crona.megane - 2017-04-05 14:45:59

Well, let’s see what I can say here…

Story: 7/10.
This anime lacked any intense action until the last two arcs which, while still enjoyable to watch, is nowhere near as good as the first and third arc. This is, surprisingly enough, make for a nice change of pace compared to other similar shows as this show make a good deal of investing itself in world building rather than simply feed the viewer with action over and over again. However, this is also the hit-or-miss part of this show. If you come in expecting mindless action with abundance of fanservice, be prepared to be disappointed. However, if you enjoy the slow ride, then you might in for this hidden treasure.

Just a little bit head-up: This anime is neither about space nor pirate. This is a story of Marika as she grow from a girl into a woman.

Character: 9/10.
OH GOD. I LOVE EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER IN THIS SHOW. Marika is especially one of my favourite main protagonist as well as my favourite character there. Chiaki is also a tsundere and THANK GOD SHE’S NOT A STOCK-TEMPLATE TSUNDERE. Ririka is as likeable as every other badass mother characters can be. There are also a lot of side character especially in the Hakuoh Yacht Club that, while not as explored as the main protagonists, are still likable on their own. The only thing that hold this part from having my 10/10 rating are the lack of character development, especially from the Bentenmaru Crew side. While they’re all good characters on their own (except maybe the last antagonist… but even that wasn’t too bad), I’d be really happy to have some development from characters other than Marika, Chiaki, and several other.

Also, the multi ethnical characters are a nice touch, although I don’t think it add much to the already great character batch.

Art: 8/10.
Well, I mean, look at those awesome space ships. Those are some amazing tech porn right there. Even without that, the characters looked gorgeous, and the colour befits the lighthearted atmosphere of this anime. Those knife-shaped spaceships… might kind of weird, but they’re somewhat make some sense technically.

Animation: 7/10.
I’m by no mean an expert in animation, but what I see in this series is certainly a nicely flowing animation. One of the shot in the OP where Chiaki gazed at the meteor is my personal favourite. The nice animation also helped in elevating the character’s personalities.

I’d like to give it 8/10, but none of the animation in the series is as good as that one part in the OP… except maybe whenever Marika rode her bike, but that was only a small part of the show.

Music: 8/10. Probably the second best part about this show after its characters. The OP is good, but it was the ED that takes the cake for being the best OST here. I also especially like the nautical-ish violin tone playing at times, giving the nostalgic feeling of sailing across the vast, unexplored sea during the age of seven sea pirates. The part where the narrator spoke also accompanied with a nice-sounding music that add a feel of exploration and curiousity.

Overall: 8/10. Will surely rewatch if I feel like it.

marilie92 - 2015-01-03 06:16:10

A rather obscure series about pirates in space. Interesting cast, interesting premise, and decent execution are the high points of the show.

The low point of the show is undeniably the story direction. At first you think that it is going to be about actual piracy with stakes and rewards and an element of danger and surprise. This is not the case at all. For whatever reason, the decision was made to make the story lose any sort of potency by nullifying any adverse circumstances around which the piracy was conducted.

The result is a story more about a pirate crew that goes around helping people than actually committing piracy. Art direction was good, soundtrack was somewhat disappointing. Overall, a 6.5/10.

fcorwin - 2014-11-03 07:08:05

This has been one of the best animes I've seen in a while. It's incredibly progressive. The animation is beautiful. The characters are lovable. The story is fun and keeps you watching episode after episode. 
As I've gotten older I've cared a lot more about the quality of the anime I watch. I don't want to waste my time and am turned off heavily by shows that show a lot of fan service and represent their female characters poorly. All of the female characters in this are well developed and represented. They're all very strong and positive role models. They help each other. Many of them are high school girls and this show does well not to sexualize them like many animes do. They even help get a character out of an arranged marriage! 

It's just an amazing show. Shows like this, Attack on Titan, and Knights of Sidonia have been really making me happy. I've been really enjoying these quality shows. It takes some searching. If you're reading this review, you must have read someone mention this anime. Watch it!!!!

ezekiel79 - 2013-06-26 02:20:00

Even though Mouretsu Pirates doesn't deliver on the potential of its first few episodes, it still ends up being an enjoyable and light hearted show, even if it suffers from incredibly slow pacing and the loss of its seriousness and realism.Despite the silly premise of a high school girl becoming a space pirate, the show was originally very grounded, the technology was not too farfetched and along with the bureaucracy of getting the Letter of Marque and the electronic warfare, it impressed me with just how realistic it was. Everything seemed to have procedure which compared to most futuristic sci-fi shows was impressive and a welcome change. However, we come here to our first problem; part of the director's job is to edit out the unimportant sections from the original light novel to make the series concise, but in Mouretsu Pirates nothing was removed. Therefore there is a large amount of dialogue consisting of unnecessary technical talk which soaks up a massive amount of time, leading to episodes where very little is achieved. If you are impatient, watching this will be painful at times, particularly towards the end you start hoping that they'll speed everything up.This pace also means that there is very little characterization and no character development, which is a pity because you'll want to find out more about the crew of the Bentenmaru who are instantly likable and are often a joy to watch. You'll wonder about the backgrounds of some of the side characters, but will never find out anything about them, at the end you may even wonder what they even contributed to the show. Of the two main protagonists, Marika was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting some moe character trope, and instead got a level headed protagonist that thinks things through, is responsible and has a flare worthy of a pirate, although things go her way far too much. Chiaki is a lovable tsundere who's love of parfaits will usually get a smile on your face, usually acting as the straight girl in the various frivolous situations at school and at the cafe.As you get further into the series, the series becomes much harder to take seriously, not so much with the plot or the enemies, but conveniences like a major corporation not having good security on their data and recorded phone conversations, or a machine gun being fired at a bunch of high school girls but conveniently missing everyone, or even the fact that Marika has better pirating skills than those with many more years of experience. Nothing that the plot throws at the Bentenmaru feels threatening because you know Marika will come up with some plan and the situation will all resolve itself without much difficulty. This is problematic for the last arc where there's supposed to be danger and tension and you can't feel it at all, let alone take it seriously. This makes it all incredibly underwhelming, and without the music it would have been even worse.In regards to the music, it really grabbed my attention in the first few episodes, having some really notable tracks in a selection that really suited the setting of both space and the school well. I doubt I'll forget the lead track used in the preview and recap for some time. The animation is very good, with one of the best uses of CGI I've seen to date, as for the consistency occasionally the faces are slightly off model but other than that it's very stable, with no episodes that aren't pleasing to the eye. The art is very good, particularly that of Marika's home town, making me wish that more scenes had taken place there, as I feel it's a pity that it was mostly limited to the Bentenmaru's interior. The OP is energetic to say the least and you'll either love it or hate it, I liked the ED "LOST CHILD" by Momoiro Clover Z, being glad that it stayed for both cours.Whilst it suffers from very slow episodes, on the whole the series is very enjoyable, and there is plenty to keep you amused, from high school girls pirating whilst cosplaying to surprise yuri, and dynamic battles to flashy outfits. There's plenty of funny moments, and many times where you can't wait to see how the arc will end, so overall, whilst Mouretsu Pirates is a very flawed anime, it's a lively and boisterous show that you'll appreciate so long as you have the patience to get through the slower episodes.

noel33 - 2013-03-13 23:46:52

If you looking for serious pirate anime you are in the wrong place!

If you are looking for fun, lighthearted, non-violent space adventure you are in right place!

Story.

Story is fairly simple and easy to understand, some techno babble here and there. 

However it's pretty slow to start and not much happens in the end.

 This anime have a good atmosphere of space adventure with added sprinkles of yuri.

Characters are good, they not evolve much over the course of anime but still enjoyable to watch.

Animation

Animation is good, but fairy forgettable. CG looks decent.

Design is very good from character's clothes to star ships, it's all very well done!

Sound 

Sound is good, OP and ED is worth putting on you ipod but overall audio is decent with some sparks of good.

Character

This anime has one, it's tame non-violent approach to space is refreshing you can just relax and watch it lightheartedly not worring who gonna die next or what sort of angst will befall the characters.

Sci-fi atmosphere is great.

Enjoyment

As a fan of non-violent anime is enjoyed this anime immensely, if you fan of moe, comedy, slice of life this is certainly anime you should try!

Overall

Bodacious Space Pirateshave it's pacing problems but atmosphere and refreshing lighthearted nature of anime more than enough to get this anime a solid 8/10.