Saturday 13 July 2013

Anime Review: Bodacious Space Pirates

Anime Review: Bodacious Space Pirates
Genre: Sci-Fi, Space 
Episodes: 26 
Overall thoughts: Bodacious seems fairly appropriate

Image via Janai Blog

Working in a store that specializes in video games, anime and pop culture, I tend to run into random things I want to check out on a whim, and I’ll be honest, my choice to watch this series was simply the name. I was absolutely stoked to see the word “bodacious” used and I mean, what can go wrong with the idea of Space Pirates.
Now, I will admit, this anime was entirely different to what I expected, but the second I heard that theme song I knew I was going to love it, and I enjoyed it enough to request that I keep the life sized advertising cutout that took up too much space in my store, and it is still propped up at home right now.
First up, I am so glad that the title “Miniskirt Pirates” was dropped for the anime release, I mean, I would’ve still watched it, hooray for ecchi and all, but it would have detracted too much from the themes this series wished to convey. The story centres around the energetic Marika Kato and her inheritance of the captaincy of great pirate vessel Bentenmaru. Normally you’d expect her to step up instantly, excel beyond belief at her new job, and sail off into space into glorious pirate battles and plundering, but that’s not how pirates work in this universe, but I’ll let you watch for yourself to see the inner politics of pirates operating within the boundaries of the law. Marika is definitely a talented member of the Yacht club at her school on the Sea of the Morning Star, her home planet, but being a leader takes more than just a little talent.

Image via Ogmans Blog 
It’s important to note, Bodacious did an excellent job of giving all its characters some level of fault or weakness, at the same time, showing how experienced Marika’s inherited crew were.
A small detail that really impressed me was the fairly clear implementation of multiple ethnicities. In a universe where humans have colonized multiple planets, it would feel strange if names such as Marika Kato and Chiaki Kurihara weren’t offset by, let’s say, Jenny Dolittle.
Image via Anime Vice 
Bodacious Space Pirates was an outstanding commentary on not only girl power but also the kind of cliché power of teamwork, the power of love, and rather a rather pleasantly surprising open mindedness towards the same sex couple that I seriously did not expect.
Bodacious Space Pirates is intelligent and incredibly fun at the same time, and absolutely worth your time of day.
Check it out asap!
Image via Illogicalzen  

Also, MarikaxChiaki forever! Hah!
Mouretsu!!!

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