Suisei no Gargantia Episode 1 [First Impression]

Eva’s First Impression:
A/N: I am using UTW-Vivid subs so, I’m going with “Ledo” instead of “Red” but I might switch it up in the future episodes.
YESSSS! NOW THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! YES I KNOW, A LOT ARE PROBABLY SWOONING OVER SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN RIGHT NOW, BUT I CAN’T WATCH THAT BECAUSE OF THE GORE SO I AM ESPECIALLY ECSTATIC ABOUT THIS ONE!
Our lead is Second Lieutenant Ledo, who ironically was supposed to be granted permission for limited citizenship rights (just what kind of society did they live in!?) and four weeks’ leave on Avalon (one could probably describe it as paradise) finds himself awakening after an artificial 6 months hibernation on Earth. He didn’t particularly care about going on leave for a bit, instead because of the way he was trained- he learned to forget everything. It’s quite sad that he isn’t familiar with “homeland”, and given that he doesn’t seem to have a citizenship means he isn’t bounded down to any particular place. His “home”, is probably within the battlefield or even inside Chamber itself because he had spent so much time there and not to mention, he doesn’t feel afraid. I guess you could say that he is comfortable in a way. He is guided by Chamber, an interface system to set him up for success (I love the machine already, it seems to have a personality of its own).
The enemies known as Hideauze are a deadly threat to the human race, and not to mention – extremely formidable foes. Just with their Blossom Sail’s fortified super-canon, they wiped out a vast majority of every single fleet Galactic Alliance of Humankind had to offer. Worse of all, this mission to destroy the Hideauze’s base was literally a suicide mission. Only a handful of soldiers were able to retreat. With that said, it is clear that we’re not done with the Hideauze. They will show up again. That is a fact. And this peaceful life on Earth is going to be in peril.
There’s one thing I wanted to point out  before I move on: I find it very interesting that the Hideauze nest is located right in front of (what appears to be) the Sun. So… unless this is within an entirely different solar system, this might be the exact same sun that planet Earth revolves around- thus what we just saw in the beginning was taking place in the future.
With that in mind along with the present circumstances, I am leaning towards the theory that Ledo was either thrown into another timeline/past (a good hint would be the tools that he describes as “ancient” in comparison to the technology he has in his hands) OR- perhaps (this may be farfetched), revival of humans/recolonizing Earth once again. They speak a foreign language that neither Chamber or Ledo could recognize right off the bat, which would back up the revival/recolonization theory because it probably would have been in the records. However it appears that Earth’s existence has only been hinted in the records claiming that’s where humans originated.
I believe the outcome of this series heavily varies on which direction Urobuchi Gen decided to goes. This can either end up tragically, a semi-happy ending or a victorious ending. But if there is one thing I know for sure. Brace yourselves people, Urobutcher is going to live up to his nickname of slaying a shitload of characters- including our favorites again!!!!
As you know I hate CG, so as you can imagine I was a bit “eeehhhhhhh….” about it. However, given how the fleets were organized and how many there were in numbers, I can bare with the flood of CG material. Another thing that helps balance it out is that they didn’t make the monsters in CG (THANK YOU!!!!) and they did in fact on occasions balance out the mobile suits in animation. CG aside, it was a stunning visual. The Blossom Sail’s fortified super-canon is super eerie, it looks like it’s going to eat you- but instead it destroys everything in its path with its hyper-beam. The monsters are also very unique in form, they look a lot like plants, snails and butterflies with horrific teeth. And finally I love the character designs because they are different, and stand out in their own way.
Overall great start, I am definitely looking forward to what’s in store for us!
PS: THAT TOOTH THAT WAS STUCK ON THE CHAMBER SUIT. I GOT MY EYE ON YOU. Too much subtle focus on it to be nothing…
Possibility of Blogging: GUARANTEED BITCHES.
 

 Chris’ First Impression:

 Nom, nom, nom. What a delicious meal.

 Cheesy one liners aside, this episode was AMAZING. When I read through the shows that would be airing this season there were very few that I really needed wanted to see. Shingeki no Kyojin, OreImo 2 and this, Suisei no Gargantia. Admittedly, I can’t actually pronounce it because A. I’m not Japanese and B. how the hell do you pronounce suisei? Anyway… getting back to the point. I love everything about this show. The characters (I mean character, simply because we haven’t been properly introduced to any of the others), the artwork, the animation, the battles and hell, I even like the CG… let’s hope Eva doesn’t read that… I was hooked from the start, the battle, or should I say suicide mission, between the humans and the Hideazue was undoubtedly enthralling, not once did my mind wander, and not once did my eyes avert it’s luring gaze. It bore into my soul, man!

 *Cough*, but I digress. So I guess this is the part where we talk about characters? Yeah, let’s go with that. Ledo. I like him! We haven’t been given too much information about him yet, BUT, here’s everything I ‘know’/can guess from what we’ve been given so far. Ledo: born and bread warrior, I’m guessing no parents or loved ones, smart, intuitive, intense, uninspired, calm, collected and above all else not arrogant. He knows what he must do, he knows nothing else other than warfare and death and he’s the ‘hero’ of our tale – and yet, he’s unassuming and self conscious. He accepts his life and he’s not an annoying, chivalrous, ‘hero-type’ who thinks they can do everything on their own. He’s intelligent, he assess the prevalent situation and deals with it. I respect that. Ledo, isn’t a Suzaku (Code Geass reference). Thank God for that. I know I’m going to really like Ledo, I just hope that he’ll eventually be able to communicate with the ‘humans’ soon, otherwise this is going to make for some annoying ‘dialogue’. I ‘like’ the fact that when Ledo is offered the chance to receive four weeks of limited (whatever the hell that means in this context, what is he? A second class citizen?) citizenship rights on Avalon, he questions the need for it. Now I don’t know what kind of world Ledo is from, I mean, we barely know anything about it, but there a place in it where, presumably, the remnants of human kind remain. Avalon, that is. Now I’m pretty sure that Ledo isn’t some tank bred warrior but that in itself begs the question, just what is the societal structure within the human race like? Ledo is given the chance – no, scrap that, he is ‘rewarded’ for serving in the army for a long amount time and is in turn expected to go to Avalon and… breed? What? Is Avalon some place where women walk around waiting for any random guy to come along and, well, y’know, impregnate them? And what? If their male do they immediately get shipped off to the army? Honestly, I hope we get to see this place before the series end because I think it sounds fascinatingly messed up. But I digress, I just went SERIOUSLY off topic. Ledo is awesome and I can’t wait to see more of him. That is all.

 Let’s (quickly) talk about ‘Chamber’. Chamber is great, usually I only like robots if their quirky and or add humor to their respective shows. In this case I liked Chamber because he differentiated drastically from what I expected. He has no quirks and no ‘real’ personality to speak of. He is Ledo’s guide, his partner. Chamber offers nonbelligerent advice to Ledo, advice that Ledo trusts without doubt and or worry. This shows us that human technology has advanced to a point where they have AI’s BUT they haven’t advanced so ridiculously that they have… ‘conscious’ robots. Chamber may not have a conscience, but he’s Ledo only friend in this new, different and isolated world and the ‘dynamic’ that the two create is sure to create some dramatic moments in the future… heh, heh, it’s funny because their in the past and the future!… moving on…

 Let’s talk about the crew of [insert name here] – wait, no, let’s just name it ‘The Bad Smelling Rusty Human Ship’ for now. So the character that stands out among them the most is Amy. Actually that’s probably because her ‘skirt’ is so short that even the smallest of winds would reveal ‘too much’. Actually it’s probably because she has intriguingly bright clothes… and because she has a pet… chinchilla? Hamster/Bunny hybrid? I dunno, but one thing I do know is… I’m indifferent about her. She’s neither intriguing or uninteresting… she’s just… a girl who runs around delivering ‘stuff’ and getting kidnapped. I’m sure we’ll see more of her next episode but until then I shall remain indifferent! Actually that’s all the crew I wanted to talk about so let’s just move on shall we?

 The story! You can go and read a summary if you really want to know it, I mean, I’m sure as hell not going to relay it back to you! I love the way the story is going so far. Granted, I did find myself initially thinking, wow, you’re going to end it there? But then I realized that this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I mean, A. it shows that I was captivated, B. they shouldn’t try to cram to much, C. it adds a dramatic effect and D. Gen Urobochi knows what he’s doing… right? I’d like to address something before we continue. Anyone who has seen an Urobochi work before will know not to get attached to ANY character, because Gen will go out of his way to kill everyone and everything that we have ever loved and cared about! Gen you b******! Anyway, that won’t stop me though and it shouldn’t stop you! Grow those bonds, let them flourish… and watch and those you care deeply about are torn to bloody, fleshly shreds in front of your eyes! *Cough*, anyway, yeah, the story is going to be great! This was an introductory episode so I didn’t expect too much and in all honesty we didn’t get too much. Okay, I lied, allow me to display just how little we got and hopefully it will show you just how much of an impact such a small dose can have. Humans go to fight aliens, they lose, Ledo get’s sucked into a worm hole, Ledo wakes up on Earth, Ledo kidnaps a girl and Ledo gets surrounded by hostile humans. Not much eh? In actuality every episode of anime in history (making anything longer than 25 minutes the exception, that it) has the same amount of story in it, unless it’s a show that has tried to cram way too much into a 12 episode season (*cough*MaoyuuMaouYuusha*cough*), but let’s not worry though. Gen know’s what he’s doing, I mean, this a single season story, there’s no way they can make the mistake of cramming too much in!

 Tangents, I really like going off on them don’t I? Anyway, it was a great episode and I’m sure it’s going to be a great series so let’s just cut down to the chase!

 Possibility of Blogging: What are you kidding me? HELL YES BITCHES!… I mean if that’s cool with every else vying for a place in blogging this… right, tangents… guess I better end this here? Yeah, you’re right. Well see you later? No you hang up!

 P.S: apparently I had a really bad cough during this post… who knew?

Tenderfoot’s First Impression: 

Well. I don’t really know what to add to what Chris and Eva have already written. Generally, part of me is all “THAT WAS COOL!” and the other part of me is feverishly wishing that Gen Urobochi proves to us with this series that he’s not a one-trick-pony, and that he can write a story without killing half the cast in order to give it “meaning (or some deep shit along those lines)”. Willingness to kill off a character, or multiple characters, doesn’t automatically equal a good story for me. Madoka was good, Psycho-pass was so-so…please don’t mess this one up for me. It’s the only giant mecha/space type show of the season that I like (other than Space Battleship Yamato 2199)! You can write something good and meaningful and still have it be happy! You can do it Gen! I want to believe!

The episode was a solid start to one of my “Top Three” shows of the season. I liked that it kinda took it’s time, really giving us an epic space battle that wasn’t 5 second long, and that it didn’t try to cram as much as possible into one episode. The character designs are very appealing and slick, with the eyes being almost KyoAni levels of bright and shiny. Amy walks a very fine line of being almost too annoying for me, but given how much we’ve seen of her so far, I’m hoping that she’s cheerful and happy, but not dumb as a brick. Ledo/Red (? which one is right?!?) is intriguing. As a soldier who’s never even been to the homeland he’s been protecting all his life (or that’s the impression I got), he makes for an interesting main character. How will someone who’s only known war adjust to a life of relative peace? Some of the side-characters also look promising.
The mecha designs were cool, especially Ledo/Red’s robot. It’s good that’s it’s not just a machine, but has some personality to it. The story is giving me some Waterworld vibes (I agree with Eva that I think they’ve traveled not just in space but also in time, since I think I remember a couple of movies involving worm holes and time travel), but I’m willing to go along for the ride. If the animation keeps up the high standard it’s set (I didn’t even mind the CG! It’s a miracle!) and the story doesn’t turn into a character chop-shop, I’ll definitely be watching this!
Possibility of Blogging: I’d be willing to split it three ways (threeways 😉 (I’ll see myself out)) but if that’s not an option then I’m fine recusing myself and just sitting back and enjoying the show.