![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Do you enjoy shows where:
a) the cast features strong, confident ladies, two of which are the main leads, and the cast is mostly skewed female;
b) space travel is a way of life and sci-fi technology is everywhere you look;
and/or
c) pirate ships and nautical terms are the order of the day?
If you do, what are you waiting for! Go watch Moretsu Pirates!!!
I'm only at episode 5 but so far I'm chuffed at the show. This particular arc is a coming of age story for Marisa Kato, the main character. She discovers that not only is her mother a space pirate, but the father that she had thought long dead was actually the captain of an entire pirate ship! Think fancy space shuttles with solar masts and all that sort of fun stuff.
Already at this point it deviates from the normal story - Marisa has relatively little angst at such a big secret being hidden from her, and she doesn't have/suddenly develop daddy issues that might occur in other shows. Instead, she focuses on the immediate issue: does she really want to be a space pirate?
The show isn't subtle about pushing her to the answer of "yes", by having a fancy transfer student, a replacement teacher AND a new school doctor come to keep an eye on her. She kind of needs the protection; within a few days of learning about her birthright she and her friends are attacked.
In another refreshing twist, her friends do not scream and cower at being attacked. They spend just a moment being surprised, before they go, "How do we get ourselves out of his situation?" I LOVE IT. EVERYONE IS SO COMPETENT.
Episode 5 really brought that out. Marisa realises that someone is trying to hack into the space yacht that she and her club have commissioned for a school trip. She informs the others, they come up with a plan. The moment when they enact the plan is a feast - a lot of things happen at once, some in the plan and some not, and the girls deal with it all in a practical manner, WHILE RECITING POETRY. The last sounds ridiculous but it MAKES SENSE in context and just thinking about it makes me want to have FEELS all over the place.
Admittedly, one of the strengths of the show could be seen as its weakness. It's inherent in the premise of the show. The show is actually about a modernised version of a lesser known piece of nautical history: privateers. Privateers were people who had armed private ships that captured enemy vessals, essentially licenced pirates. The show spends some time going into and updating this concept for a space faring show.
The same treatment is given to solar masts and electronic warfare, which comes in helpful later. Still, sitting through the explanation, even when delivered by a bunch of bright girls, doesn't provide much incentive to continue when you don't know how it will be useful in the future.
The show is rather adament about keeping its school girls as school girls too. While that speaks volumes about the characterisation, sometimes you just tap your foot as you wait for the slice of life moments to be over. However, if you like your slice of life moments to pass the Bechdel test, you will enjoy the heck out of these slice of life moments.
In conclusion, Moretsu Pirates is a jewel of a show, but you might have some issues with the way it's been carved. Still, do stick it out and make it through to ep 5. I'm told that eps 6 - 12 is much better, but I have to get there first. =)
a) the cast features strong, confident ladies, two of which are the main leads, and the cast is mostly skewed female;
b) space travel is a way of life and sci-fi technology is everywhere you look;
and/or
c) pirate ships and nautical terms are the order of the day?
If you do, what are you waiting for! Go watch Moretsu Pirates!!!
I'm only at episode 5 but so far I'm chuffed at the show. This particular arc is a coming of age story for Marisa Kato, the main character. She discovers that not only is her mother a space pirate, but the father that she had thought long dead was actually the captain of an entire pirate ship! Think fancy space shuttles with solar masts and all that sort of fun stuff.
Already at this point it deviates from the normal story - Marisa has relatively little angst at such a big secret being hidden from her, and she doesn't have/suddenly develop daddy issues that might occur in other shows. Instead, she focuses on the immediate issue: does she really want to be a space pirate?
The show isn't subtle about pushing her to the answer of "yes", by having a fancy transfer student, a replacement teacher AND a new school doctor come to keep an eye on her. She kind of needs the protection; within a few days of learning about her birthright she and her friends are attacked.
In another refreshing twist, her friends do not scream and cower at being attacked. They spend just a moment being surprised, before they go, "How do we get ourselves out of his situation?" I LOVE IT. EVERYONE IS SO COMPETENT.
Episode 5 really brought that out. Marisa realises that someone is trying to hack into the space yacht that she and her club have commissioned for a school trip. She informs the others, they come up with a plan. The moment when they enact the plan is a feast - a lot of things happen at once, some in the plan and some not, and the girls deal with it all in a practical manner, WHILE RECITING POETRY. The last sounds ridiculous but it MAKES SENSE in context and just thinking about it makes me want to have FEELS all over the place.
Admittedly, one of the strengths of the show could be seen as its weakness. It's inherent in the premise of the show. The show is actually about a modernised version of a lesser known piece of nautical history: privateers. Privateers were people who had armed private ships that captured enemy vessals, essentially licenced pirates. The show spends some time going into and updating this concept for a space faring show.
The same treatment is given to solar masts and electronic warfare, which comes in helpful later. Still, sitting through the explanation, even when delivered by a bunch of bright girls, doesn't provide much incentive to continue when you don't know how it will be useful in the future.
The show is rather adament about keeping its school girls as school girls too. While that speaks volumes about the characterisation, sometimes you just tap your foot as you wait for the slice of life moments to be over. However, if you like your slice of life moments to pass the Bechdel test, you will enjoy the heck out of these slice of life moments.
In conclusion, Moretsu Pirates is a jewel of a show, but you might have some issues with the way it's been carved. Still, do stick it out and make it through to ep 5. I'm told that eps 6 - 12 is much better, but I have to get there first. =)
Tags:
no subject
*flails more!*
What to do? Also it was hard not to just fill my entire reply with exclamation marks and question marks.
no subject
It's a really strong show! I highly recommend it!
Btw, just a note to let you know I've been reading your posts, and have many feels on them that I need to get into order. But for now: RA RA RA!
no subject
And that's a great suggestion. I shall wait!
no subject
no subject