Mouretsu Pirates–First Episode Review

Episode Summary: Marika is a normal high school student. She enjoys participating in her school's yacht club and holds a part-time job at a local maid café. One day while at work, she serves a couple who claim to know her mother, and not surprisingly they show up at Marika's home later on to deliver some news: Marika's father, a space pirate, has passed away, leaving the command of his ship to his only daughter, Marika.

This turns out to be a lot for Marika to take in to begin with, but things become even more serious when groups of mysterious men crowd into her maid café after school. She's joined by transfer student Kurihara Chiaki, who appears to know more than expected about Marika's circumstances, and who rescues her from the violence that erupts at the café.

Thoughts: I'd like to have a talk with whoever translated the title of this series into English, because if I weren't committed to watching all of these first episodes, their choice of the word "bodacious" (a portmanteau of "bold" and "audacious," as I've now learned), may have kept me well away from what stands to become probably one of my favorite new series this season. And here I thought anime held no more surprises for me. This might be bad form, but I'll willingly come clean; after watching the first episode, I immediately watched the second and third. I think that this was partly out of caution, because I would hate to rave over something that degenerated into the same-old nonsense an episode later. It was also because I was intrigued and wanted to see where the plot was going right then. While I'm not quite  ready to give this show an A+ grade right out of the gate, it goes without saying at this point that I think I'm going to enjoy it.

I recently entered into what I'd call an anime slump related to my Sunday night anime gathering. I had begun to feel that every show we were watching was about some little boy and his problems. We jumped from Deadman Wonderland to Blue Exorcist to Hunter x Hunter (sticking with none, I might add), and our one long-term continuing series was (and still is) Hajime no Ippo which, while pretty good, is essentially about a bunch of dudes beating each-other up with their fists (I mean, it is a boxing anime). My attempt to introduce Chihayafuru into the mix was met with MTS3K-style jibes. While it would be inaccurate to say that I can't relate to stories about males (I pretty much have to be able to, because that constitutes the majority of what's available), there's a point at which I'd really like to experience a story about another female. What makes this show appealing to me is the fact that it's not only about a girl, but several supporting cast members are also girls or women. Though it seems like most series set in girls schools are done so to maximize the potential for locker-room-peeping and/or yuri hijinks, in this case the backdrop of the space yacht club serves as a way to show Marika working in a cooperative capacity with other girls her age to reach a goal, and while that may seem like a small thing to get excited about, it's such a rare occurrence in media (especially considering that the show is thus far almost devoid of panty-shot fanservice junk) that I can't help but feel optimistic.

The cynical part of my mind tells me that just about any food would taste like the best meal ever after coming close to starvation (and any character would seem a paragon after watching an episode of Highschool DxD), but I think that Marika is a very sympathetic and believable character who I'm fully onboard with as the hero of this series. What makes her appealing is that she's not perfect, but her flaws also don't fall into the crummy characterization traps that plague female anime characters in this age of cash-in moe idols. She doesn't react overdramatically when she learns that her father has just died (and was a pirate, surprise!) and she expresses a believable amount of hesitation at the prospect of taking command of her birthright. I'm also very interested in the relationship that she has with her mother, and hope that the series takes time to explore more of the mentorship interaction the two share. I thought that the scene in which Ririka takes Marika out to learn about firearms was brilliant, if only because we get so few scenes like that between mothers and daughters in anime.

Ririka's going to end up dead, isn't she? No, don't tell me. I don't want to know.

One thing that might be a barrier for some people is the pacing of this series, which is definitely more relaxed than I would have expected. Personally, I admire a show that lays its groundwork properly, and this one has already done a good job of establishing the environment in which this story takes place while also introducing characters in a way that seems natural. While space piracy is undoubtedly cool and full of adventure, if Marika were to instantly take command of her ship and inspire devotion and respect in her crew it would be just as unbelievable as if a teenager was found to magically be the perfect candidate to pilot an experimental mecha. I'm glad the director is giving the character some time to grow into her hero pants instead of forcing her to don them before the time is right.

After watching the subsequent episodes of this show (which, at the time of this writing were the second and third), I'm giving myself the permission to look forward to watching it every week. It's not perfect (I'm not quite on board with Chiaki's role or personality yet, for example), but it's probably the best surprise I've had so far this season. At the very least, I'm just glad that there's an anime series being broadcast that has the potential to be widely-appealing and that also has female characters worth cheering for. Sometimes small victories can be just as sweet as major ones.

Pros:

• The main character is admirable and she has positive relationships with other girls and women (the show already passes the Bechdel Test, in other words).
• There's a glaring lack of the expected types of fanservice.

Cons:

• The pacing is a bit slow to start with.
• Chiaki isn't a very interesting character thus far.

Recommended? I can't believe it, but I'm actually invested in a series with the title Bodacious Space Pirates, and I'm looking forward to watching more.

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