One of the reasons why I hit myself for camping the autograph line too much at AX 2012 is because I wanted to stalk down Sato and talk shop about Mouretsu Pirates. I also want to talk about Flower of Rinne but maybe we can write about that after season 2.
There is this silly irony going on, too, because the last episode aired in Japan during AX. If it aired on Thursday I could have camped out at his press gig and filed questions there, on Friday. But by the time it aired Saturday AM Pacific time, I only had one shot to talk about it, and it’s at his autograph line. It would’ve been the best if they just screened episode 26 at the con and did a Q&A right afterwards. (I guess that is one major AX fail on the part of AX?)
So yes, there’s the movie announcement. So yes, I have questions about the way the last episode collates the plot thread in the last anime-original arc. I also think that one cosplayer I saw in line dressed up as Marika has it right: I too rather like the anime-original stuff.
The thing is, episode 25 was just so good. There was no way the arc could end in just one episode while topping 25. And to some extent that was the same with Nadesico as well, except that one actually capped a different narrative thread in the last episode, resulting in that inter-spatial spat and kiss. I’m not so hopeful about the announced movie as a result. It’s wiser to just take what’s on the table.
Author is a little slow on the uptake but he is correct–all those calligraphic end cards are direct works of director Sato. He signs off using that little character doohicky. If I recall correctly the voice actress for Marika also writes for a particular episode earlier on, but other than that slide, every one is a Tatsuo Sato work.
Some other burning questions I might ask:
- What’s up with the name? Aside from the people who call it “Mouretsu Uchuu Kaizoku” I think the other permutations seem kind of interesting, wondering if there’s anything behind it.
- The movie? The movie.
- How do you depict three dimensional fleet combat?
- What’s up with the chef’s sons? And what is up with those giants?
- How do you deal with FTL transmission of the pirate songs?
- Isn’t the final battle just a scaled-up version of the yacht club’s little mission?
Well, it can continue on. Maybe it’s easier if I just wait until the movie becomes available.
PS. Is it me or in the past 5 days every blog I follow (for example, Anipages) updated several times? Is there a mandate to update your blog this past week even if your average blog post/wk rate is below 1? What is this?
