You know how Legend of the Galactic Heroes is Napoleonic Wars but in space? Well, Gunka no Balzar is the Franco-Prussian War but in the Franco-Prussian War. And it's not the only parallel. GnB is pretty much the manga version of LoGH. Absolutely sublime.

From a historical and political point of view, Baltzar is incredibly fascinating, because lesser stories would try to shoehorn in modern day ideas and morality, but instead it shows even Great War -era thinking as futuristic dreaming. Actually, it's so authentic, I'm even wondering if the author is a bit of a relic himself, heh. Not that I would mind, that would only make him someone after my own heart.

Anyway, how the characters behave like healthy 19th centurymen makes pretty much all of them likable regardless of whether they are technically protagonists or antagonists. In those days, autocracy, wars of conquest, revolutions, executions, corporal punishment, etc. were everyday, accepted things and thankfully, the story totally reflects that without more than a whiff of authorsplaining. The story builds up and you have to jump onboard at your own pace. Not that it moves quickly, you have plenty of time for that. Baltzar is a very slow story. Everything happens at a very relaxed pace, just perfect for a crypto-historical drama.

One thing that I especially adore is how uncharacteristically realistic the portrayal of military life is. You tend to either get a high school or salaryman office with army trappings, or something like Full Metal Jacket. But in reality, the military in a conscription country, especially military schools of different types, is regular life for the people in it. The garrison is your home. Your regiment is your family. Your comrades are your brothers. And the story reflects that in a beautiful way. An old reserve NCO like me gets all nostalgic about it all. If I had to describe GnB with a single word, I would use "cozy". Incredibly cozy. Reading about the students grappling with change and conflict and different backgrounds and worldviews is really just a damn joy. It's amazing how a historical and fictional story, a political drama, has more normal and relatable characters than almost anything that is a modern day personal story, specifically written to be as relatable to a reader as possible. Even though for Baltzar's genre, the people are technically speaking just there for the background, playing the roles of mooks to be expended to make the story go forward, literally everyone is soulful and full of character. In a world of death and war, marching in files and ranks, mechanically reloading muskets and cannons, everyone feels somehow totally irreplaceable. I can't put across just how goddamn full of SOUL this story is.

Little things I don't like is that the drawing is a bit shaky, especially in the beginning. Some parts are really good on the other hand, especially a certain cavalry fight between former students... you'll get there. Then there are some annoying anachronisms. Possibly since Prussia entered the Franco-Prussian war with the fast antiquated Dreyse, and the author had to show Weiβen (fictional Prussia) as a modern power, he chose to replace the musket-like arms with Kar-98k -lookalikes, which never stops looking dumb. He should have used the 1888 commission rifle instead. Or at least a long Mauser. Perhaps one faraway future year, some heroic fan will redraw them and save a million sore butts. Oh, and Bernd Baltzar (I mean, "Bernd", really?) himself is even a bit too good at his job, kind of bordering on being a male Mary Sue. And his hair makes him look like Phoenix Wright.

Anyway, f'ing read it.