(L) Garasu no Kantai (Glass Fleet)

[Sonhex]

My first impressions based on the raw - I like the grand sweeping interiors and the battle formations (although the cg was the usual Gonzo standard sadly) and overall Okama's done a good job with the character designs. Very distinctive, if a little elaborate in some places. Comparisons to the fleets in Last Exile are easy to draw, the similarities here are pretty obvious, at least in the influences. The music was spot on and well suited to the scope laid out in the opening few minutes.

I found something definately lacking while watching it. Maybe it was the absence of any real likeable characters lending to this feeling of being detached from the story. LE had likeable intriguing characters right from the first minutes and you cared about them. There's none of that here, I don't really like Michel all that much. Cleo seems kind of cool though - what little we saw of him and his ludicrous glass ship.

I guess if I treat this as a tongue-in-cheek space opera then it's probably going to be fun. But I'm not sure if this is what I actually wanted Glass Fleet to be. I think I actually did want Last Exile in space come to think of it.

Regardless I hope my opinion changes once I've had chance to watch this subbed. I'm still hoping it develops into something special...

[Xellos-_^]

Saw the raw last night.

My first impression was that it was a bad ripoff of Legend of Galactic Heros. Even the ships look similar. Since I love grand sweeping drama, i will watch a few more eps to see if it gets better or just rewatch my logh collection.

[CaiSter21]

wait, why is this series in the fansub section when no fansub of this anime has come out yet?

[wao]

The promo was subbed...

I feel less inclined to watch it now (haven't had much time to watch anime recently), maybe I'll wait for 3 episodes and if people say it's okay then I'll watch it in a go...

[MrProphet]

okama's website hosts this funny image of Michelle and that girl from Himawari.

http://okama.nicomi.com/

Interesting how much the gengamen have changed okama's actual design, compared to Himawari (and Top o nerae! 2, for example). Michelle looks extremely withdrawn from okama's original look and feel.

[Friera]

Who will sub it? I can't find any who is going to sub it on either bakaupdates nor animesuki.com

[Grifis]

It was gg who subtitled the promo so they're the one who'll work on the series.

[BluWacky]

I've only had a quick flick-through of episode 2, but I'm possibly upgrading my opinion of the show.

I think it might actually be Aquarion : The Space Opera.

Seriously. The animation's nowhere near as good (although the faces are nice and inconsistent as per Satelight's usual!) but I can't believe this show is taking itself at all seriously; one of the crew members of Cleo's ship sits around doing nothing until he puts a centurion's helmet on when he goes all GOUBAIN (if you've seen Fafner, you know what I mean...) and the prissy general from last week spills his tea all over his face in shock. The second half of the episode is mostly a masked ball with random people doing silly dances with fans. Maybe it's got a decent plot in there somewhere too, but even then I think Garakan could provide me with some unintentional crack for the season.

I can't wait to watch this properly tomorrow morning now...

[thomasvye]

It's ... like ... Aqaurion? Oh God I hope so! I've said it before and to the people who didn't like it, but that was a damned good show that moved and amused me for a whole season with it's outrageousness and it's theatricality.

All shows need a little humour, because life has humour; without moments of goofiness and humanity, characters disappear up their own backsides (*cough* Michel*cough*).

I already find that General funny; he's such an idiot; poor Vetti; you just can't get the staff.

I have been looking forward to this masked ball bit; but I am really looking forward to episode 3, as that will move the plot into realms thus far undescribed in any preview material I have seen.

[Altharion]

i wont watch it until wao gives the green light, i watch the promo and the 3d looks awful the 3d ships was just a slap in the face to the 3d and 2d hybrid of noein.

[MrProphet]

You are comparing apples and oranges here AND you are being unfair.

For one thing: there was no significant 3D/2D morphing in Garasu no Kantai, because all of the 3D was done in "space" and there were no natural objects around which to morph 3DCG.

On the contrary, most of the rendered objects in Noein were done on the backdrop of natural backgrounds, where smooth 2D/3D combinations are harder to achieve. And even though Noein was good in this aspect, I don't see this as an excuse to bash "Glass Fleet" over something it never did. Episode 1 didn't have any "awful...3d and 2d hybrid", because there was no 3D/2D morphing to speak of.

In fact, most of the space-battles we saw were quite well done, compared to many other scenes (like the revolt), which were somewhat sub-par.

So, please watch the episode before you bash the show. It has its major weaknesses, however this is not one of them.

[wao]

Sheesh! Why can't you trust other peoples' opinions? As if I've got some esteemed view on these things. Bullshit...

To be hoenst, I haven't even watched ep 1 yet because I got kind of turned off by the mixed reviews of the first ep, and I hate Gonzo and I know this isn't Satelight at its usual because they had hte project pushed onto them. 'Sides I have my reservations about that scriptwriter...

However, it's nice to hear that it's not taking itself too seriously. GOUBAIN!
I think I'll wait until episode 5 and see what everyone else says and if it's fun then I'll watch the first 5 in a bash. I do have a lot of other shows to watch and *gasp* work to do. Oh yay.

And I think as a rule 3D is allowed to look suckier in space compared to on home ground.

[thomasvye]

Originally Posted by Altharion

i wont watch it until wao gives the green light, i watch the promo and the 3d looks awful the 3d ships was just a slap in the face to the 3d and 2d hybrid of noein.

Good Lord, make up your own mind.

[MrProphet]

Oh, well... 8(

I think I have totally lost hope that this show is even going to try becoming something like Last Exile or LOGH. Because it's not that it isn't anywhere near those kinds of shows, but it doesn't even attempt at this distinction.

It does, indeed, look a lot like Aquarion. The crew of the Glass Battleship is nothing like Silvana's and most of them are actually there for freaking comic relief, except for Cleo, who plays a very cool and laid-back "Han Solo"-like semi-pirate captain.

What's good about "Glass Fleet" is undoubtly the story, which continues to get deeper and deeper. This episode concerned itself mostly with Betty (I hearby christen you Betty forever and ever!) and his chibi minion, who actually looks like an interesting character. Betty seems to have an intriguing story to tell, with his thoughts centered on Michelle (btw, he isn't obsessed with her at all, it looks a lot like geniune love, in fact), and him trying to maneuver betwixt various factions of his empire (he even gets propositioned for a marriage).

What's good? The fight between the Tea-Drinking Fellow and Cleo's shio is pretty exciting, looks impressive and actually managed to instill the much-needed quality animation into the show.

Because it desperately needs more of it. Most of the rest screams of mediocricity and very cheap animation. Only Betty, Cleo, Michelle and Betty's minions actually look on target and not weirdly skewed. Exclude the space battle and you've got yourself something on the level of Speed Grapher.

Honestly, this doesn't even qualify for "Trinity Blood" quality anymore. It's strictly speedgrapheresque territory.

A shame, really, because the story seems genuinly interesting, even if it is kinda sliding into Aquarion style of crack. Cleo's crew is just silly and not something to take seriously, which was a disappointment. But, for some reason, despite having the GOUBAIN guy (he really does look that way), the show is trying to go for somber atmosphere.

It's like the show can't make up its own mind. On one hand, Betty has very good serious interactions with his people that lay the foundation for a good socio-political story. On the other hand, we get lots of sillyness. Cleo's battleship shines like a mother-of-pearl and actually fires weird coat-of-arms looking bursts. that look positively super-robot-mecha-sentai-like. It's just weird, very "old school space operaish". And we had this exchange of words:

Michelle: Oh, my saviour, thank you, thank you, where you are from *starts gushing like a fangirl*.
Cleo: Eh? And who are you?
Michelle: *silent scene best escribed as ZOMGWTFBBQ*

I am somewhat interested in where they are going with this stuff, but the overall shabby look of the show discourages me a lot. And i had so much emotion invested into this.

Sad, it's really sad...

[Kaoru Chujo]

Yes, yes, the quality is not great, the tone is all over the place, etc., etc. But why did I enjoy ep2 so much? I'm sure I'm going to drop this soon...but not yet. I'm still having too much fun. I even enjoyed the scenes of the glass cruiser in space. But if I was really into animation, rather than story and characters, I'd be outta here.

Actually, the one thing that will keep me here above all else is seeing/hearing Ueda Kana (Yumi in Marimite, Hazumu in Kashimashi, etc.) play a Yukino Satsuki/Asano Masumi-type aggressive tsundere character. (Aimeru, the young red-head on Cleo's ship). In fact, the interplay between her and Shiraishi Ryouko (the boy in glasses; formerly Shiratori in Mahoraba, etc.) is quite entertaining, in a stereotypical sort of way. Like Mamiko Noto in Witchblade, she appears to be trying to expand her range.

It's also interesting to hear Kugimiya Rie (Shana) as a boy. She plays Ralph, Vetti's companion and apparent boytoy, back at the capital. This isn't something new, of course: she played Alphonse Elric in FMA.

[Blablabla]

Who wants to flight with Rozen Airlines ?

[Sonhex]

Does anyone know what the hell is is show meant to be? There are so many nonsensical things going on in the second episode. Michelle continues to breath in space, which just beggars belief. And the ballroom scene at the end...I mean WTF it's sooo badly animated it's laughable. The whole thing is like a badly acted pantomine or something like Baron Munchausen in space...

I'm more than willing to believe there's some big explaination for all this nonsense. Whether I have the patience to endure 22 more episodes of this lunacy is another thing. Although I must admit it's going to be fun to witness just how silly this show will get.

The music continues to impress though and the battle at the beginning was well directed and staged. Also some of the CG animation of Cleo's ship was marginally impressive, even if it does look like a giant pair of hair tongs ...

[sukreih]

Honestly,my first impression wasn't that good. It's obviously a biased opinion,but here's what I thought :

Storyline-Berubara+Ginga Eiyu Densetsu+some kindda space opera
The battleship battles were a lot better than episode 1,but somewhat lacking overall.I don't know what.But it can't be called 'impressive'.

Cleo-bad ripoff of Captain Harlock.The way he plunges the ship into the enemy's larger ship (Captain Harlock's favourite battle sequence)+he plays a harmonica.(Harlock plays an ocarina.)
Of course Harlock is much cooler.I kindda didn't like Cleo's personality in episode2; so predictable and formal :P

Michelle-Somewhat like Oscar in Berubara thou I doubt she'll do anything once Cleo steps in the story. 'A helpless(said to be 'talented' in the 'storyline' but helpless anyways) Renassiance leader looking for a saviour' was featured many times in various animes and games. She'll end up getting kidnapped by Vetti and Cleo has to save her. (hah)

Music was okay.

[Altharion]

Originally Posted by MrProphet

You are comparing apples and oranges here AND you are being unfair.

For one thing: there was no significant 3D/2D morphing in Garasu no Kantai, because all of the 3D was done in "space" and there were no natural objects around which to morph 3DCG.

On the contrary, most of the rendered objects in Noein were done on the backdrop of natural backgrounds, where smooth 2D/3D combinations are harder to achieve. And even though Noein was good in this aspect, I don't see this as an excuse to bash "Glass Fleet" over something it never did. Episode 1 didn't have any "awful...3d and 2d hybrid", because there was no 3D/2D morphing to speak of.

In fact, most of the space-battles we saw were quite well done, compared to many other scenes (like the revolt), which were somewhat sub-par.

So, please watch the episode before you bash the show. It has its major weaknesses, however this is not one of them.

i have watched the first ep.

I did not know about the 3d/2d moprh in space but the space-battles wasnt that good (i havent seen revolt and i dont really know what sub-par is).

i wasnt really bashing the show, i just said the 3d looked awfull now that i know it shouldnt be compared to land 3d then i know better.

But if the story really progresses and becomes something good then i'l come back and check this anime up, the only reason i checked this anime in the first place was because it was made by satelight.

[DoReMiFaSo]

Just watched episode 3.

Somehow, I am still thinking Michelle is a guy. At least Cleo thinks he is a guy in this episode, when

Spoiler:

they were in the cave, and Cleo referred Michelle as "bocchan"

I am beginning to hate Cleo. He's so haughty and pretentious.

Spoiler:

I was hoping Michelle could defeat him during the duel.