause, read about the next event, period, etc. The anime is very similar in this respect, but due to the different formula, it is less noticeable
Besides (here I can be wrong and it would take me too long to check the book and anime), the anime rearranged the order of some events. For example, in the first volume we do not have detailed flashbacks by Reinhard and Kircheis, as we did in the book. The anime also did not adapt the times of Yang's youth (we only got a fragment of it), and some descriptions of the character or the fortress of Iserlohn were presented at once (in the books this knowledge is dosed to us in fragments). I can include it as a plus for the animated version.
All in all, this is one of the best books I have ever read. Initially it was a bit hard because of my insufficient knowledge of English, but with each chapter it gets easier for me. Do I recommend? Absolutely, especially when you have similar interests to mine. Perhaps you will feel the same - as if Mr. Tanaka is rummaging in your head and drawing various conclusions regarding politics and more. However, I do not recommend buying these books. They are quite expensive and I cannot guarantee that you will like them. They are also not available in the library, so outside of the Amazon store, you probably won't buy them. That's why I highly recommend the anime "Die Neue These". Perhaps this year (and if not now, then in 2022), another season will come out. The story is 90% the same as in the book with a few minor differences. Thanks to this, it will be easier for you to imagine everything, if you decide to buy it.