Galilei Donna - Episode 5

It's off to the Netherlands we go - the home of clocks and interesting cheeses, as our goldfish AI helpfully informs us.

As we see the Adni Moon company being asked awkward questions by the press as their self-serving schemes seemingly become more evident, the Ferrari sisters quickly come unstuck as they land in the Netherlands once they find themselves walking straight into a group of armed thieves.  Luckily, these seem to be friendly armed thieves (always the best kind, I find), more willing to argue their differences about the allocation of energy across the world rather than shooting their way to victory in a debate.

In the midst of all this, and of course the search for another piece to the whole Galileo puzzle, Hozuki finds herself making the acquaintance of Theo, another budding young engineer with a love of Galileo.  Needless to say, the two hit it off despite the presence in Theo's life of childhood friend Karen, although there can be no doubt where the boy's true allegiances lay.  Having found the Moon sketches she was looking forward, Hozuki is left having to face perhaps the harshest truth of her journey, as an incoming attack leaves her unable to protect her new friend despite her overwhelming urge to do just that.

I have to say, I much prefer Galilei Donna during its character-centric moments than at any other point - its wider plot stills feels ill-defined and the characters that turn up each week seem like hastily constructed individuals with no other reason than as something for the story beats to bounce off.  This tends to strip what should be dramatic moments of a lot of their importance - characters dying or defecting have little real impact, although I'm certainly interested to see how the end of the episodes reverberates upon Hozuki's character moving forward.  Perhaps it's an event that will give this show the focus that it feels like it needs above and beyond its simple treasure hunt premise.