Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 26 - There Go the Pirates

Summary

Everyone warps to the site of the battle, only to find that Christie has brought three Grand Crosses that she can operate in sync. Nevertheless, the coordinated efforts of the assembled pirate ships destroy the remote-controlled ships and allow the Bentenmaru and several others to board the main one, where Marika, Schnitzer, and Hyakume confront Christie on the bridge. Marika brings up the former’s earlier comments about pirates lacking a purpose and explains that while she’s thought about it, it’s now clear to her that they don’t need a definite purpose – each pirate makes their own. Christie escapes and warns Marika to leave before the ship self-destructs. In other words, capturing the Grand Cross was a horrible failure – but who cares, they won!

…Before the Odette II could show up to help, much to Gruier’s disappointment (Mami made her a pirate outfit and everything…). Leaving the ship in the hands of Jenny and her fellow graduates, the club members board the Parabellum to get back in time for their exams. Gruier thanks Ironbeard Gonzaemon for giving them a lift and asks if he was able to see Marika, but he just says he’s Ironbeard now. On the bridge, Ririka remarks that staying distant is his way of showing he cares.

Chiaki finally gives in and transfers to Hakuoh to stay. Marika passes all her exams, and it’s time to sail away for more adventures!

Thoughts

Not much to say about the final battle with the Grand Cross. The pirates worked together as a team and won; Marika confronted Christie, said pirates make their own reasons for what they do, and the latter bailed. The Grand Cross blew up. The end. All told, it was a bit anti-climactic. No desperate reversals, nothing about how or what the characters are feeling, just the battle, presented in a very business-like manner. Hardly the grand end-of-series payoff one might expect.

No payoff for the whole ‘future of the pirates’ thing either. But, like the pirates of the Galactic Empire, that’s certainly good fodder for the upcoming movie.

But at least we got somewhat of an answer to the whole ‘why did Gonzaemon never visit his family’ issue. Sure, it’s one thing to give your kid space so they can become their own person, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be part of their life. Ririka was around the whole time, and while there was an element of Marika trying to live up to her she still became her own person. Sure, she still turned out alright despite her dad never being around, but just because something works doesn’t mean you should do it that way. But anyways, he wouldn’t be quite the mysterious, larger-than-life figure he was made out to be if he’d been there all along. I don’t feel qualified to make any call whether he’s right or wrong to be doing things this way, but there’s definitely the sense that he does care about his daughter, he just has a unique way of showing it, just like Ririka said.

That being said, it actually wasn’t all that unsatisfying. This show was never about grand battles or epic space opera – as cool as that would have been. It’s about the characters themselves, their growth, and why they do what they do. So while there was none of the spectacular end-of-series payoff one might expect, but it still had a character-based one, both in terms of Marika showing that she’s become confident in her role as a captain and a pirate, and the wider pirate society proving that they believe in what they do enough to stand up for it. Not sure if that makes sense, calling the final episode somewhat anti-climactic and then saying it delivered exactly what it was meant to, but if there’s one thing this series has consistently done, it’s leave me satisfied with what was given (most of the time at least **looks at the filler that was episodes 19-21**), even if it wasn’t what I expected. Granted, sometimes I’ve thought that the latter was just me trying to cover disappointment, and I was to some extent, but now that I’ve finished the entire show it’s much easier to appreciate what it was going for all along and reassess how I feel.

Like I said, it would’ve been cool (and I may even have liked it a little more) if it was more of a space opera – I was definitely expecting more of that going in – but as the character-driven show it turned out to be, I think it actually succeeded rather well. Even without any kind of over-arching narrative, looking back, it was consistently enjoyable to follow Marika’s adventures and her growth as a person and a pirate. I certainly never felt the need to stop watching; heck, I’m darned sure I’d keep watching if they made another season or two and not just a movie. That alone says something – maybe not that the show’s necessarily good (though I think it is), but certainly that it’s a lot of fun, and I’m pretty sure that was the main goal in the first place.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Epiosde 25 - The Pirates' Council Begins

If it's the Galactic Empire, why is the ruler a Queen?

Summary

When android Luca was killed her internal computer reformatted automatically, so the only thing Hyakume can glean from it is that she was built by a Galactic Empire company called Human Torch. Everyone wonders what happened to the real Luca, and right as they decide she was a pirate and knew the risks she walks through the door. Ostensibly, nothing worse than men hitting on her happened during her vacation, but she decides not to mention that actually, Kane and Ririka saved her life.

Christie suddenly appears in the throne room again, wearing a cloak fastened at the shoulder by a golden skull. The legendary chef’s brother, who runs the station, orders everyone to stand down – pirates may not kill other pirates at the Pirates’ Nest. When one of the captains dissents, since Christie’s not a pirate, but the chef says she is – her cloak-and-skull mark her as a pirate registered with the Galactic Empire. Apparently the Letter of Marque idea was actually copied from them. Marika proposes that Christie take on the other pirates in a fair fight, which is accepted

Ironbeard arrives, his own cloak-and-skull reminding Marika why she recognized Christie’s. He says he’s here on orders from the Queen to take Christie back. While the other captains feast Ironbeard leads Christie away. The captain from before still tries to kill her but is thwarted by Kane, Misa, and Ririka. It is revealed that Other Kane is actually his older brother, Ironbeard’s helmsman; Real Kane switched places with him for a while to report to Ironbeard. The latter did this because he wanted to see if the pirates of this sector will choose to remain pirates-for-hire with their Letters of Marque, or strike out on their own and becoming real pirates.

With the upgrades to the comms complete, the Bentenmaru sends a call to arms to the other pirates, using the song that was broadcast when they were called to the Pirates’ Nest. This time it’s a new version, recorded by Marika and Chiaki, much to the latter’s chagrin. She hated every minute of it – no really ;). Everyone assembles and prepares to confront the Grand Cross.

Thoughts

Y’know, it might’ve helped to establish that Luca had gone on vacation sooner. As it is it’s just out of the blue and makes it looks like no one questioned why she can back early from her vacation when the android showed up, or that she went on it without telling anyone. Not to mention the ‘actually, she’s fine’ bait-and-switch. If the Grand Cross wasn’t clearly destroying the ships it attacks, I really would be convinced nobody’s in any danger whatsoever, period, in this show. It’s one of its weaknesses, but I’ll get into that more in my final review.

Well, at least we got to see Ririka in action a little bit, even if it wasn’t of the awesome variety. It’s a silly thing, really; the show’s isn’t about Ririka at all, I just felt that the middle-aged, not-so-former badass getting her own Big Damn Heroes moment, or come up with a perfect plan that leaves everyone stunned and a little scared at her cunning, or something like that, would be a lot of fun to see. Eh, maybe they’ll let her have her awesome moment in the upcoming movie.

Insofar as the actual meat of the episode, it raises an interesting question. Christie’s contempt for the pirates in the region is centered on how they ostensibly aren’t ‘real’ pirates anymore, dressing up and putting on silly little shows (I’d make another The Pirates! Band of Misfits joke, but there aren’t any good YouTube clips of Queen Victoria’s rants). Ironbeard talks about whether they’ll decide to become, again, ‘real’ pirates, but it turns out the whole Letter of Marque thing was copied from the Galactic Empire, and both Ironbeard and Christie are registered, so doesn’t that mean they’re just as much privateers, not pirates, as anyone else? Nobody we’ve seen is actually a pirate. There’s no answer, it just makes me wonder what pirates in the Galactic Empire proper are like. I have no idea what the upcoming movie is about, but that’d be an interesting thing for it to focus on.

Also, there’s a ninja pirate. Isn’t that an oxymoron?

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 24 - The Wounded Benten

Summary

The Bentenmaru manages to evade the Grand Cross, but suffers damage in the process. Once they reach the pirate station Marika draws up are repair plan that includes comm system upgrades. The specifics are unspecified but apparently involve the ability to command an entire fleet. While the repairs are underway she and Chiaki meet with Kenjo to discuss the situation. News that another ship has been destroyed reaches them during the meeting, and he wonders whether even ten will make it.

After leaving the meeting, Marika encounters a stranger she realizes is the captain of the Grand Cross, who says her name is Quartz Christie. She won’t say who she works for, and when asked why she’s attacking pirates she confirms it’s for trial data and talks about how pirates are anachronisms with no useful purpose. She reveals that there’s a spy on the Bentenmaru and switches on her cloaking device before Schnitzer and his men can catch her.

Meanwhile, Kane is being tailed by Luca, the ship’s navigator, who earlier voiced suspicions about him to Misa. The two of them corner him, but when Misa whips out her gun she shoots Luca, who is actually an android double and the spy – the real Luca doesn’t care about anything other than her work. The android escapes, and Misa demands an explanation from Kane, who is obviously up to something suspicious. Watching from afar, another Kane slips away.

In her room, Marika calls Ririka, who’s just finished her vacation and has boarded a ‘luxury liner.’ It’s called the Parabellum and is headed for the station.

Thoughts

Whatever Kane’s up to, the real one isn’t acting like anything’s amiss so he’s obviously aware that the second one – the one with the lock of hair that’s always sticking up (antenna?) – has been the one on the bridge the last few episodes, so that’s obviously part of what he’s doing. Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it involves reporting on Marika to someone – probably Ironbeard. He’s clearly significant, whoever he is, and definitely the kind of person who’d want to know about Gonzaemon’s heir given the number of hints there’s been throughout the series that the latter was a great man and a great captain. Kane has shown a considerable amount of interest in her progress and goals over the course of the series, and there’s been enough references about how she’s so much like Gonzaemon lately – (fake) Kane’s remarks about how obvious it is that there’s blood ties, or the captain of the Big Catch saying she looks like she’ll be as good a captain as her father. Heck, if Gonzaemon’s as great a pirate as he’s been made out to be and if his daughter seems to be worthy of that legacy, it almost sounds like there’s a plan afoot to make her Queen of the Pirates. Which would be pretty awesome.

Also, Christie does have a point about the current state of pirates. After all, what possible purpose does legally (or at least legally grey) robbing bored rich people on cruises actually serve – other than the pirates and their insurance companies making money? Sure, every business is about making money, but usually whoever’s on the receiving end of its services gains something, instead of losing it. Then again, no one on the receiving end seems to mind and the pirates themselves get to make a living dressing up in cool clothes and acting over-the-top, so it all works out, I guess.

She’s wrong about the “they aren’t even pirates” (with the implied ‘anymore’) comment, though. Since these pirates have only existed since Letters of Marque started being issued, they were never pirates – they’ve been privateers the whole time. Of course, accounting for that little tidbit would mean none of them would be able to say ‘I’m a pirate’, which would defeat the whole purpose of becoming one in the first place.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 23 - Head for the Pirate's Nest

Summary

The second mysterious ship, captained by the masked Ironbeard, identifies itself as the Parabellum, a pirate ship registered with the Galactic Empire. It fires on the pirate hunting ship, called the Grand Cross, which flees despite its shields absorbing the bombardment. The Parabellum vanishes back into hyperspace as quickly as it appeared and the Bentenmaru goes to save the crew of the Big Catch. Everyone is rescued but the ship is destroyed when the fires reach the ammo stores.

Marika asks Gruier to see if her own connections can unearth anything about the Grand Cross, and she manages to find out that it’s an experimental ship being developed by the Galactic Empire. It’s attacking pirate ships because, those that are still active being military-class, it’ll yield better trial results, and attacking pirate ships in a backwater sector isn’t going to draw much attention.

Chiaki transfers to Hakuoh again, but despite Marika’s insistence that she stay so they can graduate together she insists it’s just so she can deliver a message from her father. In light of the current situation, Kenjo believes a Pirates’ Council should be called. To do this, however, they’ll need to find the legendary chef, who first brought the pirates together during the war of independence. There’s a reason pirate ships are so full of outdated equipment. Yes, it’s because the economy sucks right now, but also because they actually need their old radios, so that the legendary chef can reach them when he broadcasts the secret message that’ll summon them to council.

Finding him? Easy – Marika already knows where he is. He’s the chef at the seedy restaurant where she goes to discuss missions with the bridge crew. She figured it out because Ririka always took her there as a reward whenever she learned to do something new as a kid. Ririka clearly relied on the guy, and she’s super-special-awesome, so that must mean he’s even more super-special-awesome and therefore the legendary chef. Solid reasoning, but she’s wrong. The legendary chef was his dad. However, that still means he’s heir to the mantle, and he broadcasts the signal, which also tells every pirate ship the location of the meeting place. Right as the Bentenmaru’s about to head there, the Grand Cross appears.

Thoughts

Yeah, yeah, we get it, Ririka’s a badass, it’s been  sufficiently established – let her show it. Damnit, I wanna see Ririka do something awesome!

Anyways, I like where this is going. Not that the other parts of the series weren’t fun in their own way, but nothing’s ever really been about the pirates themselves, so the upcoming delving into the wider pirate society is much appreciated. Plus, they’re actually in real danger for once! For all that I’ve tried to rationalize my enjoyment of the preceding episodes, much of it was an attempt to mask my disappointment that things were never the former two. Not that I didn’t enjoy any of it, but it still would’ve been nice if more of the show was actually about them.

Also, I’m no longer sure there’s some grand secret the bridge crew is in on anymore. Possibly Kane and Misa are – they both showed signs in this episode that they at least suspect something, but no one else did, so clearly if Ironbeard has some big reveal in store it’s not something everyone was in on.

On another note, it’s nice to see Chiaki back to her old grumpy ‘I’m not enjoying this, seriously you guys’ self. Not that she ever stopped being like that, but it really comes out when she’s interacting with Marika, and there wasn’t enough of that last time she was around a lot, during the Yacht Club arc, which was a shame because it’s what makes her a fun character, and it’s good to have her back. Not that she hasn’t changed (she’s long since given up on objecting whenever someone calls her ‘Chiaki-chan’; I’ll bet she actually likes it), but it’s just not the same when she’s not insisting on taking things seriously or pretending she didn’t do things for more sentimental reasons – no really, she couldn’t just visit to give Marika the message, transferring back to Hakuoh was crucial to ensuring it got delivered.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 22 - Pirate Hunting

Summary

The pirate ship Silver Fox is destroyed in an attack by a mysterious ship that’s been targeting pirates. Marika and the bridge crew discuss the situation, and since the Bentenmaru is due to get its licence renewed and Marika wants that out of the way before finals, they decide to go after these so-called ‘pirate hunters’. While driving Marika home afterwards, Misa asks her what Ririka’s up to these days, but she doesn’t know, and the latter is away a lot ever since she got her licence to operate large ships…

At the Yacht Club, Marika has been made president now that Lynn’s about to graduate (she’s even gotten a recommendation to Space University, so she’ll get to be with her girlfriend), even though she thinks Sasha, the vice-president, should have been given the position. Unfortunately, the club is apparently run through tyranny of the majority, so she’s stuck with it.

In order to effectively go up against the pirate hunters, Marika devised the trick of having the Bentenmaru guide another pirate ship, the Big Catch, although the captain agreed to Show’s request that he ask for an escort only reluctantly. During the trip, the bridge crew ponder aloud the implications of two pirate ships working together, and what it could lead to. Although nowhere near the 200 ships active during Sea of the Morningstar’s war of independence, there are still 50-60 pirate ships around, almost all heavily-armed, military-class ships. The Galactic Empire and Stellar Alliance allow them to exist because they operate independently, but if they united they’d have the power to become their own nation and wouldn’t need Letters of Marque to exist. Since they’re an independent lot, however, what are the odds that will happen…

The pirate hunter appears and proves to be impossibly agile for such a large ship, quickly taking out the Big Catch. Then another large, mysterious ship appears.

Summary

Oh jeez, don’t tell me Ririka is the pirate hunter. Sure, we’ve seen enough of the latter’s head to know she has white hair, but that’s what hair dye is for. Then again, I can’t imagine any reason why dying her hair would be necessary. Yeah, logic dictates that that’s a red herring, but part of me thinks this is all part of the grand plan that is clearly afoot. Except, the pirate hunter seems to be actually destroying the ships it attacks, but maybe they’re against whatever’s being planned, and Show’s in on it.

*Checks episode 21* OK, so the hooded man seems to have brown hair, and the guy standing on top of the second mystery ship has black hair, but hey, hair dye. Again kinda flimsy since it begs the question of why there’s any need to dye hair, but I guess I’m too wedded with tying what’s going on to my ‘Gonzaemon is alive’ theory. Except now it looks like he isn’t looking to retire but to become King of the Pirates (sorry, Luffy) and figured it would be better if he wasn’t connected to a particular ship. Or something.

Really, though, having him be alive seems to make the most sense. Sure, they could introduce a new character, but it’s a bit late in the show to bring in someone in whole cloth. Plus, Gonzaemon’s been built up so much through those who knew him talking about him, and mentions of how much Marika is just like him – they just dropped another one of those this episode, no less. ‘Actually, he’s been alive the whole time’ actually seems to make sense after the amount of build-up he’s had. And if he’s alive it might mean there’s still a chance to address the elephant in the room – if he was alive until at least shortly before the first episode, why did he never visit his family?

Nevertheless, the pirates are obviously planning to unite. Just like it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that another mention of how Marika is her father’s daughter happened, the crew clearly started discussing the idea of a pirate nation for a reason. And it’s not just because the preview for the next episode makes it clear this is going to develop into at least something – there’s few enough episodes left that there doesn’t seem to be much reason to not start a final arc. Yeah, I just really want the show to end on a high note, but the evidence does seem to suggest it will, which is only a good thing, so I’ll stop throwing out whatever speculation occurs to me and move on to the next episode.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 21 - Final Battle at the Nebula Cup

Summary

Everyone freaks out when the Yacht Club arrives at the planet Calmwind for the Nebula Cup. Chiaki, who’s competing with the Sea of Foreststar team, stops one of the girls from asking another team what’s up, and it comes to light that nobody except Grunhilde and the two who were with her when she looked it up had any idea why. Even Lynn, who was in middle school at the time, is surprised. Sure, some of the club seniors decided the course was boring and had her crack the Tournament’s computers to create a more challenging route (only 2 of 142 entrants finished the race as a result), but she hadn’t realized it was that big of a deal.

When the race starts Marika goes out in a dinghy of her own to observe as part of the Bentenmaru’s role to provide security. In the middle of the race a Bisque Company gunship appears and starts firing on the racers since it doesn’t know which dinghy is Marika’s. She breaks off to draw them away, and the Bentenmaru comes to her rescue. It’s not meant for atmospheric flight and won’t be able to line up for a shot at the more agile gunship on its own, but Ai overheard Marika over the comms earlier and breaks off to tell her about an incoming wind that lets the Bentenmaru align quickly and shoot down the gunship. This costs Ai the race, but the Yacht Club still comes in second thanks to Grunhilde (Chiaki placed first). They can’t wait for next year!

Thoughts

Well, that felt like filler. The only things of note to show up in the last two episodes were the hooded man at the meeting, and that there are others out there who might want to go after Marika, both of which could have been introduced in other ways. And in the case of the latter, I won’t be too surprised if this is the last we even see of the Bisque Company – just another disposable threat. Plus, if the hooded man is who I think he might be, there isn’t any compelling reason why he has to show up or be hinted at before a big reveal later. And as far as things that actually happened in this episode, the only thing of note was the reason Lynn was put on probation, but technically I’m just assuming that, and there’s been nothing to suggest that the specifics behind it matter, so it didn’t add anything.

Not much, but I’m trying to stop forcing myself to write at any length about episodes where there really isn’t much to say. Moving on…

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 20 - The Captain Rides the Waves

Woo, backlog cleared! Not that anyone knew I had one, but I totally did...

Summary

The Yacht Club talks about entering the 19^th Nebula Cup Racing Tournament, but apart from middle-schooler Ai no one has any experience piloting the dinghies they’d be flying. In the midst of the discussion they meet their new club adviser – Kane, who has renewed his teaching credentials and is now a PE teacher. He seems to think that means ‘drill sergeant’. After putting the girls through a number of ridiculous and/or over-the-top challenges to determine their skill and endurance levels, their entry team ends up consisting of Ai, Grunhilde, and fellow club member Natalia.

At one point, Grunhilde looks up why the club hasn’t entered recently and discovers that after the 13^th tournament they were banned for 5 years for interfering with the race and violating safety regultions. The organizing committee seems to have worries along the same lines with the club now able to enter again. One committee member suggests that if they’re worried about Yacht Club cheating, they should bring in cheaters of their own. Apparently this involves contacting Show, who later contacts the Bentenmaru with a job offer performing security for the race…

Meanwhile, representatives of the various shady organizations who signed the non-aggression pact protecting Marika meet to discuss an outside group, the Bisque Company, who seem to be plotting to go after her. Ririka, whom Kane brought to witness the meeting, recognizes a hooded man sitting in the corner and realizes he’s the reason everyone there agreed to the pact. His presence reassures her.

Thoughts

I was kinda worried when I saw the preview for this episode. Nothing wrong with the yacht club, but we just spent six episodes giving them spotlight time – I was hoping for a return to the actual pirates. And, since this is getting into the home stretch of the series’ runtime, something truly high-stakes and more serious than usual to cap it off would be nice. Sure, the Golden Ghost Ship arc turned out to be fairly high-stakes in retrospect, but it was for two secondary characters who hadn’t been well-developed up to that point, and the stakes themselves never did get developed either. I mean something that’s high-stakes for Marika and the crew of the Bentenmaru – they’re, nominally at least, the focus of the show; they need an arc that’s all about them. Plus, Ririka hasn’t had a chance to do something awesome yet. When’s that gonna happen? I’m probably tempting fate by saying so now that the show’s finished airing, but damnit, I wanna see Ririka do something awesome!

Fortunately, the episode itself mitigated things. Whether it’s the dirty dealings about to go down behind the scenes at the Nebula Cup, or the impending threat to Marika and the Bentenmaru, this is obviously going somewhere.

And speaking of tempting fate, I’m half-expecting this to end up looking like a complete idiot for this since I’m making predictions after the show’s already aired, but in refreshing myself with this episode to write this post I suddenly developed the crackpot theory that the hooded man is Gonzaemon and this was all some sort of elaborate plan to test Marika’s worthiness to be his successor as captain. Because…I dunno, he wanted to retire or something. Hey, it would explain his off-screen, anti-climactic death. I totally expect to be way off-base with this, but if it turns out to be something like this, that’d be totally cool!

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 19 - The Bond Between the Four

Summary

While Gruier and Grunhilde have lunch, the former reflects on how much fun she had being a pirate. The latter tries to remind her that being both princess and pirate isn’t entirely appropriate but it’s clear she had fun too. Gruier thinks it’s no coincidence Gonzaemon gave her the Bentenmaru’s ID ring.

The yacht club goes up to the relay station to clean the Odette II, while Marika alternates between helping them and cleaning up the Bentenmaru. Between those and catching up with school she’s become completely exhausted but is unwilling to ask anyone for help. By the second day of cleaning she’s so worn out she accidentally drops the ID ring without realizing it. This leads to some trouble when the bridge crew gets back and she can’t undo the master lock on the ship’s systems. Fortunately, Grunhilde picked it up after she dropped it, and the club shows up to help finish things. Gruier reprimands Marika for being careless with the ring – it’s the sign of the bond between her, the princesses, and her father. After the club leaves, Gruier expresses hope that she’ll be able to go pirating with Marika again sometime. Grunhilde says she’d better take her along as well.

Thoughts

I’m not really sure what to say about this episode. All it really did was show that Marika tends to take on responsibilities and try to do things herself to the point where she takes on too much, which has been shown already. I’m pretty sure the point of the episode was that she had to learn to start relying on others more, but did that really need to be the sole focus of an entire episode?

It didn’t even really do what I thought it would, which was give the princesses a bit of character development. Up to now they’ve basically been Marika and Chiaki Lite – you’ve got the cheerful one, and the uptight one. Almost nothing new happened here to expand on that. Sure, it had the clearest indication that Grunhilde is having more fun than she’s previously been willing to admit, but at this point that’s the same as Chiaki except for Grunhilde actually admitting it out loud. Still, it now means they aren’t entirely the same, so I guess that’s something.

Basically, it’s just an epilogue to this arc like episode 13 was to the Ghost Ship arc, but at least that one had Gruier giving Marika the ID ring, which’ll probably end up being more important later, and explained a little more background – albeit that would’ve been welcome earlier to give a better sense of the stakes. All this episode seems to have was Grunhilde potentially loosening up a bit and Marika accidentally stumbling on her family’s secret pot-au-feu recipe (so even if the ID ring never is important again it at least did something). Eh, it’s not like it’s a bad episode, it just doesn’t have much going on.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 18 - We'll Have Juice at the After Party

Summary

The Bentenmaru completes its jump, but the Hugh and Doolittle fleet is right behind them. While the club members desperately dodges cannon shots Marika, Chiaki, and the princesses hold a meeting with Jenny to figure out what to do. Jenny can’t think of any usable weaknesses her uncle has, but when Grunhilde suggests they change their focus they decide to go after Jenny’s fiancé – Junigh Coolph, eldest son of the Secretary of Interstellar Transportation. If nothing else they can at least get the marriage cancelled. Meanwhile, the bridge crew hacks into Hugh and Doolittle’s accounts and sends the info to Marika through Show.

Thanks to a bonus piece of information the bridge crew found, the girls locate and board Junigh’s personal yacht. They’ve hijacked the airwaves (somehow) and are broadcasting this live. They discover him supposedly plotting a revolution, but the attendees panic and are easily captured after Chiaki fires a few shots. Juniph protests only expose him for the spoiled man-child he is – it’s just a hobby, honest!

Jenny’s uncle follows them and boards the ship, but the girls whip out the data they have. Unexplained spending isn’t incriminating enough on its own, but he never deleted the secret conversations of him illegally selling military-class ships to Junigh’s father.

So Jenny gets to go to Space University. Her uncle’s powerful enough to get out of any charges against him and keep his position, but now she knows he can be beaten. The Bentenmaru gets to keep the Silent Whisper, and the bridge crew finds out they’re not infected and will be free in a week. Everything’s just rosy.

For now…

Thoughts

I’d ask how they were able to hijack the airwaves so thoroughly – somehow everyone on Sea of Morningstar was able to see that broadcast – but instead of dwelling on the implausibility I’ll just go with ‘Lynn’s awesome’ and move on.

For that matter, why isn’t a massive interstellar company hiring top talent to program its security? It’s not just that the Bentenmaru’s bridge crew was good enough to crack it – Jenny explicitly lampshades how shitty it is. I guess her uncle really is just that arrogant.

Eh, at least the whole thing was therapeutic for Chiaki. Being surrounded by girls who’re treating this whole outing as ‘awesomest field trip ever’ was probably getting on her nerves already, and seeing a bunch of guys who are beyond old enough to know better thinking they can stage a revolution just because they want to really badly can-I-please-have-a-revolution-daddy was the last straw.

The princesses haven’t really done much since the Ghost Ship arc, but they did have a good moment here when it was shown they’re just as willing to play dirty anyone else. Not really much of a surprise with Grunhilde, since it’s already been shown that she has a sneaky side, but hearing Gruier say with enthusiasm and a smile “Morals are not of particular concern here” probably isn’t something you’d expect to come out of her mouth. Marika certainly didn’t. Not sure if it’s the influence of being around pirates so often rubbing off, or they’re more politically savvy than we’ve previously been shown – we already know the situation on Serenity had been getting pretty ugly under its fairy tale façade so they probably have some experience with it already – but it was amusing either way.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 17 - A Surprising Client

Summary

To be specific, Lynn’s just the messenger. Jenny is the one actually hiring the Bentenmaru, not to kidnap her but as protection. She’s in line to inherit Hugh and Doolittle Interstellar Transportation, but her uncle, the current company president, plans to marry her off to a politician so that his son can inherit instead. Jenny, however, has been accepted to the prestigious Space University and wants to go so she can have time to grow her own shipping business, Fairy Jane, while studying there.

An alarm sends everyone to the bridge and they bring in an approaching ship – a new-model fighter called a Silent Whisper. The pilot is Jenny – unexpected change of plans – and she joyously reunites with Lynn on the bridge, where the two unashamedly show everyone the other reason Jenny didn’t want to get married; at least not to a guy.

Jenny’s uncle tracks them down and threatens to cut business ties with Harold Llyod if they don’t hand her over. Since Jenny never actually specified what she was going to pay, Marika has Show witness the negotiations. Jenny’s proposal is this: the Bentenmaru gets the Silent Whisper and 10% of the gross profits of Fairy Jane’s for the next 10 years, which means a sizeable commission for Harold Lloyd as well. Lynn offers to throw in some data she’s gathered – customer lists, information on pirate ships, corporate secrets – y’know, just odds and ends she picked up while hacking here and there. This is acceptable to everyone and not a moment too soon: the Hugh and Doolittle fleet has arrived, and the Bentenmaru has to make an FTL jump to safety.

Thoughts

Scary in ten years, my foot – these girls are scary now! I know she already has a huge leg-up because she comes from an obscenely rich family, and Fairy Jane is part of a group of companies right now, but damn. Fifty trillion a year – half the Serenity Royal Palace’s operating budget, apparently – is awfully good for a start-up company whose founder supposedly can’t devote much time to it. And Lynn’s honestly never gotten worse than being put on probation once in middle school despite just happening to have an unspecified amount classified information? How is she not in prison right now? Marika sure knows how to pick friends. And that’s all I have to say about this episode.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 16 - The Hakuoh Pirates' First Job

Summary

Once the minor oversight of assigning rooms is resolved, everyone settles down for the night. On the bridge, Lynn is speaking with someone over the phone/comm-link/whatever. She’s obviously bothered about something. Grunhilde overhears some of it while coming to relieve her but doesn’t let on that she did.

The next morning Marika explains the basics of their job, a typical robbery of a luxury liner. The girls are a little intimidated by what’s involved at first given their inexperience, but they don’t back down. Sure enough, their docking and boarding are a bit rough, and boarding the ship in cosplay outfits – courtesy of a three-day no-sleep marathon by Mami – earns some initial surprise from the passengers. But, they quickly end up going with it and Marika is given private, official thanks by one of the ship’s officers.

During the victory celebrations – wherein Gruier’s suggestion that they try this on the Barbalusa sometime is firmly shot down by the resident grouch – Lynn slips out, which Marika notices. Later, the princesses come to her room to discuss their concerns with her and Chiaki. When Grunhilde tells them what she overheard Chiaki says she thinks Lynn might be a spy, hired by someone because of her hacking skills to do something to the Bentenmaru (this is the real reason Chiaki joined the club….apparently). Marika doesn’t think so and takes them to ask Lynn directly. She says she has a job for them – she wants them to kidnap Jenny…

Thoughts

Well that ended in an appropriately silly fashion. Except those two guys trying to hit on one of the middle schoolers – seriously, what the hell? Really, though, if these passengers are already going along with the whole ‘legalized theft of their valuables’ thing, having a bunch of teenage girls in cosplay outfits do it isn’t any sillier than what normally happens. Sure, the Bentenmaru is supposedly more traditional and business-like about it, but they’re still conducting their boardings dressed in stereotypical pirate garb for no other discernible reason than ‘it looks cool.’ To be fair, it does; Marika’s captains’ outfit is probably enough to sell the series on its own.

And what’s this about Chiaki originally joining the yacht club because she thought Lynn might be a spy? There’s been no indication that Lynn’s hacking got her anything beyond getting put on probation in middle school, or that Chiaki was actually around for a reason other than to keep an eye on Marika. I’m sure neither would exactly be advertising it if something more was going on, but that came a bit out of left field with no build-up whatsoever. It’s not the case so far as we know, and probably not implausible in-and-of itself; we haven’t seen much of it, but there’s certainly genuinely seedy types out there in space. Ah well, even if this is the first hint of something, it’s fine so long as Lynn doesn’t turn out to be a bad guy – I like her.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 15 - Smuggling, Leaving Port, and a Big Jump

Summary

Marika didn’t tell Gruier and Grunhilde about the club’s plans because she’s reluctant to have them along on anything dangerous given their royal status, but they snuck on board the Odette II anyway. Grunhilde reminds her that neither of them is particularly interested in the latter and they’re useful to have around. They set the ship on autopilot and take the launch to the Bentenmaru.

At the hospital, Misa snoops around and finds out that the crew’s stay is being extended two weeks, which makes them worry about their licence. Then a monitoring camera on the ship picks up something and they discover that the Yacht Club isn’t going on that practice cruise Marika told them about. Misa calls Marika to mess with her a little but doesn’t trick her into admitting anything since she must have her reasons for not saying anything. Then they realize a bunch of amateurs are going to try and fly their tricked-out, heavily modified ship...

Show calls the Bentenmaru with the user manual he conveniently ‘found’ – secretly whipped up in a panic by the bridge crew – and they’re able to get the engines working. But now the Stellar Military is on the way to investigate their accidental firing of the ship’s cannons, and there’s nothing in the manual on how to do an FLT jump. Fortunately, they’re able to figure it out and get away on their own.

Chiaki, Gruier, and Grunhilde spot and destroy the camera on the bridge, agreeing not to tell Marika to avoid hurting her pride. Since Marika and the Club figured out how to do an FTL jump on their own, the bridge crew decides they’ll be fine.

Thoughts

Yeah, another set-up episode and I really don’t have much to say. It did have a few amusing moments (like Chiaki’s expression when the princesses brought out the sweets – if the others don’t bribe her with sweets, or something like a coupon for a free chocolate parfait, before the series is over, I’ll be very surprised), and I liked the expression on Grunhilde’s face when she and Gruier came up to the bridge – she was saying one thing, but her expression said ‘you’re not getting rid of us that easily.’ She’s sneakier than she looks, so in other words she’ll fit right in.

…Yeah, I think I’ll just move on.

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 14 - Marika Goes Recruiting

Cat-monkeys - proof that scientists in this series are fans of Avatar.

Summary

With their latest ventures wrapped up except for the delivery of a crate of cat-monkeys, Marika is allowed to go home and catch up at school before the next round of jobs. The next day she gets a call from Misa, who informs her that the crate turned out to be set to open on a timer, and the cat-monkeys were carrying an infectious disease that got into the ventilation system. The ship’s been decontaminated, but the entire crew is quarantined on a hospital ship and will be there at least two weeks, possibly longer.

Since she has little choice, Marika calls the Harold Lloyd Insurance Agency to cancel the upcoming jobs. She speaks to Show, who took over from the titular Harold Lloyd, a glorified mobster who ostensibly got into fistfights with Ririka back when she was a pirate (now that I’d pay to see!) He warns her that if she isn’t able to do any pirating for a month – a distinct possibility since the virus infecting the crew is particularly potent – she’ll lose her licence.

With no other practical option, Marika takes her mother’s advice and goes up to the space station orbiting Morningstar to recruit a temporary crew. Gruier sneaks along and convinces her to buy a disguise since she’s become a minor celebrity. They still have no luck hiring anyone, but then some sailors approach them and the leader says they heard she’s hiring and are willing to work cheap. Marika doesn’t buy it, having realized the latter is a captain himself, and he’s pleased to see that she’s as sharp as he’d been told. He’s heard all about her from his daughter – Chiaki, that is.

It turns out Marika and Gruier had no luck because Kenjo and Chiaki told people not to take the job if Marika approaches them. Which will be obvious because her disguise sucks. They aren’t doing it to be mean but because they don’t think it’s the best way to recruit a crew. They ask her what she values most in a crew, and she concludes that it’s trust. Chiaki reminds her she can’t really trust someone she just hired. People she already knows, however…

Marika: Hey guys, wanna become pirates?

Yacht Club: Yay!

Thoughts

To be fair about Marika’s ‘disguise’, the problem is that she was taking advice from a 13-year-old princess who’s probably never worn anything inconspicuous in her life. She actually said “I’m in disguise” while walking around in a dark longcoat, large wide-brimmed hat, and dark shades; isn’t that actually called the ‘I’m in Disguise Outfit’? Then again, she did manage to sneak aboard the Bentenmaru while wearing what’s basically Princess Peach’s wedding dress.

Also: Yay, Chiaki! It just wasn’t the same without her around to act as a counterpoint to the silliness of the other characters. And her suggestion that Marika should hire people she trusts was pretty facepalm-worthy in the ‘why didn’t I figure it out sooner?’ way. I mean, it’s not like the girls of the Yacht Club are a clever and resourceful bunch, or as if Kane and Misa saw them as a potential pool of recruits in episode 1 or anything…

It made me appreciate how much buildup is actually being put into the series and how the payoff suddenly casts earlier developments in a new and satisfying light. The Yacht Club got to show what they were made of in episode 5 as a precursor to this. That was easily the best of the first episodes, and now they get to do it again, only this time as pirates. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to how this plays out, and it’s made me hopeful that other stuff from earlier is going to re-emerge in new and fun ways.

This episode also made me realize something about the show, or at least my own expectations. I was starting to feel a bit let down because the plot didn’t seem to be taking off like I thought it would, but this series isn’t about having a complex plot, it’s about having fun with the concept of space pirates. And the characters, who are a lot of fun, but I’m starting to repeat myself. In that vein, what could be more fun than putting a bunch of teens with a reputation for sordidness in charge of a pirate ship? To quote something related, this can only end brilliantly!

Anime Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 13 - Marika Sends an Invitation

Man, the Hakuoh Academy Yacht Club; what a wretched hive of scum and villainy...

Summary

An urgent message from Gruier sends the Bentenmaru rushing back to Serenity, but it turns out they just wanted to give Marika a medal. Back home she’s become a minor celebrity, and her uniform is given some tweaks (the debut work of aspiring fashion designer Mami). At school she discovers that Gruier’s time as a visiting student had been extended, and that Grunhilde has enrolled too. The yacht club has some trouble recruiting new members, however. Mami says that’s not surprising – the president (Lynn, now that Jenny’s graduated) is a hacker, one member is a space pirate, and who knows what those other girls get up to in their spare time... They do eventually get four new members, including Grunhilde.

Gruier meets up with Marika as she gets off work one night. She tells her a little more about the situation on Serenity. It was on the brink of civil war, conservatives who supported the royal family pitted against reformists who wanted reduced royal power and greater autonomy for the vassal planets. The return of the golden ghost ship salvaged the situation and restored royal prestige, although reforms are still being carried out. Gruier regrets that she and Grunhilde allowed themselves to be manipulated by both sides, but Marika reminds her that sneaking aboard the Bentenmaru was her own idea. Gruier expresses her personal gratitude by giving Marika the ID ring she used to sneak aboard the Bentenmaru; it was given to her by Marika’s father.

Marika decides to invite Gruier and Grunhilde to dinner. Other than Grunhilde eating an entire spoonful of hot mustard it goes well. Later, as the Bentenmaru prepares for its next job, Ririka submits her application exam for a starship licence.

Thoughts

So that’s what was going on with Serenity. Well, I’m satisfied; it was pretty simple, but it gave us the context behind Gruier’s actions, and that’s enough for me. I’m no longer sure it’ll come back into the picture again, but the show isn’t about Serenity, it’s about Marika and the crew of the Bentenmaru. What was important during the golden ghost ship’s storyline was that it’s the first time Marika’s abilities as a captain were put to the test in a real, dangerous situation. And she succeeded spectacularly, even if she’d rather downplay that bringing the golden ghost ship back to Serenity – which turned out to be the best solution – was her idea (it just seemed like a good thing to do is all…). She’s famous now, but it doesn’t sound like she’ll let it go to her head.

Which is just another way of saying this show isn’t about the situations but the characters. Whether it’s Marika’s humility relative to her newfound fame, Gruier looking to balance becoming her own person with her responsibilities as royalty, Grunhilde learning that such a thing can be done, or Ririka deciding that because her daughter’s far more independent now it’s time for her to look to her own ambitions again (becoming a pirate again seems a bit too obvious, but whatever she’s up to, it’s bound to be good), characterization was definitely the point of this episode.

Which is fine; it’s great really. It’s different from what you’d expect from a show called Bodacious Space Pirates (although that’s a good thing in…some ways, at least in my opinion) and a nice change of pace. It’s just that sometimes I feel like the show’s focusing on it a little too much at the expense of having a little more of a story. Which kind of feels like a silly thing to say – Marika becoming captain of the Bentenmaru and learning how to handle her newfound responsibilities is the story. And she’s a well-developed, likable main character with a fun and colorful supporting cast, so that’s hardly a bad thing.

I guess it’s just that I was still expecting it to become a bit more focused on the straight-up pirate side of things once Marika made her decision. Oh well; if you’re patient with this show it usually turns out to be worthwhile even if the pay-off wasn’t what you expected. I’m still having fun watching it and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.