As my reviews of the series have no doubt expressed, Banner of the Stars was a worthy follow-up to the equally fantastic Crest of the Stars. The story continuity between the two series was tightly woven, and the characters introduced throughout were interesting and dynamic. The second Banner series was supposed to continue this tradition, and its first four episodes (comprising volume 1) do this fairly effectively, but with issues. Even though it keeps up the pace in most areas, those where it falls behind are difficult to ignore, as you'll see below.

The first volume of the second Banner of the Stars series starts where the first Banner series left off, as was more or less expected. Operation Phantom Flame - whose aim was to divide the United Mankind territories in half and reconnect the Abh territories - has been deemed successful. The next phase of the war plan, Operation Hunter, is to weed out and annihilate the remaining United Mankind forces. This phase has not gone without difficulties, however. The Abh fleet led by Nereis Bebaus is advancing with ease (some say too quickly), but they are running short on ambassadors to the newly recaptured planets.

Nereis decides to send Lafiel and Jinto as diplomatic contacts to a recently captured planet named Lobnoss II, which happens to be a prison. Jinto travels down to the planet to negotiate with four leaders from conflicting factions, while Lafiel supervises operations from space. The assignment proves to be most frustrating for the both of them, as it slowly eats up more and more time.

Duhiel seems fond of Diaho, but envies his sister.	Jinto has his share of frustration in this volume.

Also appearing in this volume are a few scenes relevant to the overall story: a flash to a future event between Jinto and Lafiel, and the introduction of Lafiel's younger brother, Duhiel. As much as I hate to say it, he is not as interesting as most of the other characters, due to the fact that he just seems to have a complex when it comes to his sister. It would benefit the show to better develop his character in the coming episodes, seeing as the writers deemed him important enough to introduce. In fact, this is one of the problems apparent with the storytelling in this volume: the new characters introduced just aren't all that interesting. The other issue was that the story seemed a bit out of focus. The volume opened with a scene out of the future, when the present had questions needing immediate attention. The scene with Lafiel's brother felt like it was patched in to take care of a future plot issue, and did not relate too well to the events at hand (though it might have if placed better). It's possible that the only real problem is that it's unclear as to what direction the story is taking. If the subsequent volumes regain focus, this one can be written off as necessary staging.

Anyone who has come to expect a decent transfer from Bandai for a Crest/Banner disc will not be disappointed here. The video and audio both have the necessary clarity, and the packaging is tastefully done. The cover sports a picture of the four new characters, who all claim to be representing planet Lobnoss II. Also on the cover are the officers on the Basroil, including Jinto and Lafiel in the foreground. The extras on the disc are few, but appropriate. Morioka's newsletter of the stars makes a comeback, and describes Lafiel's brother as being the most interesting new character in this volume (which unfortunately is the truth). Additionally, there is some new production artwork.

Perhaps I was spoiled in the previous series with great new characters like Atosuryua and the Basroil's officers. Perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind for watching Banner footage. All I know is that while Banner of the Stars II is still doing a lot of things right (such as Jinto and Lafiel's developing relationship), something is missing. I can only hope that the next volume shows that I misunderstood the purpose of this one.

Distributor: Bandai Entertainment
Creator: Sunrise
Released: 2001

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