Sunday 14 April 2013

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 2

Ledo now knows what planet he's on thanks to his little escape attempt at the end of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet's first episode, but given the failure of that escape he's now left in an uncomfortable stand-off with the local populace.

Thankfully, the locals at least seem willing to engage in dialogue rather than simply trying to kill him, although they don't exactly seem to be too convinced by Ledo's story of his existence as a soldier fighting in a war against an alien race; nor, indeed, do they buy the idea that his mech is talking fluidly without anyone inside it.  That aside, the big question on everyone's lips regards what they should actually do with these "guests", with the general consensus being that they're an unwanted and potentially dangerous distraction.


It's only Amy who seems to have any kind of affinity towards Ledo (despite the whole kidnapping thing in episode one), and it's her who actually goes to some lengths to befriend, talk to and actually understand Ledo's situation - while she soon feels comfortable enough to trust him, the same can't be said for those in higher positions within the water-borne fleet of which she's part.  When some space pirates pay the fleet an unwelcome visit with a view towards plundering some of said fleet's more valuable recent finds, Ledo sees an opportunity to take out these enemies and endear himself to the natives... is he only going to succeed in making them even more afraid of him, however?

As an exercise in world-building, this was most certainly a really good episode of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - it's remained patience in its depiction of the language barrier between Ledo and the native humans where other shows would have given up or written around it, and the series' Waterworld-esque setting is sufficiently rich to hold plenty of potential in its own right.  Add in the various other elements which are making up the series so far, and things are looking hugely promising - I just hope it goes down such promising routes rather than taking the more cliched path which is also clearly available to it.

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