The Irresponsibility of Yang Wenli

[@KatoBeyond]

Tomorrow at NOON EST be sure to come back to our channel for the official announcement of the Kato Anthology Kickstarter! KAK, it's not whack! We launch this project with great excitement. Thanks to all of you for making this book more grand than we ever could alone.

[@HxH2011DRA]

I got yall covered!

[@wargeneralbonez]

Do you hate Yang? Because if you do then this video is an insult to me.

[@anthonyjohnson6199]

People who think Yang should have basically become the god emperor of the Iserlon Republic are kind of missing the point of his character.

[@algomez8563]

Infuriate fans?

[@anthonyjohnson6199]

@@algomez8563 No he is opposed to tyranny.

[@algomez8563]

@@anthonyjohnson6199 and still this character infurates a lot of fans.

[@anthonyjohnson6199]

@@algomez8563 Yeah and they get infuriated because they missed the point

[@faisal5367]

he dont need to be "god emperor", just a benevolent dictator. Yang is smart, but kinda naive IMHO.

[@AlexTekle]

To further add to the show’s theme of cyclical history, Yang’s own life mirrored that of Ale Heinessen himself. Leading a desperate struggle for the ideal of democratic government and liberty, only to die along the way and be succeeded by his second-in-command. The difference between Reinhard’s dream for a better galaxy and Yang’s ideals are that no one but Reinhard could make his dream come true, while Yang was succeeded and the ideals of democracy managed to live on in another form. Like you said, they were playing two different games and both managed to win in the end.

[@CHURCHISAWESUM]

Yep. The show’s writers are clearly big fans of the Great Man theory of history

[@willyvereb]

​@@CHURCHISAWESUM Maybe? I feel while there are very influential characters who seemingly make history the author also made it clear that the underlying social elements played a very important role. Why people of the Federation murdered the disabled and those deemed inferior? Because there was already a strong eugenicist sentiment. Rudolf only rode the waves. Why Reinhard took over? Because everyone was waiting for a regime change with the continuously weakening Goldenbaum Dynasty. Similarly it wasn't Yang's responsibility to save the Free Planets Alliance. It fell because of the strains of war, corruption and number of other failures. Reinhard was exceptional, sure, but he would've never gotten this far without the state of the Empire being the way it is. If he was born 150 years ago then probably he'd have been assassinated/executed after his first major success. Instead even the emperor secretly supported his aims. Weird as it may seem, I feel LotGH supports both sides. Great men are born at every time but they don't neccessarily have the chance.

[@localneo-graphic4647]

He realized too late that, regardless of his ideals, he was the only one fighting for democracy, everyone else was just fighting for him. If he just said, 'fuck it, I'm military dictator now,' no one would've blinked, because it made fuck all difference to them. Yang is on their side, Reinhard is on the other side, and that's just the way things are. They're fighting for sovereignty, not ideals. Reinhard fights because he's literally bored to death at the idea of anything else, and Yang fights for an ideal no one gives a shit about besides himself. Despite this, he still wins, only to die to absurdity. It's really ironic, does Yang apologize to democracy when he dies? No, he apologizes to the people he cares about, his actions show that he feared death and did not want to die, even if he was willing to accept that reality. Meanwhile, Reinhard literally does not give a shit if he lives or dies, because what was important to him is already dead.

[@ryanmoore6259]

Except that leads to a dangerous precedent. Democracy is better than racism long run

[@BigTArmada]

@@ryanmoore6259 and when democracy becomes racism?

[@mechcannon]

But that isn't entirely true. Yang's belief in Democracy is what sparks the Iserlohn Republic and eventually the presentation from Julian about building it within the Empire to Reinhard, which will eventually bare fruit under Hildegard. It's Yangs actions to preserve the idea of democracy is the reason the remnants can sing about it in episode 86, he's preserved the idea of the FPA by acting against that, unlike as the coup did, they threatened to destroy it. They were fighting for him and by his goal of democracy, he inspired everyone else to take the torch after his death. If Yang wasn't committed there would be no Julian to take up the mantle and try or anyone else. They'd instead be committed to JUST Yang, who after his death would leave behind nothing but people longing for his return.

[@RocketPropelledGuy]

@@BigTArmada asks the big questions. What if representative self-government is no longer, or even just for some temporary period of time, in the best interest of the people? Perhaps dangerous, even fatally to future self-government? When someone is doing things that are reasonably articulated by observers to be suicidal they may be, by force, made restrained from being actually able to commit suicide until it is reasonably determined they are no longer in such a state. All of these are excuses of dictators consumed with a lust for power, but also legitimate concerns of people who just want their countries to to be justly governed with rule of law.

[@self-imp1189]

He was too good, for his own good. His biggest issue, was not having a Lawful Good character like Kircheis around him, he´d likely survive long run that way

[@BigTArmada]

Yang was a hero and a deadbeat, his duality and contradictions are some of the best character writing in modern art. The entire universe is a labor of the closest thing you can describe as true love, and largely a masterpiece because of it.

[@self-imp1189]

He was a very defensive Admiral, offensive wise, I think he knew he was way more limited than Reinhart and thats why he overfocused on defense so he could guarantee the survival of democracy

[@KatoBeyond]

@@self-imp1189 All I'll say is, Yang came out on top every time Yang and Reinhard tried to kill each other.

[@Bahamut998]

@@self-imp1189 That's such as stupid ideal though. He didn't fight for democracy, he fought for the corrupt regime ruling the democracy. It's likely Reinhard's rule would be superior and lead to more democracy.

[@tigerofmompracem1544]

@@Bahamut998 yang himself admitted that if all dictators were like reinhard his system would be more favorable. The problem is its not and once he dies who knows who gets to takeover with all that power. Its true democracy can be more corrupt than a autocracy, but at least u get to choose what type of poison u suffer from when u choose politicians, and it presents a higher chance of citizens choosing someone that benefits them and not someone that benefits himself.

[@Bahamut998]

@@tigerofmompracem1544 It's difficult to say because I've never lived in a dictatorship, but democratic regimes in the West for instance: 1. No longer function. 2. No longer are truly democratic (corrupt). 3. No longer benefit the people and even lead nations to the abyss and just reinforce social inequalities. So at this point you need to ask yourself if between oblivion/death and a dictatorship, maybe a Tyranny might be better. Yes you might be "oppressed" and have less liberties, but what if that guarantees the survival of your nation in the long term? I think going back to the Ancient Greeks, it was commented that democracy is one of the worst forms of government because its mob rule and always devolves into a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy).

[@Briski__]

The video reminded me why I love this show so much, we need more Legend of the Galactic Heroes videos on KZbin

[@nineonine9082]

I will always remember the days I watched LOGH, even if it was partially because I was working nightshift while I watched them =P

[@mrwolf84]

there's only one answer, that yang can possible give, but i prefer the Attemborough answer: "so what?!"

[@mechcannon]

Yang saved democracy by his commitment to it. If he'd broken from that principle, there'd be nobody committed to returning it like Julian and the Republic are, there'd just be people who loved him, fighting for Iserlohn not for the whole galaxy. This is the reason Julian does what he does, rather than protecting just Iserlohn as the last bastion that would eventually be corrupted.

[@beetheimmortal]

I personally think Yang was the better tactician out of the two, but he just refuses to properly strategize. Reinhard can win because, as Yang at some point himself said, he "has already won by the time the battle starts". Not that it's his fault. It just doesn't fit with his ideals and character. Kircheis told Reinhard that if they "could be friends, nothing can stand in [their] way", which is absolutely true, but sadly, they were born in such different circumstances it was just no feasible.

[@hennyzhi2261]

The thing that makes me think back on Yang more than Reinhard after watching this show so many times is how tragically at odds his life always was (Spoilers for all of Lotgh onward). He has a moral belief that he holds so strongly, yet arguably everyone doesn't understand it until Julian pieces everything together towards the end (not even Greenhill understood this and she was the closest person to him). After loosing his home because the one leading it at the time needed a martyr to appease the empire he finds the one planet willing to have the balls to ally itself with the Republic of Iserlohn... and the politicians of that planet similarly hold views that tie Yang's feet despite him never abusing a political shortcoming to cross the line from head of the military to dictator... and he dies because of it. He becomes a martyr against his own will, the date was just pushed back. But I think the thing fans could forget is that he succeeds where Reinhard doesn't because he lived this struggled situation to achieve a victory beyond death - a legacy that can be said to be exemplary and more important than that a legacy that is human. His most ardent disciple achieved a lasting peace accord with a, thankfully, benign supreme dictator. The dictator dies shortly after, but the future is in the hands of Mariendorf - a queen who has shown no shortage of insight and proper judgement. Yang's true character as a man, an idealist, a historian - all will be preserved by the Republic which is allowed to co-exist and furnish a proper spirit of self-rule. He is not some golden god, but a model that can be replicated. The universe can live on without heroes or legends now, much like how Diocletian must have felt when he tried to split the empire of Rome first two ways and then four.

[@megazero952]

sorry but this is bull and in the end, the NSMC was proven right, the true worth of the myth of democracy and rights against a nationalist, imperialist, totalitarian, homogeneous culture. after the very rights that Yang wanted to save resulted in setbacks and trip ups and stoped him from fighting to the best of his ability. it resulted in the FPA being rolled over and it rights and conitution becoming worthless tollet paper under a new galactic hyperpower and a small rump state that the empire can starve out at their leisure.

[@hennyzhi2261]

@Jotaro97 I hope it didn't come off like Reinhard's legacy was any less valuable - in many ways it was extraordinary. He had human relationships which shaped him well and kept him from loosing his mind with all the power at his disposal, especially his best friend from beyond the grave. However, I think its one of those moments in history where you really don't want to roll the dice and say the next few leaders of the world will be as great as he was. Sometimes that's even a product of people believing that they can't possibly live up to that legacy that came before them. I just think Yang will have more of a positive impact over time as the propaganda fades and people are allowed to look at him more critically; the people have a better shot at emulating the positive aspects of the man behind the myth than Reinhard. But this is all speculation about a hypothetical future.

[@valscottage]

@@hennyzhi2261 it didn't. you like yang better, which is understandable. ive always liked reinhard's character more. but that's just me

[@Bubblegob]

That's a very good point, the fact that Yang was human, that he valued his friends and stick to his values being somewhat of a mellow dude that could be vulnerable and sincere makes him way more approchable and less of a myth than Reinhardt could ever be because as a supreme leader Reinhardt had to be some kind of unscrutable god of war, you can aspire to be like Reinhardt but there will never be a method to being Reinhardt, the fiery fire of his will will always be somewhat mysterious no matter the amount of insight you get about his life while Yang can stand as a guenine role model.

[@muqingwen2740]

Now I really wish to hear your interpretations of: 1. Reinhard's inaction during the Westerland Massacre (and his determination to realize his childhood dream); 2. Julian's worship of Yang's ideals; 3. Muller's role as the sole ambassador between the Empire and the Alliance. Whichever of these characters you are most interested in!

[@thatoneguy-wr3px]

Reinhard's intentional inaction u mean?

[@Excalea]

​@@thatoneguy-wr3pxMore like Reinhard being lied to by Oberstein. Reinhard was going to think about it to give a response and would've actually sent a fleet to intercept the attack. Knowing of this possibility, Oberstein intentionally lied about the timing. By the time Westerland was nuked, Reinhard was too late to do anything about it and can only do what Oberstein advised him to do, to capitalize on the atrocity.

[@henryfleischer404]

@@Excalea In both the books and the newer adaptation, Reinhard was not lied to, and letting the bombing happen was his decision.

[@wilsonriley1856]

@@henryfleischer404 Not in the OVA. In that instance, Reinhardt sends a fleet to stop the attack, but Oberstein is in command and deliberately misinterprets orders as he believes that ending the civil war quickly is a higher aim than stopping one planet from getting glassed. I agree with Reinhardt’s decision to stop the attack, but from a Utilitarian perspective, I can also understand where Oberstein is coming from.

[@thepgawesomechannel5930]

I absolutely love how a show made Yang a character where his fatal flaw was humility. He had no will to hold any political power as he believed in democratic values and the will of the people to his core. Unfortunately the system he was defending was corrupt beyond repair much like the Roman republic. Yang was the only person who could have fixed it by becoming a Caesar like figure, but much like George Washington was humble to a fault and had to be convinced by his peers to take even limited action political. I absolutely adore the historical parallels made in this show, but also just uniquely devoted Yang as a character is to his ideals. As a result I believe he’s the greatest character ever written.

[@AlexTekle]

Agreed. In this galactic game of politics, you’re either a player or a pawn, and Yang refused to be a player.

[@autokrator_]

LoGH is my favorite anime but I really wish Yang was a little less perfect and a little more flawed, he was too one-dimensional. He was certainly the weaker of the anime’s two protagonists.

[@thepgawesomechannel5930]

@@autokrator_ I’d have to disagree with the fact that he’s “perfect.” Yes he’s a military genius and humble and caring person who hates war. He wields so much power and influence just off his personality and anti government attitude. However, he never uses his power to make any real change. He recognizes the corruption and weak state of his country and how it militarily weaken him, yet due to his morality or just cause he doesn’t want power he does nothing. He character is more subtle the how he works politically because he himself wanted no part in it as apposed to Reinhardt were that is his primary motivator. In the end he dies for this very mistake of leaving himself in a weakened state politically and militarily.

[@autokrator_]

@@thepgawesomechannel5930 See, that doesn’t disprove my point. If his only major flaws are that he’s too humble and loyal he’s not truly flawed. He never makes mistakes, never makes a tactical error, and he’s never genuinely stumped at any point of his career. Even the likes of Caesar, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, and bin Al-Walid struggled to earn their hardest fought victories. Yang always just shrugs and effortlessly pulls the perfect tactic for literally any battle out of nowhere. I still think he’s an interesting character but I just don’t think he’s realistic or as well-written as Reinhard.

[@thatoneguy-wr3px]

​@@autokrator_and Yoshiki Tanaka make Reinhard too flawed tbh, his pride and lack of maturatity screw up many thing.

[@rootin222]

What’s ironic is that Yang wouldn’t have even been a military dictator he would’ve been a jerry Rawlings like figure whom could use his prestige and popularity to enact populist policies

[@gembocobo9484]

legend of galactic heroes strangely enough led me to love the saga of tanya the evil as a black comedy parody of this show with popular story tropes mixed in.

[@henryp9671]

I mean they are pretty similar in their themes about irrationality of war and how governments will convince you to die for only their own benefit. The difference is Yang feels all morally conflicted about it where Tonya is just like I’m gonna do my best to profit as much as possible. They’re both really good shows based on really good book series

[@KatoBeyond]

Will have to check this out.

[@AmandaFessler]

As a Tanya fan who saw LoGH just recently, I couldn't help but see how the two were in such similar predicaments. Just that Tanya getting screwed over by bureaucracy and her own plans to retire constantly backfiring is more of, yes, as you say, a black comedy.

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@AmandaFessler Post RotJ and espesvially New Jedi Order era Star Wars EU also reminds me strongly of LOGH, there are so, SO many times the New Republic military has to threaten to either leave the known galaxy at the Vong's mercy or comes within days of an outright Coup under Borsk Fey'lya, or even after he dies and they're incredibly bitter at senators sacrificing military assets to protect their own retreats from Coruscant There's a reason beyond physical resemblance that some people meme NJO Wedge Antilles as Yang Wen-li. Pellaeon in the Imperial Remnant needs to make a similar threat to the Moffs, to just take the navy and leave to join thr Galactic alliance with the moffs defenseless.

[@fluidicrift]

Yang is the poster child for "evil wins when good men hesitate" and BOY did he hesitate! He had every chance to become democratically elected president especially after he destroyed the coup. He turned down promotion to Chief of Staff many times when the Alliance was in a position to win. Let's face it had he asked Lohengram to sit down with him and put him in charge of Alliance space when Lohengram conquered them I guarantee you that Reinhard would have acquiesced and given Alliance a "vassal" state status that would be stripped off its military power BUT would be allowed to exist as a quasi independent dominion state like how Canada and Australia are technically property of the UK monarchy but they self rule. Lohengram was always seeking out someone like Yang especially after Kircheiss' demise and goddam those two could have come up with a robust constitution to make a "fairer" system with Yang's idealism tempered by Lohengram's pragmatic nature. Their wives were also very competent and capable women who could have fine tuned the final agreement. Sadly it didn't go that way.

[@mysterious5678]

Actually! Throughout the series, I was thinking of needing a character like Oberstein on Yang's side. Yang was more interested in writing history rather than changing it. He had power and people like Rreinhard. But looks like it proves the point that a leader needs to be ambitious.

[@neh1234]

That's really the thing. Yang wasn't against Reinhard but against the concept of an absolute dictatorship, which was what the Empire ultimately was. Becoming a vassal state just means shutting up. Sure they might be okay with Reinhard in charge, but what's reassuring you that his kid will inherit his moral stature? Hell, what's reassuring you that another Rudolf won't step in the throne? If I had to argue, it was Yang's absolute refusal to compromise on his own ideals despite being hopelessly outmatched after being betrayed by the republic he believed in, what ultimately made Reinhard listen to Julian. Yang's endgame was never vanquish some kind of evil, it was democracy surviving the poster child of why a monarch with absolute power might not be a bad idea, and on that regard he succeeded. Democracy survived Yang and democracy survived Reinhard.

[@SchmitzCinemaStudies]

We need more LOGH videos.

[@siphonius1278]

Yang was dealing in Tactics, while Rheinhard dealt in Strategy

[@The_CGA]

Soldiers cannot simply surrender the strategic initiative, or they are doomed to be sacrificed for politics. So, basically, there’s an apologism for the Eisenhower and Churchill types that know that soldiers are wasted if strategy isn’t something they can access

[@bakasa3429]

You can't force anyone to be responsible for millions of lifes. Yang was more responsible than most of the people in the world. I wish there were a lot more people like him in real life.

[@swndayswyno2447]

Frodo não queria ser o portador do anel mas por saber que se ele não fizesse nada muita gente iria se dar mal ele decidiu aceitar o fardo por mais pesado e cruel que ele fosse. Frodo é um herói. Yang é um babaca com máscara de santo.

[@code.c.]

god this channel is underrated

[@MrM9819]

Is it though ? I really don't think so.

[@grischu8277]

The amount of videos made about this show is very lacking. Every addition is appreciated!

[@robmcchargue]

That smoke alarm chirp...

[@ImmaLittlePip]

What I love about this show is it shows you the strength and weaknesses of both sides and why each character wants to change things for the better Compare it to media now where most shows have the democracy be all ideology. Where it's the most perfect form of government and there's no point to critisize I think that's why legend of the galatic heroes will always be relevant and still is a masterpiece of media

[@REALTachikomaia]

Well, thats one of the good things, but there are bads too. A question for you: Why Reinhard hates the Democracy so much that he makes so much people to die fighting it? how can he think thats better than to coexist? isnt he supposed to be inteligent and good? Only two charpeters left for me to finish it and seems that the war continued, even with Reinhard, because imperialist were to stupid to search peace. That seems to be a very bad notice, I liked the show a lot but seems that it was 110 charpers of iincreasing idiocy (the Rauvental case seems the peek, even if I understand it a lot), or maybe 50, 75, I dont know. Its... decepcionante. How you say it on english?

[@henryfleischer404]

Yeah, I like that a lot. It made me interrogate WHY I like Democracy and think it's the best system, and better understand what I'm seeing happening in my own country.

[@blackestyang7528]

"I'm Yang Wenli, I think politics are bullshit, these suits are entirely using me for their own ends, but because of some abstract ideal I care a lot about what the people think, and you're the people, so try to make good decisions, even though I know you won't, and ultimately you're not immune to demagogy and laziness, but it's your right to make those bad decisions, so I'm going to go fight a lost battle for you all now. Pleased to meet you" ~implicit text from Yang Wenli's speech at Job Trunicht's rally

[@シークヮーサー]

Whenever I finish watching an anime you always make videos on it and it freaks me out how well this timing is

[@noahwen-li]

God damn I love this show and character

[@user-YuHaoHuang]

at 6:28 there's actually a giant middle finger in front of Reinhardt you just can't see it

[@ching3220]

Could you do one for Reinhard as well? My favorite LOGH character of all time. I hope to see more of logh content. It's just rare to see people talk and analyze this show. Thanks always for the great analysis!

[@KatoBeyond]

Fortunately, I haven't heard many people attacking Reinhard for things that I felt I should defend, so Yang got a video first. But I definitely love Reinhard and I will definitely talk about him more one day.

[@ching3220]

@@KatoBeyond Looking forward to it! Thank you!

[@XiangYu94]

His benevolence vs Reinhard’s pragmatism reminds me of the dichotomy between Liu Bei & Cao Cao

[@ultracapitalistutopia3550]

I think it's important to state which version you are talking about when discussing the history of the Chinese Three Kingdom period, the historical Sanguozhi or the fictional Sanguo Yangyi. In the fictional latter Liu Bei is heavily idealized while Cao Cao is depicted more like a complacent tyrant. Yang's almost fundamentalistic view on democracy is closer to the fictional Liu Bei; Reinhard's pragmatic approach feels more like the historical Cao Cao.

[@CHURCHISAWESUM]

@@ultracapitalistutopia3550Correct

[@redemissarium]

@@ultracapitalistutopia3550 nah, even novel liu bei would bloody coup backstabbing job trunicht without second thought and had zhang fei and guan yu behead everyone....

[@tonyofhousestark1511]

I swear Logh is way more similar to Three Kingdoms than to any other anime out there

[@HxH2011DRA]

He who takes no notice of the welfare of the masses, may not be called righteous and humane."-Han Feizi The individual always comes second compared to the larger community it relies on for his/her survival.

[@KatoBeyond]

"People may need communities, but they don't necessarily need nations." -Yang Wenli One could argue that allowing the Alliance to dissolve as it deserves or be absorbed by more effective leadership is taking notice of the welfare of the masses.

[@HxH2011DRA]

@@KatoBeyond indeed

[@Superhero18]

@@KatoBeyond Yang's argument is eloquent, but it's not realistic. What is a community without a nation? It's nothing but a random slab of people gathered together on a piece of land. The need for laws, customs, and ideally responsible and wise leaders to govern over said community is essential to the survival of the community. While the individual benefits from the community, without the individual there is no community that exists. Just randomization. As you can tell, I'm pro-Reinhard.

[@KatoBeyond]

@@Superhero18 I could tell haha. Communities existed before nations. If you think about it, laws only compensate for the fact that our communities have grown too large for any two random community members to care about one another. It's not necessarily unrealistic to imagine a world that doesn't resemble the one we inhabit, because so many elements of our reality could conceivably be different. I think human society falls under that umbrella.

[@Superhero18]

@@KatoBeyond I concur with that argument. It's true that our community(particularly pertaining to America, as a US Citizen) has grown far too big, for the Original Republic(which was 13 colonies) to sustain. Incidentally, it wasn't the desire to expand and have Manifest Destiny. It was just opportunism meeting opportunity. However, as the country grew(and thus, our population), the need for a government that could accompany vastly differing views across the land was necessary. Democracy is the furthest thing from that. To paraphrase Reinhard: Democracy is the sum of its parts, and therefore undermines the value of the individual. Some might say 'There are even fewer Reinhards in real life, then there are in fiction'(which is true.) However, to me throughout history it was always easier to get rid of one bad apple, as opposed to the effectiveness of the vote. In the 20th and 21st century values of democracy, I'm definitely old school when I think the aristocracy had merit in its governing, even if they failed in their approach to human civility. To me, the two facets of aristocracy differ in their merits.

[@noobster4779]

Honestly. Yang is as close to a fictional character as I want my military to be in real life. We had the Reinhard type of Character that sacrifices everyone for his "destiny" before here in Germany. No need to repeat that. Yang is the closest thing to what is the main philosopy of modern germanies military: A soldier is just a citizen in uniform. He defends the ethics and norms of the society he himself feels obliged to. It is the same reason why in modern Germany it would have propably been legal to refuse to obey orders concerning the Westerland massacre :) No matter how corrupt a democratic gouvernment has become, as long as the basis of the election process are still functioning and the population can vote freely, the responsibility lies with the people themselfs. That is why I am definitly in the Yang-Camp. He is an idealist, but the history of democracy has always been just an ideal from the beginning. Everyone that believes in democracy is by default an idealist. That is also why I cant understand the people saying Yang should have taken over. If he takes over it is just one dictator against another one and the entire war from that point on becomes utterly pointless because if he surrendered to Reinhard at that point the result would literally be the same: One military dictatorship remaining. But that is just my opinion :)

[@BloodSugarLQ]

Agreed, from Yang's point of view making the Alliance into a military dictatorship would actually be worse than surrendering because he wouldn't want to prolong the war. To him, there's no point in fighting if he's not fighting for something.

[@self-imp1189]

It´s also guaranteed that they´d lose as a military dictatorship to Reinhart and the Earthists, Yang knew the Alliance was nothing without focusing on defense first and foremost, ofensive wise he knew Reinhart had way more experience and genius, but defensively he could keep playing him.

[@Bustermachine]

@@BloodSugarLQ More specifically, there's no point in fighting if his nation is just a clone of the one on the other side. I think a lot of people don't understand that while LOGH is a symmetrical story, Yang and Reinhardt are deautoroginists who face similar challenges time after time, it's not symmetrical outside of the story. Because the Empire isn't Real. But the Free Plant's Alliance is. There's no Prussian Aristocracy running around fighting wars these days. But Japan, the US, and their various allies are mostly democracies, warts and all. Even modern authoritarian states don't really resemble the Empire. Yang has the much less enviable positions that his nation doesn't exist for the sake of fueling the war machine, nor does he want it to become such an engine, as doing so would just mint soldiers and warships to be sacrificed against the Empire over and over again until the end of time.

[@Bustermachine]

@@self-imp1189 I don't entirely agree. I'd say that Yang and Reinhardt are about equal in ability. Though with different strengths and weakness. But all other things being equal, if you put them in a simulation where they could do whatever they wanted without moral or political considerations, Yang would be likelier to eventually succeed in bating Reinhardt than the other way around.

[@mauricedesaxe1745]

Just to throw my hat into the ring: I think I would place Yang about Reinhardt in a different dimension, that is in vision. Reinhardt stands for good aristocracy; he is a fair and meritocratic ruler who wipes out corruption and incompetence in every corner of the universe. But the way Reinhardt achieves this end guarantees it will not survive his death - there is nothing to prevent his successors from abusing their power, which history bears out as inevitable. Reinhardt's vision is ultimately limited to his own lifetime. Yang is different; he is a historian, and the most aware of his place in history among all the characters. Yang believes in democracy and self-determination and believes democracy will ultimately rise again even if the Alliance should fall and Reinhardt rules the universe. Yang's refusal to tarnish the Alliance's democracy with military despotism guarantees its downfall - but saves the idea of democracy and an apolitical military for future generations to implement and perfect. And given that it is inevitable that Reinhardt's empire will slide back into misrule, it isn't difficult to see how democracy could return to the universe in coming centuries, or perhaps even decades.

[@klaasfaak4039]

This video is remining me how great the Overture to a new war movie looks

[@petersilveira1629]

saw yang on the thumbnail, clicked on time

[@Chill6063]

My man Yang just wants his pension, but all these dumbass leaders in the alliance make his back sore due to how hard he carries their army so he can't retire.

[@jcdf2]

I still haven't watched this show. Good video.Kato.

[@derticia1661]

I think Yang is a good character, but the part that I find insufferable is his myth of invincibility doesn't feel earned. Reinhard gets to have character flaws that impact the flow of the narrative directly, but Yang's laziness and inaction, in spite of everything, doesn't ever actually change the status quo. Everyone loves him because he just predicts the future every time, or he needed to capture Iserlohn for the sake of the narrative. His flaws only ever elicit an "Oh, you..." from his followers. If there were more people besides Schenkopp trying to prop him up as someone to politically rival Reinhard, I think there would have been more interesting conflict, because then his idealism is challenged publicly. The only time I believe he slips up at all, during Reinhard's thin paper strategy, Julian covers for him, because the author needed to pre-establish Julian's potential as a tactician somewhere.

[@IAm-zo1bo]

You have really high standards my friend

[@konyadake1602]

how does this comment got 15 likes?

[@konyadake1602]

"Everyone loves him because he just predicts the future every time" i can't be sure if you actually watched the show or not...

[@juhani6307]

6:10 your smoke alarm needs new batteries

[@oddguy116]

Best anime ever

[@yeetkunedo]

I subscribed because of the original LOGH video. More people need to see this shit.

[@KatoBeyond]

Thank you, that video is slept on if I may say so myself

[@maysonnarciso8665]

Beautiful explanation my friend.

[@utnis]

I don't like seeing Yang as irresponsible because it means Yang acts above the call of duty. Yang believes every citizen in a constitutional democracy must participate. So Yang must abdicate what he's talented to do that is beyond the rules of constitutional democracy in order to preserve constitutional democracy. Else you get another dictatorship that acts against the will of the people that should legitimise a government.

[@neonnwave1]

Not to mention that Yang had no great ambitions (just wants to live a quiet normal life) meanwhile Reinhard did (to rule the universe). Yang believes in democracy while Reinhard believes in aristocracy. Yang is laidback meanwhile Reinhard is stern. The two are polar opposites yet equals.

[@narikoxx4888]

Yes I have been searching for this video for ages... could you analyse Rainhard too

[@user-YuHaoHuang]

great video as always

[@The_CGA]

Worth noting Yang kinda does resort to false flag commando stuff, playing it very close to war crimes the way he captures Iserholn. But then, I kinda see this as him asserting that “those who fight” need some level of agency over when to take the strategic initiative-when to escalate. In other words, he won’t bend democracy, but he’ll bend the norms of warfare instead. Because war sucks.

[@costelinha1867]

Yang Wenli being this super talented soldier and tacitician who's constantly forced to keep fighting in a war he never wanted to fight in the first place because of the incompetence of his superiors just scream "suffering from success".

[@jerrycloud4033]

More videos of LOGH like this pls.

[@jutjet4011]

I love this Yang character x

[@almightykingbob85]

@kato I absolutely disagree with your take on the Greenhill coup. It does not reflect an improvement from what came before as you claim, but instead reflects the further decline of the FPA. Jessica Edwards represented political opposition to the corruption that had taken hold in the FPA government and it is telling that her death in the story comes not at the hands of her political enemies (such as Trunicht), but was instead killed by a coup aimed against that same corruption.

[@brendanohara9354]

^This is it people. I found it

[@benprof535]

YANG TEEKOKUUUU

[@flash012234]

Yang always played by the book. Perhaps it led to his downfall, but he never broke the code. Hero in my book.

[@jonreese7066]

Yang is the best military commander in the series. He is democarcys greatest defender sadly he never had a chance to win not because of Reinhard or anything Reinhard could do but because His own leaders were profiting on the war continuing. Its been a long time since I watch but I think Reinhard said this. If the Leadership of the Alliance had the dedication of the lower level civil servants the Alliance would never have lost If I recall what happened was after the Alliance surrendered and Empire's forces were occupying government buildings the civil servants destroyed their records so the Empire couldn't get them. Yang could win military victories but he couldn't end the war because the elected government officials were profiting too much on the war continuing. When Yang captured Iselhorn they were in a strong position to sue for a peace settlement but since it was an election year the politicians wanted to make themselves look good so they ordered an invasion of Empire territory to win the election. An ill planned invasion without objectives for propaganda purposes. Heck even Yang being ordered to capture Iselhorn the first time was a propaganda move that was expected to fail to make heroic martyrs out of Miracle Yang and his fleet. The only way Yang could change the outcome was to do the same thing Reinhard did take over his government but then it would have been two dictators against each other. In the Long Term dictatorships fall apart because even the most benevolent dictator grows old and die even if by old age and when one dictator becomes leader anyone can be and there will be those who will try. The dictator's subordinates will plot and scheme and sabotage each other the whole suffers. In theory democracy triumps if they are the voice of the people. If people use their heads in voting they give power to the capable and vote out the fools. Doesn't always work in real life but thats the theory.

[@ayami123]

remember the dynasties in china, it's always follows 3 rulers golden age, 1st the Progenitor, 2nd the Golden Achiever 3nd the Last Before the Decline 4th The Real Decline of the Empire. it always Follows these steps. well except Ming that shit only lasted 1 good ruler. hell even that one was crazy as fuck

[@jonreese7066]

@@ayami123 i get it as I said eventuallt it will fall. I think it was the Qin Dynasty that lasted only one ruler. He was the first to unify China from something like 7 warring states.

[@jonreese7066]

@Jotaro97 are you sure? Or we just dont hear about.

[@Neeverseen]

Great analysis.

[@kagekun1198]

So basically Yang Wen-li refused to take the great responsibility of the power he has been given. But the real tragedy is how easily he would have been pacified with his military pension and free reign to the library. But perhaps that is what Reinhard really wanted by placing Heinesen in the governance of a military commander that focused on grudges than actual governing.

[@boernaut]

First of all, great video, I really enjoyed this analysis. It's a pity it has so few views. May I ask where you got the footage? It's the best quality of LoGH I stumbled upon. Is it from the blu ray perhaps?

[@elderonn3]

It is from the movie that replaces the first and second episodes.

[@boernaut]

@@elderonn3 Thanks for your answer! However, I rather meant the "source" for the footage since it's so high quality

[@SwungCookie]

Damn, didn't even bother to edit the fire alarm beep out

[@rootin222]

3:44 I think that’s a pretty bad comparison the problems of the alliance are more easily fixable compared to the problems of the galactic empire the aristocratical nature in feudalistic style economy breeds all kinds of social problems at the story doesn’t really touch us much compared to the alliance but it’s easily able to be assumed that most people in the galactic empire are on average poor than those in the alliance

[@KatoBeyond]

I was mainly talking about the people in power in both nations with those two statements

[@rootin222]

@@KatoBeyond hey bro I hope I didn’t come off this past of aggressive I do like your video and I’m happy you’re giving this show visibility you seem like a guy that can make a great analysis I just hate how a lot of people can’t see how is shows trying to make a point and sometimes the politics of the universe gets afflicted by the writers decisions like I genuinely don’t believe that the free planet alliance would completely submit to Julian just because he was Yang’s personal protégé I think they would’ve still been pro democracy movements that would’ve had thought the empire not to mention do you have to remember the revolutionary government in Facil And a lot of the nationalist in the free republic alliance wouldn’t sit idly and watch them selves be annexed by the empire there’s a lot of vagary that I think is poisoned by the idealism of the riders my opinion this anime is probably the best representation of politics in the real world

[@alejandrobustos693]

So Yang would be Yi sun shi (Korean admiral) and Reinhardt Alexander the Great?

[@HuxleysShaggyDog]

I heard your smoke detector at 6:12

[@machaiping]

I would say Yang was loyal to his ideal. Yang didn't take over the FPA not only because of the betrayal of his ideal, but because it'd set a bad precedence that military coup against democratic nation is normal. And after that, you would no longer have democracy, but whatever it is that the military wants you to have. Democracy would be in name only, as the moment the military felt slighted or disliked the civilian government of any given term, they could just immediately take control away and everyone would be apathetic to it. Just look around in Real Life and you will see many countries that has democracy in name, but everything is actually move according to those with guns in the military, not citizen. All started from a military coup, or multiple of it that cemented it in the mind of people that democracy means squat in the face of might makes right.

[@donbenjamin6459]

I just love how yang though that with isherlong under their control the war could be over. Because that is what he believes, that is razonable. The same happened with anibal after cannae. Will roma surrender ? Of course what else can they do ? Roma didn't surrender

[@EthanKironus8067]

The one thing I hate about Yang, and honestly LOGH as a whole, is the nakedly anti-religious 'theme' permeating the thing. Yang's personal critique is mixed up with his own self-contradictory nature, but given that the only religion named as such in the entire series is literally called "Terraism" that's pretty much defined by its actual terrorism, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that it wasn't just him. What frustrates me the most isn't even necessarily the 'theme' itself, it's the fact that it lacks LOGH's characteristic nuance. And this is while politics, especially "democratic republicanism", is more or less treated as a religion in and of itself! Let alone Reinhard being de-facto worshipped. Sorry for the rant but this is one of those things that we ought to recognize when it comes up. I'm a Muslim and I love LOGH, but even objectively there's a problem here.

[@catocall7323]

Everyone in the empire worships Odin. They constantly reference Valhalla and the favor of the Gods. The show just shows their religion subtly but it's very present.

[@EthanKironus8067]

@@catocall7323 Point taken.

[@harrisonc985]

how can you make a video this detailed yet not hear that cieling cricket in the backround

[@voodooprince5561]

6:11 Fire alarm chirp

[@supsup335]

Blame Yang? Most do. Not me.

[@uncannyresemblance]

I almost forgot that my life’s mission is making at least ONE person watch LoGH at some point

[@Ikaezboi]

Holy molly, the quality of the scenes used in you videos is astonishing, which version of LOGH did you watch ?

[@robmcchargue]

Piercing chirp at 6:12 really pierces. Otherwise, pretty solid.

[@REALTachikomaia]

Guy Im using the subtitles and Im interested in what youre supposed to talk but then you started to show things about Code Geass and I dont understand what the hell youre saying. Is some kind of hipnosis? Youre even showing the hipnotic power of than anime. I tried to keep watching but I cant stand such idiocy, its a shame, so irresponsable we could say.

[@code.c.]

6:11 gotchya

[@Viper4ever05]

Where can i watch this?

[@MalaysianChopsticks]

As a deadbeat and a good worker who can find solutions to tricky situations. When I leave, everyone leaves soon after

[@ahnafmahmud7067]

Where did you watch LoGH to get it in such good quality?

[@whyjon2990]

where can i watch this show?

[@oddguy116]

VRV or most anime pirating sites

[@brothertaddeus]

HiDive and the HiDive channel on VRV.

[@Jacqueline-st8mu]

Gogoanime

[@godemperormeow8591]

If he’d just joined Reinhard, he would’ve saved countless amount of lives.

[@valscottage]

he wouldn't. reinhard literally stands for the complete opposite of yang's ideals. if there's one thing we've learned from yang's character, it's that he won't betray his ideals

[@neh1234]

It wasn't about the lives. It was about the future. Sure, he would have saved soldiers had he just allowed Reinhard to take over, but the thing is, such conflict of ideals was what let Reinhard understand about others' point of views in his final days, and what would pave the way to a constitutional monarchy later on. Without being faced with opposing point of views, Reinhard would have lived and died as a conqueror, not a ruler, leaving ironically the buds for his dynasty to end up as badly as the Goldenbaum dynasty, and potentially dooming way more lives in the future. In the end he had to acknowledge Yang's point of view regarding autocracies. He himself was an anomaly, and there was no way his descendants would be as competent or fair as he was.

[@Sodamanonzo]

You can’t blame Yang. Yang and Reinhardt both wanted Universal peace. Yang really though (war = bad) if I win enough battles peoples better nature will lead to peace. Reinhardt went the other way. “I’m going to make people have peace. I’m going to peace the f$&@ out of them by controlling everything. Yang truly believed that eventually democracy and free will would prove Reinhardt wrong. And he failed….guess you can blame Yang.

[@ultracapitalistutopia3550]

I don't agree with your interpretation of Yang's belief in human's nature. All Yang wanted was to retire ASAP. He knew democracy does not always lead to ultimate peace and prosperity. What he believed was that all people should take personal responsibility if they desire liberty and prosperity, not shifting that responsibility to others with power such as those corrupted politicians. Yang always stressed that it would be people's fault if they let that happen. And that's why he rejected Reinhard's offer, he could not stand a system which deliberately relinquishes people's responsibility to shape their future.

[@ryanmoore6259]

yang wasn't irresponsible. Power can corrupt and Yang could have made things worse. It also doesn't hurt that there were those who genuinely wanted to fight for democracy (Bucock, even people like Walter Islands and the officials who defied Reinhardt.) The last guys who tried also ended up just buggering things up

[@jorgebersabe293]

Neither Reinhard nor Yang wanted to be like Rudolf.

[@ayami123]

power corrupts is just a misuse words created who are ignorant. This simply isn't true when put up to the lens of empirical investigation. One classic study comes to mind: In 2001, Professor Serena Chen and her colleagues examined how selfish v. selfless individuals would behave when put in positions of power. Chen and colleagues gave participants in their experiment control over resources and punishments of another individual (or not) and then measured aspects of their personality. The personality measure assessed the extent to which the participant tended to be communal-a selfless sharer of goods, favors, and resources-or exchange-oriented-a selfish calculator of what one is owed by others. Participants were then given an opportunity to help another participant during the experiment. The results were definitive: selfish powerholders were selfish during the experiment, and they failed to help their partners. Selfless powerholders, on the other hand, actually continued to be selfless and helpful even when they were given power. The moral of this story: Power doesn't corrupt everyone.

[@Bustermachine]

​@@jorgebersabe293 While that's true, the assumption here is that being a dictator actually lets you do whatever you want. But it doesn't. It never has. Rudolph tried to shape reality with absolute power, and still despite his totalitarian extremes, his 'ideal society' decayed rapidly after his own death, if not before. LOGH wildly smooths over the amount of politics, compromise, and sausage making, that takes place inside of dictatorships in favor of romantic courtly drama and acts of daring do. While the alliance is stuck with very mundane and very real political problems as a reflection of real world Democracy.

[@Bustermachine]

​@@ayami123 Never say something as decisive as 'the results were definitive' in a sociological study. Any sociologist worth their salt will point out that their tests and experiments are tentative at best because a true experiment would be logistically unfeasible and ethically impossible. Unless your willing to stick people into a prolonged simulation where they run a country as its privileged elite, with all the risks and rewards of doing so, all your doing is role playing over a short time span. Being communal within your personal sphere is also not really the problem. Plenty of histories monsters have been lovely people to their friends and family. Power corrupting has to with how it effects people beyond your 'monkey sphere'. Which is incidentally not something that Chen seems to have been testing for. Dictatorship historically fails to help the people as a whole because the very incentives that maintain a dictatorship favor consolidating societal surplus and dividing it out to the smallest number of people who can reliably keep the dictator in power. And the dictator does this because, well, all those people they're starving or depriving of opportunity are abstract to them. They're statistics

[@rickvrieling]

Goodday

[@flamingfishsticks1412]

Cringe opinion

[@KatoBeyond]

Watch the show again

[@Bahamut998]

I know it's entirely subjective. But altogether I prefer the Empire to the Republic planet government. Even under the brutal nobles and Goldenbaum dynasty before Reinhard's takeover. At least in the Empire, the citizens at large may live impoverished but simple & stable lives. In the "democracy", it's just corruption and people being at the mercy of politicians;

[@Bustermachine]

What about the Goldenbaum dynasty made you think the lives of the peasantry were 'stable'? It was outright stated to be a corrupt police state where you could be disappeared by the secret police in the middle of the night for 'thought crime'.

[@DMOND-qg2cg]

What anime is this

[@oddguy116]

Legend of the galactic heroes

[@Arttano]

Legends of the Galactic Heroes.

[@freddykrueger8076]

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

[@NoNameAtAll2]

Legend of the galactic heroes

[@jcrosenkreuz5213]

What they said go watch it

[@aidanderson53X]

What's your thoughts on the new version of the show? As a person who hasn't seen the original, it seems like the superior/more faithful adaptation of the novels plus the art style doesn't look like a 240p PS1 FE box art.

[@KatoBeyond]

I love the new version! Superior is a strong word lol the original series made improvements upon the novels from what little I've read, so the new adaptation loses much by being more faithful. But it does look great. Though imo, the original show still looks great too

[@IAm-zo1bo]

Maybe it looks more shiny and clean but the character design is a downgrade and the scenes don't hit as hard

[@Max_Le_Groom]

You're too verbose.

[@KatoBeyond]

You just think that because you can't say words.

[@Kei-im9yh]

I agree, and the way he talks sounds too much like he's reading a script.

[@freddykrueger8076]

@@Kei-im9yh 99% of KZbin Videos are read from a script

[@MrM9819]

@@freddykrueger8076 You don't get it, the problem isn't that he's reading from a script, the problem is that he sounds like he is reading from a script, as in stiff and robotic.

[@KatoBeyond]

@@MrM9819 I get quite a few comments like this from people who haven't heard me speak in a normal setting, but I can't change the fact that I actually am a robot. Maybe be a little more sensitive to non-organic lifeforms.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

Classic LOTRH is utterly unwatchable to me because of it's bad Musical decisions. I can't wait till New Thesis finally covers everything.

[@MrM9819]

There're many more idiots in this world than I thought.

[@jareddesilva6957]

Get ratioed.

[@rootin222]

The new logh has a terrible art style?

[@Kuudere-Kun]

@@rootin222 No it doesn't.

[@rootin222]

@@Kuudere-Kun yeah it does

[@Neasyorc]

Asking people to take out a second mortgage to support you is cringe. Please don’t do that.

[@KatoBeyond]

Believe it or not, this was the least cringe Kato Anthology ad I recorded

[@socoriosa2423]

Where can I watch the LOGH series in HD? Gogoanime only has 360p/240p ones and the art is uglier.

[@KatoBeyond]

I just watched on gogoanime tbh lol

[@dr_booze6106]

HD? The show was made in the 80s...

[@shh3910]

Torrent It reaktor's Encodes are pretty clean

[@kekbin1697]

Torrent from nyaa?

[@janehrahan5116]

Take the bloody shot yang, just do it, stop being a romantic and just do it!