Here’s comes Mouretsu Pirates’ episode 26. It might be sad to see it end, but the experience of having to watch it every week is great. Very reminiscent of the great old-school series I’ve watched during my childhood! It is WAY TOO EPIC. I am still speechless after seeing this finale. It didn’t disappoint, Satelight Studio and the staff seem to be finally serious and with all of their best efforts with just this episode. They indeed should be like this in each episode of every anime that they produce! If last episode had Chiaki-chan reclaiming her throne as the Queen of my Avatars, the finale sealed the deal and reclaimed Mouretsu‘s throne as the princess of my favourites!

Obviously, final episodes fixes all of the loose ends in the entire series. This episode is still consistent with the immersive plot narration and direction that the earlier episodes is famous, or infamous to non-fans of the techniques used, for. Ironbeard’s real identity would be obvious to, and eureka moments would appear in, those who pay attention to the story and events being narrated. The battle scenes between the pirate ship fleet and the Grand Cross evoke a sense excitement for the viewers, with each scene illustrating crucial moments. The perfectly-synchronised background music fuels up the moods and immerses you to each scene here. Character development was also presented well, you could see Marika’s leadership abilities used at the best here. And oh, there’s a ton of Marika x Chiaki friendship and love again!

Chiaki [to Marika]: I believe in you… and in our future

Right now, I shall be putting more and more of my fanboy persona in my articles and this episode blog wouldn’t be excused from it. In case you’re not paying attention in my episode entries, I love seeing girls making out with each other. Pretty girls, at that, Marika and Chiaki are pretty girls. Heck, even Chiaki’s father has a clue on the interesting bond between Marika and Chiaki. Also, there’s the Lynn x Jenny official couple too! For more yuri fanboyism, please visit this blog and entry or skip to the last paragraph containing my final thoughts.

And, after the epic great battle; Quartz Cristie escaped from her exploding battle armour, the pirates (apparently) victorious in the battle with everyone in the landing teams safe, and the Parabellum was tasked to bring the yacht club back to the Sea of the Morningstar to take their examinations. Gruier wore a pirate suit-like made by Mami, and in that outfit she met with “Ironbeard” who’s finally revealed to be Marika’s ‘deceased’ father, Kato Gonzaemon. In the epilogue, everyone was back on their usual selves; Marika woke up late and rushed to school again, and she passed her tests, Chiaki was later seen meeting with the yacht club. She was looking for Marika, who was on a pirate job again.

Episode Entertainment Factor Rating: 100/100

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Final Thoughts

It was recently announced that Mouretsu Pirates would get an anime film. For an anime that’s one of the suitable candidates for 2012′s best, this one is worth waiting for. Despite some quirks in the character animation, Mouretsu Pirates would be proudly one of the best, and perhaps even a legend, space operas coming from Japan. Everything here is godly great. I just wish that the seriousity Satelight and the Mouretsu Pirates staff poured on this finale would apply in the movie and all of their future productions. For now, take a bow, Satelight.

If you think this article would end in that way, let me unleash some yuri fanboy rant of frustation. I know that the director decided to eliminate all of the romance undertones to explore more of the friendship bonds, but why the hell did they keep on teasing romance between Marika & Chiaki, Gruier? While we have an official yuri couple, it’d have been nice if we see some warm hugging between Marika and Chiaki! Come on, we only see Marika excited and energised whenever she sees Chiaki! Did you also note Marika keep on blushing at the thought of Chiaki’s cuteness? She did it twice! Fortunately, it seems that we’re given some damn good consolation prices – It was implied that Chiaki was thinking of joining Marika, the aforementioned quote from Chiaki, and Chiaki looking for Marika in the epilogue. I’ll just be an optimist and hope to see at least warm hugs kisses between Marika and Chiaki in the movie.

EDIT: I shall try to look for a yuri doujin concerning Marika and Chiaki for the meantime, too.

Overall Entertainment Factor Rating: 97/100

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