A sense of duty versus being true to oneself seems to be a common theme in Japanese storytelling, or at least in Japanese animation. This theme drives the second half of Banner of the Stars II - but the way in which it does so is unusual. Being brought up an American, I'm used to "love conquers all" type stories, which probably seem like the product of an incredibly selfish mindset to those unaccustomed. By contrast, stories that tout a sense of responsibility usually seem cold and unfeeling, and perhaps even worse, ignorant of the purpose of that duty. Banner II successfully develops between the two extremes, creating a story that is emotionally charged but not negligent of principle. The third and final volume of the series wraps up the Lobnas II / Operation Hunter arc conclusively, but the saga of the stars is far from over.

As the volume begins, the emigration of the women of Lobnas II is almost complete, but a United Mankind fleet is dangerously close. What's worse is that Admiral Spoor's fleet is less than insufficient for defending Lafiel's operation. The logical decision is to stall them as long as possible. Meanwhile, the rebellion on Lobnas II is no longer organized, but determining Jinto's whereabouts is still a difficult task. With the threat of the United Mankind fleet still bearing down upon them, Lafiel's only choice is to evacuate - without even knowing if Jinto is alive or dead.

Spoor questions her own decisions for the first time in this volume.	The final scene is similar to that which opened the series.

Since Lafiel's duty is to her family, her crew, and her people, it is far more difficult for her to take the time to get Jinto out of trouble than it is for him to get himself into it. It is not as though Jinto is acting irresponsibly - quite the opposite. That he is all too willing to put others before himself is what gets him into these messes, but he also has a strong will for survival because of it. Lafiel acts more conservatively - doing what she has to in order to ensure the success of the operation - until the earliest opportunity arrives for her to do what she wants to. The conflict within herself is a big part of the story in this volume, and ties in with the progression of the overall story.

There is a stronger sense of fate in this series than in the previous two. It plays off the viewer's hope that things will turn out all right, and it both does and doesn't change things for the better. Some viewers who were turned off of the previous two series for being too analytical probably would have enjoyed this series for having more feeling, but those who have followed the saga all along might not enjoy the simpler storytelling of Banner II. Part of the allure of the saga is its novelty, which was noticeably less potent in Banner II. The worst thing this story can do in its later stages is to become predictable or familiar, so it will be interesting to see what happens next (if the later books are even animated). The animated Banner II perhaps has also made the mistake of following the novel a bit too closely. The introduction of Lafiel's little brother into the story may have made a lot of sense for the progression of the novels, but it didn't serve any good purpose in the animation, where ideas must be more locally focused in order to be effective. In other words, loose ends in animation tend to be frowned upon. All in all though, Banner of the Stars II has enough of what makes the saga good to last another iteration, and its ending is every bit as enjoyable as that of the previous two series.

The packaging of volume 3 sports a picture of Jinto and Lafiel with serious expressions, which makes it pretty ordinary yet nice looking. The reverse side of the cover is a picture of Lafiel as a young child, with a big grin on her face. This was actually the cover image of the Japanese OVA release for Seikai no Dansho: Tanjyou (The English title is Passage of the Stars: Birth). The Birth OVA is included as an extra in this release. It was released as a prequel to Crest of the Stars, shortly after the release of Crest, and chronicles the relationship of Lafiel's mother and father. It's a great watch, not only to get a feel for Lafiel's parents' relationship, but the OVA also reveals a little bit about Abh race in general. This OVA should really be viewed right after Crest of the Stars to get the proper effect, but receiving it with Banner II was better than getting it as a separate release or not at all. The case insert for this DVD release provides a little information about the Birth OVA. The other extras on the disc are a production art gallery, and a final edition of "Newsletter of the Stars" where Morioka talks about the feelings he has as a writer, as well as a little blurb about the Birth OVA and Lafiel in the Banner II ending.

I'm a bit sad that this is the last bit of new footage I'll see from this saga for a while, but perhaps it'll give us fans some time to reflect on what we've seen and gain a greater appreciation for it. If and when the next installment gets animated, we can then rejoice and receive funny looks from everyone we know. It'll be swell.

Video Quality: A
Audio Quality: A
Presentation: A
Content: A
Overall: A