Series: Banner of the Stars II: Complete Collection was described by me as "showing details the end of the war that occupied the previous season, with the Empire performing clean up duties on remaining enemy forces that have scattered about the galaxy. While the other seasons took a look at the big picture, this one takes a look at a much smaller scale, a single planet that is liberated by the Empire's forces. For political reasons, someone of royal blood must govern the area and the lucky candidate this time is Lafiel. She, along with Jinto, must come up with a solution for the problems faced when the newly liberated planet, Lobnas II, is found to be a prison planet with a number of groups that want to take control over it. Their policies forcing them to take sides and govern in a just manner challenge the two to deal fairly with various factions. The main focus of the second volume was a rebellion in the prison, with the prisoners doing everything they could to alter the outcome of the previous episodes emigration. In this concluding volume, Lafiel is forced to abandon Jinto in order to protect the lives of her small fleet against a much larger invasion of humans who are trying to reclaim the occupied system. Torn between duty and her personal feelings towards Jinto, what will the young ambassador do and what will come of it are explored pretty thoroughly here."

The box cover put it like this: "Imperial Calendar Year 956. Operation Phantom Flame has come to an end and has been hailed as a complete success. Now, the Imperial forces have embarked on a new plan, codenamed Operation Hunter. Their task: to hunt down and destroy any remaining enemy forces. With Lafiel's new title as Territorial Ambassador, life has been rather boring...until now. When they arrive at the recently-captured planet of Lobnas, Jinto and Lafiel realize that Lobnas was once a prison planet, and now that the Abh have taken control, it has now become their problem."

Episodes
1. Operation Hunter: This episode sets the stage with the 4th fleet fighting some small remnants of the now defeated enemy. The Empire has been clearing vast tracks of territory across the Universe, retaking space it had lost in the war and it gives just enough of a background for you to enjoy the series as a stand alone DVD. There was also some background in the form of a lengthy flashback with Jinto.

2. Planet of Exile: Approaching the planet Lobnas II, the crew of the Basroil, led by Lafiel and her brother Jinto, are hailed from the planet by four factions from the planet. One is the leader of the prison guards, another of the female prisoners, another of the male prisoners, and the last by a group of sterilized prisoners who were allowed to settle in the middle ground. The headache of choosing who to recognize as the official Prime Minister of the planet is the focus.

3. Emigration Plan: Jinto, taking the responsibility of dealing with the population upon himself, sets up various aid programs to provide food and supplies needed by the people. A sizable number of the population want to leave the planet and he explains how they'll need to find planets willing to accept them. Other problems arise to get in the way too.

4. The Hunters: With an enemy fleet nearby, the fleet is faced with a choice to attack it, not knowing if the enemy is weak enough to be defeated or to wait and amass a larger force in order to insure a victory. Jinto gets to explain to the population how times are tough.

5. Rebellion: Jinto, acting in his official capacity, tries to see what's happening with the scores of prisoners rebelling. Apparently, not everyone wants to leave the planet and those staying want to keep the women in order to breed with them.

6. Abh Hell: Jinto, now in the hands of the rebels, is a pawn in a much larger game for the forces at hand. Lafiel and her crew prepare to handle the matter when it becomes obvious that they aren't properly equipped to deal with it. While they won't negotiate for Jinto's life, they have no problem with describing, in great detail, what will happen to the kidnappers when they are eventually caught.

7. The Flag of Gasarus: With a small fleet of royal ships in the area, Lafiel attempts to get their help in the emigration and rescue of Jinto. The enemy has a fleet coming their way and a power struggle between the two factions of the royalty will decide the outcome both in the space above the planet and down below.

8. Things to Protect: Admiral Spoor, forced to protect Lafiel's emigration plans, is caught between a rock and a hard place. Her forces are greatly outnumbered yet to save face, she must defend those leaving Lobnas II, against her wishes. She attempts to negotiate with the enemy fleet in order to buy time but they don't go for it. In a bold move, Spoor attacks the enemy but soon finds out that she has no hope of winning.

9. To Lay Down the Bow: Spoor's remaining forces retreat with heavy losses. The enemy fleet has proven to be unpredictable and Spoor eventually must weigh her option to surrender. Another couple of Imperial fleets, including one led by Lafiel's father, a respected Admiral, go to check out what happened to her.

10.An Abriel's Tears: Lafiel returns to Lobnas II in order to find Jinto (or his remains). Her forces find some survivors of the riots that might have a lead to Jinto's whereabouts. With no rations and on the run for weeks, his fate was all but certain yet Lafiel had a need for closure. Considering the series started with his death, his chances aren't considered good.

BONUS EPISODE: Passage of the Stars: Birth: This was a separate OVA that showed how Lafiel's parents met years ago. It also showed how they fell in love and ended with her birth. It didn't add anything great to the series but it was a nice touch for fans and the small touches are what make the series interesting.

Okay, fans of political intrigue combined with action and various forms of battles in futuristic settings will have a lot to enjoy here, even if the series is supposedly a bit of a replay in many ways of the franchise offerings that came before it. There were some thematic corners cut at times but the show provided a different type of story with the emphasis being on ruling a planet already won in an epic battle (of sorts). Administration tends to bog down even the strongest military outing and this one side steps the sheer boredom of that kind of thing by having lots of strife among the inmates from the prison planet. As a value packed boxed set, I thought the DVD set was worth a rating of Recommended though some loyalists will think of it in even better terms (and I can't argue that the lower MSRP made it a better deal).

Picture: Banner of the Stars II: Complete Collection The picture was presented in 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color. Aside from a few minor issues, it looked great. I saw no compression artifacts and the colors were very fitting for the shows darker subject matter. In large part, the episodes were well done but there seemed to be some minor grain added, perhaps to make it look more film-like, that I didn't really notice when I first reviewed the episodes. A quick comparison to the original discs showed me that they looked the same, right down to the mastering and other qualities so I don't think anything was changed.

Sound: The sound was presented with a choice of either 5.1 Dolby Digital English Surround or 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese with optional English subtitles. The vocals were clear and the music quite well done, both contributing to the feel of the show as much as the visuals did. There was some separation of the audio tracks, especially in the battles, and that made it almost feel like a movie rather than a series. My personal take on the quality of the tracks is that the dub was handled fairly well with great range and dynamic qualities but the voice acting seemed more natural on the original language track.

Extras: The best extra was the bonus OVA episode on the last disc. I detailed it above for those who care but the bottom line is that this is the kind of extra that fans clamor for. There were also trailers, clean opening and closings, art gallery materials, and a series of text offerings called Newsletter of the Stars that contained spoilers but also information that made the series more easily understandable to those of us that hadn't seen the original.

Final Thoughts: Banner of the Stars II: Complete Collection was a story set in another place, at another time as the aftermath of a galactic expansion of a race of beings taking back their lost territories. The specific story revolved around one world brought under the domination of the race and the problems that ensued with ruling over it, all in a neatly tied up package of a boxed set at a low price. The previous series gained huge followings for a good reason and those wanting to see some of the main characters finish up their roles will do well to check this one out and even pick up a copy considering the new lower price.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.