The pirate council is underway but things won’t go too smoothly.
What They Say:
Mysterious continue to unfold during the pirate council; where is the real Luca, what is Kayne’s secret, and is Ironbeard a friend or foe?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Moretsu Pirates has certainly brought in some interesting material, even if a bit obviously corny at times, with the pirate council and what it represents. There’s a good legend behind it that works well and the whole thing gives us a feeling of a connection to the past while still dealing with the present. Especially in how pirates have changed to varying degrees. The story with Luca in particular gives us a personal connection to the past since she had dealt with Marika’s mother and the crew before so there’s a sense of comfort and familiarity among some of them that permeates everyone as a whole, including Marika who is just surprised and pleased to get so many new outfits.
Part of what all of this brings to the table is more exposure for Marika to other kinds of pirates as there’s certainly enough variety. Especially those that work outside of the main system but with the smaller, independent governments where they can make a profit and survive. In the end, it takes all kinds of pirates to make up the council, but some really push against it. With Marika taking something of a lead role in all of it because of what she’s learned, she’s kind of an outlier in a way but there’s something to her presence that changes the dynamic. The variety we get here is decent and there are tensions, but the real tension enters when Ironbeard appears and inserts himself into the events here, trying to figure out what it is that Marika sees from all of this.
The episode does some decent things in shuffling the characters around a bit in this environment and letting us see some of Marika’s crew in a different light as they’re pretty sure of themselves without overplaying things. There’s also some neat little bits of movement when it comes to Marika’s mother that’s amusing as it feels like it’s setting up something else along the way too that’ll be key down the line. There’s a fun little meeting of the crews, small portions of them at least, with Marika and Ironbears but with Marika present. It gives a d ifferent impression of how things may really be unfolding, causing you to reevaluate not only Ironbeard but also Marika as well.
In Summary:
With only one more episode to go in the series, Moretsu Pirates pretty much plays as it has throughout with its kind of peculiar pacing that stems from its novel origins. This doesn’t feel like the penultimate episode of the series but rather something that should have happened a few episodes ago. But as we’ve seen throughout the show, they wrap things up quickly and neatly, a little too neatly sometimes, in a short amount of time in order to get back to the core character material .This episode has a few fun little revelations along the way and works well, but it still feels kind of off overall with its place in the scheme of things, making you want something a bit meatier. There’s plenty to like though and more than enough to keep some fans salivating at the prospect of another season or two.
Grade: B
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.