The practice run is here but the pressure continues to build elsewhere for Marika
What They Say:
It’s time for the practice cruise, as the Odette-II takes off for a journey around the solar system. But whoever tried to hack into them earlier is still out there, and ancient ship has mechanical problems of its own…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The start of the practice run has certainly turned amusing as Marika and Chiaki find themselves engaging in a form of electronic warfare with an unknown opponent. Marika’s kind of flip about it some degree, which makes sense as she doesn’t really get the full importance of what can be at stake, so it’s good to again see how Chiaki is the more aware and thoughtful one about it. Of course, that also means she has to do most of the work when it comes to getting things going since all Marika ends up doing is cheering her on. You can easily feel for Chiaki during this as you want to smack Marika around a bit instead of just watching events unfold and cheering.
Moretsu Pirates continues to be a very relaxed and slow moving piece overall which can be a bit disconcerting considering how series like this usually, but I’m definitely enjoying it. The electronic warfare part is pretty small overall for this episode as it wants to focus on other things, including a decent montage showing Marika going through her days and not really thinking about the potential she has a pirate, something that has to actually be decided soon as the non-aggression pact towards her is going to end at some point and then all bets are off. Even her mother is giving her some time to think through the ramifications of this, which is a nice approach rather than being too aggressive on it and pushing her towards one direction or another. It really speaks towards its novel origins with the pacing of the series and I’m glad they kept that.
When the show gets to the actual practice run for the space yacht, Odette II, it starts to pick up a bit more and has some of the usual fun elements you get here with a lot of students dealing with some pressure since it was largely managed by them as their advisor was hands off. They’re given the chance to truly command here and do what needs to e done, giving them the right kind of education they need to handle such things. The more it progresses, the more we start to deal with space, the more engaging the show becomes because it’s doing it “straight” as can be, not just fast paced, outlandish and silly. Going with a colorful but realistic space approach only serves to make it more engaging and seeing the way it comes together here with their first real walk in space is, simply, beautiful.
In Summary:
The further I get into Moretsu Pirates, the more I come to the conclusion that its going to be a series that as a whole I’ll rate high, but individually it’s a tough one to grade and seriously praise. It has a distinct voice and approach and it works very well for it, but the weekly nature is what keeps it from reaching higher more often. The story here works through a couple of different things for Marika, but taken into context of how her life is on this world, it’s all routine pattern kinds of things when it comes to education and growth. It may be bigger for us to watch, but the kids have their moments of being drawn in by the grandeur of it all as well which is great. Watching how Marika works through it all is a whole lot of fun and the series is drawing me deeper and deeper into it with growing hopes of just how big it can really go.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
