First Impressions / Shoukoku no Altair

「大戦の始まり」 (Taisen no Hajimari)
“Beginning of the Great War”

Well boys and girls, it’s finally beginning. Altair has certainly taken its time getting to the stage of open conflict, but it’s hard denying it has spent that time well. Not only do we have a full on war on our hands, but a war with a clear and logical buildup alongside a predictable outcome—not the easiest thing to write, let’s just say. We may not know exactly how things will turn out of course (need that suspense), but Altair has done a wonderful job at laying the breadcrumbs out for all to see.

If the takeaway from prior episodes was the importance of economics in the affairs of states, the key lesson this week was the overbearing influence of individuals on setting strategy. We take it as second nature that countries act according to their national interests, but it’s often forgotten these interests are influenced almost exclusively to well-placed individuals. The entirety of this new war and its various alliances for example are owing completely to just a handful of men, guided by prior history certainly, but possessing their own unique wills. Take Urado’s king, he joined the alliance not out of some sense of national duty (and impaling an envoy), but because Venedik’s doge proved himself a man who would uphold his end of the bargain. Likewise the doge proposed the alliance because Mahmut personally brought everyone together and showed himself capable of extraordinary feats. Altair may be a story of nations, but its story is driven by the actions of a few, each with their own vision for the future and means of achieving it.

The best example of this point can be seen with Louis, who bears nearly all responsibility for the war. Balt-Rhein may seek expansion as a means of enriching its people, but it is Louis who seemingly forced the empire down the path of aggression and stuck them in a death spiral. Much like Nazi Germany quickly discovered, a state built around war can only survive by successfully waging war, and unlike less abrasive methods (ex. negotiation, trading), there is no easy way off this path. Once you run out of targets to pillage (or butt heads with someone too strong to overcome) you will collapse, one way or another. Balt-Rhein’s emperor implicitly understands this fact, which is why he signed off on Louis’ grand strategy and basically allowed him free reign. How Louis even wound up with such influence is a question for the ages (and one I hope is eventually answered), but right now it matters little in the greater scheme of things. Thanks to Louis’ machinations, Balt-Rhein has no other option to pursue and is stuck on warpath. The empire could very well fail, but it has no other choice than see its situation through until the bitter end. As much as for Turkiye, Venedik, or Urado, for Balt-Rhein this fight is all about personal survival.

Having wonderfully set up its penultimate conflict, the fun in Altair will be seeing how this war now actually plays out. I think it’s a given Balt-Rhein will lose (or be forced into a stalemate) in the end, but there are too many moving pieces and ambitious players for it to be that simple. There’s no guarantee Turkiye’s first foreign excursion will work, no certainty Mahmut can open the gates. What happens if Venedik is starved into submission, what if Louis’ southern attack is but a feint for a more vigorous assault elsewhere (a la the Manstein Plan)? Altair’s story may be somewhat predictable, but there is a lot of tasty discoveries left to be made. Quite satisfying knowing we have eight episodes remaining, wouldn’t you say?

 

Preview

18 Comments

  1. Balt-Rhein perhaps can open an other boarder to expand their territorial. Like Spain used and needed the “South India” over the great Sea. But also Portugal at their time grown on Power because of this new worlds to conquer

    So, if they get into an stalemate they could try other boarders.. Or they do sent their entire Army force into this nonsense war…

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

    1. IIRC, they’ve covered to around vol 9 (currently the series has 19 volumes out, IIRC) in general, this is a lackluster adaptation, from rushing the source materials, to changing characterization and situation, not to mention excising some excellent scenes from the manga. As a manga reader, i only keep watching it so i can see how bad the staff will butcher everything

      Donto
      Reply

      1. Besides the obvious rushing I wouldn’t say it’s terrible, at least from an anime-only perspective. The show has remained quite consistent in its storytelling, and while I still couldn’t name half the damn characters here, it’s remarkably understandable and fun to watch. Of course this could be owing to my love of all things political science/international relations, but even without that aspect I think it’s done the job well enough.

        Pancakes
        Reply

      2. I am also a manga reader and whilst I think, like many fans of the series, that the manga is far more superior, there are certain elements that I find better executed in the anime than in the manga. For example, episode 13 did a fantastic job in evoking emotions from me, at least, that I didn’t feel from the respective chapters from the manga. I mean, I cried because it felt as if I understood the plights of the characters a lot better. Also, in episode 7 I felt really sorry for Mahmut after that fiasco in Poinikia, because the mood was captured so well. The animation staff have cut corners and condensed a lot of the original source (my biggest gripe is that the battle during the civil war could be better animated), but I actually feel the the end product deserves a lot more praise than it has received so far. The soundtrack is also great. There are a lot of animes about war but not many that focus on the intimate details of politics that lead to warfare like Altair does especially in a manner that interests and educates viewers. Whilst there have been and will be animes that surpass this show, Altair remains a stand out show for me for 2017.

        Glutton
        Reply

      4. I wanted to check a few chapters after the last episode and ended by reading last transleted one.

        Do someone know why there is no chapters after “101 fasıl: Burning Homeland”?

        Seya-san
        Reply

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