Starship Operators ep.1-2

January 17, 2005 | 12 Comments

I've been asked which second series I was planning to blog for Memento. And I've been a bit hesitant to answer this, because I wasn't sure which one to pick, for a long while. In general, I was looking for this kind of series profile:

1) The series should be relatively unknown and not receive much coverage elsewhere
2) The series should have some serious content with plot and character development
3) I don't want to know this show in advance (That ruled out alot series this season)
4) Watching it should raise my interest

For quite a while I thought that I might come up empty this time and simply stick with Mai HiME. And then I came across this neat little show, which I learned to like pretty quickly, and which fits my wish profile perfectly. After watching the second episode I was sold. Here we go!

I don't really feel like making two separate entries for 1 and 2, so I took the liberty to combine them to a single initial entry. The subbed version for ep1 is out already and ep2 won't take much longer.

From now on, I'll assign up to three verdicts to my reviews. The one I won't use for this series is "Relative Rating", which will show how good this episode was compared to the other ones. This requires at least 4-5 eps to measure against, so it's out. The next one is the Absolute Rating, which measures against the average anime series out there. The levels will be -- (horrible), - (disappointing), o (so-so), + (good) and ++ (excellent). Also, I will give a hint how easily this show can be followed watching the Raw with only minimal or no Japanese language skills. This should give people an idea if downloading the Raw would make sense for them - or not. So, here's the rating for episodes 1 and 2 of Starship Operators:

Absolute Rating: +
RAW difficulty: Very difficult

Seriously, this is NOT a series to be followed raw unless your japanese is excellent. Even seasoned anime translators had a difficult time due to the high degree of dialogue with alot of special terms. However, since I know the crew working on it, it's likely that the subs will come out fairly quickly.

Anyway, what is the show all about? The story starts with the maiden voyage of a warship from the planet Kibi, named Amaterasu. A class of cadets has been operating the ship which is bound to return to its home port. We get to know Shinon, a young woman who is obviously going to be the main character of the series. Her instructor is complimenting and ridiculing her at the same time - it seems that Shinon came on board with top-level grades which have returned to average except in combat simulations and military history. She replies that both her gaming skills and memory are excellent, so this would explain her strong points. Still, the instructor is cutting her no slack.

Shinon is reporting her misfortune to her best friend Miyuri, who is the navigator of the vessel. She is particularly interested in the ship's capabilities as space observation laboratory, which seems to be her pet peeve. Unlike Shinon, who seems to be a bit reserved and serious, Miyuri is the more cheerful type, offering some life advice to Shinon: Fall in love with a guy! But unlike Miyuki, Shinon doesn't plan on staying with the defense forces, she wants to return to the private sector instead.

In the ship cafeteria, more cadets are mingling and having a good time with each other. The cute and ultra-shy Sanri is happily recalling her big success, talking to her crush. It was only "Fire Control, all green", but still ^_^ ... I couldn't help myself but giggle at that, and so did her friends, Akiho, Yukino and Imari.

Soon however, the cheerful atmosphere is completely ruined - when Rio, the niece of the ex-prime minister of Kibi, rushes in and changes the TV channel to a newsflash reporting that the Kingdom of Henrietta has declared war on Kibi, their home country. And opening the hostilities, a Kibi escort ship has been attacked and seemingly destroyed.

Especially one woman named Arei is obviously shocked and enraged by those news, prompting her to get up and rush towards the exit of the cafeteria. There, she is halted by several male cadets entering, and asked to stay, since they have all been ordered to do so. Everybody is gathering to discuss the situation.

Rio predicts that the current Kibi government will instantly surrender to the Kingdom. Based on hints dropped later in the anime, it's clear that there has been some form of coup d'etat, causing the old government to fall, replaced by a new one all too willing to become part of the Kingdom - and lo and behold, exactly this is what happens.

The cadets are discussing their options. Most of them are annoyed about the immediate surrender, only Shinon expresses some degree of relief that none of them would have to risk their lives in a shooting war. Especially Arei is livid however and wants to do something to fight the Kingdom.

Takai remarks that the officers would be leaving the ship first, so the cadets could hijack it and wreak some havoc if they really intended to engage in warfare. Shinon retorts that this would be lunacy without any form of support to resupply. Rio concurs and wonders alout whether or not someone would be willing to assist them in their struggle.

Here, Cisca drops the bomb. He remarks that since the Kingdom cancels government contracts by default and their ship hasn't been handed over to the Kibi military yet, it is free to be purchased from the AGI shipwright. But who would have the necessary financial power to do so? Well, the Galaxy News Network, of course - in return for the airing rights on their travels.

Let this sink into your brain a bit and enjoy the exciting shivers of lunacy. The cadets are legally buying this warship with funds provided by Galaxy News in exchange for the right to broadcast their own private war. Yay! Shinon can't believe what she's hearing, but everyone else seems to like the idea.

I'll jump forward a bit: As the second episode shows, it becomes obvious that this hasn't been the idea of an overzealous cadet, but is part of what seems to be a major covert operation - most likely organized by the old Kibi government to wage war against the Kingdom without actually appearing to do so. Cisca and Rio are involved and were simply executing a larger plan.

I don't want to review the upcoming two episodes in a play-by-play fashion, since this would be way too long. Instead I'll sum them up a bit more broadly, concentrating on overall impressions.

After the crazy transaction is concluded, all cadets stay onboard and play along with it, even Shinon. Since the Galaxy News' primary interest is good ratings, they decide to let three males become lead officers: Cisca as captain, Takai as weapons officer and Shinto as flight control officer. All operator positions are filled by females, particularly the attractive ones for the main bridge. Shooting conflicts should please be scheduled for full-hour prime times if possible. These kind of rules are laid out by the cynical and shrewd GBCN producer in charge, Peter, and realized on the ship by the pretty, airheaded and very excitable frontline reporter, Dita.

Said and done. Very soon thereafter, the Amaterasu is having its first encounter with an enemy craft. It turns out to be a static rail gun cannon merged to an asteroid providing it with the required metal ammunition. The so-called captain, pretty-face Cisca, excels in being out of depth and spreading panic and confusion. Fortunately he is assisted by a capable crew, who is able to analyze the situation properly and steer through the crisis. Shinon comes up with the proper tactical plan which is confirmed by the other cadets and ultimately approved by Cisca. After a short battle, the enemy rail gun is destroyed and the crew (and its broadcasting company) is celebrating their first victory. The punchline should be Peter's final comment:

"For the first episode, that was so-so."

After the fight, Shinon is having a heart-to-heart with Miyuri, expressing her doubts about this mission. Miyuri on the other hand is more interested in continuing to use the Amaterasu's observation gadgets to enjoy her stargazing hobby. She notices Shinon's troubles however and tries to cheer her up a bit, asking her to continue to protect the ship as well as she has done so far. It will need it.

In episode 2, the former prime minister of Kibi, Mamiya, is boarding the ship. Coincidentally, he also happens to be Rio's uncle. Suddenly constituting a "government-in-exile", the Amaterasu becomes an immediate target not only for two Kingdom's battleships, but also for the current government of Kibi, who is sending three extra fighters aswell. Since the ship can't possibly win against these odds, the realistic Peter approves the plan to withdraw to the nearest neutral planet, Phoenicia - while the airheaded Dita was happily promoting the idea of another space battle. And off they are, headed towards Phoenicia.

During his health checkup, ex-prime minister Mamiya remarks that he had wanted to be part of the maiden voyage of the Amaterasu from the start, but pressing political matters on Kibi kept him there. He adds that this ship is Kibi's "secret weapon against the Kingdom", underlining that a government-approved plan has been set in motion.

Meanwhile, Shinon and Miyuri have completed their shifts and are on their way to their quarters, where they meet the maintenance head Say and one of her subordinates, Iriki. Shinon receives some warm praise for her handling of the rail gun crisis, which she humbly declines, before they part ways again. The hull of the Amaterasu has been damaged in the conflict, so Say and her team are heading out to do some maintenance.

In the fire control room, Sanri is exchanging some words with Takai, who she clearly has a major crush on. And lo and behold, they exchange some more meaningful words than "Fire control, all green" this time when Takai asks if she is the daughter of a wealthy corporation chairman. After all, if that was the case, what would such a loaded girl be doing on this ship? Sanri confirms that she is, but could hardly be considered wealthy compared to for example Rio.

Rio on the other hand is having a private discussion with Cisca about what happened. Their talk confirms again that they've only been following orders with the "Purchase the ship" scheme, and they're expressing relief that all cadets seem to have fallen for the deception, hook and sinker. Rio cautions that Shinon may have seen through it, but Cisca calms her worries, remarking that while she always opposed the general idea, Shinon was still part of the crew and didn't jump ship.

Just at that point of time, another ship warps in and opens communications with the Amaterasu. It turns out to be a Kingdom battleship which challenges the cadets to a duel. In a 1:1 situation this time, Dita and Peter demand action for their viewers and Arei demands revenge for the destroyed Kibi escort ship, so Cisca reluctantly complies and orders to man the battle stations.

Miyuri and Shinon scan the enemy ship and assess that the main weapon seems to be a major plasma cannon paired with several low-yield-high-frequency lasers. Cisca orders the ship to accelerate towards the enemy vessel to unload his own long-range weapons.

Meanwhile, Shinto and Akiho in the flight control room make fun of Dita's and Peter's request to time the meeting of the ships' maximum effective weapons range to 9:00pm in order to maximize ratings. At least they manage to convince Peter beforehand to air everything with a delay of 30 minutes, in order not to give away every tactical decision to an enemy who might just watch the news. Yes, life is bizarre sometimes!

The maintenance crew is still working overtime on the outer hull, trying to fix the hull and the missile tubes. Say wants to get them back in time before the combat starts, but Iriki insists on doing just a little bit more.

The Amaterasu reaches their maximum firing range and unleashes their plasma cannon against the enemy, who however in turn fires their own one in response, neutralizing the shot. This is bad news, since in addition to it, the enemy ship possesses lasers, which are now going to be effective with the Amaterasu's main gun cancelled out. Therefore Shinon recommends using their secondary weapon called "revolver". Additionally Cisca orders the anti-laser defense system to be deployed...

...but a bit too late. Before it's fully effective, an enemy laser hit strafes the Amaterasu's hull, causing light, but very deadly damage. As things have it, the maintenance crew around Iriki didn't make it back in time and is vaporized by the blast.

Sanri and Takai are preparing to fire the revolver when Shimei, the officer maintaining the ship's Artificial Intelligence, reports that the AI has managed to decode the enemy ship's evasive maneauver pattern. Therefore he recommends to leave the fire control to the AI to maximize hit probability. Takai makes a relaxed comment that if all shots were gonna miss, he'd simply come over and beat Shimei up in the AI control room - and yields the controls.

Once they reached the effective weapon range of the revolver, the Amaterasu leaves the protection of the anti-laser barrier and fires the revolver. The shot hits and incapacitates the enemy defensive plasma cannon, causing Cisca to press the advantage and unload the main gun on the enemy ship. This shot also hits and destroys the vessel completely.

To add "extra drama" for the viewers, Peter adds extra sound effects to the battle - not only sounds when shooting the weapons, but now even the creaking of the breaking enemy ship's hull. Tasteful! Dita celebrates the first victory against a full-fledged enemy while Say returns and breaks the sad news that three maintenance worker are missing and presumed dead. Not displeased at all, Peter remarks that space burials are good stuff and orders them to make them look good.

During the burial ceremony, we hear the thoughts of the teary-eyed Shinon, who knows that she lacks the conviction and dedication to really defeat the Kingdom at war. On the other hand, she doesn't want to die either, or anybody else to die for this matter. The training time is over - this isn't a television drama, this is the cold hard reality...

After reading this summary, I bet that you have no idea why the heck I liked this strange convoluted stuff. To be honest, I'm not too certain myself. But I'll try my best to explain the inexplicable.

For starters, I like the sober serious and non-comedy atmosphere throughout the show. Not that I wouldn't like good comedy, but the story is not trying to appeal to viewers with cute catgirls, imposing mecha, hot-blooded pilots or gratuitous fanservice. It's never blatant, it rather uses understatement, and it says "I have a story to tell here, please listen". I think I wanna. Even the death scenes from ep2 avoided the tempting pitfall of being overly melodramatic. When an anime is confident enough to say "I don't need this kind of stuff", it usually means that it has other convincing values. Let's see.

I also dig the female lead. ALOT. While I can only laugh at the lacking creativity of the writer when it comes to names (think Shipon/Stellvia or Shion/Xenosaga), I like the calm and capable demeanor of Shinon alot. She is so very unlike the usual space opera hero types - neither hot-blooded bold buff nor complex-riddled shrink bait. She's just a smart and gentle young woman trying to help a bunch of slightly crazy people survive. I wonder how she will manage to do that.

If the background wasn't outright war, I'd say that the atmosphere reminds me quite a bit of Star Trek episodes. We'll see if the show will surpass the good old "reset-button" problems of the big predecessor, but it _might_ just work out. I hope it will.

Finally, the production values are high again, as expected from J.C. STAFF. Good choreography of the tactical scans which give a much better impression of what's really happening than the average computer graphics showing the ships themselves. I also like the character designs and the soundtrack (which has some KOTOKO goodness for the OP and ED. I've been having good luck with KOTOKO series lately, so I see this as a good sign, too).

It's always risky to start arguing about "realism" in space operas. Yes, the "newschannel sponsoring a warship" background is mindboggling, but they seem to back it up with a covert option, so I'll give them the benefit of doubt. Maintenance workers on the ship hull while it's accelerating to maximum speed is not quite my idea of physics, but alaaaaas. In the big picture, this almost feels like nagging to me.

So, in conclusion, I'll say that the final verdict of (+) is still deserved, pending proof that the story background is sound. Once this part is delivered, I'll feel really happy. And I'll sure tune in for the next episodes, too.

© memento 2003