Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet – 04

I made a really big mistake when first judging this series by its trailer: I thought that the characters looked really generic. In the end that turned out to be the big strength of this series. The thing with the character here is that they don’t try to force their quirks onto the viewer. Because of that they seem plain at first, but this show managed to flesh them out quite well here. You can see that all characters are based on some kind of idea, but when you look at them, they are more than just that idea. The ones who received attention, anyway.

I really liked this episode, which was all about exploring the cultural differences. On one hand there is Led with his military training and education, and on the other there is the social community on the Gargantia. I really liked how much inefficiencies Ledo saw in the way everyone operated (even though he too had trouble fitting in at times). The development of him fitting in is slow, but he’s constantly changing so far. I also really like how he’s beginning to pick up the language.

Also, yay for continuity. A hole in a roof stays broken until it gets fixed. And it doesn’t just get magically fixed, it takes resources that come from somewhere. That’s what I’m looking for: those kinds of details. It’s a shame that this show only has 12 episodes to flesh out its setting, because the creators are on their way, digging for gold, though the question is whether they’ll reach it in time.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

12 thoughts on “Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet – 04

  1. Yeah, this does feel a bit like an older series (older because, a few years ago 26 episodes were the standard), where they spend their first half building up their characters and setting and then the second half the actual plot kicks in. If they are going for this formula, I don’t know if 12 episodes are going cut it.

    I have to say though I am anjoying this so far.

  2. Yes it feels like an older anime, and I think that’s quite good, because it is very refreshing to see a story with an actual sci-fi universe, not another highschool comedy (or even non-comedy).

  3. The biggest question in this series is:

    How can there be tea if there are no trees and no land?

    1. There’s a couple of ways:
      * some magical hydroponic gardens left over from bygone era,
      * less magical gardens with soil insulated from hull by virtue of some kind of plastic coating, so that the whole ship doesn’t rust,
      * just potting plants.

      1. It’s more the existence of land-based plants after an ice age and no land to speak of, than methods of growing things.

        Or maybe they just make “tea” out of some kind of sea kelp or algae or whatnot.

        The thing I want to know about is Amy’s furry friend.

  4. I’m really hoping that this series will get a second season because 12 episodes just doesn’t seem like enough to do this series justice.

    1. This would be nice ONLY if it’s already on the original plans. An improvised sequel could do more harm than good (or it could be great, who knows).

  5. Hopefully they have already decided or hopefully they have a really good plan how to tell this story well in 12 episodes. This series feels so good already. Ledo! ;____;

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