Anime Quick Thoughts: Another

Episode 9 – Body Paint

Summary

After Nakao’s funeral, Chibiki tells Kouichi, Mei, and Mikami that he talked to one of the police detectives about what happened. The latter said that upon examination, Nakao had a head injury that occurred before he was hit by the boat; he was probably dead already when that happened. His family confirms that they heard a loud noise that morning, and when they investigated they saw him running out the door. In other words, he died of an injury that occurred in Yomiyama.

After a nightmare where the dead tell Kouichi it’s all his fault, he makes plans with Teshigawara and Mochizuki to investigate the old Class 3 room, the one where Matsunaga would have left the clue. They meet at the art club room the following afternoon, only to find Mei there. Since they can’t talk her out of coming along the four sneak into the old classroom, which is on the sealed-off second floor of the old school building. After a few close calls they manage to find the clue, a cassette tape hidden in a closet.

They sneak into the A/V room to play the tape, which is a recording done by Matsunaga. He says he is both confessing a sin and giving advice to future Class 3 students. Fifteen years ago, Class 3 cleaned up the old shrine on Mt. Yomiyama and prayed there together. The teacher asserted that this had freed them from the curse, but then it started to rain and two students were killed as everyone hurried down the mountain. At this point the group barely avoids getting caught by one of the teachers. In the process Teshigawara accidentally rips the tape, but Mochizuki thinks he can fix it.

Elsewhere, more people related to Class 3 die.

Thoughts

Well whadda ya know, there was actually a tiny bit of suspense this time. It helped that the ones putting themselves at risk were the interesting characters (well, Mochizuki’s still pretty bland, but I’ve gotten used to him being around), and with the two girls who were seen splitting up and walking home, each set up a possible opportunity alongside those exploring the classroom, so there was some uncertainty as to when and where something was going to happen. Granted, the former was more of a good setup than anything truly suspenseful (I strongly suspect I was just tense about something unrelated when I was watching the episode), and with the latter keeping us guessing was kinda moot since something happened in both cases, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Really, this episode was basically a lot of hints at things that should’ve been the case from the start. In addition to the above there’s the guilt Kouichi’s feeling over his role in what happened – hence the nightmare and why he only asked Teshigawara and Mochizuki to help him, to minimize the number of people at risk – and the glare Akazawa gave Mei after the funeral, hinting at the exact kind of resentment she’d warned her and Kouichi about. Emotional responses and interpersonal conflict like this would’ve made it much easier to get invested in the characters and done a better job of creating tension and ambiguity. Characters keep referring to how senseless the curse is, and that’s true. It seems to target people purely because they’re in or connected to Class 3, not because of anything they did, which is hardly fair. What can you justify doing to fight that – does it make ostracizing someone to the point of denying they exist okay, if it saves everyone else in the process? Is it better to hunker down and try to weather the storm or actively try to find out what’s going on and maybe stop it, knowing that doing so might put a lot of people at risk?

Questions like these and the potential for ambiguity the show’s premise has, like any emotional conflict on the characters’ part, has only been hinted at so far, and while it looks to slowly be coming to the fore I’m not sure how much can be done with them when there’s only three episodes left. Hopefully it can at least pull off a good finish.

Anime Quick Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates

Episode 9 – A Beautiful Launch

Summary

The Bentenmaru sends a transmission to the Serenity ships wherein Grier, dressed in Marika’s uniform, orders the pursuers to stand down. Afterwards they dock with the ship carrying the records, which are handed over by Grand Chamberlain Yotof and Catherine, captain of the royal bodyguards.

The next day Marika finds Chiaki at the yacht club. She’s only there to do some research (really). She tells Marika the Barbalusa was hired to hunt the golden ghost ship. It was done through an underground channel, so she doesn’t know who the client is, but they’ve also been ordered to destroy anyone else hunting the ship…

The club’s next guest is Grier, whom Jenny already knows. Her family’s shipping company has business dealings with Serenity. Grier came to them because Mami told her it was the best place to find someone well versed in “the illegal skill of ‘faking attendance.’” She wants people to think she’s still at school after she leaves to hunt the ghost ship. Jenny says that’s no problem since they’re going on a practice cruise during the post-exam break as a send-off for the graduating members – yes, she just decided that now, what of it? Grier is made a club member so she can go.

Marika gathers with her mother, Grier, and the bridge crew to review the data on the golden ghost ship. Two hundred years old, it was the first colony ship built, in an era before faster-than-light travel when putting passengers in cold sleep was necessary. Based on reported sightings they’ve been able to plot a map of its course, which will take them close to hazards such as black holes, nebulas, dwarf stars, and proto-planets. Marika insists they can’t be deterred, and a few days later the Bentenmaru begins the search.

Thoughts

A set-up episode; that’s basically it. One that wasn’t completely satisfying either. It was hinted at that something shady is going on behind the scenes, and that’s not really a problem – you don’t want to give away everything too quickly – but I do wonder why Marika and the crew haven’t deemed it prudent to ask Grier if she knows anything given what’s happened recently. Not only was the ship carrying the records being pursued, they deduced that Yotof and Catherine may have stolen it; isn’t anyone the least bit curious as to why they felt the need to do that? Then there’s Chiaki’s warning to Marika – obviously somebody doesn’t want anyone to find the ship before they do; doesn’t anyone want to know who it might be, even if it’s only theories or speculation? Maybe Grier genuinely doesn’t know – but she wants to hide her whereabouts, she must suspect something is up.

More than the lack of some prudent questions, though, the exposition felt incomplete. Why does Grier want them to find this ship; what’s on it? Why is it considered a ghost ship; did it never reach its destination? That map they plotted out gives the ship a course that looks like a circuit, albeit a weirdly-shaped one; why is it travelling like that? And why does it pass by so many dangerous phenomena? Again, there’s no need to reveal absolutely everything right off the bat, but it still felt like key and very basic information was missing.

Oh well, there’s still 17 episodes to go; plenty of time to make up for a lackluster one and pull of something truly good. This show hasn’t turned out to be what I expected, but so long as the pacing doesn’t keep staying so slow there’s a rushed ending or it ends up feeling incomplete it still has the potential to tell a good, solid story.

Also, I knew something was going to strain Marika and Chiaki’s friendship. OK, maybe this isn’t it, this looks like a likely time for it to happen.

Anime Quick Thoughts: Another

Episode 8 - Hair Stand

Summary

Kouichi and the others go with Reiko to the resort where Matsunaga works, but he’s away when they get there. In the meantime, since they’re outside Yomiyama, it’s summer, and the sea’s right there – beach time! By coincidence (totally!), Mei’s summer house is right nearby, so she turns up as well. We learn that her father is rarely in Japan, and these trips are mostly so the family can put up a pretense of normalcy.

After a day of horsing around and having fun, Matsunaga gets Reiko’s message and comes to see them. Kouich, Mei, and Akazawa question him about what he did fifteen years ago, but neither he nor Reiko is able to remember much. They remember that someone died on the mountain, that they went to the shrine, which is apparently rather run-down, and everyone joined hands, but not much else. Then Matusnaga realizes whatever he left behind is actually at the school. The wind suddenly picks up and blows the beach ball out into the water. Nakao (the guy who glared at Kouichi that one time) goes to get it but suddenly loses consciousness in the water. Before the others can get to him he’s killed by a boat propeller. Matusnaga suddenly remembers where he left a clue – it’s in the classroom.

Thoughts

Forget Yomiyama – this curse kills when people start to look too deeply into what’s going on. It’s that or leaving Yomiyama is as much of a crapshoot as making someone nonexistent.

It didn’t help that the whole setup for the episode – everyone having fun at the beach because they’re safe from the curse – was basically a giant neon sign flashing ‘somebody’s gonna bite it at the end!’ And, unsurprisingly, it was one of the two people there who’ve been background characters until now. As usual, I’m not saying that anyone who died deserved it, but in a series where the main source of tension is supposedly worrying about who’s going to die next, having bland characters isn’t going to make the deaths meaningful or shocking.

Really, it’s starting to look like character development is actually a sign that a character is safe. Which is odd, because if the curse really doesn’t want to be stopped you’d think it’d kill those who are showing an active interest in figuring out what’s going on. Akazawa says on the way to the beach that she volunteered to become head of countermeasures specifically to put a stop to the curse, and Kouichi has been showing initiative lately by being the one most actively seeking out additional information. Wouldn’t killing them make more sense? At least it make them more active characters, and Kouichi’s earlier curiosity less of a plot convenience since it’s still in evidence even after he’s been brought up to speed.

Still, neither compares to Mei, who’s easily the most fleshed-out character in the series. She started out as this mysterious and enigmatic girl, but we’ve since gotten some insight into her personal convictions (although being accustomed to isolation may have played more of a role in her acceptance of the non-existence role than I gave credit for), and this episode, especially her sullen expression when the mound of sand she was building got washed away, showed her emotional side. That and freaking out when a tiny octopus bit her hand showed a vulnerability that contrasts with the air of detachment she usually has. All told, I’d say she’s rather stoic about her situation – given her family history she’s clearly used to it – but she still feels lonely, and one can only bear so much of that. More than thinking she was being bullied by the others, that’s why Kouichi’s been reaching out to her; at this point it’s obviously because he likes her, but before that he just wanted to be her friend. She may be a little uncertain how to respond, but she can tell that’s what he’s doing, and I think she appreciates it.

Anime Quick Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 8

The Princess and the Pirate

Summary

The stowaway is Princess Gruier of the Serenity royal family. She has a request for the Bentenmaru – she wants them to find “the wandering golden ghost ship.” As they converse Hyakume, the ship’s radar specialist, finds a notice on the ‘net that Gruier has gone missing, although she insists she’s here of her own will. Their employer on this job was the Harold Lloyd Insurance Union as usual and the escort ships were Stellar Alliance, probably there to protect the Princess, so everything seems to add up, but Misa tells Hyakume to contact the Union and see if they ask any suspicious questions.

Until they figure out what to do, Gruier is enrolled in the middle school at Hakuoh Academy (under her real name) and instantly becomes popular with the students. Shortly afterwards Misa calls Marika to the infirmary and tells her that the Morningstar government received a secret document from Serenity right after the Bentenmaru returned and their call to the Insurance Union. They both agree that seems fishy.

They aren’t supposed to have any work for a while, then a job suddenly comes up (I sense a recurring motif). The Alliance navy wants them to investigate an incoming ship that Gruier says is from the Serenity Royal Fleet, bringing palace records on the golden ghost ship. Serenity isn’t hostile, so the Bentenmaru was hired to keep the investigation unofficial. However, Hyakume picked up more than one ship, and they were engaged in combat. Sure enough, when the ship comes out of hyperspace it’s damaged, and the pursuers are from the Serenity fleet as well. Something’s going on here…

Thoughts

Isn’t ‘The Princess and the Pirate’ the name of a children’s book? If not it probably should be.

I like where this is going. The whole thing about making a living as basically a stage show for tourists made a certain amount of sense (although I really have to question if all those people are really OK with all their valuables being stolen at the end, even if it’s covered by insurance – seriously, don’t some of them have personal value?), but it’s not enough to carry a story by itself. Ok, you probably could make a story out of that, but you’d still need some sort of backstage plot or character development to move the story along. Which is what the last two episodes were, but would it really be a show about space pirates, not just actors who play pirates, if they didn’t get involved in a real adventure at some point?

And this, this looks like the real deal. We’ve got a ghost ship that’s not just a passing mention this time, an independent-minded princess whose cheerfulness is clearly hiding something (not that she’s not like normally, we don’t know enough to tell, but Misa mentioned that she looks a bit unhealthily thin – stress, perhaps?), obvious court intrigue in the background, and a friendly crew of pirates about to get caught in the middle. There’s probably treasure somewhere in there too – seriously, this is about pirates, how can there not be treasure at some point? But even if it’s not what’s expected, this show’s still good at giving us something worthwhile anyway. Either way, whether this is just another story arc or the start of an actual plot for the series, it looks to be a good one.

Also, Misa’s driving has officially put alongside Lisa from Ponyo in the listing of ‘Anime women who are clearly related to Yukari-sensei.’

Anime Quick Thoughts: Another Episode 7

Sphere Joint

Summary

The teacher kills himself, spattering the class and students with blood. The uproar draws Chibiki, who quickly takes control of the situation. Everyone glares at Kouichi and Mei as they leave the classroom. Later, Akazawa warns them that the others will blame them for what happened, and possibly her as well.

Kouichi and Mei ask Chibiki about what happened fifteen years ago, when the curse was supposedly stopped midyear. Together they establish that two key things happened that summer: Ritsuko, Kouichi’s mother, died in July, and the deaths stopped after the class took a trip to a shrine on Mt. Yomiyama in August. Why, or if, the latter had any effect is uncertain. Shortly afterwards Ms. Mikami, the assistant teacher, informs the class, those who haven’t already fled town, that they’ll be taking a trip in August.

Teshigawara calls Kouichi, Mochizuki, and Akazawa together at a restaurant where Mochizuki’s sister works. She tells them that a regular customer named Katsumi Matsunaga was in Class 3 and insists he saved it from the curse by warning everyone, that’s why he “left it there.” What and where, he doesn’t remember. Somehow they figure out he was in the same year as Reiko.

Kouichi asks Mei if she’d like to meet Matsunaga with them, but she says she’s going with her parents to their summer house for the week. She gives him her cell number just in case and asks if he found the graduation photo his mother had, which his dad mentioned was at her parent’s house. He says he hasn’t. Lately he’s been wondering if he’s the one who’s dead, but Mei assures him he isn’t.

Thoughts

It wasn’t much, but there were some more nice snippets of character development this time around. With Akazawa in particular we got some insight into how the situation is weighing on her, seeing her worried about the repercussions of her failure to carry out her duties and learning that she often talks with Chibiki to help her deal with the stress. She tries to act like she’s on top of things, but she still feels the weight of her responsibilities.

Teshigawara said he was uncomfortable with ignoring Kouichi and Mei, which is supported by him breaking silence long enough to tell Kouich “sorry” when everyone decided to treat him as non-existent a few episodes back. He’s not the only one either – there was Takabarashi obviously, and even Mochizuki telling Kouichi to talk to Mei about what’s happening suggests he felt some guilt about leaving the latter in the dark. So what happened this time wasn’t the first glimpse we’ve had of how people in the class feel, but it looks like (or at least I’m hoping) that’s starting to become more of the focus now that everyone’s realized they can no longer try to avoid what’s happening and have to confront it.

It’s just too bad we didn’t get that for Mr. Kubodera, the teacher. It makes sense in hindsight: he tried to keep his distance emotionally but these students were still his responsibility and his seeming failure to keep them safe (that we didn’t see any real evidence of that notwithstanding) finally got to him. His death had the same problem as the previous ones: there was no reason to care about him beforehand – we didn’t learn so much as his name until after his death – so, gruesomeness aside, it had no real impact.

On the curse side of things, is this honestly the first time the class has tried recreating what happened fifteen years ago? Chibiki’s been around the whole time, and he keeps an eye on the records – did it honestly not occur to him that going to the shrine in a large group might have been key until now? True, there’s no way of knowing if that even affected anything, but like creating a new Class 6*, surely it’s something that would’ve been tried sooner? People’s lives are on the line, after all.

*because I totally didn’t misremember how many other classes there are and say Class 7 a few episodes back

Anime Quick Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates Episode 7

A little can say a lot sometimes...

Peace Does Not Last

Summary

Marika’s grades are starting to slip, and because she refuses to drop out of school or quit her part-time job the Bentenmaru hasn’t been able to take any big jobs lately. She insists she’ll just try harder, but Misa says that’s not always enough.

They aren’t supposed to have any work for a while, but then a major job suddenly comes up. It’s another standard robbery of a luxury liner, but this time the client added an optional package, so they’ll have to fight some escort ships.

Back at the café, Chiaki shows up right after Marika leaves. She denies that she came to see her but she obviously did. Marika’s co-worker Mami tells her Marika’s always pushing herself so hard because she’s trying to equal her mother. Unfortunately, because she’s smart and capable people tend to only see the results, not how hard she has to work.

Afterwards Chiaki goes shopping for some things the Barablusa needs, but when she calls her dad* at the spaceport he tells her to stay there. She realizes something’s happened.

The Bentenmaru broadcasts a surrender demand but the escort ships ignore it despite being outmatched by the pirate ship. The bridge crew handles things easily, and Marika starts to feel superfluous. Then, inexplicably, the luxury liner surrenders before the escorts, who promptly follow suit.  

After the robbery the crew discovers a stowaway from the other ship hiding in the docking bay. It’s a child, who refuses to speak to anyone but the captain.

*because I totally didn’t mistakenly call him the former captain a few summaries back…

Thoughts

Well, not much happened this episode. It mostly drove home the point that Marika’s getting overwhelmed by everything she’s trying to do. There’s a reason why Ririka didn’t want this to come into Marika’s life until after she graduated. The up-beat, affable Marika wasn’t much in evidence here, just a stressed-out Marika who’s spreading herself too thin.

We know she has what it takes when it comes to each of them, but add it all together and it starts to become a bit much. With so many things to do it’s hard for her to do any of them well – her grades are suffering, and she can’t get a handle on being a captain and her role on the bridge. But because she trying to live up to such a high standard (mostly of her own making) she refuses to back down and compensates by overdoing it, whether that’s trying to take on too many responsibilities or how she carries them out. True, we didn’t really see the boarding action this time, but just the part we did, where she came in blasting away and wearing excessive makeup was nowhere near as effective as last time and smacks too much of trying to emulate Blaster Ririka, when that doesn’t suit her. She thinks she’s “getting more into it,” but I’d say she’s going about it the wrong way.

It doesn’t help that, like Mami said, those around her are focusing more on the results than the effort she needs to put in. Misa in particular is expecting her to do what a pirate should do, not what Marika should do. Coorie, the ship’s electronics specialist, turns the electronic warfare battle with the escort ships into a pop quiz. Being a captain is a huge responsibility, and she should be expected to understand what that entails and have a grasp on the things involved, but you have to account for who you’re dealing with. More than the others, Kane’s the one who seems to see her more as her own person, not what he expects her to be. He’s the one whose comments have been more about her actual abilities rather than how they fit expectations, took the time to ask her ‘you holding up alright’ last episode, and here point out her youth and inexperience – it’s a lot for someone her age to take in. Schnitzer deserves credit too – he’s the one who told her that she’s not her mother and doesn’t need to be anything but herself. And that actually makes two-for-two, so this is really a case of the crew needing to adjust to their captain just as she adjusts to them.

Hopefully we’ll get to learn more about Ririka sometime soon. Mami talks about how she gives off an air of being someone great, and her character design, mannerism, and seeing what she was like in pirate costume (and Marika flinching when it looked like the former was going to give her a nasty glare a few episodes back) do give the impression she can be one scary lady when she wants to. Which is great if you’re a pirate, even one that’s more of an actor than an actual pillager, but it’s still just an impression. It’ll be nice to have a better idea of what, exactly, Marika’s trying to live up to.

Anime Quick Thoughts: Bodacious Space Pirates and Another, Episode 6

That does it, I need to rename this...

Bodacious Space Pirates

Marika’s First Day at Work

Summary

After being whisked away from a planned trip to the beach by Misa and Kane, and an endless day spent signing or stamping forms and visiting every government ministry of the remotest relevance, Marika finally gets the Bentenmaru’s letter of marque renewed. Only to discover it’s not valid unless it gets used within the next fifty days, so she’s whisked off to the Bentenmaru next.

What follows is long days of training, alleviated somewhat by Chiaki’s arrival to participate as well. But there are some things that can’t be taught, only learned from experience, so it’s time to (finally) commit some piracy!

The Bentenmaru attacks and successfully robs a luxury liner, complete with a staged sword duel between Kane (posing as a passenger) and Marika. Afterwards Marika collapses from exhaustion in the captain’s quarters and Chiaki prepares to leave. She declines Kane’s suggestion to say goodbye to Marika, even though she’s returning to her old school next semester. She does, however, keep the ‘trainee’ badge Marika stuck on her earlier.

Commentary

Yay, piracy! In space! Piracy that’s far more theatrical and staged than I was expecting, but hey, you gotta get by somehow when there are no rival powers to attack, what with the Galactic Empire swooping in during the war of independence and telling both sides ‘all your base are belong to us.’ At least that clears up some of the confusion I was having regarding the Stellar Alliance/Colony Federation and who exactly controls Sea of the Morningstar.

Still, it makes me wonder why Letters of Marque are still being issued. Initially it was much the same reason they were used historically, as a means of authorizing captains to raid enemy ships. But with that no longer the case, aren’t Letters of Marque basically just legalizing stealing to no real gain other than private profit and entertaining a bunch of bored rich people?

Also, there was an interesting change of pace this episode. Whereas before things were unfolding gradually, this time around it skimmed over Marika’s training, presumably to condense it all into a single episode and let us know it happened. It suggests that they could’ve done the same thing when showing that she’s got some basic familiarity with spaceships and has the basic qualities to make a good captain. It would’ve gotten things to this point more quickly, for sure, but I don’t think that’s quite how things are.

A lot of her training is basically expanding on her basic familiarity with spaceships, and that’s really all that’s being glossed over. With things that are completely new, she’s still rough around the edges. She was reading from a script when she announced the boarding and it showed, and Chiaki commented that her swordplay is still weak. We see her struggling with how she should act and getting conflicting advice. That Schintzer guy tells her she shouldn’t worry about living up to anyone’s expectations or try to emulate her mother – she should just be herself. Chiaki complains that she comes across as a ditz and that people won’t take her seriously if she keeps acting like that. She didn’t fully anticipate her responsibilities as a captain either, thinking at the beginning of the episode that she could do this when time allowed, not when its responsibilities demanded it of her. It may seem like a lot of ground was covered, but she’s still learning.