So, there will be a race on dinghies (special types of spaceships), Marika’s school has been some sort of demon in the past for this race, and Marika will be in danger from her competing pirate colleagues as soon as she graduates high school. These will be the three main ingredients for the finale of Mouretsu Pirates. This episode did all of the preparation work, all that’s left now is to mix them, put them in the oven and let’s see whether the result works.
With this, it also becomes clear that the creators are putting one of the main roles in the hands of that one girl with the short brown hair, I believe her name was Ai. I already found it a bit strange how much airtime she was given, but this explains it: she will be the star of the “race” part of the finale, while Marika and the others work behind the scenes in order to focus on the other two. Yes, this means that the main character actually does not stand in the spotlights. That’s not something you see often.
And then this episode also spent some time on some weird training techniques. The windsurf race in particular was a bit weird, as driving those things… I don’t think that that’s quite the same as piloting a vehicle that looks like it. But then again: this is school and this is supposed to focus on being fun, not trying to squeeze out the biggest winning chances. Kane in any case was having a great time.
Rating: *+ (Great)
The Guys in Suits made some comment about vying for the influence of the pirates, so I don’t think they’re members of that club. My impression is that they’re representatives of the various power groups (government, organized crime, etc.) who routinely USE the pirates for stuff they can’t own up to.
I think they’ve been building up Ai as about the cutest thing you can imagine for a very specific reason: from next week’s previews, it looks like the bad guys are going to be shooting at her yacht with intent to commit great bodily harm — which is going to make Marika really, really, REALLY mad.
The ‘Dinghies’ are atmospheric craft without engines, essentially high altitude gliders, windsurfing was perfect training for it as you feel the wind and use it while keeping control of the craft. In particular if you noticed in the trainer the pedals and two sticks control the dinghies wings and tail fin like a plane.
Yes the suits were the factions weve seen before, whats more interesting is why they were worried about the stranger at the bar and why her mother recognised him. Im guessing some sort of rebel leader.
I’m thinking the stranger at the bar was Marika’s dad (Ririka’s husband). I never did buy the “food poisoning thing.” That was too bizarre. As to why the facade…no idea, other than that it was necessary for him to lay low for some reason. Perhaps he’s trying to smoke out certain individuals. Or perhaps I’m totally wrong. Naaaahhhhhh!!!
It’s nice for the main character to step back, but with only six episodes left, one hopes that this dinghy race will conclude in episode 21, allowing for one last hurrah that focuses on Marika. Frankly, Ai isn’t that interesting a character (read: yet), though she has proven herself a most able helmsman. We just can’t get on board with that stupid hat of hers. 😛