Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 13 (Completed)

Now that Striker has been outed as a quite literal empty suit, the big question (beyond simply how to defeat it) is - why is it doing all this?

The short answer is that Striker believes that it's simply following Commander Kugel's grand plan having landed on Earth, albeit taking it to a rather more extreme extent by positioning itself quite literally as God.  Such is the reasoning spouted by Striker that even Chamber disowns his fellow support unit as something approaching delusional, stating quite rightly that becoming a deity and stripping humans of all of their rights to independent thought and action is actually the opposite of what such a unit should be doing.

While Chamber and Ledo face off with Striker above the skies, and with Ledo in particular taking some rather extreme measures to try and get an upper hand over their rival, it's very clear that they aren't alone in their fight.  Not only is Pinion continuing to do all he can to destroy the cult created by Striker using the technology he's retrieved, but Gargantia also has plenty of help to offer with Amy taking to the skies while the fleet's top secret weapon lays waste to the enemy with impressively flashy gusto.  Although Ledo is willing to give up his own life for the safety of Gargantia and those who have grown dear to him, it seems that Chamber has an entirely different idea about how his future should pan out as the series draws to a close.

Overall, I don't want to be too harsh on Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - as a series it had no shortage of ambition, and plenty of interesting ideas and concepts to discuss and flesh out as the series progressed; something which it did impressively well during its first half.  As things became more narratively complicated however, I can't help but feel that the show lost sight of the things that made it special, and by this final episode we were more or less being treated to a dumb action moving that occasionally paused to throw out half-baked musings in the form of dialogue that simply weren't all that satisfying.  Still, at least we were granted a firm resolution to proceedings without any wishy-washy back-tracking, and taken as a whole I enjoyed more of the series than I disliked, which ensures that this effort still sits towards the higher echelons of everything I've watched this spring, even if it could have been so much more.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 12

Kugel is on a mission to change the world and he wants Ledo to help - but will our protagonists beliefs in following his commander waver in the face of a planned assault to assimilate Gargantia into this almighty fleet?

Even if Ledo's final decision is uncertain, we're soon treated to signs of dissent elsewhere - pirate Lukkage has clearly tired of her role in the midst of this cultish fleet, and although Pinion is thrilled with his new role and the toys he gets to play with shoots of doubt begin to spring from his mind as well.  The true moment of clarity for all and sundry comes as we witness what can only be described as a "purging" of the elderly and unhealthy from the fleet - a shocking moment that makes it clear that there's no place for Kugel's ideals in this world no matter how closely it ties into the Galactic Alliance's own belief set.

Thus, the wheels are set in motion for a more full-scale rebellion - having made his decision to fight back against the injustice he's seen, Ledo sends Melty off to forewarn Gargantia of the planned attack so that they might escape while steeling himself to take on Kugel in a one-on-one battle.  Not that he's fighting alone when push comes to shove, as Pinion and the other members of his breakaway fleet do all they can to assist in overthrowing the commander.  With Pinion's efforts in particular serving to turn the tide of Ledo's airborne battle, it seems as if Kugel is cornered... but is he really even the mastermind behind the "cult" that follows him?

At the end of it all I'm a little on the fence about this week's Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet and where it's taken the show as a whole - I can't fault the areas that it's trying to discuss, whether it's a harsh treatment of the fleet's elderly populace or the dangers of religious cults, but all of this is brought into the episode with all of the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and come the end of the episode its big reveal is (for the first time in this series) something that I saw coming a mile off.  Perhaps the message is more important than its delivery you could argue, and the second half of the episode and Ledo's battle as the starting point of a rebellion were visually fantastic and great to watch, but no matter which side of the fence you sit on regarding your feelings about this episode you can't help but acknowledge that it's a far cry from the material which made the first half of the series so fascinating, for better or for worse.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 11

It seemed like it was never going to happen, but at last Ledo finds himself faced with what appears to be the prospect of rescue thanks to the appearance of Commander Kugel on the scene - what's more, he seems to be part of a fleet of his very own, which raises some very obvious worries from Pinion and company as the threat of their "treasure" being taken from them looms large.

Invited aboard this fleet, Ledo soon finds that his commander has also been on this planet for some time, albeit confined to the cockpit of his mech due to an unspecified disease.  Despite this, it appears that his strategy upon landing in this world couldn't be more different to that of our young ensign - while Ledo went along with the way of life shown to him by his new hosts, Kugel has done the exact opposite and instead pushed the beliefs and systems of his home planet onto those he has encountered on Earth.  As a result, his fleet is supposedly efficient, but also redolent of a vast class gap between those with and those without.

What's more, Kugel is insistent that the entire planet needs to follow this strategy for its own future good, and it appears that Pinion and his fleet are the next in his sights - thus, Pinion is invited aboard, tested and qualified to become an engineering officer, leading to an invitation (read: demand) that his fleet merge with Kugel's own.  There's little choice but to comply with this, and while Ledo is keen to follow his old commander once again his opinions might be swaying as the next target of Kugel's assimilation comes into view: Gargantia.

Although this is a pretty good episode that takes us off in another interesting direction, I do worry that it's been a little heavy-handed in its execution - there are certainly no shades of grey between the mindsets of Kugel and those of Gargantia, and the commander is played up a little too much as being "evil" even if he's never explicitly depicted as such.  Still, it's perhaps Ledo's decisions that will really make or break the final couple of episodes, and I remain keen to see how things will shake out come the end of what has been a broadly entertaining and thoughtful series.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 10

The whalesquid nest has been utterly wiped out, leaving all of the materials and technology within this unlikely hiding spot to be salvaged by Pinion and his crew... but at what cost to Ledo's well-being?

While Ledo wrestles with the shocking information relayed to him in the previous episode, it seems as if this success has gone to Pinion's head - not only is he unwilling to share the technology and items he's salvaged with others outside of his fleet, but he also opts to send out a message to all and sundry advising them of his achievement and warning outsiders not to even think about coming close to his fleet lest they be obliterated.  Needless to say, some do try to do exactly that, but don't get very far against the firepower of Pinion's crew.

All the while, Ledo's frustrations are growing and growing as he tries to come to terms with everything that he knows - not so much out of disgust of all the (sort of) humans he's destroyed to this point, but more out of a concern that his "job" of fighting the Hideauze is now futile.  It's left to Chamber to try and point out that he does still have a purpose - once-human or not, the Hideauze are still an extreme race that will extinguish civilised humanity without pause, meaning that it still needs to be combated regardless of the origins of the race.  Such a train of thought is soon put on hold however - it seems that a familiar face has come from afar to pay Ledo a visit.

After the ludicrous and stupid twists that brought us to the end of last week's episode, this latest instalment of  Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet at least manages to get things back on track by deflecting a fair amount of its focus elsewhere thanks to Pinion's hubris, while also spinning the fallout of the revelations presented to Ledo in quite a surprising way by largely dodging the ethical questions in favour of taking on the theme that has run throughout this series - that being Ledo trying to figure out his place in the world and where he "fits in".  Thus, I'm now decidedly interested in where this series is aiming to go for its final few episodes again, especially as time seems to be running out for a resolution to some of its broader storytelling strokes.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 9

No sooner have they left the fleet that Pinion and company's breakaway group are off to hunt down the whalesquid next and the supposed treasure trove within which it is situated.

As Pinion himself can't help but ruminate on the events surrounding his brother than has led him down this path, Ledo's train of thought is far simpler, as he has nothing more in mind than annihilating the Hideauze.  Luckily for him (and Pinion for that matter), with Chamber to hand doing exactly this proves to be no real issue, especially when he's helped out with numerous barrels of explosives which his crewmates gleefully toss into the sea for maximum damage.

With the whalesquid population decimated, Ledo's next task is to search the long-lost human facility that has become the whalesquid nest - the home to some kind of "queen" with eggs aplenty ready to be laid, and even more baby whalesquid currently in gestation... at least, there is until Ledo and Chamber destroy the lot.  Once in the heart of the facility, Chamber detects a host of data storage still within its administration block - data that is, for some reason, highly classified by the Galactic Alliance.  Upon Ledo's insistence that Chamber show it to him, the reason for this soon becomes clear - to avoid all the long rigmarole and to boil it down into a single sentence: Hideauze is people.

Yes, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet really did just go there, and yes, it feels incredibly stupid, especially in the unintentionally hilarious way it's presented on-screen.  While I was expecting some kind of twist regarding the Hideauze to come from this episode, and although some of the back story that goes along with it is somewhat interesting, the delivery of this twist via a big info dump and some incredibly heavy-handed story beats feels... well, Hideauze.  I mean hideous.  Hopefully the series can somehow run with this and bring something good from it in the long run, because right now it feels like this entire series has just come crashing down under the weight of a massive delivery of stupidity.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 8

With Fleet Commander Fairpoint breathing his final breaths in the midst of an alarming split within Gargantia, things are looking decidedly fractured as we enter this eighth episode of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet.

Even as the former commander's funeral begins, his elected successor Ridget has all sorts of worries to cope with as the scale of the exodus from Gargantia becomes clear - it seems that the prospect of potential prosperity and relative safety is too much for many to resist.  Joining that exodus is Ledo, who has been lured into leaving by Pinion by the possibility of being taken to the whalesquid nest with an opportunity to destroy the entire colony of the supposed Hideauze within, in return for Pinion taking whatever treasures also lay within that nest.

With the broad lines between those remaining and those leaving drawn, the rest of the episode gets to focus on the fallout of these decisions, as all and sundry have to consider their own personal desires and the importance of the people around them when it comes to deciding upon their own futures.  In those terms, there are few more awkwardly placed than Amy, who finds herself torn between staying to look after her brother and following her heart and with it Ledo, who continues to insist that, if anything, his decision is to protect those who he has befriended upon Gargantia rather than betray them.

In spite of being arguably the most slow-burning episode of the series so far, this was another top-notch instalment of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet that continues to fascinate - even though it was Ridget who was the centrepiece of the instalment, it remains Ledo who fascinates as a counterpoint to all of those around him as he insists upon working to his own set of morals and value judgement even when they fly in the face of others.  It's his capacity to be both potentially correct in his own convictions yet blind to what those convictions mean in the short-term for others that is worthy of much analysis, while the current situation has also moved the show's narrative into new areas which I'm keen to see the payload from.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 7

Never mind all of that introspective pondering, the Hideauze are back in the forefront of Ledo's life as his training kicks in once he and Chamber detect an enemy within their sights... but is it really the Hideauze?

As far as the inhabitants of Gargantia are concerned, the creature in question is a whalesquid, but even salvaging partner Bellows can do nothing to prevent Ledo from going all out and quite literally crushing the life out of the creature.  The trouble is, the whalesquid is seen as a sacred beast by many within the fleet, which means that Ledo once again is the subject of much suspicion amidst the residents.

If you think this will give Ledo pause for thought, think again - no matter the local opinions on the matter, he's determined to exterminate anything and everything that has anything to do with the Hideauze no matter what, and DNA analysis of the whalesquid only serves to further drive this agenda in the face of everyone else around him.  His concerns even look like they may be justified for a moment as a horde of whalesquids approach the fleet, although they pass by safely with nary a scratch upon its craft.  The whole commotion has, however, awoken the opportunist in some members of the fleet, and let by Pinion this close-knit community could be on the verge of breaking up before our eyes.

All of this makes for an excellent instalment of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - as over-the-top as Ledo's reactions towards the whalesquids/Hideauze might be, you can also appreciate the logic and emotions behind his reasoning, while the entire affair also brings up wider questions about whether these creatures simply are passive Hideauze which could rise up and attack at any moment or not.  What's more, there are more fascinating times ahead, as it seems that the fleet itself is now in danger of splitting into factions, which makes for another intriguing facet of the episodes to come.  With so many tantalising possibilities on the table, this series seems to be getting better by the week presently.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 6

As well as wrestling with the question of what he should do to make himself useful within the community in which he has found himself, it seems that Ledo is also not entirely sure what to do with the fruits of his labours - how is one supposed to spend money when you don't need to pay for oxygen, and where currency amounts to more than just meal tickets?

With a festival about to start, it seems that this is the perfect time to learn a little more about spending money for pleasure - not only that, there's also an opportunity available for Ledo to join the ranks of fishermen aboard the fleet, although it seems that trying to pilot an archaic Yunboro without any AI assistance underwater is a little too much for our protagonist after years of training with top-notch technology.

Leaving it to Chamber to try his hand at catching fish, Ledo instead finds some time to take in the pleasures of his current locale, whether it's the local cuisine or Amy's part-time job as a stripper... well, kind of.  Such are Amy's charms that they're enough to distract Ledo from talk of money, food and the possibility of working with either Bellows or Pinion doing salvage work, and his personal reverie is only interrupted by the appearance of the Hideauze... or rather, the delivery of some octopus to his table.  Whether it's a genuine error or the Hideauze are somehow related to aquatic life on Earth, it's a sense of confusion that kicks in to the full once Ledo begins his work performing undersea salvage with Bellows...

Trying my best to ignore its increasingly over-bearing insistence on injecting fan service into the show wherever it can (Amy has a nice body, I get it already!), this was another hugely enjoyable episode of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - it's really very simple in its mechanics of allowing Ledo to roam around this strange culture and try to come to terms with it after a lifetime of vastly different experiences, but somehow it works wonderfully, and watching him grow and mature as a character from week to week provides much of the delight to be had from the series.  Come the end of this week's instalment, we also have an intriguing scenario to propel the next episode forward to; more good news for a series that seems to be hitting a lot of the right notes.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 5

Following on from his attempts to help and discussions in last week's episode, this latest instalment of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet continues to see Ledo pondering how to make himself at use aboard the fleet that has become his new home.

The trouble is, there's really very little call for a military man in the midst of this particular community that already has its fill of employees in pretty much every position you could ask for.  Even when the fleet comes to a standstill on a calm day to offer some downtime for all but its technicians, Ledo struggles to relax thanks to his concerns about not being useful.

It's this discomfort that Pinion plays on as an attempt to get an outdoor grill party running (yes, this is as close as Gargantia can get to a beach episode in lieu of any actual beach) hits a snag due to a lack of power, and just as pressingly a lack of knowledge on how to cook food probably on Chamber's part.  While waiting for these grilling problems to be resolved, Ledo is sent out on an important task which takes him through some of the more "interesting" parts of the fleet's community.  Thus, by the end of the episode we have the answer to an important question - what sauce would Amy prefer in a sausage sandwich?

Silly though parts of this episode were, and cliched though others threatened to be, that didn't stop the instalment as a whole being a whole lot of fun - it really played wonderfully into the personalities of its main characters and the relationships between them, and found no shortage of ways to use the situation of Ledo and Chamber in particular for comic purposes.  This isn't the kind of thing I want to see Gargantia doing every week, as I'm sure it has bigger fish to grill... err, fry... but as a one-off this was a genuinely enjoyable episode that perhaps brought us a little closer to the fleet's inhabitants.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 4

In seeing off the pirate threat last time around, Ledo has certainly proved his usefulness for the time being, allowing him a place to stay and everything he needs to get by for the time being.  However, the question of such usefulness still seems to be very much playing on his mind throughout this fourth episode of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet.

Although Ledo continues to do his best to help out when it comes to moving cargo around and the like, it's really Chamber that is doing all of the legwork, and once someone else takes over control of Chamber to do this more efficiently he's left with literally nothing to do - a rarity for a man from a culture entirely geared for war and nothing else, and where anyone who has no use in helping to win that war is simply cast aside.

Against that backdrop, Ledo cannot even begin to comprehend why Gargantia allows its kids to roam free and play, or why sickly individuals such as Amy's brother Bebel are provided for when they add nothing to the "greater good" of the fleet.  It seems that no amount of explaining from others amongst the fleet, be they doctors or even Bebel himself, can really bring home the difference in attitude exhibited here, although it's Amy's brother who brings back a memory for Ledo that perhaps suggests even to him that this is the right way for life to be lived.

Overall, this week's episode of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet was far more like the kind of thing I was expecting from the series - digging in to Ledo's expectations and past and setting it against the very different values of his new home.  Even without any of the action of previous instalments, or perhaps even because of that lack of action, this made for enjoyable fare with a surprisingly impactful emotional pay-off towards the end that made the whole endeavour well worthwhile.  No doubt the series will have to keep mixing it up to remain compelling, but I'm definitely on-board for more of this kind of content, which is satisfying despite being rather obvious in its nature.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 3

In defeating a band of troublesome pirates, Ledo has certainly shown what he and his machinery can do - however, if he's expecting his current hosts to be pleased at this show of strength he's going to be in for a surprise...

Needless to say, nobody is too thrilled at the fact that Ledo has annihilated a whole bunch of people, enemies or otherwise; not only from a moral standpoint, but also in the knowledge that this will simply stir up a thirst for vengeance against other pirates to boot.  Of course, this theory proves to be entirely correct, with a fleet of pirates from the area headed up by a particular notorious character known as Lukkage.  This leaves the fleet and its leadership in a tough spot when it comes to what to do with Ledo, but in the end it's Bellows who suggests that perhaps the best course of action is to further engage the help of this newcomer and his technology.

Thus, the scene is set for a face-off between Ledo, his hosts and Lukkage's pirates - a conflict which seems to be incredibly one-sided given Ledo's abilities even if he's operating under strict instructions not to kill or injure the enemy.  However, this particular group of pirates are not to be underestimated, as they look to gain an upper-hand by deploying submersibles, innovative Yuboroids (which, quite frankly, look like Sharkticons - not that this is a bad thing) and... errr... a surfing lobster.  Ultimately none of this is a match for Ledo and his flying machine however, meaning that the fleet is once again safe from pirate attack.

Although this series still hasn't quite managed to get its hooks into me entirely (it feels like there's a piece of the puzzle missing that could be the difference between me enjoying the series and loving it), it continues to be accomplished in building and utilising its world, while also making for some impressive set pieces and bursts of action without entirely ignoring the crux of Ledo's struggle to understand and begin to fit in with those around him.  Okay, some of the machinery at the pirate's disposal seemed a little too outlandish in comparison to the wider world the show has built, but if you can put that to one side this was an entertaining episode that hopefully gives us some breathing space for more thoughtful fare to come.

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.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 1

In the far-flung future, humanity has spread out into space, with its so-called Galactic Alliance of Humankind centred around the utopia known as "Avalon", a floating city that was named after a Roxy Music album.  Or something.

Of course, flitting around the universe always has its perils, and in this particular world that peril is known as the Hideauze (you see what they did there?), an evil menace which has to be obliterated at all costs.  As part of the massed forces tasked with doing just this, we join a young pilot named Ledo as he awakens from cold sleep (and a spot of jingoistic brainwashing) to take part in what is being considered the final, massed battle against the Hideauze.

When the Galactic Alliance's entire plan goes horribly awry, Ledo is caught up in the aftermath - failing to make it back to the mothership before its retreat, he and his mech fall into the wake of said ship's jump through space and end up... well, who knows where.  After six months in cold sleep, Ledo is awoken by his AI to find human-looking folk with primitive tools trying to force their way into his craft while speaking a language he doesn't understand.  Biding his time, Ledo tries to make good his escape at the first opportunity, only to find himself cornered at gunpoint at the exact same moment that it becomes clear that he has fallen to a planet which simply shouldn't exist...

Having sat through half an episode of generic space gubbins (I'd love to commission a series called Generic Space Gubbins, incidentally) to set the scene, it's only when Ledo awakens after his little incident that we really end up anywhere interesting in terms of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet's narrative - the whole galactic war against evil organic creatures idea has been done to death and then some, but the prospect of seeing this young Ensign dumped alone onto a strange planet with only an AI for company seems rich with possibilities that I really hope the series will explore.  It's far, far too early to call what or where this series intends to go, but for now I shall keep my counsel and play the "wait and see" game.  Oh, and start writing the script for episode one of Generic Space Gubbins.  Watch out Urobuchi, here I come...