Bodacious Space Pirates

I've watched plenty of series in the past and will most likely continue doing so in the future. One of my favorite genres has to be related to what I was first exposed to, and that'd be space themed series such as Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, and Robotech. Granted Robotech is an amalgam of three separate series, I'll list it as the form I watched it. Now, it's not too hard for me to instantly jump in on this series and watch it knowing a little bit about the background of the series.

Story-wise, as a first episode we're given the basics. Any story shown is merely meant to hook the viewer into the story. There were a few clichés already, but as popular of a use they are, it does its job. While it doesn't appear to be a story that'll tug away at the heart's strings, it certainly isn't going to be just fluff either. There's potential in this for a decent amount of character development as well as a couple possible surprises.

Music in this was good, it isn't overtly quiet where it's hard to even notice. It also doesn't jump out of the speakers. While I found myself watching the episode, I had to take myself out of the clouds and listen for the music. Perhaps the piece that struck my ears the most was in the classroom where surprise surprise, a new character was introduced. It reminded me of a mix of Mediterranean-European and classical music, which I have to say is where a good part of my tastes seem to love. The opening and ending sequences are upbeat with a clear rhythm.

Characters, we're introduced a decent amount in the first episode, without a doubt there'll be a few handful more characters to break in. What gets me wondering is how it'll be handled. None of them really stood out as original creations, and I hope that it'll break through that mold in the coming episodes. Perhaps when more are introduced, we'll see a character dynamic that'll help create a better atmosphere.

A few things that brought me to this as mentioned earlier are as a result of what I grew up with and came to greatly enjoy. To star things off, animation quality was very good, CG was used occasionally and wasn't that bad at all. Satelight has brought in a few things that I have liked in the past. For me, most notable would be Macross Frontier and slightly less would be Shugo Chara. Furthermore, mechanical designers for this include Shoji Kawamori, creator of the original Macross. The director is also one that I like, at least from what I've seen that he's directed. Tatsuo Sato, director of Martian Successor Nadesico and Stellvia, two more space opera series.

Satelight with animation production, Tatsuo Sato with directing, and Shoji Kawamori at least working with mechanical designs. There's much to wait for. This has the makings of being a good space opera series, Sato has shown that he's able to work in a large character list effectively. Now only time will tell if my first impressions on this will remain true to the end. My expectations are rather high for this series. Still, moving aside all of what I came in expecting and spending a few moments outside of the episode. It's enjoyable but not something to really sink my teeth into...yet. So, I've decided to rate this as a mix of how I feel this show is and what I think it'll be in the future.

With the second episode already here, I'm liking the pacing of the show. If this keeps up, much of the reservations I have will be gone before long. While it's still introducing the cast as well as the series itself, Moretsu Pirates is doing well enough. I imagine much of the core cast would be introduced around episode four once the main character has made up her mind. With that guess in mind, I'll most likely rewrite this review after the sixth episode.

I must say, "bodacious" is not really a word I would use to describe this series. There is a decent story, a few 1-2 episode sub-plots emerge, but overall it is rather vanilla. The world building is mediocre, and there are a few too many secondary characters for any of them to really be well developed. As for the main character, she is as happy-go-lucky as they come, which leads to her being somewhat one-dimensional. All in all, a decent series that is good for mindless fun (which is obviously its target), but a little more substance and character depth would go a long way.

Despite the name, this show is as tame as it gets. With interesting character designs, amazing backgrounds, and a decent cast of cliche characters, the less cliche cliche's really. The story moves forward properly without any problems, no awkward twists or jump the sharks. It can be uninteresting at times, but that's why we're looking at the characters, they make the boring seem interesting.

Unfortunately, from here on the series falls into obscurity. The animation here couldn't be insulted, for it's not here. The opening alone uses an up-beat pop song with still moving pictures, and if you're lucky someone is walking! The series as a whole tends towards the "nothing is happening" scenes. You can actually spot the one character moving in a scene, with anything between 1 to 5 people that don't move the slightest, they're just still pictures. This tends to take the life out of the background, really kicking you out of the series as a whole. With tons of short-cuts that would make the likes of Studio Gainax cringe. As such, I can't recommend you watch it, as you won't remember it for just about anything.

Back on the character side. Our characters are nice, fun to look at, and lack anything that would interest you in them. Our heroine Marika has a friendly personality, and also lacks a proper foil. Without any negative or straight up conflicting characters, you hardly have a reason to like anybody. Everybody just seems all chill, the perfect co-workers. And while they're awesome to work with, they're horribly boring to watch. the show can be humorous at times, but it is uninspired, tending to fall short or simply be too minor a joke. feeling more like an off-hand comment that made you chuckle, than something that was made to make you laugh.

The director for the series tends to be a bit more....boring, for my tastes. Little to nothing is going on in the scenes, no risks are taken with the characters, animation, or even the way the scenes are framed. it's just a boring set of characters talking about something slightly interesting while preparing to do something that could be kinda cool, if they actually took the time to animate it.

Seriously, it's like watching some fantastic fight sequence from some big action movie....from the face of the viewers. I want to watch a fight scene, not someones face go AAH! for 2 seconds, followed by a horrible transition that exists only so they could not animate the characters talking to each other, instead having them remember the conversation in their head.

Yeah, so good story, decent character design. Everything else? It's not Garbage, it's just a lack of anything. Like eating Tofu, straight up, nothing but a big old plate of Tofu. it's kinda good, but it could easily be more if you took the time to add something, for which they didn't do.

the anime its self deserves maybe 3 stars. it wasnt an amazing anime by all means, but i will admit it started off strong so i though ok this will be good. my expectations sadly were over shot. the series is over all decent one. the reason i give it 3 our of 5 is because the depth of the story wasn't really there. it had deeper moments then others but overall it seemed to only dip a little. they would Pirate but they really only had 2 big missions and 1 felt very unfinished (which leads to more of my review). the rest was seemed to be filler there was no real character definitions in these points of "Filler" and when the real action-y parts u saw glimpses of who Marika was going to end up as. the complexity seem to come at the end with alot of it being very unanswered by the end. very great for a second season, but saddly with the age of the show as it is and that they "made a movie" i'm pretty much 99% sure that the show is done. which leads to the next point.

-1 stars (if that was even possible) for corporate direction of this show.


So simply put this series feels like it set the stage for huge things to come but then just stopped dead in its tracks and said the shows over thanks for watching. which is ridiculous and annoying to say the least.

It's a really light-hearted, funny anime. This one is out of my usual genres, but I gave it a shot, and I'm really glad I did. I couldn't stop watching it until I finished the series (or fell asleep once). The only thing I don't like is that I didn't see a lot of depth in the characters. Yes, the main character is surprising, headstrong, willful, optimistic, and everything else, but I don't feel as though anyone actually developed in the story line. I could be wrong, as it's been a few weeks since I've seen this, but I just don't remember any character depth.

This show is not at all what I expected at first glance. I from the premise, I was expecting this to be a terrible-to-mediocre heavy-on-the-fan-service, light-on-the-plot show using a cast of school girls as walking panty shots while throwing in the occasional bit of action. But, hey, I love space opera and it's about space pirates and has a weird name and, who knows, it might be okay.

I have apparently become jaded towards light novel based anime. I almost missed a fantastic show.

First off, this show has little (if any) fan service and no (again, that's zero) panty shots despite the short skirts in space. This is one of the few scientifically implausible elements of this otherwise surprisingly hard science fiction series and I applaud it. Another way this show happily subverts expectations is with the pacing; rather than being thrust into the role of captain right off the bat and watching her be either an enthusiastic natural or an unwilling, unprepared klutz, Marika says "Whoa, hang on, this is an important decision that requires careful consideration" and spends the next four episodes demonstrating her suitability for the job before expressing her decision. Some people may find this too slow for their tastes and wish for the show to skip to the piracy but I really loved it.

I found the characters likable, the tech intriguing, the animation nice, and the story enjoyable. The stakes in this show are low and the plot is a series of episodic arcs, and I found that to be a perfect fit for the premise and character. The final arc I thought could have been a little more ambitious and there are a few elements that could've been better developed and tied together, but those are minor quibbles. This show is light-hearted and fun adventure and sometimes that's exactly what you need. This gets a five for enjoyable space opera fun.

I loved the show, and I'm really going to "miss" the characters. After 26 episodes, I feel I somehow know these non-existent 2D imaginary people. Although I loved the space action, the character bits were the real fun, and it's a little bit sad to think I'll never again get to hang out with the crew of the good old Bentenmaru and the charming Hakuhoh Academy Space Yacht Club girls.That's the power of anime, I suppose.

And speaking of the Hakuhoh Academy Space Yacht Club girls: now, without further ado...

Hakuoh Academy Space Yacht Club Charm List
(In Order of Charm)

1. Berinda Percy
2. Sasha Staple
3. Syoko Kobayashimaru
4. April Lambert
5. Asta Alhanko
6. Yayoi Yoshitomi
7. Maki Harada
8. Ursula Abramov
9. Lilly Bell
10. Natalia Grennorth
11. Taruvikki Rauno
12. Flora Chapie
13. Mylene Certon
14. Izumi Yunomoto

Not listed:
Ai Hoshimiya, Gruier Serenity, Grunhilde Serenity (too young to be this sort of "charming")
Jenny Dolittle, Lynn Lambretta (too lesbian)
Marika Kato (very charming, but too cool for the list)
Chiaki Kurihara, Misa Grandwood, Coorie, Luca, Ririka Kato, Mami Endo (not members of the HASYC)

As far as the Bentenmaru bridge crew, I'll just say that ol' Coorie has got it goin' on.

So, farewell, Bodacious Space Pirates. It was a fun ride. May we meet again, somewhere out on the sea of space.