favian.bruen - 2017-04-08 11:47:06

The series was great, but how would the movie do compared to the anime series?

Story: 6/10. Same good ol’ Mouretsu Pirates. Marika does her job, stuffs happened, and Marika solve the problem. I think those who are familiar with this series would find this either a well-paced continuation or just straight-up boring repetition. Surprisingly enough, the show get quite serious upon the last face-off between Marika and the antagonist. And this time, since Marika was already well-developed from the series, the spotlight turned from her to the, surprise surprise, a young male protagonist by the name of Kanata Mugen. It will be a tough ride with him at the first half of the movie, but I’d pays off at the climax. Unfortunately, this movie give not even a closure to the anime series, but that is to be expected since this movie was made 2 years after the series and seemed to care more about explaining things for those not in the knowing rather than giving answers to some unanswered questions left in the final arcs of the series.

Character: 8/10. Kanata is, sadly, a boring character. He was a stock template edgy kid who hates his father. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like until we reached the 2/3 of the movie, where the Hakuoh Yacht Club decided to mock him in the fucking face, and things get surprisingly good after that. Chiaki really shone as a big badass under her tsundere attitude this time. If only they’d give her more screen time, she would’ve been the most enjoyable character to watch here. Good thing that Marika is still a likeable character as much as she has ever been. The Serenity princess, especially Grunhilde, actually manage to shine more here than throughout the anime series (except for maybe Grunhilde herself, as she actually manage to have some semblance of character development in the latter part of the original series). Everyone else is also there, but none of them worth as much mention as the characters mentioned here.

Art: 8/10. I love the art here more than the original series. Everyone who had their time being developed in the series looked much more mature (especially Marika and Chiaki) in contrast to Kanata’s childish appearance. The art also really crank itself up at the latter part of the movie, as if the art department carefully manage their budget to go all out at the last 30-or-so-minutes. Advaseele is especially amazing, and the part where Kanata reached Abyss of Hyperspace amazed me, especially since the 3D actually works well. As for the design, I actually like the change in Chiaki’s outfit, but I preferred Marika’s black outfit over the red one since it really contrasted her red hair, although maybe that was just me being nitpicky.

Animation: 7/10. Nothing much can be said with the animation part, mostly because of my ignorance. If I have to say, though, the 3D took the cake for being the best part of this department. The animation when Kanata falcon punched the X-point with his Advaseele is really amazing, by the way.

Music: 9/10. Even if I tried, there is no way I can shittalk about this part. The music in this one is simply awesome, with some really good OST (honorable mention to the ED, the flute playing when Kanata falcon-punch-but-not-really the Abyss of Hyperspace, and GOD BLESS THAT HAKUOH YACHT CLUB SONG). It was an almost perfect part of this movie, only brought down by the fact that they CUT THE EARLIER PART OF THE HAKUOH YACHT CLUB SONG… WHY. Unrelated nitpicking aside, I think this is one of the anime with the best OST around, maybe nowhere near Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, but that’s putting the standard too high isn’t it?

All in all, I must give this show an applause for closing in with a serene feeling of closure to its own story while giving us a hint that Marika’s adventure in the vast, boundless space is not over yet. I’d be more than excited to have a second season of Mouretsu Pirates. SATELIGHT PLS GIVE US SECOND SEASON ;_;

klocko.duane - 2015-04-08 19:55:59

If you enjoyed the series you'll probably enjoy this movie. Continuing where the tv series left off we get to continue the adventures of our fearless captain and the crew of the Bentenmaru. The animation is beautiful, the characters are lovable, and the story is just plain fun.