Spoor rocks. For a character who only shows up at the end of the series she is one of the few who really stuck in my mind. One of the others is the captain of the ship at the beginning. Both weren't really main characters, but I thought they were very well acted and both just were very impressive.

poor lexshue, no one can ever remember her name ^_-
but yeah, lexshue and spoor rock. both are very strong, very capable women. you just get this feeling of calm from them, and that if on your side, no worries, but you definitely don't want them against you.
~chuckles~ i loved it when lafiel smiled at the spineless twit who were essentially holding them hostage. very well animated. lafiel simply glows when she is pissed off at someone :D

Elves in Space! Elves in space! Whoo!

Seriously though, CotS is a great show and I absolutely love it. I think one of the best parts is that the space opera stuff is only really there for flavor. The real meat of the show is the interaction between Lafiel and Jinto. Watching them interact is just a sublime experience. One of my favorite parts is the conversation about their parents the two have near the beginning of the show. The obvious sexual tension there is just so cute.

As a bonus, here's what I think of as Jinto's defining quote:
Old Man: How is it that you've come to call an Imperial Princess by her first name?
Jinto: (somewhat embarrassed) Well, I think it's half luck and half stupidity.

ditto. lafiel and jinto -their romance- is the heart of the story. albeit, everything else is flushed out just as richly, the focus always come full circle to lafiel & jinto.
as lexshu said (to the best of my memory), her greatest accomplishment will be arranging the meeting of the two.

Seen the whole CoTS series, just now!

Spoor is more Susan Ivanova (B5) than Lexshue.
If I was an Abh, I would *much* rather serve under Lexshue.

But in Banner Lafiel will be like neither of those 2. Can't wait to see. If only the novels were translated into English ^_^

Njr

Both Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars had good acting. Also, there was a seriousness and an emphasis on character that one misses in the mainstream stuff like Tenchi and Card Captor Sakura.

I think it both series left me disappointed. They didn't really end, or it felt like nothing really happened.

I like Ekuryua in the second series.
Spoor rocks!

All these comments are so right on. These three are such wonderful, moving series (Crest of the Stars, Banner of the Stars I and II). I actually find the space battles a bit confusing, but the relationship between Lafiel and Jinto is worth the price of admission. Lexshue in the first series, swinging her sword as she gives commands, and the Bibos twin commanders in the second are fabulous. The Bibos are hilarious, brilliant jerks, always sniping at each other. One of them takes bath in the middle of the battle, because he is so confident that his battle plan will work.

But the series comes down to Jinto and Lafiel -- and especially Lafiel. With Ayako Kawasumi's voice and the drawing modeled on Hiroyuki Morioka's original manga, she is such a unique person...I mean anime character. Cold, hard, invulnerable, vulnerable. Kind and cruel. A strong young woman (I mean Abh princess) getting to know herself and the world and Jinto.

The fact that Ayako Kawasumi can do this voice and also the utterly different (and also wonderful) high-voiced doll Aoi Sakuraba in Ai yori Aoshi gives me great respect for her abilities. One of the voice actor top guns.