Mouretsu Pirates – 07

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[HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_03.38_[2012.02.18_17.32.08] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_14.45_[2012.02.18_17.45.20] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_18.29_[2012.02.18_17.49.37]

I don’t want to make too much of unintentional symbolism, but you’d be hard pressed to find a line that sums up this show better than “Let’s finish this – I have school tomorrow.”

Mouretsu Pirates has a lot in common with it’s main character.  Both are likable, attractive, and very capable.  And they both want to have their cake and eat it too.  Seems to me that what Marika is trying to do by being a pirate captain and a schoolgirl at the same time is a lot like what the series itself is trying to do in being a self-described bodacious adventure story without any danger, pain or negativity altogether, a place where bad things happen only in bad dreams.  I can’t shake the feeling that both Marika and Mouretsu Pirates are just goofing around, having a good time, playing at doing something big and boisterous but actually never taking the training wheels off.

I have to give the show credit though, it has absolutely stuck to its guns all the way so far in refusing to divert from it’s incredibly low-key style.  I couldn’t help but laugh when the caller ID on the pay phone Chiaki was talking to her father on showed his full name and a picture of him dressed in full pirate regalia – that sums things up pretty well. We had an entire episode devoted to doing the paperwork in making Marika Captain, and all of the jobs her ship does seem to be staged with the approval of the “victims” as an elaborate entertainment for their clients.  It’s an amusing idea but not one that can drive two cours of anime, IMO, and I’m wondering whether there’s going to be any sense of imperative to this show at all.

If there is, I doubt it’s going to come from the plot twist at the end of the episode.  For once the pantomime of the “pirate attack” didn’t go exactly as planned, and a stowaway found her way onto the Bentenmaru.  But it looks to be an excuse to inject more of the same into the story – more politics and more moe, as the stowaway is a cute li’l pigtailed princess who seems to be fleeing from some kind of unpleasantness on her home planet (though that’s just a guess).  There were several odd things about the whole attack, including the behavior of the escort ships and the fact that they and the luxury liner surrendered independently from each other, and the fact that these oddities were so conspicuously dwelt upon leads me to believe the whole thing might have been a setup, possibly to get the Princess onto the Bentenmaru.

I guess last week’s episode falsely raised my hopes that the series might have been shifting into a higher gear, but it’s right back into third, coasting along at about 35 MPH.  It’s a smooth and pleasant ride, but about as exciting as a Saab 9-3 Diesel.  To be honest I’m still not really sure why any of this is even happening, as things on the Bentenmaru seemed to be going perfectly fine with its capable crew, especially considering that we haven’t seen them do any “piracy” so far that’s more dangerous than forgetting to rotate your tires.  Is there something hiding in the weeds, something to inject a jolt of consequence into Mouretsu Pirates?  Maybe a betrayal by Chiaki’s father?  I hope so, because I need a reason to worry for these characters and to really care about what they’re up to – and right now, I don’t.

[HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_11.10_[2012.02.18_17.41.24] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_13.43_[2012.02.18_17.43.57] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_13.54_[2012.02.18_17.44.28]
[HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_14.58_[2012.02.18_17.45.33] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_16.56_[2012.02.18_17.47.31] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_17.55_[2012.02.18_17.48.50]
[HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_17.56_[2012.02.18_17.48.31] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_18.35_[2012.02.18_17.49.30] [HorribleSubs] Moretsu Pirates - 07 [720p].mkv_snapshot_21.18_[2012.02.18_17.52.25]
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9 comments

  1. K
    Karmafan
    February 19, 2012 at 3:08 am
    Reply

    Even with its lack of depth in its storytelling its still worth 24 minutes of your life each week. I like it.

  2. I
    Indigo_Fire
    February 19, 2012 at 4:58 am
    Reply

    I'm actually not worried about the lack of adrenaline so far in the series. Even if it remains this low key throughout its run it's such a well constructed and enjoyable series that I can't help but love it.

    That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if little miss Princess ends up being the catalyst for some dramatic developments. I'm going to guess that she wants the Bentenmaru to protect her from some nefarious baddies and it's going to end up with half the galaxy on their tail at some point or another.

  3. admin
    February 19, 2012 at 5:19 am
    Reply

    I'm not so much worried about the lack of adrenaline as the lack of emotion. I'm enjoying it, but only on a purely intellectual level.

  4. K
    Karmafan
    February 19, 2012 at 5:58 am
    Reply

    I agree with Indigo. I think this series is gonna pull a Last Exile. Perhaps the princess is betrothed to some shitheel she doesn't want and wants them to help her get away from that life? Or maybe she was kidnapped and escaped from her room on that luxury liner? Lots of possibilities.

  5. admin
    February 19, 2012 at 6:23 am
    Reply

    That's not a Last Exile – that's a "Fam"!

  6. d
    deafvader
    February 19, 2012 at 4:36 pm
    Reply

    I feel bad for mouretsu with the comparison with LE.
    This is just more fun to watch. There is a feel good feeling that LE did not provide me. LE was entertaining but I got bored of it.

  7. S
    Shinji
    February 20, 2012 at 5:36 pm
    Reply

    I am still enjoying this show although GE pointed out something interesting (as in was crawling back in my head while watching)…It's all fun but I would need to really care about the characters. I guess we'll see sooner or later since it's 2 cour, right?

  8. g
    gandalf8
    February 21, 2012 at 3:50 pm
    Reply

    I just re-watched this episode, and I've begun to have a clearer understanding of this episodes "job" that the Bentenmaru crew so eagerly accepted. I suspect that the real client was not the luxury cruise liner company, but the princess and her retinue. This is just my theory, but I think that the princess is trying to flee from her planet or star system or something due to political reasons. So they planned that little scenario to smuggle the princess somewhere safe under the guise of a job offer to the crew of the Bentenmaru. The reason those escort ships had acted above and beyond the agreed battle plan was probably to test the abilities of the Bentenmaru and its crew. As the princess was planning to stowaway on it, she would want to gauge for herself if the Bentenmaru would be up to protecting her in the face of any hostilities they would encounter, thus the escalation in the aggression from the escorts in the mock battle. The fact that they only stood down after the Symphony Angel, where the princess is on, surrendered before tendering their own surrender further strengthened my suspicions. I'm guessing they targeted the Bentenmaru knowing of its affiliation with the Sea of Morningstar, which in the last episode was stated to have the right of self rule even though officially they are under the reign of the Galactic Empire. I think that it wouldn't be farfetched that the princess is someone of importance in the Galactic Empire, and her flight is the harbinger of a major conflict that is about to engulf this section of the galaxy that will drag Marika and her friends and crew into the eye of the storm.

  9. A
    Anonymous
    March 14, 2012 at 5:37 pm
    Reply

    I have to agree with Gandalf8 with what was stated. I think the first episodes were to show how things were set up before this incident. Now I think things are about to go peddle to the metal and hit the nose, for this last one had them doing a real fight with no plans at all. Not only that, but you can see that the princess is hiding something from the crew but is relieved each time Makia does something captain like. This is a lot better then some that I have been coming across lately.

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