The Story so far
-----------------------------------
Upon being called by the club president about the Odette II receiving signal from three ships without Transponders, Kane promptly checks out the radar, and is stunned by what he sees. Misa quickly shows up behind Kane and comments on how the ship really is one of the "Original Seven", to which Kane agrees with completely. The president of the club continues to report her findings to Kane, commenting on how one of the non-transponder ships left at a high speed, while the other two disappeared from the radar, prompting Misa to whisper in his ear that one of the ships was the Bentenmaru. Kane sighs as he comments on how a high school girl managed to detect a "pro".
The girls continue to work hard as they sail through space, and eventually retire to their sleeping quarters, leaving Chiaki and Marika behind once more for further duty. After reiterating the functions of the transponder, and of how every ship is supposed to have theirs on, Marika tells Chiaki about how fifteen ships are currently appearing, with two that have defined flight plans. Chiaki then brings up an odd event on how certain channels, such as one for the weather, cut out intermittently. Marika responds by musing about aliens attacking her home planet, to which Chiaki responds by giving the other girl a deadpan glare. However, after finishing with her musing, Marika guesses that it might be the Lightning 11, a ship that Chiaki states that is nearby. While Chiaki and Marika discuss their plan of action, the scene cuts to the onboard infirmary, where Misa has been listening to the conversation via intercom.
Chiaki and Marika continue to talk about the jamming that their ship is experiencing, and of how the people sending the jamming signal could be collecting their data while preventing them from sending an SOS signal in an emergency. Marika then surmises that since the Odette II's flight plan is clearly stated to make around a star, the potential attackers are likely to try and attempt something as they make a swing around, where they are less likely to be seen. However, Chiaki asks Marika if she will attempt to fight alone in a ship that has other people on board, and reminds her sternly that if she attempts to play-fight, she will involve other people as well, causing Marika to frown. Chiaki then brings up to Marika of how no one else knows about her becoming a captain of a pirate ship, and that Pirates have been forgotten. Although she continues to ask Marika if the others will believe her, Chiaki finds herself ignored as Marika takes action.
Upon learning of what Marika is doing by shutting off automatic updates and performing an area scan, Chiaki warns Marika that her actions might be interpreted as an attack by nearby battleships, to which Marika responds by saying that it's the reason why she performed a scan first thing -- to make sure that no battleships are nearby, and adds that if there are any, it is their fault for hiding. Stunned by Marika's determination, Chiaki barks out an order to set a high-detail scan, which Marika obeys with glee. Upon firing the scan, Marika quickly finds the ship they were looking for, stating that the ship is 500,000 kilometers behind the Odette II. As Marika identifies the ship as a battleship, Chiaki responds by stating that the battleship is named the Alcyon, which belongs to the Colony Federation Military. When she asks about the ship faking their transponder signal, Chiaki states that it is the result of the scan, and that there is no transponder signal.
Letting out a couple more scans, Marika was shocked to learn that the ship disappeared. Performing a quick research on the ship they found in the scanner, Chiaki learns that the Alcyon was destroyed 200 years ago, but then states that the destroyed ship was never found.
Chiaki and Marika report their findings to Kane, stating that the ship might have been a ghost ship. Kane reassures the two that every sailor has encountered ghost ships, and that the two report to the cafeteria. After the two have left his office in the ship, however, Kane makes a call to the Bentenmaru, asking the crew to investigate the so-called ghost ship.
Chiaki detects this, and talks to Marika about it. It is then the club president greets the two. Showing great determination, Marika asks the club president to allow her to speak to the girls on board the ship. Upon gathering everyone, Marika declares that the ship could be under attack, because she is on board. To the surprise of both Marika and Chiaki, however, the club president declares that she knows about Marika's candidacy for captain of the Bentenmaru, and asks about what she intends to do about the attack. Giving warning that she won't allow a fight to occur just for the sake of being cool, the club president listens intently as Marika expresses her intent to engage in combat, because she did not want the adults to get involved, and that she wants to do it for the yacht club. She then declares that with the Odette II and the crew involved, Chiaki stands by, observing the girls expressing their excitement to one another, which of course, causes her to talk about how unexpected it is.
The scene shifts to one where a semi-exhausted Marika returns to the bridge, and reports to Kane, who informs her to call him if an emergency arises. She then goes over to the club president, and asks about the attack plan she drafted, to which the president responds with a "yes". She then asks Marika how they can predict the enemy attack when they don't even know where the enemy is positioned. Marika answers by stating that the Odette II will reach maximum distance as they round the Tau Ceti star, and states that if she was planning to attack a cruise ship, she would hide in the shadows of Sand of the Red Star, and attack the ship from behind. Marika adds that the plan of the counterattack relies on the enemies assuming that their plan is going well, and as such, they must pretend that whatever they do is working.
As the girls prepare for the plan of attack, which includes Marika having to plan for when things get more dangerous, Misa and Kane continue to listen to the bridge via intercom. Misa then pulls up information on the club president -- Jenny Dolittle -- which includes her belonging to a wealthy family, and of how her husband was predetermined since she was a child. Misa proceeds to bring up the information on the vice president, who is then identified as Lynn Lambretta. She then continues to scan the information she gathered on the students as she comments on how each girl has an interesting background. Kane points out problems with Marika's plan, to which Misa defends by stating that it is a good attempt by a novice. Kane responds by stating his own amazement with the plan, and of how it was done with only a few hours' sleep, and zero experience, adding to it how Marika will become terrifying after a few years (of experience, presumably). Upon being asked by Misa about what he will do, Kane replies by stating how Marika has made her decision, and that all he can do is feign ignorance until the very end. As he leaves Misa's infirmary, he states that he will help, and make sure that all the girls return home safely.
Back at the bridge, the girls execute their plan of attack, with Lynn spotting an unmanned stealth drone using the sun sensor. Responding to Jenny's comment about the drone, Marika points out that through the high-frequency radar, the ship identifies itself as the battleship Alcyon. Lynn points out to Marika that if one can recreate a ship's hull from the plans, the ship can fake a radar signature. She adds that by adding Doppler and other signals, they can have a ghost ship. Though she expresses that they just wait and pretend to not know anything, Marika expresses that she wishes she could use the ghost ship to attack the mothership. After doing a bit of thinking, Lynn asks Jenny if she could connect her computer to the ship's systems. Albeit with a few warnings, Jenny gives her approval, prompting Lynn to fetch her computer. Chiaki looks on as Marika proposes a slight change of flight plans to Jenny. At the end of the episode, Chiaki mutters to herself that it is going to be a long night, as the Odette II maintains its course.
Impressions:
----------------------------------------------
Going into the fourth episode of this series, I am simply amazed by how deep this anime is becoming. Though by no means is the episode exciting in the sense that there is no action, nor are there signs of the girls showing skin other than their legs, as all of them are wearing their uniform skirts, the episode is simply amazing in the sense that we get to see more of Marika's development. Viewers see bit by bit that she possesses the qualities to become the captain of the crew of Bentenmaru, thus allowing them to see why Misa and Kane have so much faith in her. Even Chiaki, who tells her that some of the things she decides to do have far-reaching implications that extend beyond her, is amazed at how decisive she is when it comes to deciding her plan of action. On a side note, viewers finally get to learn a known quantity throughout the practice cruise arc: Jenny Dolittle, the blonde president of the yacht club who provides a calm and steady guiding presence for all of the members, and in her own way shapes Marika to be the leader she is to become. We also learn about the identity of the vice president, as well as see her become an important part of the crew as they engage the unknown attacker in combat. Overall, Mouretsu Pirates is shaping up to be a deep and enthralling tale of a soon-to-be hero(ine)'s journey, despite what the title may suggest. How will Marika, Jenny, and the rest of the Odette II crew fight against the unknown attacker? Stay tuned. Same Marika time, Same Marika channel.
^ Watching Anime in the dark is twice as amazing. Try it!
-- TheWrongAnswer
1 comments:
I hope things start to pick up soon. Chiaki is the only reason I'm still watching.
Post a Comment