And again this show has gotten better. This was the most dangerous episode of this series so far, and it really shows how much time this series spent on build-up now. This episode showed just one simple encounter between a small unnamed fleet, but the build-up, the tactics and the way in which everyone had a different different reaction to everything that went on: it all rocked.
Marika really is the best lead character of the Winter Season, perhaps with the exception of Natsume (who did already have 3 seasons of build-up). When I first saw the promo image for this series, I really feared that she’d be another moe blob, but the contrary has really happened. In this episode she again showed that she’s intelligent and level headed and I really liked how she considered that the fact that they had a princess on board was a great trump in terms of negotiations which should be saved for later. I like how this is one of those shows who doesn’t treat its audience like idiots, yet still remains it light-heartedness and innocence.
Also, for the people complaining that this show isn’t really about pirates: isn’t that the entire point of fiction? To give different interpretations of known facts? I mean, it’s in the same way that people complain about Naruto not being a ninja: the classic image most people have about ninjas (wearing all black with a face-mask on) are also completely different from the real ninjas. You can criticize Naruto for a lot (dragging on, having a really annoying set of main characters), but it did create its own universe based on the ninjas. Same as with this series: it ignores image of the “RRR”-pirate, and instead takes another part of pirates (them being used as mercenaries) and creates a setting around it with the premise of putting this into science fiction. I love it so far.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
The show certainly has got better. And this was a good episode.
Only one thing that bothered me during this episode, might not really matter, but stuck out like a sore thumb for me.
About 7 and a half minutes in just before Marika goes to sleep, if you look out her window you can see all the lovely stars in space as the ship is sailing smoothing during this nice quiet scene … wait a minute… what happened to the electrical storm, thick dust clouds and rough gravity waves the ship is currently in … oh its okay there they are again after Marika gets up.
A little sloppy. Maybe. Am I just nit picking. Perhaps.
Could be a slip-up, or could be that the “window” is actually a projection screen, capable of showing any image desired. (Where in the ship is the Captain’s cabin located? I’d want it deep in the ship, as protected as possible — but that’s just me.) I did like the “decor” of the bedrooms, though. Very retro!
The ship doesn’t have windows from what I have seen of the hull, so it’s probably a projection like you suggested.
I like the way this show works. They take their time to build up the characters and the setting at their leisure, and the story develops slowly but unpredictably.
This has been the jem of the season….who knew. I am so glad it’s keeping it’s fresh look at space and how real they make it seem. Excellent show.
“Gem”
The princess always screams “SAILORMOON” to me :))
I love that their taking the time to expand their universe technically and scientifically ala BotS, firing a swarm of anti-matter missiles ahead of them to their jump out point to remove the matter and create a clear area of space to jump into.
We now know the ship their hunting definetley has ftl now, moving through unnavigatable areas dropping out just long enough to alter course. It also seems to confirm my theory to do with the bloodline of the royal family, theres something on that ship that allows their planet to remain independent and its connected to the inherited bloodline. Many previous expeditions to find the ship, the last one three years before the princess was born suggesting another possible heir born before her? If she is the sixth princess, what happened to her five older siblings?
I love the Letter of Marque: they seem to emphasize it in the preambles too. Strictly speaking, a Letter of Marque doesn’t make you a pirate – pirates are total criminals, beyond the law. It makes you a privateer, someone hired by a government to act as a mercenary.
I really dislike pirates as a romantic ideal: rape, murder and theft is a poor offer, and a lot of bad history to be glossing over. But a smart, discriminating show like this has chosen just the right position between law and lawlessness to make for an exciting Yaar-Mateys-type story while still being plausibly on the side of justice.
I agree with your interpretation. They are something like a space-traveling version of the Shichibukai from One Piece.
For reference: http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Shichibukai#Who_are_the_Shichibukai.3F
I think it could have worked with them being total outlaws though. Something like the crew of the ships in Outlaw Star or Starship Operators would work.
I was starting to get a little irritated that the series stayed so close to the safe and comfortable Tau Ceti system, and this episode did everything I’d hoped: put Marika and Bentenmaru in remote, ‘stormy seas’, in a race with hostile rivals to find that ghost ship. The constant shaking and creaking of the ship, as well as the constant particle collisions, added to the peril. Marika really asserted herself this week (I don’t think Misa made a single correction or suggestion this week), and right now, as Gruier observes, she’s positively oozing confidence, competence, and authority.
Playing devil’s advocate and looking for flaws:
So why did they attack the Serenity fleet without warning? Did I miss a justification for throwing themselves into an unnecessary combat and offending a potential ally?
And the series seems to suffer from “main heroes are superskilled, and enemies shoot like stormtroopers”, at least in that brief combat, where Bentemarou scored hits on both opponents, and itself was undamaged.
Unless I disremember, didn’t the Serenity ships actually fire first? But even so, considering that the Serenity fleet had fired on one of their own in an attempt to prevent it from conveying even information about the Golden Ghost Ship, it seems unlikely they would hesitate to eliminate a privateer that was actually searching for it. The Bentenmaru’s assumption that they would be attacked out-of-hand seemed quite reasonable to me.
And I think it’s been pretty well established previously that the Bentenmaru has both more powerful weapons and better targeting technology than the standard cruisers. In their first encounter with Marika at the helm (aganist the Apricot, I believe) the comment was made that they were “vastly more powerful” the the escorting corbacks.