Well, this is one milestone in my history of anime watching. The first I approached it rather cautiosly. I watched 2 episodes from Seikai no Monshou (Crest of the Stars), the first series. It looked rather boring with an elf-clone like babe as character. Then I started it again, watched 2 more episodes and said: "Wow, greatly visionalized sci-fi background, well done characters, and a nice history behind it all" Then continued to watch 'till I fainted, and switched to Seikai no Senki, the second series. I fell in love with the world, the universe of Banner of the Stars even more. Intense space battles, no disturbing mechs, just capships fighting amongst themselves in hyperspace. This was what I've been missing for years and found myself satisfied. After that I learnt that Seikai is an epic series in Japan, much like Tolkiens LOTR in the west. It spans over 5 or 6 books. Of course ultra rare, and never translated it is a near impossible task to get them. I know, I tried ^^" Maybe I should really try to have time to learn japanese. There are many sites about this series, and there's one thing which captivated me. The writer did the same thing as Tolkien. Created a whole language for the Abh, and in the books, the Abh speak this language, it's even written this way on hte pages, and over it in caption there's the pronounciaton and the japanese translation. Talk about detail :) Anyways I'm heavily addicted, although the Seikai no Senki 3 OAV left me with an empty heart.. it was kinda weird after the 3 series. But nonetheless, I love it. Anyone else lost like me? :)

Yea... the seikai series is definitely a Must Watch on the all-time anime list.. it is really that good..the story is epic and the characters are the best.. those two are the most polite people in anime i have ever seen.. haha.. and yea.. it does make me want to read the novels in japanese..i wish they would translate it into english..
SoS 3 was weird..but it was only a 2 hour movie instead of the usual 12-13 eps like the previous ones, so.. it's understandable..and i still liked it..
in short... i will say there are a lot of people who like this series! you're in good company.

I have watched Crest of the Stars (CotS) as well as all three Banner of the Stars (BotS). Indeed the space battles are breathtaking. And besides capital ships duking it out against each other, there�??s also the dogfights amonst front-line smaller support vessels which more often than not, are the highlights of the battles as they provide the first punch to their military offence.

My personal favourite would defintely be the first BotS as the series is solely focused on the current military campaign (as well as Lafiel being given command of her own attack vessel). The battles were really intense as you mentioned. And I love their concept of �??bubbles�?� that can merge and unmerge depending on proximity of ships. Makes the whole battle take on a whole new look.

As for the Abhs, what I loved most about them would be their looks. Delicate-looking and ageless, their looks betray their abilities. Abhs are a proud, fearless and obedient lot. Everyone is like a cog in an engine. It reminds me of the trueborn clansmen in the Mechwarrior series. The psyche of the Abh race is mostly explained in CotS though.

I won�??t really go to deep into my review of the other BotS instalments but for a review of BotS i, you can go here: http://www.animepaper.net/forum/posts.php?tid=7587

As for the books, it was translated but the site no longer hosts the books the last time I checked.

Just checked the review of SnS 3 ^^" Would it be possible to re-upload the books? ^^"

I adore this series, all of it Crest of the Star and Banner of the Stars, although I'm still not really sure why I like it so much. I'm a total fan and love d/l pictures and wallpapers of this great series, although they are rather rare. I just heard about the third BOTS installment and it sounds great (although short). Will have to ferret out more information on it :)

I love it. I just love it. I have all dvd's (CotS, BotS1 and BotS2). This is what I want from anime (among other things). Epic battles, great feelings, some realistic humour, good characters and credible world & plot. And I find the lack of swag (wallpapers, figures, pencilboards, keyrings...etc.) disturbing. Must. Buy. Stuff.

I have also Seikai-trilogy -manga. I love first two (they don't give anything new but I just had to buy them, it's this little obsession-thing)...but the third. Arrrgh. First rule: Do. Not. Change. Artist. In. The. Middle. Never.

And yes, I also am waiting that third installment. This excitement is killing me....

Third instalment (BotS i OVA) was subbed by ANBU. You can still get them via BT at Scarywater's site. Or you can check their irc xdcc bots to see if it is still there.

Seikai no Danshou is also a good watch. It is a prequel to Seikai no Monshou, and is about Lafiel's parents. It is only short, but makes for an entertaining watch; it also fills in a couple of small plot points, which is always good ;)

Seikai no Senki i was a tad too short --- it tried to fit 10-13 episodes of plot into two episodes --- but was still nice in its own way. I did find the disjointedness and jumping from scene to scene frustrating, though I hear there was a rerelease with extra footage to ease this a little. Besides, if Spoor does not get hours of air time, what is the point of watching it? ;) Seriously, though, the world of the series is excellent, and I wish I could read the novels: I believe they would be absolutely awesome!

Yup, yup Seikai no Danshou was also intersting. Even more, that the way I see it it wasn't explained in the Monshou books how exactly Lexshue and Lafiel's father fell in love :) Dug myself through the CotS books in two days. It's really a good read, and Morioka's style is just superb :) By the way, I dug up this:

The Abh Nation
This is interesting :)

Whoaa!! Indeed! Interesting. Very interesting. But, because I am a linguistically challenged, somebody should start translation project with this. ;)

If you're feelin mazochistic, try turning the battle HUD to Baronh :D