Episode 12 –
…Meh, I think I set my expectations for this arc too high. I had anticipated that the whole Golden Ghost Ship affair was the introductory phase to a much larger-in-scale overall conflict. So yea, little did I expect the arc to come to a peaceful close with no major battles or conflicts. Nevertheless, this episode was solid with regards to it’s storytelling, where it was good at wrapping up loose ends with regards to the Ghost Ship arc.
What’s striking about this episode is how it decided to handle the resolution to the main conflict over the Ghost ship; that is, by not fighting at all. Instead, the adults had secretly plotted behind the backs of the two feuding princesses and ended the conflict without any casualties or problems. It’s a fun, more mature way of ending the conflict, but also felt anticlimactic considering all the buildup until this point in time.
What I would really appreciate here is if the series would elaborate a bit more on what the heck the big crisis was here (or at least, elaborate on the importance of the problem). It almost feels as if nothing about the conflict was explained in a concrete manner, resulting in a rather vague conclusion that doesn’t seem to quite explain why the conflict was so important. Why was Gruier out to destroy the flower on the Ghost ship? Was it to stop the royal bloodline because of political corruption, or just due to her sense of justice? Why is it that returning to Serenity solves the problem, and why did Gruier initially oppose to returning to Serenity? It’s implied that the reasons are important, but we still don’t know what the heck the reasons actually are.
In the end, this episode has proven one thing to me that I had been afraid of; that is, the creators won’t let any major conflicts get in the way of a return to the high-school slice-of-life aspect of this show. The thing is, the silly slice of life makes it difficult to take the story seriously, and it seems we’ll be seeing a lot more of the slice of life in the future. The characters also remain rather flawless in personality, with Marika leading the way as the upstart and competent captain. Flawless characters usually leave little room for character growth, and while this may change in the future, as of now Marika is your standard competent and smart main lead.
Overall Enjoyment: 3.0/5
Screenshots are later in the post.
Distant Paradise 