Bodacious Space Pirates

Set in the distant future when space has been colonised; this series is set far from Earth in the Tau Ceti system. Life there isn't totally different though; our protagonist Marika is an ordinary schoolgirl at the Hakuho Academy and she has the usual student worries about exams and such like... she also learns that she has inherited the captaincy of the space-pirate ship the Bentenmaru! She doesn't take command straight away though; she has school work to do and take part in the space yacht club; an activity that will stand her in good stead when she takes command of her own pirate ship. Space pirates aren't the villains we think of today but respected people working with permission of the government; mostly putting on shows by 'attacking' space-liners. Over the course of the series they will come across real dangers though; some that they face alone and others that requires them to team up with other pirates.

This is a decent series that has plenty of good moments although it does take a little too long for Marika to actually start captaining the Bentenmaru; the opening adventure aboard the school's yacht takes several episodes and it isn't until then that we get to see Marika in her captain's uniform, excluding the opening credits. The series features a good set of characters both at the school and on the Bentenmaru. Marika makes a good protagonist as it is fun watching her come to terms with her new role as the ship's captain. The animation looks good with the 3D elements not standing out too badly; certainly they are much better integrated than in many shows. There is a fairly large cast of characters but they are all distinctive so it is unlikely that the viewer will get confused about who is who. Since the series is based on a light novel titled 'Miniskirt Space Pirates' one might expect plenty of revealing costumes and other fan service; however this series isn't like that at all; their skirts may be short but the hems stay down... even in zero gravity! The only things that might be considered fan service are the rather well fitting space suits they occasionally wear and the costume worn by Misa Grandwood; the ship's doctor and second in command. I'm not sure I'd want to own this series but I'd certainly recommend watching it; at the time of writing it can be watched legally on Crunchyroll.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

Marika Kato, a high school junior and tea house waitress agrees to follow in the footsteps of her former pirate queen mother. She inherits a ship called Bentemaru and her crew of six oddballs. In this universe Piracy is a legal career. So called Pirates put on the same show as the actors at Las Vegas' Treasure Island hotel, by invading luxury interstellar cruises to the delight of the passengers. Alternitavely pirates can also be mercenaries, and Marika becomes one such after taking a job from a runaway princess.

Dazzling to look at, and exquisite in colour and detail, Bodacious Space Pirates dips into several anime genres without fully committing to any particular one making it a difficult show to market. It is part school drama, part sic-fi, part action/adventure. Subsequently, the series never really took off or accumulated a substantial fan base.

As far as storytelling goes, Bodacious space pirates achieves linearity by means of cheap contrivances. As a Pirate Captain, Marika is no more commanding than the head of a student committee planning the high school dance, but it helps that she never wallows in bubbling incompetence like Sailor Moon. She has enough winning charm and brains to make the show palatable.

What makes Bodacious a tough sell for its target audience of twelve year old girls is the science fiction element of the plot. There are numerous sequences of heavy computer/cyber jargon concerning how the ships are controlled. Even for older viewers, these scenes are a bit of a mind**k. Alternitavely, it's easy enough to argue that the cyberpunk, 'electronic warfare' aspects of the plot bring a necessary dose of science to a story that is part science-fiction.

Marika finds a friend in a new transfer student named Chiaki, who comes close to stealing the show. The daughter of a Pirate captain, Chiaki is composed and mannered to a fault, but she is a force to be reckoned with if you upset her. All the other girls in the show are virtually interchangeable.

Bodacious Space Pirates, would have gone further if it had fleshed out its characters a bit more, gets by on its laughs, street smarts, visual flair, and action. It can be enjoyed on its terms, as long as you don't take it too seriously.