First Impressions / Mouretsu Pirates

「茉莉香、波に乗る」 (Senchou, Nami ni Noru)
“The Captain Rides the Waves”

This was not your average swimsuit episode by any stretch. Turns out it wasn’t a mere filler episode at all, instead serving as the introduction to what looks like the most serious arc yet, one that’s fraught with peril and nefarious elements that will probably end up threatening Marika herself. Color me excited!

After watching Ai lovingly embrace the dinghy she stumbled upon last week, I had hoped that we’d jump right into some spectacular action involving it in this episode. However, in true Mouretsu Pirates tradition, I had a feeling that that there would be no diving headlong into anything… everyone needs to go through some training first! This isn’t some show where every character is automatically an expert, after all. What I didn’t expect was that the creepy looking man in the slicked-back hair and sunglasses seen in last week’s preview, was actually our mild-mannered helmsman (and new gym teacher) Kane. Can’t say I like his sadistic side or his choice in swimwear at all, but you can’t argue with the results he was able to achieve with all the tests and trials he put those poor girls through. Maybe he knew of the trouble Hakuoh Academy caused in the Nebula Cup five years ago and is trying to prevent a repeat? In any case, I do understand where he’s coming from; you have to push people to their limit to see what they are truly capable of, even if it meant using the Bentenmaru to create a wicked “storm”. (Even with their letter of marque, that has to be illegal somehow, right?)

There were a couple of aspects that I really liked about Kane making the girls hold a windsurfing race, and no, seeing them in swimsuits is not one of them. Windsurfing is actually an ingenious choice because I feel that sailing a dinghy in the solar winds of space is a skill that cannot be taught completely inside a simulator. The strength of a gust, the pull of the sail, and the balance of the board – these are sensations that must be felt in person, and experiencing them will undoubtedly be useful in helping the girls grasp the nuances of piloting the dinghies. Probably the best aspect of the race was actually letting some of the lesser known girls shine in the spotlight. Marika actually wasn’t the winner for once, and now I can write about some of the other girls too! I definitely did not expect that the three Yacht Club representatives in the Nebula Cup would all first-year girls who haven’t taken the marine sports class. I can understand Ai winning as she’s already shown her impressive piloting talents, but Natalia and Grunhilde coming in ahead of her? Talk about coming out of left field (not to mention in Grunhilde’s case, adorable too). It’ll be fun to learn more about these girls as they take center stage while Marika works in the shadows protecting the Nebula Cup.

Speaking of shadows, I’m curious who the group of men meeting in the dark club were. From what I can gather, they seem like some sort of syndicate who have a treaty with the Katous and will now intervene to protect Marika from the Bisque Company, whose ship can also be seen in the previews and are going after her personally. Another question is who the hooded mysterious man is, the one that Ririka recognized, and the one who set up this treaty in the first place. It is these shady elements to the story that make this arc even more appealing to me because it shows that the Mouretsu Pirates universe isn’t all rosy and moe. Even though I really don’t want this series to end, consider me very excited for the final arc.

 

Preview

23 Comments

    1. That angle was amusing. Marika’s pantsu was wide open, yet the camera decided to go for a stupid angle. At least we get to see the girls in their school swimsuits.

      Grunhilde was amazing. I can feel the blood and genes of a certain squid invader and a certain Cure from her. I hope you know what I am talking about.

      I feel like Ai-chan stole the show in this episode. Good to see her shine.

      Finally, we get to see Chiaki-chan again and looks like she is set to become one awesome, action girl. She better tone down her tsun-tsunness a bit and get Marika’s attention, otherwise the Serenity sisters are guaranteed to win Marika’s love.

      John Hayabusa
      Reply

  3. That angle!!! Marika is fortunate there are no cars on the road in the vicinity. If she rides her bike like that, there’s gonna be a series of accidents occurring. XD

    And we finally get some sort of beach episode. Especially since they kinda teased us with the potential at the start of episode 6 only to shoot us way down >_<. Though it was kinda underwhelming since all of them ended up wearing their school swimsuits. Kane must have been letting go of all his stress with his 'S' mode coaching role :P.

    Euzio
    Reply

  6. And so we’re at the start of a new arc, and it looks like a plot-centric arc that will focus on the Kato’s and the Hakuoh Space Yacht club. Regarding that mysterious hooded man, I think everyone can already guess who he is, right? It looks like the stomach bugs in the future weren’t so deadly as we were formerly led to believe..

    I really thought that Marika getting a spot as one of the pilots for the race was a total certainty, but I guess this years first years are really good (although Grunhilde had a little ‘help’ in getting second place). It looks like the Nebula cup is set to get some added glamour and glitz for their 19th edition with a princess joining as a contestant and another princess being the starter.

    Unfortunately, another episode with zero Chiaki-chan quota. Too bad she wasn’t there when Kane decided to treat the girls for some parfait at the Lamp House. Well, at least in the previews it looks like she’s gonna get back right into the thick of the action in the next episode.

    gandalf8
    Reply

  7. https://randomc.net/image/Mouretsu%20Pirates/Mouretsu%20Pirates%20-%2020%20-%20Large%2013.jpg

    Those group of men were the leaders of various criminal, government and military organizations that were checking out Marika before she decided to become a space prate as explained by Chiaki. Most of them want Marika to be on their side but for now, all of them are in a truce to not interfere in her personal life until the time has come fro her to decide.

    MrTerrorist
    Reply

  9. This ep is one of the worse ep ever! So much panty potential and they failed at all opportunity ;-; LOL jk jk It was a great ep and got me laughing constantly. Although…my eyes still hurt everytime I see Kane. There are some images that aren’t meant to be broke D:

    Does the guy in the hood remind you of Villagiulio (Rinne no Lagrange) ._. but I’m guessing it’s her zombie father or possibly just a deranged man who likes to wear a hood over his face and smile. O.o

    shamaticgrl
    Reply

  11. I’m surprised at the lack of mention of the Yacht Club’s brains being forced to run 50 laps for not even attempting to practice wind-surfing.

    Poor girls; those delicious treats wasted, and the joys of parfaits missed.

    ALurker
    Reply

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