Popolocrois 2003 – 15 – Arrrr

A very interesting view on the life at sea. I haven’t really seen the concept of the entire crew being one big family before. Overall, it was interesting. The creators spent a lot of details on the different roles of the different crew members. The crew of a ship no longer consists out of captain, cook and random people. I like this touch.

This episode was mostly light-hearted, meant to introduce the eleven new characters and the life aboard the Dakart. A short story about a baby kraken-like thingy also was inserted. I liked that one, as it actually featured our three main characters making their own choices, and taking responsibility for them afterwards. Still, even this was very light-hearted. But there was one point at which the subject reverted back to Pietoro’s and Marco’s parents, being turned to stone. That was a surprisingly heavy part. Pinon wakes up after having a nightmare regarding his parents, and after he sees that Marco’s crying in his sleep for his mother, he suddenly starts crying. That was such a good scene.

Anyway, it seems that the current arc will mostly play on the Dakart. This means that we’ll probably get to know the crew over the course of the episodes. A quick rundown on the different members:

Boss: I’m ashamed to say that I couldn’t remember her name. I knew I should’ve written it down somewhere. In any case, she’s Pietoro’s sister, and Pinon’s aunt. She’s indeed someone you’d expect to be the daughter of Paolo. Does she happen to posses any dragon powers as well, by the way?

Donovan: the captain of the Dakart. He probably handles everything concerning the Dakart as a ship. He looks quite experienced.

Gooley: the boatswain of the Dakart. He’s indeed quite cute with his small tail. He seems to be skilled with bow and arrow.

Billy: One of the deck mates (or however you call them). He likes to get annoyed fast.

Toad: One of the deck mates (or however you call them). He’s got a strange talent which can tell whenever there’s a storm coming. He doesn’t like to talk much, though, and when he does, he does it in an almost inaudible way.

Momba: The strange lizard we saw already in the previous episode. He probably has the lowest rank on the Dakert, working even under Billy and Toad, though he does take initiative in everything, making his character stand out a lot. He also doesn’t like people thinking bad of him. ^^;

Edgar: he’s the helmsman. I’m a bit worried about the fact that while he’s supposed to be steering a ship, he likes drinking and dancing… He also talks in a very polite, old-fashioned way.

Curtis: the operations officer. He seems quite the lady-man, though he does have a laid-back attitude. He’s got an interesting personality.

Lambert: the ship’s doctor. One of the few sane people on the ship. Therefore, the most likely one to commit suicide, betray Pinon or get paranoid, if we have to follow the rules of common anime.

Dike: he’s a wandering merchant, though I’m not exactly sure about his role on the Dakart. He seems to be a geeky-type.

Gaston: takes care of the ship’s engine. He seems very experienced, he’s a huge cat with one eye missing. I like him. ^^;

Aina: takes care of the Seirei stone and the food for the crew. She seems to have an eye on Marco. Perhaps because she finally saw someone of her own age again. She’s Gaston’s granddaughter. It seems that the guy either married a human, or had a son or daughter who married a human.