First Impressions / Mouretsu Pirates

「密航出航大跳躍」 (Mikkou Shukkou Daichouyaku)
“Smuggling, Leaving Port and a Leap”

Pirates, parfaits, and pleated miniskirts – oh my! At first glance, the idea of high school girls manning what essentially amounts to a small high-tech battleship without adult-supervision sounds exactly like a recipe for disaster. We already all know how risky and unsafe teenagers can be behind the wheel of a car – which is why placing them at the helm of a starship is basically asking for something to go wrong. And boy did things go wrong. Luckily for the girls, among them was a captain who has matured to beyond her years, one who was able to lead them out of a potentially ugly political incident.

Even before this episode started, I was excited to see the contrast between the Marika from when she was a mere student on the practice cruise and the Marika of today, who is a seasoned space pirate captain with numerous skirmishes under her belt and even a medal to boot. I thought she would have been a little more apprehensive since she has never led this particular group of girls before; only Jenny or Lynn have been the leader of the Yacht Club, and consequently, they were the de-facto captain on their cruises aboard the Odette II. However, Marika quickly assumed command like she was always meant to lead these young ladies, who followed her without a single complaint. Even Chiaki didn’t appear to second guess any of Marika’s decisions, aside from helping the two Serenity princesses (and her rivals in “love”?) stow away on board without Marika’s knowledge. Come to think of it though, Chiaki probably only did it because she either knew they’d be bringing her favorite desert with them, or she made them bring it. (What’s with Gruier by the way? One moment, she’s sincere and honest with Marika, and the next, she’s stalking her in disguise or stowing away aboard the Odette II. Silly princess, make up your mind!)

Once the girls get to the Bentenmaru is when Marika really begins to shine – but confidence can only get her so far without the help of the original crew. It was hilarious to watch them act like worried parents watching their little girl take out the car for a spin for the very first time, without either parent in the passenger seat. I haven’t had that experience yet, but I can still empathize with the old crewmembers in another way; seeing them type up the manual in a frenzied rush reminded me of the writers racing to put together RandomC’s spring season preview. Although they might not have thought enough of Marika to trust her with starting up the ship without a manual, it was nice seeing that they do have faith in her decision-making as a captain when it does matter. Similarly, I enjoyed seeing the Space Yacht Club girls all turn to their captain as well – which surprisingly included Chiaki too.

It was pretty neat that they included the moment when the girls finally see their blue pearl of a planet from the depths of space, but I would’ve liked more commentary from the girls other than about how pretty it is. Maybe it’s because they’re so used to space travel, but I’ve always considered this moment to be particularly important because many astronauts always speak fondly about it. It is the moment that things like borders, differences in race or religion, or human conflict all that becomes meaningless because of the new perspective; the planet becomes a tiny and fragile insignificant speck in the vast bleak expanse of the cosmos. But maybe that’s too much to ask for from a show about space pirates and high school girls, so I don’t really mind that it’s not there. I’m quite content with what Mouretsu Pirates has to offer already. There is not one single iota of shame in the following confession: I grinned like a Cheshire cat throughout this entire episode and I’m eagerly looking forward to grinning some more as the girls embark on their first job.

 

Preview

25 Comments

  2. Oh god that’s just sooo wrong double w.

    That said- good episode. I felt sorry for the real crew- they were stressing big time. There was a couple oh crap moments- especially with the FTL jump. But- the crew pulled through- and showed their devotion to ship and captain.

    Banana Furikake
    Reply

  4. Chiaki’s parfait-gasm face made this episode. There were other hilarious moments too like Lynn drooling over the cyberwarfare suite or the accidental firing of the guns(oooooo what this button do!?).

    I’m impressed that the Bentenmaru crew took the idea of girls crewing their ship really well.

    fragb85
    Reply

    1. Haha yeah~ Chiaki’s face when she saw the desert spread was just gold. And Lynn as well when she saw the equipment.

      PS: I actually just realised that Lynn is voiced by Hikasa Yoko (I did not take notice of the seiyuu list in the 2nd episode blog :P). Kinda surprised me cause i totally did not recognise her voice.

      Euzio
      Reply

  5. Interesting episode this week even if it was more like cute girls doing cute things! Like a friend of mine Crazydave on twitter said Mouretsu: K-on in space! I can soooo agree to that especially with this episode, but hey I enjoyed it! Thanks to Chiaki-chans epic O face.

    What else could they do now in Mouretsu?! Swimsuit episode when and where!?

    foshizzel
    Reply

    1. Seconded! This show gets more fluffy by the day and the preview seems to indicate that we’ll see a pyjama party next episode. But at the same time I’m enjoying the series more and more. And the yuri vibes are the icing on the cake. I’m looking forward to Gruier in a school mizugi!

      jreding
      Reply

    2. The swimsuit episode was subverted in like episode five or something already, when Marika and Miya were headed to the beach and then she was kidnapped by Misa and Kane for paperwork… so I don’t think we’ll get another chance, haha

      verdant
      Reply

    1. Schnitzer? (think that’s how they spell his name)

      Anyway they keep him in the isolation ward as well because they do not know if the virus is contagious. Besides, being a cyborg doesn’t mean he’s totally robotic.

      Euzio
      Reply

      1. Also, just basic thinking; germs/bacteria/etc can spread all over and onto anything, so just by being present, he could’ve gotten covered with them and end up spreading them without knowing it by being near other people.

        HalfDemonInuyasha
        Reply

      2. 1. he could be just desinfected via boiling lol, but:
        2. but possibly he is a high end cyborg rather than android, hence biological components could be infected

        ewok40k
        Reply

  8. Quite possibly the funniest episode to date. Totally enjoyable~ It was hilarious watching the entire Bentenmaru crew race to write manuals for the girls to use. And when they started praying that everything will just work out when Marika ordered a FTL jump cause they forgot to write a manual on how to do it. LoL.

    Euzio
    Reply

  9. That episode was gold, I never laughed that hard in the series so far.

    The crew’s expressions of despair, the girls’ expressions of amazement and Marika’s expressions of humiliation made me burst out laughing.

    This show is getting better and better… aside from one thing I’m worried about:
    I hope we get to see Jenny a bit more. That feels kinda cheap to make her “go away” like that. “She’s no longer present because she graduated”… really ? The Yatch club is like a ship-piloting class, shouldn’t they keep the most proficient pilot/teacher around as an executive, exclusive or external teacher or something ? We barely know about her, wouldn’t it be wise to fill us up on her backstory, her conflicts, her relationships and such. Out of the Yatch club member, Jenny and Lynn are the most important figures.

    I know that the show is focused on Marika and that’s a good thing because they do it well, but I’m just uncomfortable by the fact to some secondary characters fade out because of some bogus reasons.
    – “What happened to that character again ?”
    – “We don’t know, that was never explained.”
    Yeah… I’m fond of that idea too much…

    Anyway, nice review and great episode. Keep it up !

    JiCi
    Reply

  11. I love the fact that Marika keeps getting more awesome each episode.
    Also this episode confirms that Gruier will try to not get separated from Marika at all cost, even resorting to crazy lengths.

    xephx
    Reply

  12. Parfaits fix everything!
    oh and they invoke DAT FACE in Chiaki!
    Gotta love Lynn drooling over the EW suit of the Bentenmaru.
    But the real gem is Marika’s leadership and improvisation skills. She picked up Bentenmaru’s quirks simply by observing the work of the real crew. She’s a pirate genius!
    Military slang directory for my post:
    EW= Electronic Warfare
    Ewok out!

    ewok40k
    Reply

  13. I laughed so much. I also thought about you guys writers during the manual making scene 🙂
    I think they didn’t spend much time on the “wow we’re in space, our planet is so small” etc part as Marika already did it a lot during her first time. Wait huh? No, I’m not talking about THAT.

    Rockmanshii
    Reply

  16. I must admit, the Preview for Episode 17 (i finished episode 15) got me unexpected 🙂

    Glad i seeing this Anime. Keep the good work. Your Studio are very Good (Story, Animation and Seiyus)

    Germanguy
    Reply

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