You know, when I saw that picture of that castle I realized how un-typical this series is for Satelight. I mean, their trademark is spamming eye-candy, and lots of it, even with the series that Shoji Kawamori has nothing to do with. Mouretsu Pirates however doesn’t care about that in the slightest; that castle picture was probably the work of one of the artists behind Guin Saga who was brought in temporarily to make it look authentic.
The character-designs in this show are varied, but I really wouldn’t call them eye candy, and this is pretty much common over a lot of other works from Tatsuo Sato (most notably Stellvia of the Universe, where the CG looks really out of place when you think about it). However, this series does look very consistent, and it shows that with effort you can make a great show even on a limited budget without trying to be all visually fancy. This is a great example for the projects who don’t have great artists to back themselves up: instead of focusing on a few money shots here and there while ignoring the rest, it’s also very much possible to just deliver consistency without standing out, in order to focus on the characters. In this case, it worked nicely to bring life to the characters.
In any case, this was the type of building-up episode that I like: the ones that are interesting. This episode added a lot to Gruier by showing what her home country looked like. The Ghost Ship also turned out to be the first manned space flight meant to cross light-years, which is a clever way to again flesh out this setting.
Marika is also really getting the hang of being a pirate captain. She takes initiative when she needs to, but also listens to advice when she needs to, and this episode once again balanced this out really well.
I also liked that anti-climax that was used when the princess’ new dress was delivered. The two servants really looked dangerous and the music that accompanied it was really well chosen, and yet nothing really happened other than a few things being delivered. After all that build-up, it seemed kindof odd, but in a good way. We’re definitely going to see those two again, but this was a very interesting introduction for them.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I wonder if there’s some special significance to the new ending song. I get the feeling this will be the last we’ll see of Marika’s school life. Is Moretsu going to be a half-season or full season series?
Mouretsu pirates is a two cours anime, 26 episodes.
I was all about ready to drop this show 2 episodes ago. However I finally feel as if it heading somewhere now following this episode.
The show still does not excite me, however if they can keep the story interesting I can at least feel that the time spent on it was justified and worthwhile.
My favorite show this season just keeps getting better. I really appreciate the writing in this show.
There has been a ton of great build-ups and good pay-off so far, and I think this Ghost Ship quest will be a great next-step.
I expect a little more tension and solid action in the next few episodes.
The biggest problem I have with this show is that it’s not about pirates. I don’t care if she wears a pirate hat. I don’t care if they call themselves pirates. They are not pirates.
Pirates do whatever the hell they want. That’s the entire attraction about them. No rules. No morals. Just do whatever you want. But in this show pirates are given official documentation to pirate, their robbery is considered entertainment to the public, and they spend most of their time discussing technobabble. They tried so hard to place pirates on the good side of the moral compass that they stripped off the entire point of being a pirate.
These people are no more pirates than the Naruto characters are ninjas.
I know I should just accept it as it is and run with it but it just really bugs me.
Lol. I get what you mean but even back in the heyday of pirates, alot of them were privateers working for one of the several countries at war with one another. And part of the romance of those old pirate stories is about finding buried treasure. I think this fits in with Moretsu Pirates’ current quest pretty well.
The setting of the story is a few thousand years since the time of pirates sailing galleons. I would imagine the role of piracy would have evolved. And I get the feeling that piracy during Marika’s parents’ time might have been closer to our traditional ideas of piracy. Everyone just seems to be dumbing things down for Marika’s sake, to allow her to adjust. Did you notice how the cyborg pirate crew dropped their weapons, calling them just for show, and switching to something embedded in their bodies?
Personally, I prefer light-hearted, humorous yet thrilling adventure stories. Something along the lines of the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
They are pirates working under a Letter of Marque. This happened in the age of sail very often.
The idea the pirates are always lawless is wrong-headed. They often had the backing of a government, and were used for tasks the navy was not suitable for.
To me, it’s a much smarter story than just making them fit the most common idea of what a pirate would do.
I do think that Aidan raises a good point about piracy, at least for Marika, being apparently just about giving a show for clients. I suspect that for the moment, her crew were just selecting very easy jobs that Marika could handle safely and that there were real, truly dangerous and very illegal jobs out there that Marika may not be able to handle yet. The intro gives me the impression that Marika will eventually get caught up in a war for independence between the grand federation and their little home star system but we’ll see. Again, I stress that it’s been thousands of years since the Age of Sailing so the role of pirates may have evolved into something only the creators may have in their heads. Looking forward to it.
How come Gruier looks like Princess Serenity (Sailor Moon)?
This is what you call a reference, but Im sure you pretty much knew that already.
I thought the gentleman/servant sounded like he was delivering a coded message with the peculiar emphasis and repetition on his “everything is all right”.
Caught this as well but not sure what it meant. Gruer instantly straightened up and got serious when she heard these words. She started of as happily relieved but suddenly got her guard back up. Not sure whether the chancellor meant anything when he said that the two most “useless” people were sent on this errand. The two people most loyal to the princess, who’s apparently heir apparent, are the lowest members of the food chain in court. Um…power struggle in the court which the princess is losing badly? Does she need to be the one to find this ghost ship with deep historical significance to her country to prove her legitimacy or something? Just off the top of my head.
Last week, which introduced Gruier to us, already felt like adequate build-up, so it almost felt like they were almost stalling this week, as they have 26 episodes to play with.
The constant returns home to the comfort and familiarity of Sea of Morningstar are hurting the sense of adventure before it ever has a chance to take root. Marika needs to get out into space and stay there for a while. Morningstar will keep.
We get it: Gruier is cute, charming, and popular with Marika’s classmates and yacht club colleagues alike. But Chiaki informs Marika that other pirates are going to be hunting for this ghost ship, suggesting a race (and rendering all the security surrounding that earlier exchange of intel moot).
Shouldn’t the Bentenmaru get a move on already? Can’t the big meal wait until the mission is accomplished?
Jo-chan: they changed the character’s appearance from the original source material specifically as a tribute to the “other” Princess Serenity. There’s been quite a bit of that kind of thing in this series.
It’s a minor gripe, but why does the ghost ship flight path (shown around 24 minutes into the show) looks like a figure made from several straight lines, with no curvy orbits and such? Nobody touches on that; I’d think it means that the ship is still manned and travels under some kind of orders.
Well, that might be an artifact of the way the star fields are depicted (I’d have to go back and look to see if that’s a viable explanation) but I do think that they intentionally put forth the idea that the ship is being consciously directed — though that could be by a sophisticated A.I. as well. They have mentioned robots in the show, though we haven’t seen any. (Schnitzer doesn’t count — he’s a cyborg. With power-boobage. That’s so cool!)
Its following a course that takes it where its least likely to encounter any other ships, if the dots on the map represent star systems than at some point it must have been fitted with an FTL but essentially it must have been set on a course to keep something onboard safe but out of reach. With mention of cold sleep equipment perhaps its not an object but a person/persons. original royal family onboard needed for a DNA test to prove legitamacy of an heir?
Yes. Something along those lines seems very likely to me. Or if not bloodlines, perhaps some crucial piece of historical knowledge. Could be any number of “secret” things. But some ONE definitely sounds possible. And given that the ship was described as big enough to hold several towns, lots of exploring/adventures could be involved. Good stuff! Hope it works out that way.