This show… it feels like a bit of a combination between Ghibli and Last Exile. But things like the pirates (especially that pirate queen), the atmosphere, the sense of adventure. You can really see that this show takes a lot of cues from them, while at the same time using Leda to create its own identity.
This episode built up some very good suspense of disbelief with how it dealt about the deaths of those pirates last episode. It really put emphasis that that would have some very dire consequences, and that they’re basically at war with the pirates now. The rest of this episode took care of that quickly, but still it serves as a good build-up here. I doubt that that was the last that we’ve seen of them.
The thing right now is that that one robot is pretty much a godmode-button. Normally in storytelling this completely takes away all tension. And this will also go for this season, unless the creators do something with it. That brings us back to Urobuchi Gen, who obviously took that into account. The question now is: what will he do with it? Will he now focus on problems that can’t be solved with brute strength? Will he remain all-powerful, but will this turn into an exploration of the complications that this brings with it? Or will it pull in more people of Led’s kind, throwing the people of the Gargantia in the middle of a conflict that’s way above their heads?
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)
One of the most interesting things about Gargantia now is that Urobochi is only writing the first and last episodes, and the director has more control over the series currently than Urobochi.
The one problem I have with this show so far is that I either don’t care for or dislike most of the characters, with the exception of the robot. The rest are either a little generic or just act kind of like jerks; I understand being wary, but constantly proposing to dismantle the robot and kill the kid sucks alot of sympathy from the characters.
From where did you hear that Urobuchi is only writing the first and last episode?
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=14961
Script:
Daishiro Tanimura (ep 2)
Gan Saaku (Nitroplus; ep 3)
Gen Urobuchi (ep 1)
Storyboard:
Atsushi Kobayashi (ep 2)
Junji Nishimura (ep 3)
Kazuya Murata (OP; eps 1-2)
Note that doesn’t mean he won’t write more episodes, however, later on. It’s an ongoing series after all.
My intuition tells me that the enemies of the high-tech civilization will end up on Earth, and Ledo will have to fight some kind of guerilla battle to protect the Gargantia from them, and ends up becoming a universe-spanning battle.
Either that or Ledo had to learn how to do things without the use of military force due to aforementioned God-mode button, or somehow gets cut off from his robot and cannot rely on it anymore.
At the beginning of the episode I was a little disappointed with what seemed to be a generic “killing is bad” development. Things were much better than that: Everyone had different reasons to criticize Ledo’s actions. Also, Ami apologized for her “ungrateful” outburst, understanding she was more shocked than anything. Billows, the one saved, decided to have a calm talk with Ledo(as she was worried about his cold actions, not about the pirates), and didn’t forget to be thankful.
On the other hand Ledo is a very good character in my opinion: He has a very clear mind and, while looks amoral sometimes, he does have a personal sense of what’s right and wrong, which made him side with the Gargantia instead of the pirates.
I believe the next 2-3 episodes will be mostly character development and non-violent confrontations, as the only things that can oppose Chamber now are the Alliance and the Hydeas, so if the pirates try anything else, it will have to be using more sneaky ways.
I agree with your sentiments on Ledo. He is a character who has his own moral compass of what is right and wrong; it just may or may not fall in line with the people of Gargantia. We have to remember that he was raised in a different culture. I feel that that is where some further conflict may arise.
As of now, my question is whether or not Ledo will make contact with his people, will they ‘invade’ earth? Or will Ledo choose to remain silent about his whereabouts thereby sparing earth? I just don’t get a clear sense of where the story is going for him.
I did enjoy the scene where the pirate queen is thinking she’s all badass can pull Ledo into the ocean. Wrong!! Loved that part…
My prediction is that it’s inevitable that one or both sides of the intergalactic war end up on Earth, so there should be some conflict from that after some inevitable episodes of Ledo learning to live with the natives. For the ending, somehow I don’t see Ledo leading the Alliance back to Earth and letting them annex it. The question is whether he ends up staying, leaving, or dying.
Oh yeah, and serious stuff aside, what was with Rackage’s chained-up pet lackeys? Then during battle they were allowed to use those ships, and actually it turns out that they’re loyal and want to help her out despite being chained up all the time?
Funny thing is that, even in the water, I believe Chamber would have destroyed them.
About the lackeys, boa_sting, I think it’s some kind of S&M play with them, she seems to have a thing for that.
I was super suprised by this show and having caught up am truly enthralled.
I’m kinda pissed though.
The pirate queen seems like a bitch, why didn’t they just let robo boy slaughter them all.
My god you’re dumb beyond belief.
I am dumb beyond belief too.
Why those humanist feelings towards evil dangerous pirates ? You may wonder how they managed to survive that long. Why not send Ledo to annihilate them all in a few seconds, why risk lives as they attack with their whole fleet ?
It is a plot hole. The ultra-serious acting of the grand-pa looked a bit ridiculous in that context. And as psgels says the godmode robot is difficult to insert in a plot.
Apart from that the show is excellent. Very rich in its various registers (adventure, adult, tactics…).
While it is, by definition, a humanist pattern of thinking, it’s based on their current circumstances.
1 – The most practical aspect of it all: they don’t have the force or confidence that they will be able to strike back in case of retaliation. Ledo is not a god, he can’t “annihilate everything” as simply as you said, it’s not impossible that some of the pirates plot a scheme to distract Ledo and attack or, even simpler, Chamber’s energy runs out. Also, why would they trust an unknown kid with a deadly weapon this much?
2 – I’m pretty sure the Earth’s population has been heavily reduced, so it’s no wonder that BOTH pirates and Gargantians try not to cause unnecessary deaths. It’s the survival instinct that causes prioritization of life and a sort of implicit agreement. Obviously, either side would be very pissed off if said agreement was broken, which is reasonable. Knowing that, the Gargantians chose not to kill and end the cycle of killing as soon as it started.
If the pirates gave a shit they wouldn’t plunder.
Kill 100, save 1000.
Don’t kill 100, lose 500.
Which is better? What is worth the risk?
If I was Ledo, I would try to convince them. However you bring up a good point. I’ve been wondering about how much power Chamber has left ever since they landed.
and Again. Innocent people shouldn’t have to suffer. Scum can rot and die for all I care.
They are not some sort of foreign population with whom diplomacy is possible.
They are confirmed criminals, submitting or killing them are the only options.
What they called “respect for human life”, in a context of having your ships plundered, your women raped and your soldiers killed, was submission by force and an attempt at disguising that into a free ethical choice.
Maybe it was their only choice before Ledo, but after they saw what Ledo could do, asking him to remain in a decoy role as the entire fleet was attacking for total annihilation was raving loony nonsense. The population of gargantia should have sentenced their leaders to prison for treason.
However, as I said, the rest of the anime is very good.
My guess is that Chamber will run out of power. And then what? Ledo will be a normal guy stuck on Earth, and can’t even speak the language.
Yeah that would seem like the most logical thing to happen. In the first episode, after they went through the wormhole, Chamber mentioned that he shut down most of his systems to conserve power. So at the very least we know Chamber doesn’t have infinite power source.
Maybe the series won’t have Chamber completely run out of power, but at the least he’ll have to restrict his actions to slow down the energy consumption.
I thought about that. Problem is they’ll have to get chamber back into the story (I say chamber goes offline 3 episodes max). Given that, there’s solar power, and the story has suggested those “galaxy” streams. Eitherway, the most realistic explanation would be it takes a long time for Chamber to charge up back to operational mode when he runs out.
Eitherway, My hopes are really high for this show. How often can a show excite with a scene as simple as Rackage running amok on the the Red Lobster, knowing Ledo/Chamber are close by? I really like how they played her owning everyone and “almost” owning chamber with that smug “what will you do underwater?” 😀
Yes, the trap was really a good twist.
There is also a good integration in the plot of the discrepancy between technologies. She obviously thought it was an air-only device made by Gargantia.
Exactly! So when she got owned it was a perfect-plot-fitting outcome, not the usual “Just as planned” or unexplained cop-out powerup.
Other than that, its about time they started fleshing out Ridget, the commodore and that blond blabber mouth who’s been saying the same “sink him and take his craft”, even after seeing that Chamber IS the craft -_-. Right now its borderline excusable – for now.
Maybe in the end it will be the Robot who turns against Ledo and Gargantia. I think it was in ep 1 or 2, where he told the people on Gargantia something on his own accord rather than just translating what ledo said.
Apart from that, I like this series, one of my top 3 this season (next to maou and kyojin) Though episode 3 wasn’t as good as the first 2 in my opinion. The pirate queen was a bit too stereotypical for me.
What I am wondering is what they were thinking having the pirates leader be a barely clothed lesbian (she has 2 female slaves who are also barely clothed) who looks too young to be a pirate leader. It’s almost like she was put in purely for fanservice!
I have to admit it’s more fun than an old blackbeard…
Gargantia’s site already spoiled us on who probably will be the series final villain. Then again, now that i think about it, only that villain might pose a threat to Red/Led/Ledo/Redo *i will call him Red, i already got used to that* and Chamber.
But next episode, Red’s Harem Begins! YAY….not really. At least this will be the first time Urobuchi puts a harem into his series, so who knows how this might work.
I honestly hope this series doesn’t go for the grand underdog role to end the series, meaning them fighting Ledo’s own comrades at the end. Seriously, one robot against many would not win, especially with the power they seem to possess. I honestly think Subtlety is the best result. Let him build his new life on earth, and in the end, let him make a choice, a life of being a soilder, or one as a member of Gargantia. I think that type of ending works best with this series. It makes more sense, and fits with the vibe i am getting with the series