I wonder what was it that caused Military Ship design to switch to knife prows...
Well I guess we can check off the political intrigue box at this point since it has been confirmed that the Corback Escorts were there to ensure the safe transfer of a princess. I am old enough to recognize a Sailor Moon reference when I see one and sure as hell they went there with a modified Usagi and making Serenity the surname of the royal family. I am sure by now if the silliness hasn’t gotten to you by now this will be a fun diversion; if not just walk the plank. It is what it is and it ain’t what it ain’t. While I am sure that we won’t get into LOGH levels of convoluted I am even surer that this quest to find a ghost ship won’t be total waste. As much I am hoping that when the Talbot Class warship drops out of warp with four friends will lead to some shooting it is just as likely that it will be a small skirmish instead of a knock out, drag out fight where the Bentenmaru has to hold the line until the Morningstar Navy can muster a stronger response. If nothing else it does confirm that licensed Pirates are more like PMCs that are paid to do jobs that would usually entail political ramifications if things get out of hand. Officially taking sides in what could be a civil war is probably not in their best interest at this time anyway. Or at least until I get a better measure of what the Morningstar Naval Order of Battle looks like. It would be interesting to see if naval power is also measured by how many dreadnoughts and carriers a planet possesses.
While the Royal Family is named Serenity it seems that it is anything but serene as there seems to be a power struggle going on. It would be interesting if it implodes into a full scale civil war that will draw in neighboring systems in like a black hole. If the Serenity Royal Navy is already split and shooting one another then they are already on the precipice and well past slights and insults at court. Hopefully there will be some exchange of fire though what is to be done with the damaged Corback should it survive will likely reveal where Morningstar’s sympathies lie. Gruier may be a princess but she’s the seventh one and certainly from the look of things her military support so far been limited to a few Corbacks while her foes seem to have more pull and get more than escort vessels to do their bidding.
Quite how the search for a ghost ships is going to avert a civil war is beyond me, but I am willing to be surprised. It probably won’t be to dark or morbid considering how thick they went with their Sailor Moon references and making Gruier as close to Usagi as you can get without the copyright violation. For those who were alive during the Sailor Moon glory days Usagi (Sailor Moon) was in middle school and 14 at the start of the series. Guess what Gruier is also in middle school sporting the rare odango hair cut that Sailor Moon made famous. As such I really couldn’t stop myself from snickering throughout the episode. As for explaining how Gruier was able to sneak unto the ship well I think it was through Moon Prism Power and she was cutting through bulkheads with her Moon Tiara. Even if the overall feel is a happy one I keep wondering if in the end it will all fit seamlessly. It hasn’t disappointed yet though I wonder if using the Yacht Club to go searching for a ghost ship is going to be seen as casually silly or a rather horrifying instance of using human shields, though since the Yacht Club is already in the know it’s not like they are risking their lives in complete ignorance, unless their baptism by fire was simply forgotten.
Misa was great as always and certainly Marika should be considered intelligent if a little devious for hiding Gruier in plain sight and keeping her in school. It may seem silly to some but if you stop and think for a minute it’s basically surrounding Gurier with a meat shield. Certainly it’s not painted as a bad thing but I can’t ignore the fact that it makes perfect sense and will work. Morningstar doesn’t need to have a political assassination take place so their intelligence services will have deployed some protection if only to keep national honor and to avoid any controversy should Gruier die. Besides her death could be used as a pretext for war and Morningtar could be blamed for her death. Gruier’s opposition will be limited in what they can do since Morningstar will be watching and they couldn’t simply take out the school without a huge public backlash, not only for a brazen attack on foreign soil but also for whacking a school during a time of peace. If they did then they will have forced Morningstar into their undeclared civil war on the opposing side with one hell of a casus belli. That Morningstar has allowed her to stay probably has more to do with there is simply no easy way to deport her in a time of peace. Gruier hasn’t done anything wrong and to treat her as an unwelcome guest would lead to a souring of relations with her kingdom.
Next week seems to be the return of the Yacht Club and Chiaki which is rather welcome though I suspect that their next training cruise will be used as a cover for searching for the golden ghost ship. Certainly it seems that Barbaroosa will also be in attendance for escort duties should this play out.
I guess this rules out Taiidan Clone Emperors, God Emperors, and other variants of Emperors...
It's just baby sitting...
He must have a weakness for cute...
I guess they decided to upgrade the brig...
I wonder if Schnitzer designed his own parts...
So who needs to be punished in the name of the moon?
Damn I was hoping she would fund my expedition to find the Katana Fleet.
So the actually use moon runes as the language of the Moon Kingdom...interesting.
I guess Lloyd's of London changed their name.
I applaud Misa for having a low opinion on treason.
Fear not for Marika will find your silver crystal.
Not so subtle homage to Sailor Moon indeed, the hair, the eye color...Princess Serenity indeed.
O-Dango and all, I wonder if she's been hitting up the arcade as well...
This is true.
When you do what you love things go faster.
So I guess we are to applaud Misa for making you Pirate Outfit. Is there anything Misa can't do?
Just wait until you see her Spring Collection.
Oh listening in on secret communiques are we?
She HATES RATS.
Misa's right though rats are technically nautical as well.
So cute...
Well as much as she is being protected you do understand that she can just as easily become a hostage...
You know it's like Marika has two moms, Ririka and Misa.
That must be code for something, but what?
Nice try...
Is that even possible? Though I guess there are shorter lines at the executive terminal.
I guess Kane went cheap for his fake wedding ring.
Misa just made the impossible possible, and had five minutes to spare.
Well when you go against traffic...it can't be helped.
Still I'd run your diagnostics twice and make sure you are fully armed and your damage control teams drilled.
So what are the odds?
Moon Prism Power, Make Up?
I am sure we can down load the data into your magical pen.
Of course, don't you doubt Misa's fashion sense ever again.
You mean Queen Serenity.
WOW, GO MISA.
Just one? Check the scopes again.
Please let it be a whole battlegroup...
How many carriers?
I see he brought friends.
Hmmm... No Carriers but hopefully that Talbot-class is a respectable cruiser.
Was it a Corellian Corvette?
HELL YEAH PROPOSAL TIME.
Princess Serenity will name her fellow Sailor Senshi...
A Message From Your XO, EO
Apparently there is a big Sailor Moon reference in the form of the princess character, but I’m not so enthused about her arrival just yet. I don’t trust lolis, as a rule, and I’m not entirely sure that she’s not up to something. Crusader has some pretty good speculation as to the political landscape at the moment, but I’m still uneasy about this. She’s shown up all of a sudden and is charming everyone when we don’t know for certain what the politics behind it are or if she’s not just running off because she might be a spoiled brat. I guess we’ll see. Outside of that, I’m looking forward to the next episode. I haven’t been into this and the last episode quite as much as the others, so I’m hoping for another good battle soon. The in-between episodes have tended to be more about the sillier side of the show, and while that’s good sometimes, I think I’ve had enough of it for now and want to get back into those sweet, multi-episode battles like with the electronic warfare attack. Hopefully we’ll have some actual shooting soon, done in the amazingly detailed and realistic way that this show has done before.
Hmmm, entering the school and holding court already. I don’t trust it.
I think Misa is onto her. Or at least has a healthy distrust of royalty just showing up and expecting to take control.
I have to admit though, this was pretty funny.
That’s right Misa, be suspicious. You’re obviously the smartest, as well as the most beautiful, person on this ship.
This week’s Mandatory Misa.
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The Harold Lloyd Insurance Union had me in hysterics. If this really was a reference to the silent film actor who was known for doing his own stunts, then kudos to the writer.
http://youtu.be/xHNQ9X-drdE
Possibly Lloyd’s of London though is a more famous Shipping Insurance company.
I’ve been really enjoying this series. The details of the logic of the world are definitely imported right from the book series, which are well thought out. It’s definitely a much tighter source material than you normally see. It’s also nice to see Sato Tatsuo back in his comfort zone. (He of Stellvia & Nadesico fame) This is really the type of show he’s probably the best at handling.
And it’s been hinted since episode 1 that these aren’t your One Piece type pirates. They exist with some legal protection but also serve a specific purpose to a lot of groups. They’re much like during the Privateer age: they serve as a type of mercenary group, carrying out tasks for the government (when they’re needed) and doing things for private contractors (when not needed). I.e. pretty much the way private contract firms work with modern governments. Though these types have always existed, so that’s nothing new.
The ship designs are interesting, but one of the things about mapping out what actual space combat would be like, especially given the ranges, it makes a lot more sense to have a very narrow angle to your opponent. Though we haven’t seen kinetic energy weapons (which would dominate actual space combat), even with energy weapons, you’d want to limit your area to be hit. Further, given the general time frames for combat, you’d also be able to face your ship towards the other ship, allowing you to limit having one extremely long axis. Which would lead to the designs we see. As for their look, isn’t the first rule of combat ship design that it needs to look deadly, awesome or both? That’s why they look like swords, hehe.
Putting the Princess in plain sight is actually a very strong strategic move. I was victimized by this the one time I played a Grand Master in chess. I dubbed the day “the Pawn of the Dead”, as he beat my ass by walking a pawn up the board, but it’s a very effective strategy in a lot of situations. Planet Serenity actually has less options to deal with the wayward Princess than they had before that trick.
Given Sato’s other works, I fully expect there will be a whole lot of politics involved, at some point. The Serenity family obviously has a massive internal struggle going on among the factions. I imagine our Princess will end up being from some “branch family” or from the 2nd or 3rd wife and this is some attempt at changing her section’s position within the Family. Then our lovely crew is going to end up in the middle of it.
The only thing I’m a little sad about the preview is that it looks like this battle isn’t going to last long. Though from a strategic sense, that’d be true. The fleet coming in likely isn’t supposed to be there, so getting into a pitched battle has all sorts of “bad” written over it. I imagine we’ll get some saber-rattling, some electronic warfare then the other fleet backing off. The series isn’t quite to the point where Marika will need to make the “ship kill” choice, but we’ll get there before the end.
I also expect we’ll get another cruise with the Yacht Club as cover for moving the Princess. I’m not sure if this series has a 13 or 26 order, so it’s hard to guess if that will just end this section or be the concluding arc to this run. Either way, it’s a solid tactical idea, hehe. Especially if they upgrade the Odette II a bit.
I would expect the names all have specific meaning/references. There’s a character named “Syoko Kobayashimaru”, yeah, they definitely are subtle references all over the place.
Well it may be short but it can still be intense if the Empire is made of more than bluster then it will intervene at some point, as for their protectorates well they still want to fight one another or amongst themselves. As such perhaps they draw up military plans much in the same way the Arabs and Israelis did by setting out achievable goals with the expectation that there would be a ceasefire enforced at some point. The Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War are good examples of this as while combat was short, it was most definitely intense and both altered the regional landscape and had lasting consequence.
I thought that they were slated to be 24-26 certainly the leisurely pace would indicate that.
It’s obligatory all pirates have a princess in her aventure
Thankfully it wasn’t a hostage situation.
I think it’s pretty clear that the Galactic Empire has placed all kinds of limitations on how many warships each subject planet can have, and how large they are. The privateers seem to have snuck through a crack in the regulations, and were grandfathered, which is the main reason why the planetary government seems to be so intent on making sure that Bentenmaru keeps flying.
Also, this series is 26 episodes. That’s the reason the story is developing more slowly.
That certainly seems to be the case or at the very least the Empire feels that they have the numerical and technological edge when it comes to warship design. It would be interesting if there were treaty limitations on every system with the Empire being in possession of the most and heaviest classes. If nothing else it seems that the ubiquity of the Corback indicates there is one large ship builder out there, again maybe Kuat Drive Yards is out there some where.
My suspicion is that there’s a new revolution brewing. And the privateers are part of it. Their real function is to serve as money laundering. A large percentage of the money they’re collecting is being funnelled into a secret organization which is spending it on building new ships, which exceed the treaty limits.
…and…
I think that Marika’s father isn’t dead. His “death” was cover for him to enter the underground, where he’s in the process of equipping and crewing one of the new ships. And Misa knows it, which is why she wasn’t too torn up by his death.
Plus, I think this revolution is not just Sea of the Morningstar. I think it’s all the planets which were involved in the revolution 150 years ago, which got interrupted by the arrival of the GE. And that’s the main reason why the Barbarossa (from a different star system) is friendly; they’re part of the same conspiracy.
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