Moretsu Pirates 8 ~ so they turn to the pirates

Space pirates do all kinds of jobs the official military can't officially do themselves.

Episode 8 of Bodacious Space Pirates (Mouretsu Pirates) kicks things up a notch. As many had guessed, the mysterious stowaway created some complications for the crew of the space pirate ship Bentenmaru, and gave an indication of where the plot is going (at least for the next couple of episodes — that is for this arc). We also got our first formal introduction to the Bentenmaru’s bridge crew.

Moretsu Pirates 7 ~ people make mistakes all the time

Cross-view of the bridge of the space pirate ship, Bentenmaru.

Episode 7 of Mouretsu Pirates (AKA Ferocious Pirates, AKA Bodacious Space Pirates, AKA …) has two main threads, in one Captain Marika Katou’s struggle to be good at a bit too much is explored, in the second a routine pirate job ends up with unexpected consequences. Since this is only the second episode in which we have seen the Bentenmaru in action, I’ll also have something to say about ship duties.

Moretsu Pirates 6 ~ You have to construct your own internal bearings

Piracy on the infinite sea of stars.

Now that she is back on land, Marika intends to take it easy. She’ll get in some pirating when her school schedule allows it. And taking it easy is best done on the beach, so episode 6 of Bodacious Space Pirates (Mouretsu Pirates) is going to be the typical beach episode, right? Unfortunately for Marika and her pal, Mami, there’s a little paperwork to be filled out first. This episode had the feel of opening up a brand new volume in the B-Space Pirates saga, and much like the first arc (episodes 1-5), this one takes us in unexpected directions.

Bodacious Space Pirates 4 ~ Ghost Ship

A routine scan reveals the presence of a ship that should not be there.

Another excellent episode of Bodacious Space Pirates (Moretsu Pirates) — Now that the voyage of the Odette II is under way, some mysterious things start happening, including the sighting of a Ghost Ship, one that is supposed to have been destroyed for over a hundred years. Besides the cool factor of introducing a ghost ship, this episode did two very good things: it maintained its careful pacing, and it started filling us in on the other characters.

Bodacious Space Pirates 1-3 ~ taste test

Formal wear for pirates in mourning.

Bodacious Space Pirates (Mouretsu Pirates) was the series I was most looking forward to of the new shows to air in Winter 2012. I am very pleased to see that it has met my expectations. This show has done several things right so far. First, the setting is very interesting; it has the feel of being an advanced space-faring society without being unintelligible, full of magical pseudo-science, or cold. Second, the story, so far, has been far from predictable. And finally, though the cast does feature a lot of female characters, and thus some portions of the show could be categorized as moe, this is not a fan-service show. I’ll discuss these topics more below the jump.

Winter 2012 Picks and Predictions

Marika Kato of Mouretsu Space Pirates.

In all honesty, the up-coming Winter 2012 season hasn’t grabbed my attention. Typically by now I would be looking forward to some show, and this post would be about those few shows that really caught my eye. I usually link to other bloggers who do a fine job of providing the comprehensive picture. You can check out the following guides that will provide synopses and possibly trailers for just about every new show of the season:

• Hanners provides his usual round-up with succinct comments on each new series.
• Psgels organizes the shows by his own subjective “potential” rating, and points out the positives and the negatives.
• Sapphire Pyro has a less comprehensive view, but she reads a lot of manga, so her opinions on a show’s potential are quite useful.
• Caraniel takes the comprehensive route, but doesn’t mince words when sharing her point of view.

There are probably a lot of other worthy season previews that have already come out, or will shortly. Sadly, regardless of which one I read, I can’t shake the feeling that this season doesn’t have an awesome show that I am ready to commit to on the spot. Nevertheless I present three shows after the jump that just might be worth watching.