Dat Gargantia. Well, the last episode was quite interesting – I feel it was maybe the first episode that shifted the show from “this has a ton of potential” to actually revealing what kind of show it will be. And the kind of show it turned out to be was a bit less serious than I expected from Urobuchi, but still an excellent slice of entertainment with great pacing, wonderful characterization and dialogue, a beautiful visual aesthetic, and a light smattering of interesting ideas beneath the surface. I described it as “entertainment done right,” and I’m honestly looking forward to more of it – but this is Urobuchi we’re talking about. He could very well kill half the cast at any given moment and it wouldn’t really surprise me. Who knows what will happen.

So now that I’ve established I have no idea what I’m talking about or expect to happen, please enjoy the rest of my very insightful post.

Episode 4

0:45 – This vivid color scheme never fails to blow me away. Someone’s earned a raise.

I also like this system of a city based on an accumulation of distinct mini-societies and work crews with very little centralization. I guess I’m just a socialist like that

3:05 – Oh, that’s awesome. So it looks like our suspicions about Chamber’s propulsion system were right – he generates some kind of gravity hole in the direction he wants to go, and is dragged along behind it, along with anything else in the area.

8:30 – Not much to say. I love Ledo’s attempts to place this society’s customs in his own terms, but obviously that’s what everyone else is watching too. This show is just really good

9:57 – His necklace is the same color as her eyes and the sea. Meaning he’s another key in Ledo’s entrance into understanding this new world

12:35 – I don’t know why people think Urobuchi is a cynical writer. I find shows where characters maintain or discovery empathy and hope despite the presence of realistic pain and hardship far less cynical than shows which simply present untouched happy worlds that have no relationship to our own

16:20 – “What would you do in the absence of orders?” “I would stand by for further orders.” Heavy shades of Psycho-Pass and Madoka once again. Making independent choices, achieving your singular potential, breaking free of the cycles which govern our lives. I like how directly he’s addressing this here, though. I also like that he’s finally presenting a positive alternative to the problems of government and society, instead of Psycho-Pass’s 1984-esque exploration of the opposite direction

18:45 – “Given your current situation, worrying about the war effort is meaningless.” Man, when even Chamber is telling you to chill out, you know you’ve got a problem

20:30 – “My sister needs me… and I need myself.” After last episode, I didn’t expect this one to tackle Urobuchi’s philosophical obsessions so directly. Awesome

And Done

Wow. That ending was beautiful. This episode was beautiful. Definitely my favorite one yet. For once, Urobuchi isn’t raging against the way the world is – he’s creating a love letter to the way the world could be, to our better nature, to the potential for a society that rewards our human connections and the creativity of our spirit. I’m sure he’ll complicate these themes eventually, but…

Ugh. Goddamnit, Urobuchi. This one’s gonna get to me.

Gargantia!

Man, I have been eagerly awaiting this episode. That dramatic finale last week has proven the unstable nature of Ledo and the Earthlings’ temporary peace, as well as given the Earthlings (I should probably switch to “Gargantians,” but referring to them as Earthlings remains funny to me) a much sharper understanding of what they’re truly dealing with. Did his obliteration of the pirates violate some general understanding of acceptable violence in their world? Will they try to use him now, or assassinate him in some way that prevents retaliation? They still don’t necessarily believe in the existence of the AI – I could see that truth become clear to them in dramatic fashion if they try to go behind Ledo’s back. But this is all conjecture, and this show is awesome, so I’m just gonna get right to it.

Episode 3

0:10 – Wow, we’ve never gotten a full pan of the city like this before (probably because the show’s been trying to keep us mentally trapped with Ledo on that crane arm). It’s beautiful

1:00 – I think this is the first time I’ve heard “____ no baka!” in response to pirate genocide

2:32 – God this show is gorgeous. How does Urobuchi always gets these incredibly colorful, very distinctive art pallets? Do talented artists just flock to him?

3:40 – I really like that our heroine is smart enough to immediately recognize her own partial culpability in what happened. “Help us” was something that needed to be translated across cultures, not just languages

4:42 – Consuming carcasses left and right. Ledo’s a champion

6:20 – Pff, everybody contributing to a humane, prosperous society? We don’t need none of that commie-talk here, Bellows

8:28 – Ahaha, my god, those trollish pirate thug designs

13:53 – This is a little weird. I just can’t feel much tension here when Chamber exists as a being of essentially limitless power in their world. And obviously the show knows that – but it’s dragging out this conflict quite a bit considering the context. Perhaps the tension is more supposed to be drawn from him using this conflict to make or break his alliance with the Gargantian commanders? If so, I’m not sure that’s being entirely successfully conveyed

14:48 – This I like. Using Ledo/Chamber only as support, because what the Gargantians really need to convey is the normal fleet’s willingness and ability to fend off the pirates themselves

18:25 – It’s weird seeing Urobuchi’s staple ideas and storytelling get mixed with more lighthearted stuff, like a freaking pirate queen riding a surfing lobster mech

20:30 – And now they’re spinning the lobster in circles while politely asking it to surrender. Okay, I’m totally on board with this

And Done

This show is so great. This episode got much sillier than I was expecting, but it totally worked – at this point, considering how rarely the tone has gotten all that serious, I’m thinking this might be something like Urobuchi’s stab at a Ghibli-esque production – just a wonderful, continuously enjoyable adventure in a vivid, beautiful world

This is what pure entertainment looks like to me. It’s light, and it’s happy, and it’s propulsive, but it’s never stupid – the writing never betrays your trust in the characters, world, or storytelling. This is entertainment done right

Dear lord. Four hours late, and the thread is already this huge. Clearly the cost of maintaining any social connections whatsoever is far too high.

Why would they do this to me, anyway? Why would they put two of the most hotly anticipated shows of the season (and also HenNeko) up on Saturday night? Just to prove my commitment, I guess.

Welp, I’m here now. Beer in hand, episode at the ready. I guess I’ll just have to apologize in the only way I know how.

Episode 2

1:59 – Now this is interesting. Chamber deliberately lying to Ledo?

3:57 – Just realized her eyes are supposed to be the color of that sea/sky horizon. Ermahgerd it’s almost like his future connection with her will represent his breaking away from faith with his rigid hierarchical society or something. Also, this is the most un-Urobuchi opening I’ve ever seen.

(That was a lie. The camera still respects the female characters, it could definitely be less Urobuchi)

3:26 – Aw yeah. Thought my visual symbolism stab was reaching? Check out the exact shot this OP closes with.

4:25 – I like that the Earthlings have their own prebuilt vocabulary for mechs that they refer to Chamber with. One of the thousand nice touches writers can use to imply a world and a history without wasting narrative space

5:46 – Another nice parallel here, though I don’t yet know what it will amount to, is that even on earth itself, humanity has been reduced to scattered peoples only kept alive by their fabricated mini-worlds. I don’t know how that will become thematically relevant, but I doubt it’s a meaningless choice

6:20 – “Conditionally agreed.” Does that mean Chamber has the authority to override Ledo if he disagrees? It would make sense – in a society that treats humans as worker bees, there’s no better worker bee than an actual programmed machine

6:25 – Goddamnit does Urobuchi load his dialogue well. “We thought the sun’s unusual activity had turned it to a frozen wasteland, but look around us.” That sentence both explains the Alliance’s position and the current state of the earth while also furthering the immediate conversation.

7:00 – I like his little physical gestures explaining how his weapon works (clicking through settings to weaken the beam) while Chamber attempts to convince him to cede control of the situation by reentering hibernation. I think, if anything, Urobuchi is only becoming better and better as a storyteller. He really is on another level from most people in the industry – even if other people make great things, the finesse of craft and economy of storytelling on display here is remarkable

13:17 – There’s something really funny about Chamber describing himself as “super strong.”

Also, I really hope they remain as dedicated to the language barrier between Ledo and the Earthlings as they’ve been so far. Both the compromises of understanding that forces, as well as the potential for conflict when Ledo’s motives possibly begin to diverge from his only interpreter, are rich veins for drama.

14:20 – We’re probably gonna need an Amy “AI’s are awesome” dance gif

17:24 – “Extensive contact with the abnormal is profitable to no-one.” I don’t know this guy yet, but it sounds weird hearing such a direct reflection of Chamber’s likely soon-to-be position coming from the other side.

21:25 – That is one weird-ass propulsion system. Some kind of energy source that continuously draws the mech towards itself?

22:00 – Holy shit, they just killed so many people.

And Done

Promising first episode justified! Not that I doubted it would, what with Urobuchi and all, but still, the craft and care of each element of this show certainly outdoes Pyscho-Pass on a moment-to-moment basis, both in being more distinctive and accomplishing more at once, plus the characters are a little sharper. Not only that, this show exists in a world far removed from his usual sensibilities – though those last few moments prove he’s still not the most cheery of guys. But yeah, this episode did great work in establishing characters, relationships, and a variety of potential conflicts – Ledo versus Chamber, Amy versus the whims of the Gargantian command, Ledo/Chamber’s efficient problem-solving versus the idea of mercy as a thing that should exist… etc. It was also beautiful, and there were tons of moments that accomplished one neat thing visually while adding another narratively. Much like Madoka, this seems like it’s going to be a show I can look at and marvel at the beauty of a gifted writer at the height of his powers.

Suisei no Gargantia. Finally, the last goddamn show I’m covering. Urobuchi. Mecha. Possible positive message. Ex-doujin character designs. Etc.

This was actually my most-anticipated show of the season, back when I thought this season was only going to be Pretty Okay. But now, after this first week? OreGairu had likely the best first episode of any high school romance I’ve ever seen, Maou had the most successful intentional comedy, Crime Edge the most successful unintentionalcomedy, Aku no Hana blew my muted expectations away with incredible direction and pacing on top of ridiculously human dialogue, and Titan lived up to its promise of being a fun, kind of ridiculous ride. This show is still high on my list, but it has competition now – and I couldn’t be happier.

By the way, I’ve been going with the play-by-play format for everything this week, but that honestly might not be appropriate for every show. Please, let me know in comments what you guys prefer – if it’s not fun to read the critiques, nobody’s gonna follow them or start discussions with them anyway.

Episode 1

3:30 – Echoes of Starship Troopers… and Kino’s Journey. Leave it to Gen Urobuchi to let one half-asleep conversation perfectly illuminate an entire social order. Which I assume is really critical to the point, since this world’s order will inform his Stranger in a Strange Land (except, you know, not incredibly narcissistic and politically naïve) experiences throughout the next arc of the series.

6:00 – Kind of clever that Urobuchi has set up humanity as the typical “space bug” enemy here – both their social order and these battle tactics/formations scream “we are colony, a single unit is of little significance, we live to serve the hive.” Again, I’m sure this is intended to set up a stronger contrast.

6:48 – “Perfect soldier.” The worker bee is asleep in his duties. He fulfills his part in the whole, and by surrendering his own agency entirely, he is able to face life without fear or regret.

8:30 – By disobeying orders, the worker bee expresses free will and independent thought. This is the precursor to his emergence into a new world of individual agency.

9:50 – But he gives up and submits in the end. He’s still a part of this system – he’s never seen any other way.

12:45 – Jumping immediately to the moment where the plot becomes relevant to the other protagonist is some snappy storytelling.

17:04 – They are really drawing attention to that tusk. No clues what it could represent yet, though.

And Done

YES! Ah, man, so goddamn excited. Everything about that was so… yes. The direction was solid, with some specific nice touches – I especially liked the way they shot the chase through the hallways, skipping between Leto’s view and Chamber’s, while also contrasting the position of the characters through highlighting one language or the other. I really liked the visual/costume design in general, and how much the backgrounds and those battle formations suggested about the cultures and lives behind them. The writing was sharp and believable throughout, with that single joke about Chamber’s interpretation of their remarks working really well in context, and everything else rife with character. I especially liked the animation of character movement – the head mechanic’s slide down the arm, into smacking the side of the robot, into wincing at it, seemed like a particularly good example, but in general it was both fluid and full of personality as well. The world and base plot seem interesting enough, the pacing already has me excited for where Urobuchi takes us next…

But yeah, this is going to be another show about how the way we construct our culture defines us, and the inability of strict systems to be compatible with human nature. Madoka did it (though it was less about culture than our own nature), Psycho-Pass did it (though I’m only a quarter way through that one, but its heart is already blatantly written on its sleeve), and this one’s going to tackle it from another angle – a member of one of those oppressive, systematized cultures meeting a world that is anything but. Urobuchi’s insights are always creative, well thought-through, and filled with his personality and opinions – his voice rings clear in all of his stories, and I for one am incredibly excited to see where he takes us this time.