Suisei no Gargantia - 10

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Entering the final stretch of Gargantia, it's becoming hard to keep the same level of enthusiasm I had for the series at the beginning.

It's unfortunate whenever a series falls from grace.  There's a big disappointment attached to seeing one of the best anime of the season unravel right in front of your eyes, and that applies to Suisei no Gargantia.  An anime that started off leading the pack but ended up slipping to the mid-tier of the season.  A slip that hasn't come as a shock after the 5th and 6th episodes but one that doesn't sting any less.

At the centre of the decline, is the over-dramatization of the main characters.  Ledo's mental breakdown aside, Pinion's bid for supreme commander of a forming fleet is nothing less of over-the-top.  A character that served as an important extra, suddenly turned into the power-crazed wannabe revolutionary thus fulfilling my concerns for the series.  As a development, it's simply too much and lacks any subtlety or steady progress from Suisei no Gargantia's first four episodes.

Going back to Ledo, I'd be stating over-dramatization again but somehow I'm not too bothered about it.  Sure it's a little much but it doesn't come as a big surprise nor does it stray far from the anime's original focus on Ledo development as a fish-out-of-water character.  That, and the exploration of his morality as a soldier and his feelings towards killing, when he knows the Hideaz are just genetically engineered humans gives the story something else to work with.  Very Urobuchi-esque, which I'm guessing some of you are happy about.

In conclusion, Suisei no Gargantia is not what it used to be.  So much so, that I didn't feel any excitement over the "big twist" at the end of the episode.  All it did was have me question what the series may attempt in its remaining three episodes and at this point, I doubt it can recover.  What I'm hoping for is a somewhat decent conclusion involving a Amy x Ledo happy ending and some retribution for Pinion.