Original review date: 21/07/2015

Moretsu Pirates, named Bodacius Space Pirates in the US, is a mindless, uncommitted show about teenage girls being some sort of space pirates in the distant future, where said pirates are far from being what we know today and what we learned from Pirates of Caribbean.

Considering the comical feeling of the show’s premise and also taking into account the western name of the show, you will probably expect it to be some sort of parody, a lame comedy, or some crazy mind-twisting show about space, spaceships, fire fighting, and lots of pirate “ARRR!” and other grunts. Moretsu Pirates, however, is far from that.

The tale starts as Marika Kato’s father dies from food poisoning and she must inherit his position as the captain of the Bentenmaru, a pirate spaceship of ancient tradition. Marika never met her father, she never even knew about his job until such point, but her skills and dreams ultimately puts her on track of becoming a pirate…

…or something like that

Yarr… nasty criminals who kill, loot, kidnap, and sail freely in the seas are something entirely different here. In this alternate future, space pirates changed their behavior and modus operandi to survive the annexation of the Tau system to the Galatic Empire, or so it is said by the tale. Instead of being criminals, they are now more like a circus troupe that stage assaults in luxury cruisers and entertain the passengers with swordfighting, shootouts and exquisite costumes.

It’s not exactly funny, but also not that lame

Marika certainly shines in the show with her genki attitude and adaptation to the various events. When she’s onscreen the lame pirate acts become fun, enjoyable, and sometimes you can even laugh for a bit. The essence of Moretsu Pirates, however, is that of a late 90’s show, where a mixture of genres flows through the course of the twenty six episodes in stand-alone episodes or small combos of two-to-four episodes where the events can vary from mysterious search for a lost spaceship to carefree airship races.

The cast does help even with all the girls

Basically, there’s a LOT of girls here. It’s an all-girl highschool, Marika is joined by Chiaki in the duo that will fill most of the screentime, and even amongst the standard pirates there are some women. The pirates themselves, however, are interesting people with cartoonistic personalities and charismatic behaviors and voice-acting. Some of them get a bit more of focus, but overall they all act as support actors for Marika’s stand-alone show. The highschool, tough, is a bit overused at many points, trashing good momentum in the pirate’s actions and even devastating the rare moments when the atmosphere gets more serious.

The end gets interesting

As in the late 90’s formulae, Moretsu Pirates goes around and around for about twenty episodes, showing random events here and there, sometimes linking a string of episodes to a greater purpose, but never truly moving on with a single solid objective. Things start to change after that, as the setting plays a larger role to put the said pirates of the world to the test and Marika as a pivotal point in the future of their kind. This inspired plot, however, is only partially explored, as the show ends with no conclusion in sight.

It’s a decent work for Satelight

Animation studio Satelight rarely does something truly good. Moretsu Pirates is just average when comparing to most of its season, but does stand above the typical standard from the studio. The CG elements barely mix with the artwork, there is a lot inconsistent frames and deformed faces here and then, and the animation itself is never truly explored beyond the CG parts. There is, however, a good deal of personality to the characters, the colors manage to be sober and not ridiculous, and the demand for action is never truly an issue. Sadly, however, the sound direction doesn’t contribute to enhance the visual experience and the whole pack together feels a bit dull most of the time.

Moretsu Pirate was something like a guilty pleasure for me. I enjoyed it while it lasted, but it also disappointed me at many turns. There is a good deal of funny moments, but they are mixed with so much nonsense and cliches that it is hard to savor in the good parts for long.

Those looking for a good, carefree, time filler though, may find Moretsu Pirates an interesting watch. If you, however, are in the mood to watch something serious or laugh uncontrollably… well, better search for something else.