Legend of Galactic Heroes/Headscratchers


 * During the 4th Battle of Tiamat in My Conquest, 2.28 million Alliance sailors are killed in the opening half (which amounted to around ~122-123 per ship, in total) which is considered "light" casualties. If ships are so small and insignificant on their own, and made of paper...why isn't there more automation so that millions upon millions of people don't have to die in a single battle? And in fact, taking it a step further, why aren't the smaller ships just drone ships commanded by bigger ships like the Hyperion? That would probably smooth some of the communications difficulties in those big fleets.
 * The demise of Erwin Josef II seems odd: Count Von Landsberg kept a journal that indicated the boy starved to death - but why would he do that if Von Landsberg was still with him? Considering how devoted the Count was, he would probably feed Erwin before himself, and in any case a child would need less food than an adult in order to survive. There could be a plausible reason, like Von Landsberg locking Erwin up for safekeeping and an unexpected delay preventing him from returning in time, but the exact circumstances could have been explained a bit better.
 * Near the end of the series
 * Eisenach's unwillingness to speak Just Bugs Me: it seems extremely unlikely that an eccentric that prefers gestures that in any case must be interpreted by his adjutant to spoken orders would ever reach the rank of admiral.
 * He is perhaps so competent, that his superiors tolerate his bevahiour. Especially Reinhard judges his subordinates by their abilities and although we don't see Eisenach often in battles, the actions we observe imply that he is an excellent commander.
 * Also, this may have been a habit which grew earlier in his career, and only reached its current state after he'd established something of a reputation. Alternately, if he's of noble descent, those around him in his lower ranking days may have been swayed by the privilege of nobility.
 * Why did Reinhard feel compelled to grant Hildegard military rank and have her wear a uniform for the initial Operation Ragnarok, while being content to have her sit around his command bridge in her usual civilian wear during the campaign to annex the Alliance?
 * Perhaps they just wanted to see a woman in an Imperial uniform.
 * If the Mittermeyers wanted a child yet could not have one of their own, why didn't they adopt an orphan sometime during their eight years of marriage prior to the adoption of Felix?
 * They adopted Felix (and took in Reuentahl's young aide as well, while they were at it) because he's Reuentahl's son. It was a way for Mittermeyer to honor his best friend and give his son a chance for good life. Presumably before that, they either decided against adoption or were still trying the old-fashioned way (they're still young, after all).
 * How did Hildegard's shirt appear neatly folded on the nightstand when no other items of clothing were near the bed? Did Hildegard do it before falling asleep, or did Emil sneak in?
 * Why was the Patriotic Knight Corps still around to be suppressed by the Empire after they had annexed the FPA? Considering how they were seemingly nothing but hired muscle for Truniht it seems strange that they would keep going after he defected to the Empire, or that they wouldn't have been outlawed by the Treaty of Barlat.
 * I always assumed they simply went underground. They always seemed more than just hired muscle, more like extremists who believed in what they were doing. They were either not completely aware of the fact that Trunicht was using them for his own means, or didn't care.
 * Except that it looked like they had a rather obvious sign above the door of their headquarters.
 * Even so, being extremists it's unlikely they would give up, even after Trunicht's defection, especially with the FPA being annexed.
 * Why couldn't Mittermeyer arrange a military transport to bring Eva to Phezzan, instead of having to wait for her to arrive by civilian spaceliner?
 * Well, it's Mittermeyer and Eva. Maybe they thought Eva traveling on a military ship wouldn't be proper or something.
 * And then there is Kesler jumping through that window with pistol in hand. Reckless individual heroism is par for the course in Space Opera, but seeing a Grand Admiral doing something so risky when he could easily send some of his MPs up the ladder instead stretches credibility. There aren't even any soldiers climbing up after him.
 * Maybe he feared that any backup could alarm the terrorists and to be fair, the hostages were none other than the two most important persons of his “Kaiser”. Knowing his sense of duty, it doesn’t seem to be that farfetched for him to take responsibility and risk his life directly.
 * In a similar vein, Lutz' Heroic Sacrifice seems a bit forced. It could be that he wanted to make amends for his earlier failure at Iserlohn, but it seems silly that Reinhard would allow Lutz to do it (or even allow Müller to take his place). Lücke was with them and should be the obvious candidate, being head of Reinhard's personal guard and all. The bit about his place being next to the emperor makes little sense in context, especially considering that a Grand Admiral should be much more valuable to Reinhard than someone whose job is to guard his person with his life.
 * A very small point, but strange: in the "Duelist" side story the characters refers to the ray pistols they use in the setting as "blasters", and the rifles were apparently called "beam rifles" or somesuch, obviously pronounced in the Japanese fashion. What is odd about this is that they chose to use English designations in a culture that was supposed to be German-speaking - couldn't they have used terms like "strahlenpistole/-gewehr" instead?
 * Well, "Strahlenpistole" sounds really strange, "Laserpistole" would be the better choice. However, Blaster is/was a common description for weapons like this when the anime was made,( in the Star Wars EU, Blaster is the official name for these weapons, even in the German version).
 * Come to think of it, would people really refer to the standard type of rifle that everyone uses in the setting as a beam rifle instead of simply rifle? It appears gunpowder weapons are long obsolete and the use of flintlock pistols are a deliberate anachronism. It would be like referring to a modern assault rifle as a ''gas blowback rifle' or something in that vein.
 * Müller turned down promotion to Fleet Admiral because he felt he hadn't done enough to deserve it. Reinhard specified in his testament that all the remaining grand admirals should be promoted to that rank after his death. Would Müller accept promotion under those circumstances?
 * The clash between the Black Lancers and the troops under Oberstein on Heinessen seemed strange. Given that none of them wore unit badges or any other distinguishing marks, how could they tell exactly who the others were? How would they distinguish friend from foe if it came to blows?
 * How did 160,000 refugees manage to expand its population to the point that it could match the forces of the Galactic Empire in a century's time
 * The series mentions massive immigration from the Empire to the Alliance on it's discovery. Plus, by the time of the series, it had been about 300 years.
 * They also aren't matching the Empire, per se, but rather closer to barely holding their own. In technology, you can see from the ship designs that the Alliance ships generally mount more (numerically) and more exposed laser arrays, which don't appear to have any appreciably greater effect than Imperial weapons, even ignoring the differing aesthetics of the Alliance and Empire (which could be explained as just that - aesthetic). If the Empire wasn't forced to take a single avenue of attack down a significant and exposed logistics train into the heart of Alliance defences every time they wished to invade, they'd probably have won by the time the series takes place.  The real question is why this didn't happen in centuries before, considering that it was the "obvious" play from the first time the map appeared on the screen.
 * I recall reading somewhere that the novels describe the Alliance possessing a superior per capita GDP to the Empire, while the Empire maintained a superior population, leaving the two roughly even in terms of military power. As for why Reinhard was able to.
 * Why did so many imperial troops fall in line with Reuenthal when ?
 * One: Reuenthal was a highly charismatic and beloved commander, so much so that his troops felt greater loyalty to him personally than to the Imperial state. Two: Reuenthal spun his rebellion as being caused by Oberstein deceiving the Emperor into believing that Reuenthal intended to topple him.