「目指せ!海賊の巣」 (Mezase! Kaizoku no Su)
“”Head for the Pirate’s Nest”

The seas of space belong to everyone. On the surface, it may seem like an innocuous passphrase, but in light of the recent events in Mouretsu Pirates, this simple sentence takes on a whole new meaning.

Like expected, the mysterious new ship quickly drove off the pirate hunter vessel in impressive fashion, overwhelming it with a barrage of missiles and a triad of powerful beams. My favorite part of this whole scene was actually not the Parabellum’s might, but the fact that Mouretsu Pirates actually addresses why even though sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space, everyone on the Bentenmaru can still hear the cacophony from the weapons. Coorie’s explaination that the audio was simply piped into the data stream put a grin on my face as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s. After all, how many other shows set in space address this issue? Very few by my count. On the surface, this show may seem more intent focusing on cute costumes and cute girls, but it also pays attention to getting the details of space and technology right, making it a proper space opera in my book.

Unfortunately, there were no new revelations on exactly who Ironbeard is, other than that he’s a pirate hailing from the Galactic Empire itself. Maybe that’s why his ship doesn’t look like any other pirate ship that we’ve seen so far in the series, being very blocky and angled rather than the round forms of the Bentenmaru and most of the other pirate ships we’ve seen. Instead, the main reveal in this episode was the story behind the Grand Cross. At first, given the pirate hunter vessel’s name, I thought that it would be a case of a religious group hell bent on eliminating pirates in the name of their deity, but I think the real explanation of the Galactic Empire testing its newest warships makes for a more fitting story. It effectively sets the stage for the pirates to take back their most valuable treasure: the power to be in space, and the power to be yourself. I loved that Marika was able to answer the old chef’s question so earnestly and without any hesitation. She truly is a pirate for the new era.

With the exception of last week, for the most part the pirates in this series have always worked alone, which makes a lot of sense given that they don’t want to answer to anyone. With their lives and livelihood threatened by the pirate hunter vessel, I’m very much looking forward to the pirates reuniting towards a common goal, even if the original reason they came together was a little farfetched. Then again, some do say food brings people together like nothing else, and from the smile on young Marika’s face, it must have been amazing. More cooperation between pirates also means more Chiaki, even if it is a bit hard watching her being denied time and time again with her attempt to spend some quality alone time with the Bentenmaru captain.

It’ll be interesting to find out how the Bentenmaru fights its way to the pirates’ meeting – maybe the best crew around will finally show why they are worthy of that title. Even though more questions were raised in this episode than were answered, I’m thoroughly enjoying this arc thanks to all the new questions to I have to ponder like:

Full-length images: 01, 02, 07, 09, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 24.5, 27, 33, 35.

 

Preview

23 Comments

  1. Chiaki is back with Marika and I’m pretty sure Gruier wore that Maid outfit for Marika. Dudes can only wish they are as awesome as Marika.

    The last episode had me worried that the show would get too serious with all the guns blazing. Thankfully its not the case, as its still about Marika being clever and finding solutions. Its why I enjoy this show so much. It’s pretty sharp of Marika to almost find the Legendary Chef purely by just eating his food.

    fragb85
    1. This review seems to be a bit early.

      Yes! This is the episode where Chiaki is at her tsunderest! She returned for Marika and she wanted to have some lone time with her. Unfortunately for her, Gruier also wanted a piece of Marika too and she wasn’t going to let Chiaki take her property away from her. And now Grunhilde and Mami join the fray. So it has begun: Chiaki vs. Gruier. Two girls battling for the love of another girl, Marika.

      I do not know which one is cuter: Chiaki’s tsundere-ish pout or Gruier in her maid outfit?

      Oh heck yeah! Marika’s hot mom Ririka was super smoking hot! Dat gorgeous black one-piece see-through midriff swimsuit! Marika is a lucky daughter!

      That blondie is very likely to be Coorie. I will not be surprised if she has a hidden sexy side. I am also anxious to know more about the mysterious pirate hunter girl. That woman might find a precious spot at Marika’s harem.

      John Hayabusa
  2. Your questions are exactly what I was wondering about as well. Misa and Kane seem to know Ironbeard, and some other secrets, I hope we get to know what by the end of the series.

    > Ririka sunbathing : what?

    KJacket
  3. I hope the blond girl in the preview is Coorie. Hmm, taking another guess. Misa knows the pilot of the Grand Cross since they both have an awful taste in lipstick color.

    Lurker
  4. The reason Kane’s hair stood up is cuz the current helmsman isn’t the real Kane that everyone knows. Its either a twin brother or Lockon style indistinguishable younger brother troupe. Evidently in the dinghy race arc the sadistic styled, rough, and shouting Kane they enlisted to help shape up the team was the double that switches with the real Kane at different times. This is probably the same as the Kaburagi Kotetsu looking dude from ep 20, as he doesn’t strike me as ironbeard contrary to popular belief.

    alabaster
  5. I was slightly disappointed in the beginning when the close up of the Parabellum revealed that the guy standing outside was just a hologram…it’s just less awesome than Gurren Lagann style.

    The sound in space explanations is definitely something I haven’t seen since Spaceship Operators. However, as much as this series tries to set up some space technology, it also throws all that out the window with the Grand Cross gravity-control zigzagging and a Galaxy-wide quantum broadcasting communicator that looks like a retro boombox.

  6. The whole “Kane double” thing also explains why Kane supposedly didn’t know about “that” weapon, despite “being there” and the “one who ordered it used” during their practice session.

    A lot of Chiaki scenes was, of course, extremely awesome, but just that ONE shot of Ririka…my god…that practically overshadowed it ALL. <3

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  7. Interestin use of a giant hologram on the ship as well as sound effects to use against ones enemy.

    I do have another logical thought for such holograms. In a large number of older sci-fi anime you would typically have the villain order his fleet to open fire with a sweeping hand gester. Sometimes without even a spoken word to fire. If he had a giant hologram of himself over his flagship, the entire fleet would be able to see him give the order to fire…and so would the enemy, who is usually being intimdated or played with at this point in the show

    ithekro

Leave a Reply to fragb85 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *