Ladies and gentleman, we have finally arrived. After fifteen episodes of setup and space adventures, Bodacious Space Pirates has at last reached the promise of its title: an entire yacht club’s worth of high schoolers, let loose and in command of a majestic pirate ship. As much as I love the Bentenmaru’s usual crew, it is even funnier to see them wince and grind their teeth as the equivalent of a litter of puppies is set loose on their delicate machinery. The yacht club almost blew up the ship just sending it into hyperspace; god knows what will happen if they actually have to cross blades with an enemy ship, or really accomplish anything more difficult than progressing through empty space. This production’s sturdy scifi groundings and slice of life stylings have at last converged into beautiful madness, and I am pretty much vibrating in my seat in anticipation of the chaos to come. Let’s return to Bodacious Space Pirates!
Episode 16
Opening on another lovely shot of Sea of the Morningstar’s local relay station. It’s got a very elegant design for a structure that’s essentially a combined mall and truck stop
“Space has laws, but no rules. Out there, playing by the books can get you killed. There are manuals, but it is ultimately your crew and captain’s decisions that will decide your fate.” That’s what I’m here for!
Marika does seem to possess the requisite combination of thoughtfulness and decisiveness. It’s fine and even useful to have members of your crew who’ll spend all day repeatedly running the numbers, but a captain needs to know when the time is right to seize a momentary opportunity
But enough space piracy, it’s time for lunch
The class made curry, a “class field trip” classic that further underlines the goofy contrast between this production’s genre influences. The yacht club are treating this like a day trip to the mountains
“Tomorrow, we should start practicing our piracy.” Yeah, there’s just something inherently hilarious about Marika brightly announcing this to a room full of distracted high schoolers
“As a fellow pirate, you want Marika to improve as fast as possible, right?” Gruer seems to see Marika and Chiaki as shonen rivals, each pushing the other to higher heights of achievement. I’m not really sure that’s how pirate relationships work, but I appreciate her enthusiasm
A check-in on Gruer reveals she actually sleeps in those intricate pigtails. Gruer, your hair is gonna be a mess in the morning
Oh my god, the puppy-hat girl’s nightcap also has puppy ears. Design perfection
This episode must have demanded a whole bunch of extra design work, considering they’ve made new, character-specific nightwear for all of Marika’s classmates. It can be easy to assume animation allows us to escape the practical design limitations of live-action drama, as you can theoretically draw anything, but drafting up a whole bunch of new costumes and other designs takes a great deal of time and effort. It’s much easier to just keep everyone in a single outfit throughout, so I always appreciate the productions that go the extra mile here, and enhance their verisimilitude by providing each character not just an assigned costume, but an overarching style and wardrobe
I like how different Lynn is as a leader than Jenny. As a daughter of a public figure, Jenny’s specialties included a natural air of command, as well as an inherent understanding of diplomacy. In contrast, Lynn is much rougher around the edges, and likes to get her hands dirty by directly managing the bridge, as seems appropriate for her tech background
Marika does a great “collapsing Kiki” meme drop
Lynn receives a mysterious message before handing duties over to Grunhilde
The class are all very impressed with Marika’s pirate costume, and give her a big round of applause
Their mission is a standard one, putting on the usual pirate show for a luxury liner called Princess Apricot. Of course, the whole point of these usual missions is to put on a thrilling performance with lots of nefarious-looking pirates; as much as I love Puppyhat, I can’t imagine her inspiring much terror in a paying audience
Marika and Chiaki strike a good balance as co-leaders, sort of a good cop/bad cop kind of deal
A brunette girl with pigtails offers some ideas on how they could use both engines for their next FTL jump. This feels like a bit of a practical job interview, as well; by the end of this trip, a handful of these students might have earned themselves a steady spot on the Bentenmaru, if they want it
Pigtails has graduated to an actual name, Yayoi
Lynn hesitates before confirming her role in this operation, further implying that she’s got some secondary agenda here
Marika highlights an interesting point about their unique priorities here: because their goal is to entertain the luxury liner’s passengers, they have to board the ship in such a way that the passengers can actually see them boarding through the main windows. It’s not much of an exciting pirate adventure if you just experience some turbulence and it’s over
Oh my god, Puppyhat is their new helmsman. I love it
“I want you to believe in and follow me.” When the students start to get second thoughts, Marika adds some iron to her voice, assuring them that they both can and must do this. She’s already got a solid understanding of the times to be kind, and the times to be firm
Goddamn is the Princess Apricot gaudy. The name seems appropriate – it looks like some giant insect wearing a white wedding dress, covered in pastel sequins. A convincing icon of tasteless wealth
Marika’s announcement is messy, but that only enhances the fun for the Apricot’s passengers. I suppose having your ship invaded by a bunch of teenagers is an even more unique experience than your usual pirate attack
The Apricot’s staff can’t help but remark on the Bentenmaru not being up to its usual standards. I appreciate the acknowledgment that, however talented they are, these high schoolers clearly can’t compare to professionals
Oh my god, what the fuck are their costumes. They’re basically dressed in random Halloween costumes – Lynn at least looks like some kind of military officer, but Puppyhat’s a sugar plum fairy, and the others range from wizards to kaiju. Why does the Bentenmaru even have all these costumes!?
Lynn fires a warning shot to regain at least some fragment of a threatening atmosphere
And of course, it was Mami who made all of these outfits. Bless Marika’s shore wife
Even Puppyhat’s fairy outfit has puppy ears. The girl knows her style
“You can’t fall asleep like that. Change into your pajamas, brush your teeth, then go to sleep.” Of course, Marika’s sea wife is also very important
With the day’s piracy complete, Grunhilde at last mentions Lynn’s suspicious communications from the previous night, weaving in what will presumably be our next conflict. The slight hints of “something’s up with Lynn” throughout this episode serve to soften this transition, making it seem more like a linked, escalating series of events rather than a strict episodic conflict
Chiaki, ever the realist, suggests that Lynn might be a spy
And Marika provides the necessary counterbalance, instead trusting Lynn enough to ask her directly
And Lynn reveals she has a mission herself: to capture Jenny Doolittle!
And Done
Great work, everyone! We might have bonked into that cruise ship a little more than necessary, but the passengers seemed to really appreciate the pirate cosplay gimmick, and the Bentenmaru’s pirating license is now presumably secure. As ever, it was delightful to see the Yacht Club’s exuberant membership scramble all over the Bentenmaru’s delicate instruments, and generally treat this whole professional piracy deal like a day at the beach. Marika is doing a fine job in her first test without the actual Bentenmaru crew, though at the same time, it’s clear that Marika’s success here partially comes down to the extreme competence of Chiaki and her classmates. I’m eager to see how this crew handles some minor kidnapping!
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