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「ガリレオジャッジ」 (Garireo Jajji)
“Galileo Judge”
Well that was somehow expected.
I can’t really say I’m disappointed because it’s been some time since Galilei Donna stopped making me hope for more. I’m not even surprised to see the series end the way it did; it’s nothing particularly memorable or interesting in my own opinion, and everything wrapped up rather conveniently. But that’s what I’ve grown to expect over these last eleven episodes, sad as that may be. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the truth, so all that’s left to do is enjoy it (or vice-versa) for what it is.
As to what actually happened this episode, I can at least say that I wasn’t expecting a trial, and it’s a token on how weak the characterization was with anyone other than Hozuki that I completely forgot the relevance to Hazuki and her law school training. That being the case, I found the whole thing rather ridiculous and forced; it was so unfair to a fault that I felt I was watching a poorly written Pheonix Wright trial in animation (except that’s a hell of a lot more fun to play/watch, and of much better quality), and I didn’t particularly find it satisfying to see it resolve so cleanly. Sylvia and Geshio’s involvement (not to mention Cichinho) definitely played up the family angle, though it was definitely dues ex machina if I’ve ever seen it. In fact, what struck me the most wasn’t any of that, but rather Kazuki and her long-hinted but never explicitly talked about crush. He never spoke a word or otherwise really showed what drew her to him, but his presence at the trial and rejection seems to have been written to act as symbolism for her growth over the journey. That she now realizes he’s not important to her compared to her family is obvious, but it did seem strange that the series felt it had to make that point now after we’ve already seen Kazuki grow up somewhat. She and Hazuki have been sidelined recently with Hazuki and Galileo’s prominence, and it almost feels like this episode tried to make up for that in a rushed manner.
No matter though; in the long run, the episode was more of what we’ve come to expect from the show. Everyone good (or weirdly in between, like Cichino), got a good ending, excepting Anna who apparently gets sent to jail, and Roberto and his adoptive father get their comeuppance to one extent or another. The family ends up together and happy, and it’s implied that Hozuki will use the Tesoro to eventually help the world with its energy problems (though I couldn’t say how). All in all, it’s a fitting end for what Galilei Donna is, and whether that works for you or not is up to you.
ED2 Sequence
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Final Impressions
When I first started this series, I was incredibly hopeful and excited. When things as cool as astronomy, history, and mecha mix, it’s hard not to imagine good things are in store. The first episodes were vague enough to hint at some good action and adventure too, but it was once Hozuki and her sisters were on their way together that it became clear that this was not quite the kind of story A-1 planned to tell. In fact, at first I was even more intrigued; character driven stories are among my favorites, especially when mixed with a good world-building vibe, and I was hoping for something well developed to at least make up for the lack of adventurous treasure hunting. Unfortunately, this ended up not being the case. There were a lot of bad writing decisions made, especially when it came to developing characters. Some of that can probably be attributed to the short run, but one-cour series are hardly always disasters. The more I watched, the less interested I became, and the more annoyed with the ways in which things developed. Between Anna’s horrible turn around and Galileo and Hazuki’s rather creepy relationship, I was done trying to like it. I’m sure there are some good things in here, I for one liked the scenery in the Galileo episodes and the fact that the man got some recognition at all (even if the historical inaccuracies were downright painful to watch), and I like that it at least tried to go with family bonding despite it failing pretty spectacularly. That being said, it’s not the worst show of 2013 (I’m looking at you, Cage Animu) or even the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’m sure it worked for some. But in my case, at least, I’m disappointed in the way things worked out, and it’s certainly a shame. Astronomy, history, and mecha deserve better treatment.
The Galileo Donna director has revealed in a radio interview that executive meddling may have been partly responsible for the show’s downfall.
The anime was originally designed to span 20+ episodes, and the story had already been planned to that extent.
However, the Aniplex producers suddenly asked the show’s run to be reduced to 11 episodes, and thus the creative team were forced to cut down the entire story to fit the new length.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=4952213&postcount=574
20+ episodes eh? Why am i not surprised by this…
Galilei Donna was still very enjoyable for me. I looked forward to spending 20 minutes each week looking at cute and casual character interaction, and that’s what I got for it. I agree it feels like it could have become an epic like Last Exile.
All in all, I can imagine a much fuller plot if it was expanded to 20 episodes. All the characters got a rather shallow background, there’s definitely enjoyment to be had if they shown more of them. I’m especially interested in the sky pirates + Hazuki developments.
The parents probably would have had a much deeper role to play too, if the series actually went on to two cour. I mean, consider the opening sequence, they take up quite a bit of the screen time (I think screen time in the OP sequence usually has a strong correlation with how much the series plan to flesh out each character)
To conclude, I enjoyed this series!
Also, I have no clue why the rich boy killed his adoptive father.
That explains a lot. This show had good Potential at the Start.
That Anime had the potential to reach Last Exile levels of epicness.Shame they had to pull the “deus ex machina” card at the end.It had a great villain and interesting characters.I guess 11 episodes wasn’t enough to flesh out the story.
Truly a shame.
I don’t the trial was that unexpected, really – after all, Galileo’s main clame to fame in popular culture was that he went on trail and was sentenced by the church for claiming that our planet revolves around the sun instead of the other way around. All the Galilei sisters are doing is following in the footsteps of their ancestor. Thematically, it was thus appropriate. Whether it was actually handled well, on the other hand…
This show was one of the most promising ones for me as well, and I was looking forward to seeing the rest of it after seeing the first ep (which was still one of the best first eps this season). Sadly, the rest of the shows didn’t hold up. Between a lack of characterization, massive leaps of logic, deus ex machina and a shambling plot, the show went belly-up real quick. What a shame. I guess the lack of two cour length hurt this show.
Still though, dumb and frustrating as it could be sometimes, it did a better job at entertaining me than a certain Kyoani show ever did, so it’s certainly not the worst show this season (though the fact that there’s more shows competing for worst than best is a bad sign). It had some fun moments and these kinds of travel-of-the-world plots generally work for me. Could’ve been so much more though…
ep #11 didn’t surprised those who still followed. maybe the trial…but even the way they did it…was poor. again – something we were prepared to. it was rush, forced, inconsistent..basically nothing good in terms of story, characters, execution or anything else except for the animation. even the problem about the energy wasn’t exactly solved..”producing” more Tesoro..what will that give you?the ability the return in time without guarantee to be back? LOL maybe not that bad idea after all..but that’s not a solution.
overall, GD is a big disappointment.
it started very good and intriguing, became mediocre in the middle, and in the end it was even worse. in fact, that’s a guide for every anime of what not to do.
characters weren’t developed enough, and even when that happened it was inconsistent and lack of balance. the story was totally neglected, and it’s unfortunate since the first 2 eps had potential to develop something good out of it.
the two good things were animation and the goldfish. but that isn’t enough to cover a bad development.
we already said it for the couple last episodes, but that doesn’t change the feeling of disappointment.
despite that, thanks for blogging GD. it was a pleasure reading your thoughts, Kairi.
Disappointing, no doubt. Started out okay, but it all turned to shit once it tried to be serious.
There was just no justice for so many people in the end – I keep thinking back to those kids in ep 3 or 4. That origami dipshit should’ve suffered a brutally, and yet he gets to say “I love you papa” and live peacefully in prison. Then you have Anna doing a retarded 360, like you stated. Then you have absolutely zero sense of world exploration. Meh, I could go on, but I’m sure most of the comments have stated stuff already.
Not as bad as Guilty Crap, but it’s still shows like this that ruin noitaminA. Yeah, I realized that the run was cut, but I doubt it would’ve been a classic even with a full 2 cours.
Holy rush job, Batman.
And after 11 episodes, Hozuki’s sisters turned how to be incompetent and useless. Special mention to Kazuki for simply being pointless.
https://randomc.net/image/Galilei%20Donna/Galilei%20Donna%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
Who wants to bet she played too many Phoenix Wright games?
I felt that the show had tried to do too much. I felt it was going fine until Houki went back in time. It was a cool idea and all, but it really didn’t contribute anything to the plot. Then it felt like the story writers were thinking “Oh crap…how should we finish this up? What about in a courtroom cause the girls stand no chance in the battlefield?”
I liked this anime but it definitely could of been a lot better. For most of the last episode I just got this “meh” vibe from it. Like Cicinho turning out to be the lawyer just left me feeling “Wtf”. I actually liked his character but the lawyer bit was stupid. Though I definitely liked how the mother was playing along with the whole amnesia act. What I wasn’t expecting was for Roberto to kill his step father since there was no build up what so ever and it just happened. It was creepy how Galileo loved Hazuki since anyone that watches this anime knows that they will be related.
Dropped it after ep 4, my move was good ??
Reading the review after the show ended I have missed nothing, no?
Kazuki was redeemed to me from being a whiny brat 2 or 3 episodes ago and now the mother gets redeemed in the last episode.
What kind of shit is this though? We couldn’t even get 12 episodes?!?! Rushed doesn’t even begin to describe what this anime is. Why is it that Sword Ass Online could get over 20 episodes, but an actual decent anime with the same art style couldn’t?!
Roberto looks exactly like Phoenix Wright, he should’ve been in the trail lol.
Kazuki lucky she was redeemed or else I would’ve laughed my ass off out of spite when her crush gave her that distant rejection, even though the audience doesn’t even know the dude’s name.
I’m so pissed, they didn’t even try to make the last episode not look rushed, they just crammed everybody into the damn thing.
Somehow I feel that this Galilei Donna could have been something like Nadia of the Blue Water.
Up the epicness, more advanced science, more characters.
The setting reminded me of other animes too, the usage of a historical character reminds me of R.O.D and Roberto’s design reminded me of Nijiu Menso no Musume and Big O 😛
Yup, it could have been better.
But I can say that the character designs are good and the animation has been pretty consistent.
Perhaps they can remake it 😛
Or do a sequel/spinoff.
Maybe at a time later in the future when the Tesoro power source is complete, the adventures of another batch of Galileo descendants.
Yeah, talk about wasted potential.. I got instantly hooked on with the premise and setting so I thought that this show could go to some great places but around the hospital episode I noticed Galilei Donna was making some dumb decisions with its storytelling.
Maybe it was the executives intervention, like someone said earlier, that brought the show down but it felt like major chunks of the story went missing somewhere in the process, and only the skeleton was left. Shame, really.
In any case, though I didn’t always agree with your opinions, Kairi, it was still a good read so thanks for the blogging 🙂
Well that’s so sad to hear that the show was cut down. It had a lot of amazing qualities to it that really had a classic epic feel to it. Still I enjoyed it but now that I know it coulda been something more fleshed out it’s a shame. If any anime deserves a remake someday it’s this series.