(L) Mouretsu Pirates

[Sackett]

The more and more I watch this show the more and more I can't help but think that Marika ought to be a male lead. Chiaki too I suppose, to serve as the friendly rival.

Don't get me wrong. I love Marika as a female character, and I like Chiaki too, and there are lots of cute moments that only work because they are girls, but the overall story would just be so much stronger with a traditional male lead you know? A young man raised by his mother, wanting to discover what his father was like, and fill his shoes...

I mean... all the other characters would stay essentially the same. Mami would stay the childhood friend (with a small bit of a possible love interest in the mix). Markia-kun would get to play the prince to Gruier's princess (another possible love interest). Chiaki-Kun would be the normally silent stoic type who gets to let loose when pretending to be his friend Mariaka-kun. I'd still stay away from romance, but the subtext would all fit better. I suppose the school would have to become coed, but that's not a big deal.

[Theo]

Originally Posted by Sackett

The more and more I watch this show the more and more I can't help but think that Marika ought to be a male lead. Chiaki too I suppose, to serve as the friendly rival.

Don't get me wrong. I love Marika as a female character, and I like Chiaki too, and there are lots of cute moments that only work because they are girls, but the overall story would just be so much stronger with a traditional male lead you know? A young man raised by his mother, wanting to discover what his father was like, and fill his shoes...

I really don't see how a female could not have these exact same ambitions.

[Midonin]

Mobirates 15 - No Sell; Try Another Key

I never thought a whole episode would be produced around the idea that starting up the ship was difficult. The OG crew's banter back in the hospital ship was amusing, and the yacht club's enthusiasm nicely combined the first and second halves of the show into what I was thinking it was going to be from the beginning. The princesses have really become a part of the crew by now, and they have as much experience with the Bentenmaru as anybody else. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. The fake McDougal was also pretty genius. I can tell I'm really going to like this arc.

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by Theo

I really don't see how a female could not have these exact same ambitions.

It's not about whether a woman can have those same ambitions. I'm saying that from a story telling point of view Marika is experiencing a traditionally male storyline with counterparts that are usually there to interact with a male lead. Genderflipped stories (the telling of a traditionally male storyline but with the characters all genderflipped, or female stories flipped to male) can be very interesting too, but that isn't what is happening with this story. There is none of the things you'd expect in a story that was being retold with the main character being genderflipped. Marika doesn't act like a female lead in a traditionally male story, she just acts like the male lead. The other characters (with the exception of Chiaki) are not genderflipped. Because of this the story seems a little off kilter.

I suppose I could have just as easily said that Gurier, Mami, Captain Kato and Blaster Ririka should be genderflipped. Although Bodacious Space Pirates is such a traditional old fashioned story (well executed) that I just figured we might as well go all out for the traditional male shonen coming of age story.

All I'm saying is that the story is using traditionally male tropes for Marika, and yet it has not genderflipped most of her counterparts, leaving odd little things like Marika being "the prince" for Princess Gruier and so forth. Nor is Space Pirates trying to do an exploration of this variation from the normal storytelling conventions. It's not doing anything with this genderflip, it's just there, causing little bumps as we go through the story.

I'm not saying it's a bad story. I actually think it's really good. I'm just saying that it'd be stronger as a story if Marika was male.

The impression I get from watching the show is that the author wanted to tell a certain traditional male coming of age story, but couldn't sell that story because "highschool girls" was the big thing at the time, so he took his story and switched his lead from male to female. Discovered that this made the relationship with Chiaki very strange, so switched Chiaki as well, but didn't make any more genderflips because it would have required him to change his story too much. Instead he just has Marika act as if she were the male lead in a traditional story.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by Sackett

I'm not saying it's a bad story. I actually think it's really good. I'm just saying that it'd be stronger as a story if Marika was male..

If that were the case -- then we'd be seeing these "small bumps" as cliche.

[kimpleng]

Chiaki-chan expression when she seeing parfait and enjoying it is priceless.

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by Kyuu

If that were the case -- then we'd be seeing these "small bumps" as cliche.

The story is cliche. It just happens to be a very well told and enjoyable cliche.

Most stories are not dramatically new. Space Pirates isn't even trying to be, it's just trying to tell an old story very well.

[totoum]

Chiaki made some really epic faces when she saw those parfaits.

One of my favorite episodes so far,it was great seeing both the yacht club and the crew of the bentemaru in the same episode.

Originally Posted by Sackett

The impression I get from watching the show is that the author wanted to tell a certain traditional male coming of age story, but couldn't sell that story because "highschool girls" was the big thing at the time

I think the novel author himself confirmed this in an interview.

[Theo]

So they're raiding the Apricot again, huh? I hope the conflict in the episode is just more than just boarding and doing the same thing Marika did last time.

[gaiar31]

very funny episode. i'am laughing alot i love this series > <

i thing it will be boring if Marika is Male.because female have a limited that they can do or they can't do different male.

and this story tell you can't do manything alone.

[00Coyote]

Originally Posted by Sackett

I'm not saying it's a bad story. I actually think it's really good. I'm just saying that it'd be stronger as a story if Marika was male.

From my perspective, in a story like this, the gender of the main character is not a major concern. Why? Simple. Romance is not the primary theme, in fact it's not even a consideration. This is a story about Space Ships, and the start of Captain Marika's illustrious career. Sure, fans will do their shipping and harem-ing, but that's not what this story is about. There's no lover's quarrel, romantic jealousy, triangles... 90% of what makes up the usual 'drama' series is missing. That is unheard of, it is crazy, and so very very refreshing to see. Having the whole cast as female, (or the reverse of all male) allows the story to focus on what the cast is doing, not what the cast is doing to each other. If you have a cast of male and female working close together, you have to deal with the ever present question 'are they or aren't they?' That's human nature. In an animated medium, where time is scarce (and expensive) answering that question takes so much away from the story that could be invested in painting a really unique and detailed picture of the world of Pirates and Spaceships.

If Marika was male, then all the sudden all the crap that comes with your standard drama/comedy has to be included. You'd have to make Mariko either the stock standard Dense Male Lead that doesn't notice all the cute girls around him (boring, seen so many times) or some other convoluted reason which takes away from the story that is being told.

I'll sum it up like this:

Beyond personal aesthetics (I like looking at Marika) if the lead in this series was male, it'd be just like every other light comedy/drama story that has been animated. I won't and can't call Miniskirt Pirates unique, but the vast bulk of stories animated are centered around the setup, Young Male, coming of age, usually surrounded by cute girls. Boring standard hijinks follow. Seen it before, I Do Not Want.

Show me the world of Space Pirates, and their exploits in the vast tracts of space.

[ookamigirl]

Well... the real crew sure had a nice sick leave ^^"
On the other hand Marika had an adventure with her club members.
Guess pirating without a real crew is pretty tiring LOL
Pretty fun & interesting episode ^^

[RX-78GP04G Gerbera]

Originally Posted by ookamigirl

Well... the real crew sure had a nice sick leave ^^"
On the other hand Marika had an adventure with her club members.
Guess pirating without a real crew is pretty tiring LOL
Pretty fun & interesting episode ^^

So is being the crew when watching that substitute crew, lol.

[ars89]

Liked how the crew back in the hospital were watching and were giving a helping. Like how Chiaki helped the princess stow away. Her expression when they pulled out the sweets was great. Well the yacht club got through one obstacle, but looks like they'll have more to come.

[encia]

Originally Posted by Sackett

The more and more I watch this show the more and more I can't help but think that Marika ought to be a male lead. Chiaki too I suppose, to serve as the friendly rival.

Don't get me wrong. I love Marika as a female character, and I like Chiaki too, and there are lots of cute moments that only work because they are girls, but the overall story would just be so much stronger with a traditional male lead you know? A young man raised by his mother, wanting to discover what his father was like, and fill his shoes...

I mean... all the other characters would stay essentially the same. Mami would stay the childhood friend (with a small bit of a possible love interest in the mix). Markia-kun would get to play the prince to Gruier's princess (another possible love interest). Chiaki-Kun would be the normally silent stoic type who gets to let loose when pretending to be his friend Mariaka-kun. I'd still stay away from romance, but the subtext would all fit better. I suppose the school would have to become coed, but that's not a big deal.

Well, female captains in sci-fi franchises are not new e.g
1. Star Trek's USS Voyager (NCC-74656, Kathryn Janeway), USS Lakota (NCC-42768, Erika Benteen), USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C, Rachel Garrett), Columbia (NX-02, Erika Hernandez), USS Trident (Galaxy Class with multi-vector assault mode, Elizabeth Shelby), USS Enterprise (NCC1701-D, part time/night watch shifts, Beverly Crusher),

Under Beverly Crusher's command, the Enterprise destroyed a Borg ship. Beverly Crusher has her own command with USS Pasteur.

2. Gundam Seed's Archangel (Murrue Ramius), Dominion (Archangel class, Natarle Badgiruel), The Eternal (Lacus Clyne). Gundam 00's Ptolemaios (Sumeragi Lee Noriega).

Women has thier own dreams and aspirations e.g. Amelia Earhart. Markia's "coming of age" plot would be fine when overlayed with Amelia Earhart's or Jessica Watson's examples.

Also, Ririka Kato applied for a captain's position on a star cruiser.

[Ithekro]

I'll add one more Star Trek ship...the first real female captain of a starship: USS Saratoga (NCC-1887, Captain Margaret Sinclair-Alexander) - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

[Wandering_Youth]

Oh those mischivious little girls messing with something they got no clue about. I can see why Father worry so much when letting their daughters drive a car for the first time.

I had great expectations about this episode and it definitely delivered. The reactions and panicked looks on the crews faces were priceless as they saw the little brats trying to drive their baby.

[aldw]

The most infamous of female starship captains would be Honor Harrington, but her exploits are such that even a male character of the same accomplishments would be considered a Gary Stu.

I can understand where Sackett is coming from narratively speaking. Characters such as Misa Hayase (Macross) and Murrue Ramius (Gundam Seed) are better examples of how female officers would develop their command styles (especially in a sci-fi setting) than Natarle Badgiruel or Kathryn Janeway.

[MeisterBabylon]

Originally Posted by encia

Also, Ririka Kato applied for a captain's position on a star cruiser.

Star cruiser? @_@

*rubs eyes*

[aldw]

Originally Posted by MeisterBabylon

Star cruiser? @_@

*rubs eyes*

That's not a star cruiser, this is a real star cruiser...