You're Never Alone In Space: Mouretsu Pirates Thread

[Tengukami]

Episode 6 was pretty much everything I've been hoping for about this show.

I'm pleased with the first five episodes more so now that I see it was laying down some necessary backstory and fundamentals of the technology involved, and it's not an unreasonable number of episodes to do that in, considering the series' length. Episode 5's ending,

Spoiler:

wherein Marika makes the decision to become a pirate captain

, gave me the hope that this was to be the start of the narrative.

And start it did. It seems our protagonist is in many ways unable to control some of the most important aspects of her life, as evidenced in

Spoiler:

her telling her friend that she wants to finish high school before starting any pirating, but then being summarily kidnapped a moment later

. Forced to sink or swim, we get a great training sequence, as well as some very cool spacewalk shots, but the crown jewel of this episode would have to be the first heist.

Spoiler:

The fact that the luxury liner passengers were cheering and laughing when they realized they were about to get ganked

was hilarious. The sword combat

Spoiler:

with the finishing move taken right out of Indiana Jones

was also good comedy.

And this guy:



Still a boss.

[Kasu]

I quite enjoyed episode six as well, especially the part where

Spoiler:

Marika is trying to explain the situation to the passengers over the cruise ship's PA system.

Spoiler:

I'm pleased with the first five episodes more so now that I see it was laying down some necessary backstory and fundamentals of the technology involved, and it's not an unreasonable number of episodes to do that in, considering the series' length.

Ah yes.  I like how they took the time to flesh things out and build everything up a bit.  Though I'd seen comments complaining on other sites that the series was 'boring' because they took it slow in the beginning, I thought that this was a refreshing change especially since they'd draw you in and leave you wanting more after the episode was over.

Still a boss.

Couldn't agree more. 

Spoiler:

I love how he casually walked around with the fake wound after the scene as well. :3

Also, I can't help but be curious about Schintzer...

[Prody]

The premise of this show is one of the best I've seen in a while. Furthermore, it's also on Nico channel. Highly recommended from me for those who haven't checked this out!

[Tengukami]

So, episode 7 I had mixed feelings about. Not sure I'm crazy about

Spoiler:

Kato in make-up

, and why doesn't someone clear out all the clutter in the hall between her room and the bridge? Mami continues to be cloying and forgettable, but fortunately she never goes into space, so she doesn't ruin the best parts of this show.

Which reminds me:







While

Spoiler:

the heist wasn't all that great

, the opening bit was really well executed. The final twist did surprise me -

Spoiler:

was totally wrong about who the stowaway might be, and am glad I was

.

EDIT: Also, here's one thing that didn't make sense to me. Maybe someone can explain it:

Spoiler:

The "client" was informed ahead of time by the Bentenmaru that there would be a surprise attack. Does this not mean the luxury liner escorts know there will be cannon-play? How then is it a surprise?

[Kasu]

EDIT: Also, here's one thing that didn't make sense to me. Maybe someone can explain it:

Spoiler:

The "client" was informed ahead of time by the Bentenmaru that there would be a surprise attack. Does this not mean the luxury liner escorts know there will be cannon-play? How then is it a surprise?

I was wondering about that as well actually...  Maybe

Spoiler:

it was a surprise attack in that the passengers on the cruise weren't aware of the action beforehand?

That's the only thing I can come up with after how things played out.

[Tengukami]

One of the more enjoyable aspects of this show for me is that life just seems to be throwing itself at the Bentenmaru - mercenaries, government agents, corporations and royal families are all in constant interaction with them. Monarchs will stow away on pirate vessels to solicit their help in finding a ghost ship, because why not. Livin' the dream.

And I don't know why I find Luca's whole look and attitude so appealing, but I do.

[Fightest]

This is an excellent show so far, and I wish it the best.

Re: the "surprise" attack, I'm quite certain the pirates are being hired basically as entertainment for the spoiled high-society people. That, of course, makes one wonder how callous they would be to expect random casualties for the sake of a good show (even though this time around it wasn't an actual one). There are a few things that look like plot holes here or there, but they're not too big of a deal to damage anything.

[Drake]

STEP 1: BECOME A SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN



STEP 2: GET BITCHES

[Tengukami]

Heh.

I do wish there was a lot less of the classroom scenes. Yes, I know they're there to provide a set-up for future events, but for some reason the dialogue and direction gets completely wooden and clumsy whenever these girls enter a classroom. I'm not even saying the show needs to be 100% action all the time, either - I like downtime in series like this. I just wish the downtime was as snappy and well-written as the things which happen in space.

But fortunately, as now the Big Mission is about to commence, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of that.

[Tamer Anode/Cathode]

I found a neat little chart comparing the character designs of the original light novel art to the anime. It's pretty interesting to see some of the stuff that got changed.

[Drake]

I think I prefer Chiaki's old design simply because her current makes her character really obvious. Not that it's bad, but it's definitely a clear "hey guys i'm a srsbsns tsundere".
Both Marika and Ririka are about the same, but Marika just looks older and Ririka looks less mom-ish and more badass. Either or for each of these are fine. Gruier I'm not sure about, since her character is like "I'm a princess, but I really like the commoner's way of life" and both of these designs hit areas in that range.

everyone else is better in the animu, especially misa and coorie

[Drake]

CHIAKI HNNNNGNNNGG YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Daaaaaayum. Not much in the way of plot advancement, but having a whole episode on this sort of information gathering and buildup really tosses you into the story.  This is another part where I could imagine some people going "man nothing's happening" but it's actually the exact opposite; the writers decided they should give you another taste of the inside details so you can keep up with the story, while still delivering a heavy dose of actual content. This sort of thing is what balances out the vast amount of detail that normally goes over the watcher's head, and it gives me shivers that they're taking that into account.  It hasn't been that long, but you can really see Marika's growth and learning as a captain during the pirating sessions and contrast it against her ditsier self that shows up off-duty; it's just great to watch. Throwing in a maneuver that Misa wasn't able to predict, and to have it mentioned that it's probably never been done before, you'd think you were watching a hot-blooded mecha anime.

AND AGAIN, CHIAKI IN THE CAPTAIN'S OUTFIT ACTING AS A SUBSTITUTE AND HAVING THE MILITARY GUYS THINK SHE'S MARIKA AND MENTIONING THE LAST FEMALE PIRATE WAS RIRIKA BUT NOT KNOWING THE CURRENT CAPTAIN IS HER DAUGHTER WHILE HAVING HER NOT ACTUALLY SHOW UP ANYWAYS, FFFFFFFFFFFFF

SERIOUSLY THE WHOLE EPISODE WAS SO BADASS I DON'T EVEN KNOW

WOOOOOOOO THAT WAS INTENSE

[Dead Princess Sakana]

SERIOUSLY THE WHOLE EPISODE WAS SO BADASS I DON'T EVEN KNOW

WOOOOOOOO THAT WAS INTENSE

Agreed, on Chiaki's HNNNNNNNG-worthy-ness too
I really don't mind that the "big plot" is not really visible yet (though I think there are signs pointing to it already), because what we are shown about how being a space pirate works is sooo good already~
It's nice that the whole crew has distinct characters and gives the feeling that each single one of them is a relevant part of the ship, not just some extras that could die in the first action scene without consequences as in many space-shows.

[Tengukami]

SOOOO TSUNDERE ...

And yes, this is the type of episode that a series like this needs. If you're going for a 26-ep space adventure, you can't have folks whizzing around in spaceships firing lasers striking poses and making declarations all the time. The attitudes, technology, concepts and priorities of the characters need fleshing out, too, and I think this episode was a great example of that.

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Spoiler:

BACKWARDS-PARKING A SPACESHIP

was definitly my favourite moment of the new episode. Goddamnit Kane!
Also Luca's "Hell if I know" :V

Things are about to get really interesting, it seems~ :3

[Drake]

vblvbbblblbbl changing silly little details in the ending like Marika's outfit tweak, plus Gruier and Grunhilde, made me so giddy

In any case, crossing the streams! ...In a sense. I really liked the early few episodes where the yacht club actually did things that wasn't happy happy cake time; they were definitely beginning to become irrelevant before the small foreshadowing in episode 13, so I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode. It seems like it'll be a lot of explaining to the new crew, and I don't doubt that it'll be hilarious while also keeping that sort of feel that the series evokes so well.


EDIT EP16: AHAHAHAHAHA CALLED IT SO HARD TWO EPISODES AGO, FEELS GOOD MAN