Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 8 Discussion / Poll

[HandofFate]

Somber episode. I liked the ritual with everyone scooping a handful of sand into the commander's coffin.
Not really see any problems with the series with its direction. Are people still fixated on uro being part of it and it not turning into any of the other projects he was on? Get over it.

Everyone splitting apart and going separate ways was a sudden and heavy development imo.
Surprised that the whalesquids turned out to actually be the same species as the spacewhales and not just lookalikes.

[serenade_beta]

That old man pretty much never showed the audience why he is so important. Sure, he's the captain, but other than giving a few orders, he hasn't shown himself to be that brilliant or anything. So it's hard to feel anything for his death, even if they spend an episode being dramatic and pouring sand on him.
And as far as I've seen, the new captain isn't that much better. But you know, it's anime. Though it's be amusing if her ship sank before the end of the series.

[andyjay729]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I haven't "lost faith" in this series, but I think a lot of GDB's criticisms hit the mark. The one thing I disagree with is that the show "doesn't know what it wants to be." It is a human drama, not a mecha show. It has just enough mecha to keep tantalizing mecha fans and keeping them around. Maybe.

In any case, much as I enjoyed this episode (mainly for Amy's controlled despair), it seems like it would have worked better in a 26-episode series than in a shorter one.

As for Pinion, I'm finding him totally loathsome. Selfish, nasty and stupid sums it up. I kind of hope he is the first to die, but only after realizing what a d*ck he has been.

Ridget was portrayed as too soft for my taste. If she is really the one to run Gargantia, she would have been more together and proactive in the crisis.

I definitely have to agree on how this show "doesn't know what it wants to be". That's what happens when you farm an idea out to a bunch of different people. That may work for an SOL or comedy show, but not for a single-story drama.

In an interview at Sakura-con, Gen said he often doesn't intend to write dark stories; they just turn out that way. To that I might say, do you have so little confidence in your ability to write happy stories that you'd just farm it all out? If you wanted Gargantia to be a happy story, you could've just pitched the idea to a single other writer, and then we could've at least had a more coherent show.

That said, this episode was okay. They handled the poignance pretty well, as well as the pressure being forced onto Ridget's shoulders. She's still something of a scared little girl at heart despite her stuffy exterior--which might not bode well for Gargantia.

[Tranhieu]

There wasn't much happened in this episode but it set quite a gloomy mood and personally I was absorbed in it. The funeral part was nicely done, but what drawn me in the most was the struggle all the characters had to go through, Ridget with her new responsibility, Ledo and his whalesquid exterminating mission (I still can't go along with this), Amy, Bevel, Pinion, Flange etc. All of them have their own stories and burdens to carry and at the end of the day we can't tell who was right or wrong.

What I found interesting are those huge cannons on the main ship. They seem to be out of order long ago but last time we saw such battleships was in WW2. Does that mean the people in Gargantia built their own home on a WW2 battle ship? Why not use an aircraft carrier instead since it has a whole lot more space?
And Amy even has a fridge at home, quite an advanced lifestyle I would say.

[Reckoner]

1 cour mecha series are rarely ever entirely satisfying and Gargantia may be no different. Had this been at least 2 cour, the commander and Ridgett's relationship could have been expanded upon and this probably would have been much more emotionally poignant. As it is, I only really care what was going on with Ledo and Bevel and Amy, seeing as that has been the only thing given any extensive focus at all in this series so far.

Still, it was a pretty good episode, but I can't help but feel Gargantia could have accomplished so much more if it just had the time. I don't think this will end in any sort of train wreck, nor do I think this show is directionless, but it's probably going to feel a bit sloppy down the road.

[sikvod00]

So what exactly is Pinion's role in this show? He's so much of an unsympathetic jackass that any attempt to show him in a positive light will almost certainly fail for me. =/

[Helius]

Originally Posted by sikvod00

So what exactly is Pinion's role in this show? He's so much of an unsympathetic jackass that any attempt to show him in a positive light will almost certainly fail for me. =/

Well the previous ep alluded that Pinion had a brother who was killed by a whalesquid. So his bitterness can probably be explained by his failure to save him or that no help came to him when he needed it the most.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

1 cour mecha series are rarely ever entirely satisfying and Gargantia may be no different. Had this been at least 2 cour, the commander and Ridgett's relationship could have been expanded upon and this probably would have been much more emotionally poignant. As it is, I only really care what was going on with Ledo and Bevel and Amy, seeing as that has been the only thing given any extensive focus at all in this series so far.

The episode felt like an episode of a 2+ cour anime, instead of a 1 cour one.
The pacing of the developments are so solw, I'm worried about the next five episodes.

I wouldn't bat an eye about this if this was a 26 episode series.

[Kanon]

There we have it: Ledo can't go back to the Galactic Alliance and the Alliance can't rescue him either. He's stuck on Earth for the rest of his life. He'll have to come to terms with this and learn how to live peacefully with the Gargantians. I stick to my prediction that he'll give up on his mission after finding out the Hideauze are not as belligerent as he was led to believe. I'm not expecting any kind of big climax. This show is a character driven slice-of-life with sci-fi elements. It's a bit disappointing they seemingly don't intend to expand on the Galactic Alliance in the anime. There's the novel for that, but it probably won't ever be translated.

This episode was the weakest of the series for me so far. They spend too much time mourning a character we barely knew, and I couldn't care less about Ridget and how she deals with her new responsibilities. Ledo is the character making this show for me, and he was barely present. Not saying it's a bad thing to develop secondary characters, I just don't like Ridget. I would have been more inclined to enjoy this episode if it had been about Bellows.

[joshuafaramir]

Boromir dying ang getting buried had much more impact than this old captain did. At least we get to see Ridget "put her hair down" so to speak.

[Irenesharda]

This was a quiet episode, and quite sad despite the fact that we hardly knew the Commander Fairlock. I have to say that of all the episodes, this was the only one where I have to say that everyone, in some capacity, was in the right.

Ridget is placed in command and she's not ready for it, but she matures through the episode and learns to rely on others in order to lead. Despite the fact that Amy and Bellows call the people who are leaving idiots and fools, I don't see what's wrong with them trying to do what they want to be happy? They have the right to pursue their own happiness elsewhere, they are not prisoners and therefore don't have to stay with Gargantia. Flange and the others don't seem in particular to be greedy or anything, they just either don't accept Ridget as the new leader, or they believe there is a future for them in finding Earth's lost technology. They are nothing wrong with that, they are allowed to chose their own path as human beings.

Yet, also, I can see why Gargantians also feel the way they do since they feel that they people leaving are foolhardy for wanting what is forbidden. They see it as suicide and are feeling abandoned, that's natural and all a part of change.

As for Amy and Bevel, both of them are sad to see Red leave. Amy I think is being a little immature as she doesn't even want to understand nor accept that despite the fact that Red can enjoy himself, he's still a soldier. And like all soldiers, he is willing to put himself in harm's way in order to protect her and the humans of Earth. However, it's okay for her to be immature because she's only a teenager and this is her first love. I think Bevel understands a bit more, but he's a kid and is not mature enough to understand what Red's been through.

And lastly there's Red who has found out that his SOS will never reach the Alliance and Chamber can't get there without help. He is stuck on Earth, maybe never to go home, and there is no one who in Gargantia who can understand or care about his plight. (I wanted to strangle Pinion this entire episode! Especially when he made light of the fact that Red can never go home. I hope a whalesquid Hideauze eats him!)
Nevertheless, like a good soldier, he is still willing to carry out his duty to take out the Earth Hideauze even if he knows that it will most likely be suicide. He is the only one who understands the Hideauze and he will not allow them to do to the people of Earth, what they did to the Galactic Alliance. He will fight them until the end.

I think this was a good episode and served to express the fact that change is on the horizon for everyone and that you can either accept it or get run over by it. Change will come whether you want it or not, whether you are ready for it or not.

I give this episode a 8/10.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Helius

Not much worth mentioning, really. But at least we now know the Alliance is in the same galaxy, some 6,000 light years away from Earth apparently.

Unless Chamber used an FTL mode of communication. Otherwise... what, he hoped Earth was just a few light-months away from the GA and they somehow missed it?

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

As for Pinion, I'm finding him totally loathsome. Selfish, nasty and stupid sums it up. I kind of hope he is the first to die, but only after realizing what a d*ck he has been.

He isn't nice, but...

My lifestyle and personality's probably closer to Bebel's than Pinion's or Ledo's: living for myself, staying home as much as possible... And like Bellows, I'm not above mocking adventurers who take stupid risks. But I have to admit that the world would be much poorer without those adventurers who took a chance on some stupid enterprise, the immense majority of whom died chasing rainbows.

And Pinion's right: what right does Ridget have to keep them with the fleet, to be preyed on by pirates, or pissing their pants everytime they come across a whalesquid? They want a better life. They'll reach for it. Maybe they'll all die in the process, but even so - once in a while, someone has to make that leap.

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

And lastly there's Red who has found out that his SOS will never reach the Alliance and Chamber can't get there without help. He is stuck on Earth, maybe never to go home, and there is no one who in Gargantia who can understand or care about his plight. (I wanted to strangle Pinion this entire episode! Especially when he made light of the fact that Red can never go home. I hope a whalesquid Hideauze eats him!)

He may have had an ulterior motive, but Pinion's made an effort to teach Ledo how to live on Gargantia. How to make a living, how to enjoy himself with good food... Telling not to worry about what he can't change and make the most of what he has is just more of the same. It's... pragmatic. Something that people from the GA can probably appreciate better than empty sentimentality.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by DuelGundam2099

I just watched the episode and it was.... Decent, but not interesting, at least in comparison to some previous episodes. I think they were trying to hard to make it depressing, but I suppose they needed to get out as much character development as they could before more good parts show up. I kind of liked the idea that Ledo is not fighting hideauze JUST to exterminate them anymore.

I don't think it ever was just to exterminate them. In the Alliance, Red and the other soldiers are fighting to protect Avalon and themselves from the ultra-powerful, energy-devouring Hideauze who are destroying their ships and colonies and killing their people. That has always been his mission.
That mission has not changed. He is now protecting the human race of Earth so that they won't have face the same thing that the GA has had to face in its thousands of years among the stars.

Originally Posted by Kanon

There we have it: Ledo can't go back to the Galactic Alliance and the Alliance can't rescue him either. He's stuck on Earth for the rest of his life. He'll have to come to terms with this and learn how to live peacefully with the Gargantians.

I wouldn't count out the GA or Red going home too quickly. Chamber stated that he couldn't get them home by himself without help.

I think that either they will find something in the Hideauze nest that will help him get home, or a character from episode 1 might have followed him out there and be on Earth somewhere. Cmdr. Kugel, Red's CO has been listed as a supporting character for a while now, and I think that he might show up in this, since we never did see what happened to him.
Red must be faced with a choice of whether to stay on Earth or not. For him to just be resigned to it would be meaningless for his character arc.

[andyjay729]

Yeah, as douchy as Pinion can be, for some reason I just can't hate the guy. He reminds me a bit of Indiana Jones; he is mostly about the "fortune and glory", but on some level he also cares about his friends and wants to improve their lives, even if it is just through plunder. (And of course we all remember how many tombs and ruins Indy wantonly desecrated--as well as human remains.) Hopefully he'll have some kind of epiphany (or at least a "what have I done" moment) just before he gets eaten.

But yeah, I'm with others who say this really should've been a 26-episode series instead of just 13. And who knows, maybe it will be, and they're just keeping that well under wraps. The OAV's could just be there to do some sorely needed fleshing out of some elements.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

He may have had an ulterior motive, but Pinion's made an effort to teach Ledo how to live on Gargantia. How to make a living, how to enjoy himself with good food... Telling not to worry about what he can't change and make the most of what he has is just more of the same. It's... pragmatic. Something that people from the GA can probably appreciate better than empty sentimentality.

I would agree if he made an attempt to sound understanding, but he doesn't. How he acted along with what he said, was pretty much equivalent to him saying, "Wow, you can't go home....well, sucks to be you! Who cares, you'll be fine. Now about helping me..."

Sympathy and understanding is different from empty sentimentality. Pinion doesn't care about Red but only what Red can give him. Even when he took him out to eat, he only wanted to convince Red to join his salvage team. Him coming to Red here, was for the same reason. Pinion is really out for no one by himself and his own vengeance.

[Gundamx]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

That old man pretty much never showed the audience why he is so important. Sure, he's the captain, but other than giving a few orders, he hasn't shown himself to be that brilliant or anything. So it's hard to feel anything for his death, even if they spend an episode being dramatic and pouring sand on him.
And as far as I've seen, the new captain isn't that much better. But you know, it's anime. Though it's be amusing if her ship sank before the end of the series.

you can think of it like he was preparing her to lead before he die
(Like giving her more authority > dealing with ledo)

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I wouldn't count out the GA or Red going home too quickly. Chamber stated that he couldn't get them home by himself without help.

I think that either they will find something in the Hideauze nest that will help him get home, or a character from episode 1 might have followed him out there and be on Earth somewhere. Cmdr. Kugel, Red's CO has been listed as a supporting character for a while now, and I think that he might show up in this, since we never did see what happened to him.
Red must be faced with a choice of whether to stay on Earth or not. For him to just be resigned to it would be meaningless for his character arc.

You have a point. It would be more meaningful if he had to make a choice, but I disagree it would be meaningless if he was stuck. The show is addressed to young people who are about to or recently entered society. They're the same as Ledo: they suddenly end up in a relatively foreign environment, have to adapt to it and learn what living in society is about. They don't have the option to go back to their former lives.

What really matters is that Ledo embraces his new life. He doesn't necessarily need the option to go back in order to hammer that home to the viewers. He's already started to think for himself and realize life in the Alliance kind of sucks, since he is now fighting to protect Amy and Bebel's lifestyle. He doesn't want Gargantia to become another Galactic Alliance, and that in itself already says a lot.

[Xion Valkyrie]

How'd Chamber get that badass harpoon? Did Ledo make it himself?

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Ledo seems to be using his pistol to sharpen the harpoon at one point, so he at least had some hand in it.

I find myself not disliking Pinion mostly because of the Katsuyuki Konishi aspect.

Incidentally, hearing of Ridget's father "Chevron" reminded me of the peculiarities of how people got named on this series... Bevel, Bellows, Chevron, Flange, Pinion in the pointy hardware section, Ridget, Lukkage/Rackage, Melty (!) in the messed-up names section, Fairlock in the nautical-names-that-sound-like-shout-outs-to-other-shows section, and then plain old Amy and Joe.

[LKK]

I hope that when Ledo finally encounters the Hideauze nest, it's revealed that he's right and they are a near-term threat to the Gargantians. I know that would create all sorts of future problems for Earth's humans. But I feel sorry for Ledo. So far the Gargantians have won all their lifestyle disagreements and have said "I told you so" a whole lot. Just once, I'd like for Ledo to be able to say "I told you so" to them.