Glass no Kantai (Fleet of Glass) Episode 1 - Like a Meteor…
No OP here, don’t know if we’re even getting one.
ED - Namida Drop (Plastic Tree) - great artwork (shame it’s just that, though), okay generic rock song.
Space. A battle between nobles ends in surrender for the general defending his territory, a vast terraformed ship, but his opponent Vettii (PLEASE can we call him Betty? PLEASE?) ignores his signals and blows his ship up, bringing an end to a massive war. Vettii pledges to his people an empire that he will lead allowing them independence and freedom, but one onlooker, the feisty Michelle (who narrates the episode) is unconvinced, and swears to fight against Vettii’s tyranny.
Some time later, at the wedding of two nobles to unite their lands, Michelle and her People’s Army (with her lieutenants Teodrich and Isabel) break up the ceremony, proclaiming how they will free the common man from the tyranny of the noble classes (who have enslaved several people to power the ceremony, for instance). However, just as Michelle is revelling in her victory and her awesome speech-making skills the rebels are attacked by an Imperial fleet led by an extremely camp, petty general who drinks tea and talks in a snide, bored voice all the time - it’s a shame I can’t remember his name because he’s awesome.
Anyway, Michelle summons her horse and carriage (…) and, along with her starship pilot butler Jean-Luc and kung-fu maid Silua, makes an escape. However, they get caught up in a galactic tornado called a Bracelet, which damages the ship’s navigational systems and leaves them powerless against General Tea; Michelle offers herself up in surrender, but then she sees a meteor shoot pass; except it’s no meteor, it’s a glass ship piloted by Cleo. “And that was the first time we met”, says Michelle; no doubt RABU RABU will ensue.
Well, it doesn’t look as good as the promo artwork, that’s for sure. Glass no Kantai definitely comes across more as a Gonzo show than a Satelight one - it’s got the same, glossy-yet-not-amazing look as something like Trinity Blood or Full Metal Panic does, and everything is competent; the CG is slightly out of place but doesn’t push things too much, and there’s not much “spark” to it all, which is the main problem; I think there’s potential for a decent enough space opera (as long as they keep things focused on a human level; Michelle’s an interesting character, and I think they can get a good cast going as long as we don’t end up in endless jargon-tastic space battles) but there’s something not quite clicking about the show just yet.
The only thing that really stands out is the excellent orchestral music, which really fits the grandiose nature of the show; quite why they’re firing cannons and breathing in space I’m not sure, but I guess you just have to roll with it, eh?
I’ll watch Glass no Kantai again next week (I actually watched this episode in an internet broadcast last week - given that I paid 200 yen for it I’m damn well making sure I watch more) but I was hoping for something a bit more immediately grabbing, perhaps. Ah well.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
I kept laughing for most parts of the episode, because it really is “LoGH with more cheese and bad CG”… Space opera - check, neo-period style setting - check (only this time it’s French not German), huge fleet battles - check, classical style bgm - check, demagogue leaders - check, decadent aristocracy - check, blond prettyboy bent on doing away with said aristocracy - check (at least Michel seems like a boy to me, or a very flat-chested girl), hell, we even have a guy with heterochromia, though so far he’s nowhere as cool as Reuentahl.
And then there are the wtf things, like the cannons, the carriage (the hell?), and the fact that even though they have spaceships, terraforming technology, etc, they need slaves to do work that requires less developed technology. Ah well, it’s all part of the fun, I guess.
(But damn, does the animation suck. I expected the CG to be bad from the trailer, but even the 2D animation has problems.)
July 2nd, 2006 at 3:33 pm
I think the most disturbing thing is that…i’m not really sure if Michelle is actually a girl. She’s/he’s got that annoying voice which is used for extremely bishonen boys and guys that just drives me crazy O:
The story seems weak as of now…I’m not a fun of cheesy speeches and even cheesier reactions. If there was a little bit more reality in the way everyone acted i’d have much more fun watching it :]
And all the pain and suffering doubled? Really unnessesary :/ We’ll see what’ll come along…