Now this is where everything just comes together. Talk about an amazing episode here. The plot just got 10 times more interesting.
And the strange thing is that even though when you summarize this episode in just one line, it sounds horribly cheesy: the Bentenmaru saves Jenny Dolittle who has been forced to marry against her will. But the background and detail and all sorts of dependencies and politics that the creators threw into this episode were just awesome. This episode just showed how fragile the pirate business is, and how the Bentenmaru is completely dependent on insurance companies. Those insurance companies can be manipulated. The question remains how Jenny managed to start a company that gained such an amount of wealth, but with her connections, it’s probably not impossible.
Also, I really like how the creators waited 16 whole episodes before revealing that two characters are lesbian. This way it feels much more like being lesbian is just a part of who they are, rather than making their sexual orientation their biggest defining character trait. It worked really well and the two characters in question make for a very interesting and down to earth couple.
Also a nice touch is how this episode toyed around with out expectations and imagination. This series has been so grounded that when the girls started imagining how Jenny must be held captive, in full bride gown and all, it had to be one of those crazy delusions you see everywhere. And in the end, that delusion turned out to be what really happened.
My only complaint is how suddenly everyone is incredibly competent at their jobs. I mostly noticed this at the end of this episode. But really: this episode was the one who put Mouretsu Pirates a notch above the other big Sci-fi shows this year. Let’s see if they can follow.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
“My only complaint is how suddenly everyone is incredibly competent at their jobs.”
Well they are part of the yacht club and have been in training before to handle spacecraft for quite a while. I thought they showed the right level of confidence and ability, plus they didn’t really do anything they haven’t done before. It was just the new ship had it’s own quirks. They are also clearly very very bright students.
Totally agree. I was on the edge about this show for the last few eps, since the plot has become slow and insignificant (even when compared to the first half of the series), but the episode totally redeemed it. I think the only qualm I have is that we have to basically accept that the whole club is composed of members who are all freakishly talented in some way (eg Marika, Jenny, Lynn, the girl who wrangled the reactors, and the very perceptive princesses). I guess there wouldn’t be much of a show otherwise. Past that point, everything is rock solid and very well set up.
I would say they have been hinting at their relationship since the start if you paid close attention to their body language.
@WatcherZero. Yeah I completely agree. I had my suspicions in the first few episodes actually.
It is very satisfying to me that they are actually a couple. I sensed that they were more than friends early on, and I think it would have been a let-down if that was just forgotten.
This is also a great mission to really test the girls and push things to the limit before Marika goes back to her veteran crew.
It was so great that they actually went back for a second kiss. Just to make it clear that there’s no shame here – and anyway, that’s what people do!