Suisei no Gargantia - Episode 5 Discussion / Poll

[Tenzen12]

Is it realx needed to be fed by everything explicitly?

[Iron Maw]

Like I said, it's the show that brought that up. So, that means the creators obviously wanted us to discuss it especially in tandem with the technology shown so far.

[Triple_R]

This was a pretty good lighthearted episode.

The fanservice didn't strike me as downright obnoxious, and at least it was well-drawn and well-animated. The episode also had a nice, whimsical liveliness to it. There were a few scenes in this episode that just struck me as fun, serene, and pleasant - Like I was right there enjoying the BBQ with the rest of the cast, while having an automated fan keep me cool on a bright, warm day.

On the negative side, this episode did stretch characterization a bit in order to make its comedy work. I agree with much of what ChainLegacy wrote there - Chamber valuing the word of a Gargantian over Ledo's cries for help is a bit hard to swallow, as are a couple other scenes in this episode.


With this episode, I think that the Gen Urobuchi fans who are checking this series out primarily because they were hoping for something vintage Urobuchi might as well accept the fact that they're not likely to get it with this show. We're now five episodes into an one cour show - If Gen was going to pull something like what he pulled in Madoka Magica Episode 3, he would have pulled it already. And as I did two or three weeks ago, I again point to those pirate death scenes from a few episodes back - That's not the way a grimdark show handles death scenes.

Don't get me wrong, I do think this show will do the classic anime thing of shifting to more dramatic/serious/slightly darker for the final arc, but it'll be just that - Classic anime. I doubt it'll be on the level of what some have come to expect from Gen.


On the whole, the tone and feel of this show reminds me of Rinne no Lagrange. It has a similar blend of serious mecha action with lighthearted slice of life; of dramatic action scenes with colorful fanservice. For good or for ill, I expect that to continue.

P.S. To be fair, I can definitely understand how many (and not just hardcore Urobuchi fans) would be disappointed with this episode. I think its understandable how some were probably hoping for this show to have a heavier feel to it, as mecha shows tend to have. Still, I think the promotional artwork and premise for this show always made it clear that what we're getting now was at least a possibility. So I don't think the makers of this show are doing any sort of bait-and-switch here, and I think the show does have good, largely consistent world-building.

[ReddyRedWolf]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

On the whole, the tone and feel of this show reminds me of Rinne no Lagrange. It has a similar blend of serious mecha action with lighthearted slice of life; of dramatic action scenes with colorful fanservice. For good or for ill, I expect that to continue.

Note similar plot devices.

Ledo's ancestors left Earth due to an ice age. The Polyhedron's ancestor left Earth due to an event that led to an ice age.

Those left on Earth managed to survive and thrive. The prodigal sons and daughters , in this case Ledo is the prodigal son, return to mother Earth.

Human aliens try to learn from their Earther hosts.

[jeroz]

I just wonder what's with the final image in the preview.

Is there something going on with Amy that she has to dress up like that?

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by jeroz

I just wonder what's with the final image in the preview.

Is there something going on with Amy that she has to dress up like that?

Maybe it's some kind of a ritual or festival. Or maybe she's wearing something that belonged to a lost family member?

[Dark Wing]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Maybe it's some kind of a ritual or festival.

I'm thinking this as well it just might be the episode where Ledo starts to see Amy in a "different" way. Go Amy tame your space man...

[-Sho-]

Damn what with the generic creepy old cross-dresser...
Anyone isn't shocked that Ledo could have been dead if Amy didn't save him ? Chamber would have gone in rampage mode and end of story

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by -Sho-

Anyone isn't shocked that Ledo could have been dead if Amy didn't save him?

I am.
I mean it's nice that for once it's the damsel who saves the squire in distress, but that would've been a pretty lame way to die.

[Dark Wing]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

I am.
I mean it's nice that for once it's the damsel who saves the squire in distress, but that would've been a pretty lame way to die.

Yea being taken out by a gang of cross dressers would be lame after surviving an alien invasion, being sucked into a wormhole, and crash landing in bottom of earths ocean.

I could only imagine what they'd write on his tomb stone...

[Raviel]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

I am.
I mean it's nice that for once it's the damsel who saves the squire in distress, but that would've been a pretty lame way to die.

Somewhere in an alternate universe that would be how Urobuchi trolls everyone with this show

By the way, can anyone tell me who's who between Amy's friends? Saya and Melty are always shown together so I've always wondered which of them is which.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Melty is the younger, blonder, smaller of the two.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by -Sho-

Anyone isn't shocked that Ledo could have been dead if Amy didn't save him ? Chamber would have gone in rampage mode and end of story

I guess many of us are . Still, since this is a beach/fanservice episode, we kinda expect that things will be “dumbed down” for comedy purposes like you usually get in this kind of episode in many other series whether it’s mecha, harem, rom-com, etc.

In fact, I'm more pissed with the poor strategy the Gargantians displayed against the pirates in episode 3 than all the stupidity that happened in this episode .

[Anh_Minh]

I'm of the position that this episode largely didn't happen.

Ledo's looking for work and doesn't find any he can do. End of story.

[taofd]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I'm of the position that this episode largely didn't happen.

Ledo's looking for work and doesn't find any he can do. End of story.

Well, we learned that bevel is pretty handy with gadgets. He built an automatic fan machine with spare parts.

This was definitely a fan service episode, but it was done with much more class than most fan service episodes in anime.

I'm still waiting for the grimdark, as there is no reason they wouldn't hire Urobuchi Gen if this were an all fluff and joy castaway anime. Just wait for the GA and Hideaze to find Earth at roughly the same time.

[Guardian Enzo]

I didn't find the laughably shallow conversation the girls were having about body types and the mean-spirited tranny humor especially classy, but YMMV.

Getting something of value out of the beach/onsen/pool episode is rare indeed - see Outlaw Star for the template on how to do it perfectly, with TTGL probably coming in 2nd. But even if you're not going to advance the plot or characters the better of them can at least be fun fanservice romps. I just hate to see a show with as much smarts and as big a plot as this one waste an episode when it only has one cour to work with as is - especially as it seems that broad comedy isn't playing to Gargantia's strengths, based on the evidence.

[Dark Wing]

Well fan service and transvestite jokes aside one thing that I kind of liked about this episode was that over head shot of Gargantia during the glider race.That shot lets you see just how huge a city fleet is.


Here is gif I borrowed to illustrate what I mean.

Spoiler for gif size:

[taofd]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I didn't find the laughably shallow conversation the girls were having about body types and the mean-spirited tranny humor especially classy, but YMMV.

Getting something of value out of the beach/onsen/pool episode is rare indeed - see Outlaw Star for the template on how to do it perfectly, with TTGL probably coming in 2nd. But even if you're not going to advance the plot or characters the better of them can at least be fun fanservice romps. I just hate to see a show with as much smarts and as big a plot as this one waste an episode when it only has one cour to work with as is - especially as it seems that broad comedy isn't playing to Gargantia's strengths, based on the evidence.

You learn a lot from this episode, so it's not quite fair to say this wasn't an advancement in plot or characters. Quite a few (potentially important) characters were introduced indirectly, and we learned quite a great deals about the infrastructure of the fleet and what occurs during off days (i.e. fleet shuts down for repairs while the whether is nice, and while in calm waters, etc). We also see that they have a fairly complex aqueduct system and potentially where there primary source of food is from.

[orpheus2]

Originally Posted by Dark Wing

I'm thinking this as well it just might be the episode where Ledo starts to see Amy in a "different" way. Go Amy tame your space man...

Is Ledo even capable of that? I assume his warrior race doesn't even know the concept since there are no families back home.

Originally Posted by Dark Wing

Well fan service and transvestite jokes aside one thing that I kind of liked about this episode was that over head shot of Gargantia during the glider race.That shot lets you see just how huge a city fleet is.


Here is gif I borrowed to illustrate what I mean.

Spoiler for gif size:

No kidding.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by orpheus2

Is Ledo even capable of that? I assume his warrior race doesn't even know the concept since there are no families back home.

But on Avalon people can reproduce freely, which implies that they can choose their partners.